We Reached the (Inverse) Summit

What is the opposite of the summit, anyway? And it's a canyon, so the feat of accomplishment is reaching the bottom, not the top. So how do you express that? We reached the...the basement?...the pit?...the lowland?

Anyway, we set out for the bottom. We intended to go all the way to Phantom Ranch, but once we got to the river we saw a sign that said it was still 2 more miles. Screw that! The bottom is the bottom and I was happy with hanging out on the beach.

We set out on the Bright Angel Trail again, following the Bright Angel Creek which has lots of trees and birdies.

I was in sore shape. I mean, literally sore. So we walked slowly and took a ton of breaks. We didn't take any scenery photos when we trekked through the corkscrew section, but when we finally reached the bottom we were happy to see the water and we got a some good shots.

In this one I am crossing my legs a bit 'cause I really have to pee. I had to find a bush.

We hung out at the beach which was a little weird because I never think of there being a beach at the river. It was sandy and everything. Which, I guess makes sense, considering a lot of the canyon is sandstone. So Joe set the timer on the camera, placed it on some Vishnu Schist and jumped over next to me just in time...but oh! wait! Aw, missed it. Didn't get the hat turned forward in time. He looks very disappointed.

OK, take 2.

We hung out for a while, but then faced the dreaded hike back. I was in bad shape and I think I was starting to feel the heat. The drudgery of hiking back up to Indian Gardens (only 3.4 miles) seemed to take forever, and I felt every step. If there ever was a time for a flying carpet, or teleportation, or a jet pack to exist, this was it. At one point fit couple wearing workout clothes, carrying nothing, including water, passed us at a brisk pace. They asked how much father to the top and we said it was about 5 miles. They said thanks, they were going to try to make it in 2 hours. Um. Yeah. I was hoping to make it the last .5 miles to Indian Gardens in 2 hours. I couldn't wait to get "home."

That was a rough day. I was really glad to rest and not have to bend at the ankle anymore. At this point I was really wishing we had made arrangements to come back up on a mule.