Dear B2B Families,
This weekend we took a trip to one of the great natural wonders of the world, the Grand Canyon. Over the past few months we have explored many beautiful areas across Arizona and Utah, but we were all very excited for this trip.
Before the Grand Canyon, we spent Friday afternoon at East Clear Creek near Winslow, AZ. We hiked along the creek until we found a perfect spot for swimming and cliff jumping. After getting thoroughly cooked by the sun, we headed back to Flagstaff. We cooked dinner, ran a meeting at the house, and packed up for the Grand Canyon.
We woke up and left early on Saturday in order to claim a campsite in the park. After setting up camp, we hiked around as much of the rim of the canyon as we could. We hiked around and found plenty of great views of the canyon and the Colorado River, but the real fun would be the next day on the hike into the canyon. That evening we cooked dinner and had an AA meeting around the fire. Unlike our last few trips, the temperature was a little cooler at night which was great for getting to sleep.
The next morning we made breakfast at camp and got ready for a long hike. We set off on the Bright Angel trail down into the canyon. Instead of going all the way to the river, our goal was Plateau Point where hopefully we would have a great view of the Colorado River and both rims of the canyon. It’s only 6 miles from the rim of the canyon to Plateau Point, but it was nearly a 3100 foot drop in elevation. On the way down, we were feeling great, especially once we had passed most of the crowds of people who were only hiking at the top of the canyon. As we neared the point, we stopped at a section of the trail known as Indian Gardens. Here, we were able to rest in the shade, have a bite to eat, and refill our water. We made it to the point and found that the views of the landscape were even better than we expected. Here, you get a great view of the river from 1000 feet above, and it becomes apparent just how big the Grand Canyon really is.
On our way back, we stopped at Indian gardens and it was now about 2pm. We knew we were hiking at the hottest point of the day, but we liked the challenge. One thermometer on a building read 110 degrees Fahrenheit! We found out from a park ranger that the actual temperature was only 95, but still, it felt incredibly hot. We started back up the 3100 feet of elevation we had lost on the way down and knew that we were in for a tough 6 miles. There are rest huts at the 3 mile and 1.5 mile markers on the trail, and we took full advantage of the trail. At around 4:30 pm we made it back to the rim of the canyon. We were exhausted and so hot from the sun, but we all felt very accomplished. After cooling off and making dinner at the campsite, we went back to the rim one last time to watch the sunset.
Looking back as I write this on Monday evening, this feels like such a special weekend. One I hope we’ll all remember for a long time. We are all very tired from the trip, but still ready to continue with our individual work in sobriety.
Love,
The B2B Boys
