Grand Year

Well it was about one year ago that I was lucky enough to experience a hikein the Grand Canyon.  It seems like it was just yesterday.  I don’tthink I’ll ever forget John Harrington hike back down the canyon to help me out, orGreg Clark acting as the human crutch to help me get out of the Canyon with my blownout knee.  What a great group of people.  Nicole Anderson continues to inspireme with her writing, Denise andBrandon are constantly teaching me new things about life (and sometimes photography), Hollyand John are getting ready to have their first child - now that’s going to be an adventure! Greg and Melissa are busy being parents, and their doing a great job;I wish everyone could meet their kids.Here’s a picture from our GrandCanyon adventure to commemorate the one year anniversary.

Posted by admin Posted in: Hiking, Photography No Comments » October 2004

Nahanni Odyssey

Photo Copyright 2003 Stan WhiteHere’s a very interesting photo journey about canoeing and backpacking in the CanadianNorthwest Territories.  This is written by Stan and Jewel White.  Thesite has some awesome pictures and it’s a very interesting read.  I’m goingto have to figure out how to take this trip myself.Click here to begin the journeyClick here to see more of Stan White’s photography.

Posted by admin Posted in: Hiking, Photography No Comments » June 2004

The Superstitions

Here’s a picture that my friend CecilWalker took of the Superstition mountains.  These mountains are just northof my house.  I actually climbed to the top of these mountains with my friendGreg.  It’s cool to see them from this perspective.Check out Cecil’s photography website.  He has some pretty amazing pictures. I think my favorite is his black and white of SlotCanyon.  He’s a professional motorsports photographer - so if you’re intocars you’ll love his pictures.

• Click here to go to ProMotionPhoto,Cecil’s motorsports website.
• Click here to see someof my pictures of Scenic Arizona.

Posted by admin Posted in: Hiking, Photography No Comments » May 2004

What an adventure!

  

Well, I made it back from the Canyon alive.  What an adventure!  The Canyonadventure began Saturday morning at the south rim.  I hiked with 7 others, allgreat people.  All are inspiring to me.  They were: Greg & Melissa Clark, Denise& Brandon Bohling, Chad Binder, John Harrington, and Nicole Anderson. We also had a crew of non-hikers: Diane, Holly (John’s wife), and Greg’skids and parents.

We headed down the Kaibab trail around 8:30.  The first 5 miles went very quickly. The scenery was gorgeous and we took plenty of breaks for pictures.  After the5 mile mark we were well into the canyon.  We hit the Tonto trail and began headingeast toward the Bright Angel trail.  The Tonto was a nice easy 5 mile trail. We saw creeks that fed the Colorado and huge green trees.  I tried my best toget some pictures but they just don’t capture the amazing scenery.

It was a blast hiking and chatting with this group of people.  Everyone has somethinginteresting to talk about.  Nicole and Chad are both training to run the marathon. Chad just used this hike as a warm up (he’s in really great shape). If you want to get to know someone I suggest hiking the Grand Canyon.

After a few hours we hit the Bright Angel trail.  We hiked a few minutes andthen took a good long rest at Indian Gardens.  Indian Gardens is 4.5 miles fromthe end of the trail.  It’s ALL uphill from Indian Gardens.  As webegan to hike out of the Canyon my right knee began to hurt.  At the 3 milesto go mark things started to get really bad.  By this time we’d split intothree groups; Chad and Brandon in the lead, everyone else, and me lagging behind. I would catch up to the middle group and then rest while they continued on. After two or three times it was apparent that I could not keep up.

To try to make things easier I emptied one of my water bottles and Greg took my cameragear.  By this time Diane was in radio range and I could tell her what was happening. Luckily we had all planned ahead and almost everyone had a radio so we could keepin contact.  At the 2 miles to go mark my right knee got so bad that I couldn’tput any weight on it.  I was alone at this point and Greg had carried my cameragear up to the middle group.  Denise took my gear and carried it the restof the way out of the Canyon.

Then John hiked BACK down to where I was and got my backpack.  He hiked the restof the way out of the Canyon with both his pack and my pack.  All thatI carried was my water bottle.  Greg and Melissa hiked down and Melissa tapedmy knee to try to ease the pain.  Then Greg, Melissa, and I continued upward. Diane was at the top of the trail getting constant updates and coordinating everything. She was giving updates to Greg’s family so they would understand why they werelate getting out of the Canyon; she was also giving me encouraging words as I hobbledup the trail.

At the steepest sections of the trail I had to use Greg as a crutch to get over thesteps.  And after 3 hours of climbing we finally made it to the top.  Brandonand Chad were both at the top to greet us.  Brandon had to help me walk to thelodge where all my gear was.  My knee just wouldn’t work.

The entire hike was about 15 miles and took about 9 hours for me to complete. A couple hours after the hike we all got together at a steak house just outside thepark.  We sat around, tired and weary, and talked about what a great hike we’dhad.  I will definitely do it again!  It was an awesome experience and thepain was worth it.

I plan on posting pictures from the hike tonight. [update: I posted somepics.  Click here tosee them]

Don’t miss Brandon’sblog entry about the hike either!

Posted by admin Posted in: Hiking No Comments » November 2003

The Canyon Awaits

Tomorrow I’ll be heading up to the Grand Canyon.  I’m going with Diane, Gregand Melissa, Brandon and Denise, John and Holly, and Nicole.  Tomorrow Dianeand I will take our time, enjoy the ride, and arrive at the South Rim of the Canyonin plenty of time to get in a small warm-up hike and see the sunset.  And thenwe’ll get some rest for the big day.Saturday morning I’ll be meeting up with the rest of the crew and we’ll begin ourhike into the canyon.  15 miles!  I have to admit that after readingthis disclaimer I was more than a little nervous.  The ascent is 4420 verticalfeet, that’s over four trips up the empire state building to the observation deck. This is not going to be a stroll in the park.  It’s going to be difficult, it’sgoing to be wonderful.I plan on taking my camera as a luxury item.  I’ll also be packing about 4.5liters of water, first aid kit, a radio, rain gear, crampons, cold weather layers(jacket, and shell), trekking poles, energy bars, and fruit.  That’s about 20+pounds of equipment. 14 pounds of water!  I’ll use every bit.I guess the question on your mind is “why would you do that?”.  In 1922  SirHillary failed his summit attempt on everest. After returning he traveledmany parts of Britain to advertise and campaign for his 1924 attempt. Many peopleasked him about the use of climbing Mount Everest? His answer was: “The first questionwhich you will ask and which I must try to answer is this, ‘What is the use of climbingMount Everest ?’ and my answer must at once be, ‘It is no use’. There is not the slightestprospect of any gain whatsoever. Oh, we may learn a little about the behavior of thehuman body at high altitudes, and possibly medical men may turn our observation tosome account for the purposes of aviation. But otherwise nothing will come of it.We shall not bring back a single bit of gold or silver, not a gem, nor any coal oriron. We shall not find a single foot of earth that can be planted with crops to raisefood. It’s no use. So, if you cannot understand that there is something in man whichresponds to the challenge of this mountain and goes out to meet it, that the struggleis the struggle of life itself upward and forever upward, then you won’t see why wego. What we get from this adventure is just sheer joy. And joy is, after all, theend of life. We do not live to eat and make money. We eat and make money to be ableto enjoy life. That is what life means and what life is for.”I think Hillary was onto something when he said that “joy is, after all, the end oflife.”  He was close, but he missed it by a bit.  I like what JohnPiper wrote, “The chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying him forever.” I’d rather set my affections toward the Creator who is eternal than toward an emotionthat is fleeting.  Look at what the Apostle Paul wrote, “May the God of hopefill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow withhope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”Joy, peace, hope, power.  I’ll take that.So what does all this have to do with hiking down the Grand Canyon?  I can’tspeak for the others in the group, but for me the hike is a metaphor for life itself. It’s a journey with friends, it’s difficult, it’s beautiful, it’s something that youcan’t do alone, and so much more.  I look forward to the exhaustion at the endof the day, when I’ll be able to sit down at the edge of the canyon and watch thesun go down and rejoice with all creation.When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mountof Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voicesfor all the miracles they had seen: “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”"Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”"I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”I’d rather Him hear it from me.

Posted by admin Posted in: God, Hiking No Comments » November 2003

Destination: Grand Canyon!

Next weekend I’ll be heading out with a bunch of friends to hike the Grand Canyon. Well, not the entire canyon, just a small portion of it.  I’ll be heading outwith Diane, Greg and Melissa, Brandon and Denise, and a few others.  Here’s ourplan:

• SouthKaibab to Tonto = 4.4 miles (4000 ft elevation loss)

• Tontoto Bright Angel = 4.5 miles

• BrightAngel to South Rim = 6.1 miles   (3781 ft elevation gain)

• Dayhike total: 15 miles (or 13.8 miles thischart)

We’ll be staying at MaswikLodge just a 1/4 mile from the Canyon.  I can’t wait!  You can see picturesof the Bohlings’ last Canyon hike ontheir website.  I’ll try my best to get some pictures too.

Stay tuned for updatesnext week.

Posted by admin Posted in: Hiking, News No Comments » October 2003

Flatiron

  On Saturday morning my friend Greg and I hiked up Flatiron. This is a hike that is up all the way.  We gained just under 3,000 feet in elevationon our hike, most of it in the last mile.  The views were breathtaking. In fact once we got to the top we decided to go higher.  We hiked up until therewas nothing higher to climb.  We were way up there!Our climb took a few hours because I was so out of shape.  The total hike wasabout 7 hours long.  After I got home I could barely walk.  My joints stillhurt.  But it was worth it.  You can see some of the pictures I took inmy Scenic Arizona photoalbum.I’m planning on a big hike into the Grand Canyon next month, so I’m trying to getin shape.  I’m looking forward to the canyon hike, it should be really amazing. I’m going with Brandon and Denise Bohling.  They have pictures of their lastcanyon hike on theirwebsite.  I’m planning on a hike about twice a week in preparation for thecanyon.  I’ll post photos ofeach hike so you can enjoy the amazing Arizona scenery.

Posted by admin Posted in: Hiking, News, Photography No Comments » October 2003