Tuesday morning we left at about 4 in the morning. My parents are big on getting an early start for the long road trips and it was a pretty smooth trip. My parents took care of all the driving and John and I just hung out in the back of the van. We put the middle seat down and had something like a bed on wheels, complete with an entertainment system provided by my laptop. Not a bad way to travel. I felt decent most of the way though it was tiring to be in the car for so long. The trip took a little over 9 hours. The lemony/metallic taste was rather prevalent in my mouth most of the way which was a little unpleasant. I just felt a little funny, not 100%, which was almost certainly chemo related. Towards the end, I just wanted some real food (not snacks) and, as Eva knows, I can be pretty unpleasant to be around when I am hungry. John and my parents handled me well. After we checked out the Canyon from the rim, we went to the market and I got myself a sandwich. The canyon is spectacular and is definitely a must if you have never seen it. I could never do it justice trying to describe it. Probably the most powerful aspect about it is how it impacts the thoughts and notions you have about yourself. Its incredible beauty and expanse really puts things into perspective.
After a few final preparations for the hike, we got settled into our hotel room and made our way over to the cafeteria for dinner. It has always amazed me about how much information total strangers will present to you with little or no prompting. In a matter of about 3 minutes, I had learned a considerable amount about the life and history of the woman serving the pasta. I merely asked for the penne with alfredo sauce and this got her on a track that would start with a warning that the white sauce was not very good, that the cook would not even eat it, moved onto tell me that her son was a cook, had been to a fine culinary school (the same one as Wolfgang Puck), had been a cook there at Grand Canyon Village but left when his girlfriend got fired and they told him he really could not continue to be a cook because he had the shakes or something. The woman herself had also been a cook for a while but did not really like it all that much. I just sort of stood there as she went on. It seemed like she needed to tell someone all this and I happened to be that person. I only wonder if she tells everyone that she serves pasta to this entire story. Just know that, if you are short on time, it might be a better move to go for a burrito. After dinner, we all settled in pretty quick as it had been a long day of traveling and the next day was going to be a long day of hiking.
We got up pretty early and were on the trail about 8:30am. We opted to take the South Kaibob trail down and planned to take the Bright Angel trail back up. It had snowed over night and continued to snow in the morning which made us feel that much more hardcore. John was sporting the now popular “shorts over the tights” look, which was much admired by my father. It was a little cold and windy as we made our decent, but we were prepared for it and it was probably a lot nicer than if it was 110 degrees out. There was a bit of snow on the ground but, luckily, not really any ice. Most of the canyon was obscured by the clouds at the beginning of the trail, but it slowly opened up as we made our way further into the wilderness. It has to be said again, the views are truly spectacular. I just love it. The beauty sort of calms me, helps me relax, and think that everything is going to be OK. It is nice to be able to take a deep breath and relax a bit from time to time.
We stopped for lunch about halfway down. We found a nice little spot with a pretty nice view into the inner canyon. We could even see our destination, Phantom Ranch. Saltines, salami, and cheese – what a lunch. Somehow that combination is just unbeatable when you are out in the woods, or in this case, a canyon. John used to be the “Cracker Challenge” champion in college and he got a little excited when I brought out the crackers for lunch. The question of whether or not he could still do the challenge was all the invitation necessary to get him to attempt it then and there. If you have never heard of the Cracker Challenge, the basic idea is to eat 6 saltine crackers in 1 minute without drinking any fluids. If it sounds easy, I will bet you $10 you cannot do it. Just tell me when and where and you can be sure my money will be on the table. My dad tried it once in a restaurant and only got through 2 crackers when this look of realization came over his face- he gave-up and went for his wine. Check out the video to see if John accomplishes this amazing feat and remains a Cracker Challenge Champion.
The rest of the hike was nice and the weather was actually pretty pleasant on our way down into the canyon. It had stopped snowing and the sun even came out a bit. At the bottom, we crossed over a bridge and got to talk to a guy that was on a raft trip through the canyon. It was really interesting talking to him and brought back a lot of memories from when my father and I rafted through the Grand Canyon. Our trip was 18 days in the summer and was just an amazing experience. One of, if not the, best trips of my life. The winter trips have a couple extra things going for them one has to weigh against the idea of probably being cold for the entire trip. You can go longer (I think up to 30 days), collect wood and build campfires, and you have the river virtually to yourself. It was an amazing experience in the summer and we saw a whole lot less people than almost anywhere else in the world, but in the winter the solitude is even more dramatic. These guys had been on the river for 10 days and not seen anyone else. Pretty wild when you think about it. This would have appealed to me pre-diagnosis, but these days, it is a bit depressing knowing that it is just too much of a risk to be so far away from medical facilities for so long. It will be a pretty amazing milestone, if someday, I will feel confident enough in my health to go on a weeklong camping trip.
After we crossed the river, it was just another quarter mile to Phantom Ranch. My father had managed to pick-up a cancellation a few weeks ago so we got to stay in a little cabin. How he got the cabin, I do not know. I have called and asked for cancellations and just been laughed at. They open up reservations for each month on the first day of the month, a year in advance and the whole month is usually booked in those first few days (for the following year). I was just stoked to be down there. I had been to Phantom twice before. Once camping with the folks when I was a kid and then once on the river trip. It is a really special place. Something like 3 million people a year visit the rim of the canyon but only a small fraction of those ever make it down to the river below.
We got to the ranch in the afternoon and hung out in the mess hall/ game room/ cantina for a while. My father was the Texas Hold-em champion and managed to take a handful or two of pretzels off of both John and me. I regained my confidence by working the group at hearts. Later, we got cleaned up for dinner in the shower house. This was a major benefit to staying at the ranch. I just felt bad for all those poor dirty campers. The showers were in a nice heated room and the water was wonderful. There is nothing like a hot shower after hiking all day. Dinner was awesome. It was a steak dinner with a baked potato, corn, peas, corn bread, and a salad. Food always tastes better when camping, but that steak was truly incredible. I even had glass of wine with the meal just to celebrate life and surviving the way down. The little cabin was pretty cool. Just a couple bunk beds, a desk, and a toilette. The beds seemed a bit precarious and it was not until we were about to leave, the next morning, that my father noticed the wood railings resting up against the wall. Luckily, neither my father nor I had any trouble staying centered on those skinny little beds during the night.
Wow, was I sore the next day. We had breakfast at the mess hall again and it was another wonderful meal. I love big breakfasts and this one fit the bill with pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, and mandarin oranges. We got talking to another couple a breakfast that were quite an interesting pair. They were from Chicago and had done a multi-day road trip to get to the canyon and then hike down to phantom ranch. They were telling us about some of the stops along the way like an ostrich farm, a restaurant in Missouri where the waiters throw rolls at you, and the second largest cross in America (it is in Texas if you are curious). Once you got them going, there was no stopping them. The clean-up guy had to kick us out. A little odd, but, nonetheless, pretty interesting.
We got on our way about 8 in the morning for the long trip out of the canyon. We opted for the Bright Angel trail because, though it is a few miles longer, the trail is less steep, it is somewhat protected from the sun, and actually runs next to a stream for the lower half. Before we left the bottom, I went and touched the river and splashed a little water over my head. I think that deep down I hope that maybe the water will wash away the cancer from within my body. I used to be so logical, a freaking engineer, now look at me. I also kid with Eva sometimes about doing a cancer dance to get it out of my body. Hey, some of the chemo regimens don’t seem to have any more rhyme or reason. More often than you would like, when you look for information about the method of action about a certain chemo, the answers are along the lines of “We don’t know what happens, but people seem to live a bit longer when they take this.” I usually just reply, “Well OK, bottoms up.” or “Here’s a good vein” (depending on the preferred method of poison delivery).
We made it up to Indian Gardens, the halfway point by about noon. The squirrels there were braver than any squirrels I have ever seen. One almost went inside my dad’s backpack that was only about 2 feet from all of us. I continued to enjoy my salami and cheese on crackers and we had a nice lunch. The second half was definitely the tougher half but we just took it slow. The whole time, in the back of my mind, was that I really did not want to inflict any more lung fibrosis upon myself. I had gotten Taxotere, the likely culprit for the first bit of lung fibrosis, only 4 days before the hike out, and I tried really hard during the hike to keep my breathing under control. I knew that I would get the finger if I went back to Eva coughing (not the middle finger, the index finger of contempt and disappointment). There was no water between Indian Gardens and the rim but it was a good temperature to hike so that was not really an issue (during the summer they bring down water to the 1.5 mile and 3 mile rest houses). In the last mile or two, we would have to stop so that I could catch my breath about every 5 or 10 minutes. I figured that it just gave us an excuse to stop and enjoy the view. On the way out we saw both deer and goats. It was pretty neat, the goats were just sort of hanging out on the trail and we actually could get closer to them than when I was at the zoo the weekend before. It is always exciting to see some wildlife.
By about a quarter after 4, we were back on the rim. It was a pretty tiring couple of days (7 miles down and about 9.5 back up with a 4500 foot elevation difference between the rim and the river) but certainly worth it. I always feel calmed when I get to witness such natural beauty. I did miss my wife but hopefully we will make it back there together someday. It would be an exciting destination if I can finish up my pilot’s license. We got a bite to eat, showered off at the campground (nice warm showers, sweet), and then got started on our way back to LA. My parents, once again, took the wheel for which I am very appreciative. They certainly made it easy for John and me. We pulled in sometime around 2am. Needless to say, I was pretty exhausted for a few days and my sleeping rhythm was shaken a bit.
Here we are back at the top.
Live Strong,
TN
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