Day 50. part 1. April 19. Grand Canyon Village to Mile 690.6 (South Kaibab Trailhead) to 704.1 (Trail to Ribbon Falls) & back to Mile 698.5 (Clear Creek Trail) to campsite

Day 50. part 1. Wednesday April 19. Grand Canyon Village to Mile 690.6 (South Kaibab Trailhead) to 704.1 (Trail to Ribbon Falls) & back to Mile 698.5 (Clear Creek Trail) to campsite. Walked 13.5 on trail northbound plus 5.4 southbound plus 2.2 road walking from Yavapai Lodge plus 2 on Clear Creek Trail - in all walked 23.1 miles. For the 13.5 northbound on trail, 1895 up, 5269 down, total grade 535.7 ft/mi. For the 5.4 southbound in trail, 463 up, 1557 down, total grade 377.2. For the last 2 miles on Clear Creek Trail the app won't calculate but there was an overall elevation gain ( though with some ups and downs) of 1000 ft, so total grade at least 500 ft/mi. 

Dear Trail Friends,

Today I hiked down into the Grand Canyon and then, deciding I would like tomorrow to be a day of rest and contemplation, chose to also hike as far toward Ribbon Falls as I could. I clearly misunderstood the location of the campsite the woman ranger assigned me for tonight. I thought it was an easy short level hike. It turned out to be very steep, and full of loose rocks. On the other hand, it was a stunningly beautiful hike and gave me a chance to contemplate my reaction when I believe someone had deliberately hurt or harmed me. Since I talked to this woman about my difficulty with ascents, especially steep ones, it seemed odd at best that she suggested this site ( and failed to warn that it was a steep climb) and it was easy for me to move into a slightly paranoid (well, slightly would be an understatement here) frame of mind where I imagined it as deliberate cruelty. For awhile as I struggled with the climb I was mentally composing letters to her and her supervisor. Then I thought of the Ribbon Falls story in which people in darkness spit on, urinate on, step on one another because they cannot see each other. As my mind obsessed with revenge fantasies (letters), I also told myself this woman was living in that world of darkness. She could not see me. I began to think this tough hike at the end of a very long hiking day was part of the pilgrimage. I have thought about the pilgrimage in relation to different stories: redemption/transformation, tragedy, hero's journey. But the story of human cruelty is another story (the pre-story to the redemption one) and perhaps the story that had troubled me most in my life. 

As I walked up the steep trail and wondered if I could climb two steep miles before the sun set and it got dark (and feeling this trail would not be safe in the dark with a headlamp, nor could I see well enough to find a tentsite) I kept thinking this is part of the pilgrimage. The important thing is not whether this woman intended cruelty, or how to retaliate. I thought of aikido: receiving the energy of the attacker and flowing with it, not opposing it, but going with it and gently guiding it in a direction that protects both self and attacker from harm. My challenge for this part of the pilgrimage - to receive the energy that directed me to this campsite. Not fight or oppose it. 

Slowly I realized I was hiking through great beauty to a campsite where I would have a solitary experience of a very crowded Grand Canyon. 

Photo 1 shows my tent at the campsite. 

 

Photos 2, 3 and 4 show the stunning views as I approached the campsite. 

 

 

 

Oh trail Friends today was a very full day. So much happened as I walked this beautiful canyon. I can't imagine how I will tell you about it or how I will choose from the 50 or more photos I took a few to share with you. 

Tomorrow is a rest day (mostly - the hike down these 2 steep miles, full of loose rocks, will not be quick and easy. But basically it is a short hike to the other campground and then I have a day for rest and contemplation. I am curious whether I will spend  it here in beautiful solitude or if I will be in a hurry to go there and choose a site and get my tent set up. 

Let's end this part 1 - which is all I will try to write tonight - with a picture of three hikers I met early yesterday morning at god backcountry office (they were the one group that arrived before I did.) they were warm and kind from the start, directing me to a restroom and watching my oack while I was give. We encountered each other at least three different times on the trail today (the North Kaibab - the one that leads to the north rim and also to Ribbon Falls). They are from LA and before that Guatemala. The two men Hernan and Percy went to high school together in Guatemala. Lorena is Hernan's sister. Hernan has hiked the Grand Canyon many times but this was the first time for the other two. He was sharing his passion with them. Warm kind people- always a pleasure to encounter them. Hernan is on the right, he is Lorena's brother. I guess it's pretty obvious. 

 

I will write more tomorrow. Sweet dreams and happy dream trails. 

To be continued in Day 50, part 2.