Monica, Devon, Ellen and I all met in the Flagstaff airport on the morning of October 16 and made our way out to the beautiful Grand Canyon.  We made time for lunch in Flag at the Pita Jungle and hit the great grocery store in right there before making the drive.

This trip started as a birthday celebration for yours truly and evolved into a great girls weekend that allowed us to share something we all love - the ability to run and see a lot in one push.  We filled up on the “Go girls!” comments we received up and down the canyon.  We took breaks, took our time, took care of each other and were continually blown away by the terrain we got to cover and the views we were rewarded with that day.

We started the morning fueled on caffeine, granola and yogurt and were giddy as we boarded the shuttle and rushed to make the transfer to the full bus of smiling and laughing faces at these four colorful girls half dancing, half sprinting from one bus to the other.  We moved along the trail well, made good time when running and enjoyed longer pauses when photos and eating took priority.  We took a ton of photos and I tried to document much of the day with video (hoping to piece something together soon!).  Dropping off from the South Kaibab trail is definitely the most dramatic and energy filled part of the day.  Our paces stayed close and we switched leaders all the way down and soon found ourselves stopped dead in our tracks as two impressive rams blocked the trail just a few hundred yards before crossing thru the tunnel and across the Colorado River over the black bridge.  We talked kindly to them and waited for our turn to use that section of trail.

Through the tunnel and across the bridge and along the river into Phantom Ranch looking back we noticed two of our type quickly approaching.  While filling bladders and bottles at the Phantom Ranch spigot Don & Eric from Bozeman arrived and we all chatted before moving on and up the North Rim trail. 

I ran this same route 4 years ago for my 28th Birthday and was surprised at how much of the lower North Kaibab trail I’d forgotten.  There is a meandering stretch, likely 5 miles in length that is incredibly runnable and in the semi-cool of the mid-morning we worked together with Devon leading the charge to cover those miles pretty quickly.  I kept waiting for the trail to go up and after two hours or so we starting doing just that, hiking ensued as the heat picked up.  We ran across numerous hikers and a few more fellow runners coming from the north rim and continued plugging along staying relatively close together.

We noticed a green White River 50 shirt running towards us and in a few quick Q&A’s exchanged that we were from Seattle, he hailed from Seattle but now lived in San Diego and was running solo.  Just as he skirted off I asked about water on the north rim and was shocked and a little worried to find out it had already been shut off.  I’d always heard and the girls even read that November 1 was the shut off date.  Even though we tried to convince him that water was still supposed to be on, reality was he had just been there and confirmed that it wasn’t.  But not two seconds later a hiker was standing next to me with his backpack turned sideways offering me his nalgene.  I was stunned by the timing of it all and extremely thankful for this generosity on the trail.  The two guys offered us what they could spare.  In the time that it took for the water exchange we learned these two trail angels had recently returned from Iraq and were on a motorcycle excursion with a mission to raise money for injured war veterans.  We thanked them for their service and their kindness, exchanged blog links and photos and each continued on - us up to the North Rim and them down into the canyon.  The final trudge up is definitely steeper, hiking terrain and again we took turns pulling the group up the hill.  I happened to be in front when we rounded the corner to see the trail head signs and let out a little hoot to let the girls know we were at our half way point.

The Bozeman guys were there resting under the sign ignoring the swarming flies. Again thankful for the kindness of other hikers we were able to gather up enough water to get us back down the trail to Cottonwood springs for another full fill up.  The north rim was entertaining with Ellen’s mime-like sunscreen, Devon’s PB&J dance video and my mouth not being able to keep up with my mind causing me to speak in incomplete -mumbling sentences that had me laughing at myself.  Let’s just say that day we created entertainment for ourselves and whoever else happened to witness.

We headed back down the big hill recharged in the fact that we had water and wouldn’t have to suffer in the heat and enjoyed the views much more than we had on the four hour trek up.  We cruised down, our paces changing a bit as the miles added up and the long 14 mile descent panned out ahead.  We took breaks to regroup, took advantage of every water stop to refill and rinse off and got creative with video and picture taking.  We dunked our shirts in the creek to cool off and were excited to make it into Phantom Ranch for the much anticipated Lemmy’s (lemonade) and Snickers. 

Lots of photos and a some fun conversations with other hikers made for a nice long break in Phantom Ranch. One hiker called us a machine - which I loved, not machines, but one machine working together. 

The views along the river were beautiful, but our tired bodies weren’t snapping as many photos.  As the climbing started again we found that our paces were splitting us up.  We broke into pairs, Devon and I with the mission to run back and get treats and the car.  We figured the mileage all wrong in our sleepy state and the switchbacks crawled us up the canyon wall.  We watched the dirt beneath our feet change color and when we made the final transition from dusty red to grey we knew the south rim was near.  The evening light was brilliant and we paused for a photo looking back over the canyon, but then ran on trying to avoid pulling out our headlamps.  With just a few turns to go Devon spotted the lit up Bright Angel gift shop and we made ourselves run to the finish singing.  We received all of the “you are crazy” comments from various hikers in that final push, all the while we thought they were crazy for being out there at dusk, some heading down into the canyon without light or much more than the Keds on their feet.

At the top we still ran on (after one more quick photo) to the Yavapai Lodge to retrieve the car, coats and recovery treats.  Our eyes were bigger than our stomachs as we packed a large bag and headed back to the pre-determined meeting spot at El Tovar.  I ran in to the restaurant to tell the hostess that we would likely be a little late for our reservation feeling extremely dirty in this somewhat fancy establishment and when I returned the girls were there and we celebrated with laughs, hugs and treats.

Dinner was delicious, dessert even better, but the best part was spending three great days relaxing, running and chatting with three great friends.  Looking forward to another adventure soon!  Thanks for kicking off my birthday celebrations girls with such a special weekend. :)