BECAUSE IT'S THERE

Our oldest, Dallas, had his wisdom teeth pulled this past week in preparation for missionary service. When I arrived home from work, I found him lying on the sofa. I think he was asleep, still under the effects of the anesthesia.

Kamryn came up to me and gave me a hug, as she often does upon my return from work. Then she asked me, "Do you know what Dallas did when he got home from the dentist?"

"What?" I asked.

"He asked me and Kelsey to play cards with him."

"Oh?" I questioned.

"Yeah. That's rather unusual for Dallas", she replied.;

Indeed.

A little while later, we gathered at the table for dinner and asked Dallas if he wanted to join us. Much to my surprise, he did. I thought he would prefer to continue resting. The rest of us had some solid foods for dinner. Dallas had a cup of yogurt and some pudding in front of him. A few minutes into dinner, I heard Kamryn call Dallas' name.

"Dallas?" Silence.

I looked up and Dallas appeared to be sound asleep sitting in his chair. We all smiled at one another and Kamryn called again, "Dallas!"

Dallas opened his eyes and asked, "What?" We told him he had fallen asleep.

A few seconds later, Kamryn again said, "Dallas." Again, he had fallen asleep at the table. He woke up again, and this time took a spoonful of his yogurt. Half of it made it into his mouth, the other half began running down his still-numb lip and chin. We all started laughing. It was made all the more funny when he asked "What?", clearly not knowing what was going on. I was moved to tears it was so funny. That and the fact that this mellowness was a side of Dallas we had not seen in some time. It was refreshing.

He wiped his chin, which apparently took more energy than he had available because he promptly fell asleep again. We woke him again and he took another bite of yogurt. Same result. Half in the mouth, half down the chin. This time I went and got the camera.

Kelsey says its mean to post this photo, but I do it out of love!

We love you Dallas.

Back in mid-May, I and two of my brothers (Eric and Russell), embarked on quite the challenge. After much discussion and preparation, we attempted a rim-to-rim-to-rim hike of the Grand Canyon. For those that may not understand what that means, it is a hike starting on one side of the canyon, going across to the other side, then turning around and returning to the starting side.

In our case, our plan was to start on the south rim, go down the South Kaibab Trail, across the bottom, up the North Kaibab trail to the north rim, back down that same trail, back across the bottom, then up the Bright Angel Trail to the south rim. A total distance of 45 miles. Our goal was to complete the journey in under 24 hours because, as some who have made the trip have said, to complete the journey in anything over 24 hours is simply to go hiking in the canyon for two days. Heck, we wanted a challenge.

The following is one brother's (my) perspective.

The three of us prepared ourselves to varying degrees. We had some idea what we were getting into as all three of us have hiked in the canyon before, and we have all hiked rim to rim (24 miles) in a day on a number of occasions. For my part, I prepared by trying to do as much hiking and jogging as possible. I got serious about it at the first of the year and set a goal to be able to jog 10 miles non-stop. I reached that goal for the first time around the latter part of April. Just for good measure, I did a second 10-mile jog the first part of May. At that point, I felt I was as ready as I was going to be.

We left Phoenix the evening of May 13th. Dad was with us. He was going to meet a cousin of his at the south rim and spend some time hiking and waiting (and probably worrying) for the three of us. We went to Williams where Eric, Russ and I had a hotel room waiting for us. Dad spent the night out under the trees in Tusayan.

Friday morning, May 14th, after about the most horrible night's sleep I've ever had (I really don't think I slept at all), we got up, dressed and hit the road after grabbing a power breakfast at McDonalds. We met up with dad and his cousin, Bill Parker, in Tusayan and we went into the park. We left vehicles at one of the shuttle stops, hopped on the shuttle bus and rode to the trailhead for the South Kaibab Trail. After photos, last minute checks to be sure we had everything and last minute exhortations from dad to "be careful", we headed into the abyss at 8:27 AM, which was an hour or more later than we wanted to start, but which would end up being a perfect start time in the end.

It was a beautiful morning. It was a bit cold and overcast, but the sun shown through from time to time. Across the canyon to the north, we could see storm clouds brewing, which caused a little concern, but not enough to change our plans.

We made good time heading down hill. Parts of the trail are a little steep, requiring a little slower pace from time to time, but not bad. We had a schedule to keep with a list of the major features or stopping points along the trails and where we wanted to be (in terms of time) by the time we reached each spot.

We stopped just briefly a couple of times down the South Kaibab, the longest stop being about five minutes at the Tonto Trail junction. We reached the Colorado River, the seven mile mark, in 1:54; not too bad, but a few minutes behind schedule. We headed into Phantom Ranch for our first real rest. We refilled water bottles, ate a few snacks and rested for about 15 minutes, then headed onward.

Our next major goal was to reach Cottonwood Camp, another seven miles (14 miles into our trip), by the 4:30 mark. By this time, the sun was out, things were warming up and we moved quickly, averaging about three miles per hour across the bottom of the canyon. We passed the Ribbon Falls junction and not long after, hit Cottonwood Camp, pretty much on time. We left Cottonwood at the five hour mark, 14 miles into the journey, with seven miles remaining to the top of the north rim, the 1/2 way mark.

A little over one mile out of Cottonwood, I started to get tired. I began to lag behind Eric and Russ by 50 to 75 yards. Although they didn't say anything, I think they were beginning to worry about me and wonder to each other if I was going to be able to get out the north side, let alone make the return trip.

We passed Roaring Springs and continued onward. At about 6:30 into our hike, we were approximately four miles from the north rim. After reaching Supai Tunnel (two miles from the top), Russ pushed on ahead and Eric and I stuck together. We (Eric and I) reached the Coconino Overlook (one mile from top) at about 8:30 into the hike. Another 30 minutes and we reached the top, nine hours after starting this morning.

As luck would have it, a coworker of mine (Mark Norton) had some previous arrangements to do some work-related training on the north rim. That worked out well for us because he and his wife were able to take 1/2 of our supplies with them and by way of walkie-talkies, we were able to communicate with them before we reached the north rim, such that when we did arrive, they were waiting for us with our supplies. We had packed some cans of chicken chili, a small stove and pot, some camp chairs, extra clothing, etc. We had a much-needed 45 minute rest during which time we cooked a hot meal, replenished our supplies, changed into some dry clothing, and prepared for our return hike.

At approximately 6:15 PM, we headed back down into the abyss. We made good time going down hill, and by the time we reached Roaring Springs, we were about two hours ahead of our predetermined schedule. Things were also getting pretty dark in the canyon. We pulled out our headlamps, and headed on to Cottonwood Camp.

We reached Cottonwood Camp at about 12:30 into our hike and had a short break, then pressed forward toward Phantom Ranch.

We reached Phantom Ranch at about 11:40 PM, approximately 35 miles, 15 hours and 13 minutes into our hike. To say that we were tired is an understatement. We were beat. We had 10 more miles to go, it was almost midnight, our bodies were sore and crying for sleep. We rested at Phantom for about 20 minutes, refilled water containers, ate some food, doctored feet, slammed some extra strength Excedrin (a very close companion during this trip), and moved forward.

It is quite the experience crossing the footbridge over the Colorado River at 12:15 AM. Other than what is illuminated by your headlamp 5-10 feet in front of you, you cannot see anything. The next ten miles were fairly quiet; not as much talking as there had been earlier in our hike.

We crossed the Colorado, eventually made it to Devil's Corkscrew and then to Indian Gardens, where we rested a few minutes. With 4 1/2 miles remaining, Russ went on ahead and Eric and I stuck together. We made it to the 3 mile rest house, then the 1.5 mile resthouse, at which point Eric pressed forward as well.

In the end, I made it out of the Canyon at approximately 5:45 AM on Saturday, May 15, 2010, after 45 miles of hiking, having completed the journey in 21 hours and 20 minutes, roughly 20 minutes behind Russ and 10 minutes behind Eric.

It was a wonderful trip. Would I do it again? Absolutely!