Tee Up To Whom It May Concern by Underoath.
A monster song for a monster adventure.
Earned Epic
As I sat at the backcountry office, I was the last in line of 15 people. The ranger told me I had a very small chance of earning my spot on the trail today, but I held my confidence that it would work out somehow. People were getting turned away, and many people got their permits for tomorrow. A couple came to me as I was writing and asked if I wanted to join them, as I had let the ranger know I was looking for a 2 day one night trek. It's what I got, and I was ready to rock and roll.
I'm now sitting at the Colorado River after a monstrous 15 mile hike. The biggest / gnarliest hike I've ever done. 0% chance I could have gone full sendy and done this one in a day. It took me 7.5 hours and I'm exhausted. I can feel all the pain in my legs and shoulders. Can't really believe I'm running it back and doing another 15 miles tomorrow. I knew it was going to painful, and pain what was what I wanted.
The South and North rim of the Grand Canyon couldn't be more different. A very pleasant surprise that caught me off guard. The South Rim is big epic sweeping canyon views, the Grand Canyon I expected. Way more epic and huge and vast in person than in pictures, but essentially the same view across the entire stretch of the South Rim. The North Rim was a different beast. Tons of vegetation, water, and diversity. It was like 10 different hikes in one. It had stretches of epic streams and waterfalls, similar to Havasupai. Long trails carved into massive mountain cliffs, similar to Angels Landing. Huge rock features covered in vegetation, similar to the Nepali Coast. A lot of different flavors of cool.
The first couple miles were amazing. There was one mile of elevation change in the first 5 miles, and it was STEEP. I was still on a high from this past weekend and dancing my way down the mountain. The poor people battling the 5 mile stretch up were loosely / not amused by my dancing, as you could see the pain all over their faces and bodies. With each big drop in elevation, and with each different curve on the mountain, there was a new construction of rocks, cliffs, vegetation and views. Narrow trails carved into the mountain for miles. Whoever had the ambition to create that hiking trail has my upmost respect. It was tight.
The final couple miles were what really took the cake. A flat stretch which was very much appreciated, with a creek that ran through the valley -- a very welcome pit stop every couple miles. A time to stretch, take a 20 minute cat nap via Sensate, and give my ankles and knees a needed rest and cold soak.
Thank god for the belly buckle on my backpack. Without that I woulda been toast.
7.5 hours on a strenuous hike is no joke. That's a lot of thinking time. I needed that after this past weekend.
I went from unpacking emotions.
To unpacking inspiration.
I will take that.
As I neared the final stretch, Julia by Fred Again came on. I cried. I just miss her so much. She was the one person I wanted with me in that moment. "And I just want to be with you" repeating over and over in the song. I couldn't help myself. A fitting title with a fitting hook. So much emotion pouring out of me. A beautiful thing.
I still gotta complete the mission, only half way done. But I'm stoked to keep stacking these epic 2 day one night nature experiences. So rich and beautiful and fun and inspiring.
The last 5 miles is going to be a doozy tomorrow. I love the power push up the mountain when it's super steep. It's a challenge. Embrace the challenge. Love the grind. Mamba mentality. It's fun for me -- I like the pain. I'm stoked.
Day Two
In the middle of the night I shot up in my tent, my body was having a panick attack. My throat swelling up. My stomach swirling, I felt I needed to puke. I had body aches coming on, cold sweats. I was scared. Convinced that COVID was quickly attacking my body (a fair thought after a rave), I was in trouble. I had a daunting hike ahead of me. This was not good.
After a very challenging battle through the night, with spotty sleep and scary thoughts swirling through my head, I knew that I needed to get my mind right. I woke up at 6:00, loaded up on carbs (a peanut butter, banana, trail mix burrito, my speciality). By 7:00 I was ready to rock and roll. Let's fucking do this thing.
It was important to find a good rhythm early. It was going to be a very long hike and I was extremely sore before it even began. I needed to crush some serious mileage early in the day to build momentum. For me, no better way to do that than some mind crushing metal. Loud. Aggressive. Zoned. I pulled out my #1 for the occasion. Define The Great Line. Start to finish, that album crushed the first hour of my hike. Harnessing the raw power and energy of the Grand Canyon, ruthless and unforgiving. I found a great pace and crushed the flat 8 mile stetch in under 3 hours with no stops. Stoked.
The next 6 miles were grueling. All uphill, only getting steeper with each mile, 6,000 feet of elevation. My body was in extreme pain, but this was a mental test. I had really run out of gas around the 12 mile mark. I was struggling. Steep vertical switchbacks for the final 3 miles, gruelling. I couldn't even do any rest / pit stops because my body would so quickly become stale, which would intensify the pain. It was a charge to the top. No easy buckets. I tried out no music, which was a strong no go. All I could think about was how badly every part of my body hurt. I needed to dig deeper and find another wave, squeeze out ever ounce of juice in the tank.
Run it back. Define The Great Line helped pull out all I had left in the tank. The driving force of energy that took me to the finish line. Crushing my skull with the best metal has to offer. Digging deep. Finding new sources of energy and will. The mental fortitude I needed was found.
The moment of the day was at the 2:53-3:03 timestamp of To Whom It May Concern. Standing above the vast rolling canyon, less than a mile from my car. Completely gassed. Standing victorious, on top of the world. It was a grueling fight. I had won. The sound of winning.
This song has a knack for getting into the depths of my soul. No other song does it like this song. A fitting title song to the biggest hike I've ever taken on.
The ominous hook -- "At the end of the road, you'll find what you've been longing for". A nod to hope and a belief that it's all going to come together.
If you're ever interested in doing the Grand Canyon hike, do it over 3-4 nights. There was so much cool shit to explore, and I would have liked to have a slower pace to check out all the waterfalls, hang out in the creek pools, and spent some time relaxing. Permits are a bit tricky, but worth the time to figure it out.
This was a scoping mish, and a successful one. The thing with a scoping mish is that you kinda just have to throw yourself into the mix to figure out how it works. I did a lot of reading online about hiking the North Rim / Kabob Trail and I couldn't really wrap my head around it. I kept reading -- long, steep, gnarly, difficult, epic. Seeing it in person, it was certainly all of those things, but now I really understand the composition of it. How it works in practice versus in theory. The Round 1 scope always has it's own unique flavor of awesome. It's the first eyes on the beauty, you never forget the first run. It's rarely optimized, but special because its the first. Round 2 is far more optimized and curated, which provides a different flavor of awesome. I've got it on dial for Round 2 and that's a big win. Stoked to run it back, and experience the glory of the Grand Canyon with the homies one day.
Over the two days at the rave and the two days in the Grand Canyon my phone is telling me I've taken 145,989 steps. Gnarly. I need to rest my legs. Lots of tylenol, hopefully finding a cold plunge, hot tub, steam room, sauna combo tomorrow. That'll really hit the spot and get me ready for the grand finale of this leg. ZION!