ALL HIKERS

DAY 4: INDIAN GARDEN TO SOUTH RIM

     For the first time during the trip, Dennis snored like a horse all night long.  The deer were also active during the night rummaging for food throughout the campsites.  Between the deer and Dennis, I got absolutely no sleep.  After my last peanut butter and jelly sandwich for breakfast, we pack our gear, and begin the hike to the rim.  Between the 3 mile rest house and the 1.5 mile rest house, a father and his son overtake us from below.  They are carrying no gear as they have come all the way from Phantom Ranch that morning.  I wonder what time they left.  It must have been really early.  The son looks about my age and the father is walking with the aid of a cane.  We ask the father if he minds telling us his age.  He responds that he is 75 and this is his 35th time to hike to the bottom of the Canyon.  Like the old man going up the corkscrew section, they hobble off into the distance, quickly leaving us behind, never to be seen again.  Ah, we have learned a lot of humility this trip.

 

 
 

Richard near South Rim
10-12-2001

 

     As we approach the rim, I get Dennis to take my picture in one of the small tunnels.  Dennis swears he saw Bruce Willis hiking down, but I am skeptical.  We stop at the Lookout Studio at the top for a memento of the trip - a coffee mug proclaiming we had hiked the Canyon.

 

 
 

Richard at Lookout Studio
10-12-2001

 

     We proceed to the Bright Angel Lodge to await the Trans-Canyon shuttle ride back to the North Rim and our car.  Just like the shuttle ride last year, it takes five hours and arrives after dark.  Dennis and I begin the long drive back to Oklahoma.

MAIN INDEX | TRIP INDEX | BACK TO DAY 3 | FORWARD TO POSTSCRIPT

Copyright © Richard M. Perry, 2004-2023.  All rights reserved. This web site, its text, and pictures may not be copied without the express written consent of Richard M. Perry.