During one of my Grand Canyon “practice hikes” through the mountains of Lafayette, IN, I thought of a catchy title for my September 2014 rim-to-rim hike:
“Grand Canyon—Grin to Grin.”
It seemed natural. I look forward to those hikes for months. I love each one. It’s a spiritual experience for me.
But I never fully comprehended how much thought, effort, and time goes into setting it all up. That work was mine to do this time—reserving accommodations at the bottom of the Canyon, then arranging flights, hotels, meals, and transportation to the Canyon.
It all seemed to go so smoothly when my good friend Dudley Burgess ’64 did all that work for our previous trips.
This time, we hadn’t even gotten out of Phoenix before we encountered the first of many unexpected obstacles. We arrived at the “Valley of the Sun” in the rain—the largest single day of rainfall in Phoenix history. The road we had driven to dinner the night before ended up under water the next morning. I couldn’t help but think it was an omen.
But the hike into the Canyon went off without a hitch. All six hikers made it down well before the Cantina closed—always a goal.
On our second night at dinner, several folks at Bright Angel Camp asked us about our plans to hike out. We told them we were headed up the North Kaibab trail. Most folks seemed surprised.
“How many days are you taking?”
“We’re hiking all the way out,” I replied matter-of-factly.
“Wow!” was the most common comeback.
I wasn’t too worried, though. We had 14 miles to cover, only four more than hiking out Bright Angel. Yes, we were going to cover a mile in elevation change, but that was only 1,400 feet more than Bright Angel, as well.
It looked good on paper.
Then the unexpected moments began to pile up. There was an up-close-and-personal encounter with a rattlesnake, a sound described by my son Chris ’94 as “a cicada on steroids.” A mislabeled sign that led us to believe we were closer to the rim than we actually were. One hiker’s nagging knee problems meant my son, Jeremy, had to carry two packs.
And then came the switchbacks; 4.7 miles of steep trail zigzagging its way, hairpin turn after hairpin turn, up the canyon wall. We passed a couple of hikers on their way down. I asked how long they had been on the trail.
”Do you really want to know?”
“Not really, but—yes.”
“Two hours” was the response. That meant at least four more hours for us.
At this point I was at the back of the pack—just like Dudley had taught me. He liked to be the sweeper, making sure everyone was in front of him. And this time, that work, too, was mine. That meant I moved not at my own pace, but the pace of the slowest hiker.
And it was a grind. I watched my feet on the trail, one foot in front of the other, trying not look up to see how far we had left
to go. When we entered the Aspen and pine grove, I knew we were close. But the switchbacks just kept coming.
Finally I rounded a corner and Jeremy was standing there, facing our direction. “Chris is just around the corner” he said. “He can see Mom at the trailhead.” Jeremy quietly handed the pack back to our friend with the knee problem and walked over to me.
Every emotion under the sun hit me…hard. We did it. Rim- to-rim, the LONG way—24 miles total in and out.
Even though Chris could see the end of the trail, he waited for Jeremy and I. We hiked the final section side by side, a father and his sons. We go in as a team and out as team. Dudley taught us that one, too.
At the top, my lovely bride Carol asked if I was ready to go again. I said I wasn’t so sure this time. The hike had been real work—from the planning to the inevitable changes to the grind on the way out. “Grand Canyon—Grin to Grind.”
By that evening though, cleaned up and sitting at the Grand Canyon Lodge on the north rim and equipped with a little TWR— I was grinning again. The Grunge, at 65 years young, had done it. Give me that rim-to-rim merit badge!
Real work…for sure. Worth it? Absolutely. Will I go again? God willing, I will.
It wasn’t easy…but it was worth it. Seems I’ve heard that somewhere else before.
—Grunge
Tom Runge ’71, director, Alumni and Parent Programs, runget@wabash.edu