South Rim, here we come!

I'm getting excited.  Really, really excited.  This weekend we are hitting the trail again, and hopefully getting out of the big hole with no broken bones this go around.  But unlike the picture below (taken last September on our annual Grand Canyon Rim to Rim hike), there will only be 3 of us making the journey this weekend. 

By the way, I love this picture. It makes me happy just thinking about all these amazing people, about half of which I'm related to, and what a memorable experience we shared last year. What a group! We went from 10 of us the year before (9 hikers and 1 driver) to 28 in 2011 (25 hikers and 3 drivers). Our 2012 crew is even bigger! It seems that the madness has become contagious.

Everyone else has bailed for one reason or another, or said they wanted to go but just couldn't make it work, yada, yada, yada.  And that's OK.   I've kinda figured out that extreme hiking isn't really for everyone.  Not everyone gets excited about 8 hours of hiking one of the Seven Wonders of the World.  Not everyone feels the urge to push and train and climb and sweat and work and call it "fun" once they've conquered 9,000 feet of elevation change and are completly exhausted, sitting on the top of the world's largest hole licking the most delicious chocolate ice cream cone known to man.  I get it.  I guess.

And just like with anything, if you're not really committed to something, other things will take priority. That's just how life goes. Like every good family I know, our house is in full drive mode just about every day.  We're busy.  So busy.  We work hard and play hard.  I'm pretty sure I like it that way.  I'm hoping it's the recipe for good kids.  I know it's the recipe for a good marriage.   So...in our house, I've long since learned that there will always, always be something else to do, someplace else to go, something else to fill the calendar.  So we schedule early and do our best to make it happen.  It's important to us.   

Ryan, Barrett and I are going to rock it.   What a cool thing to do together. And what an awesome thing for our 13-year old to accomplish at her age.  Sure, she's a little nervous, but that's OK.  She'll be great.

The North Rim isn't even open for the season yet, and the Rim to Rim  hike certainly does pose some transportation challenges since it's a 4+ hour drive from the North to the South via car.  So this weekend we are just doing a South Rim hike:  South Kaibab to Bright Angel.  16.5 miles.  The NPS website says it's 7 miles from  South Kaibab down the canyon, across the Colorado River to Bright Angel Campground.  Then it's 9.5 miles to the top of Bright Angel.  I've read a few bloggers who wrote up their adventure, and most say it's more like 17 - 17.5 miles.  Who knows.  I'm sure the NPS has it figured out after all these years.  I just know it's about 7+ miles shorter than the Rim to Rim, so I am hoping that it will be a good experience for Barrett.  She's been a rockstar on our training hikes.  Hopefully she enjoys it and still wants to rock the Rim to Rim with us in September.