![]() It was really interesting to talk to him about growing up in the Grand Canyon. The youngest of their three children, Silas, has now returned to his boyhood home and is working seasonally as a ranger. I remember reading that Mary Aiken had to hike out the 4.7 miles/3600 ft elevation gain up the North Kaibab Trail from her house while pregnant to deliver her children. His kids used to have a lemonade stand for passers-by. The Aiken house is where Bruce Aiken lived and raised his family from 1973-2006 while tending to the pumphouse and painting in his free time. Three of our group sped off to see how fast they could make it to the Aiken House, while I hung back with Russell and enjoyed the hike down, especially the last 45 minutes in the moonlight. I even managed to get us a ride on the employee shuttle for the two boring miles back to the trailhead. Pizza, Ice Cream and Beer make for a great Plan B! It had gotten really warm, so I decided a siesta on the flat rocks above the creek opposite the falls was in order. I got to the Ribbon Falls turnoff and took the creek over to the falls. The past five days of hiking had caught up with me and I was tired, but thankful that I had one of the easiest pieces of the GC ahead. But first- my stew dinner and a couple of icy Tecates.ĭay 2- I started up the North Kaibab to meet up with the rest of my group at Cottonwood CG for the work event. Shower, phone, laundry and a bed that were all going to feel so good after having been out for 6 days already on the Royal Arch Loop. It was my lucky day for sure because instead of sleeping near the mules in the stock site, I now had an entire little house to myself at the bottom of the canyon. I told her that I was supposed to stay in the stock site, and she told me to wait a minute and see if she could get me the River Ranger Residence instead. Now that I had 45 minutes until dinner, I went over to the campground and was happy to see Ranger Della. As I came practically running down the trail wearing a full backpack, smile on my face, loving the moment, he said, “Bet you won’t feel so good on the way up.” To which I replied, “Actually, I’m hiking back in, I’ve already hiked out today- have a great hike!” When I got down to the Black Bridge, I took a picture to check my hiking time and was shocked to see I’d made it down in 2:02! (for comparison, the first time I hiked down the South Kaibab in 2001 it took me over six hours and I literally limped into camp.)īlack Bridge across the Colorado River- a.k.a. After Skeleton Point, passed this guy who you could tell thought he was a big tough guy for coming up the South Kaibab. Food and beer have never been a greater motivator, and I flew down the South Kaibab, which was in fantastic shape. I had a spot waiting for me at Bright Angel Campground and a stew dinner reservation at 6:30 pm. Even if you don’t have a PayPal account, you can donate securely via PayPal with a credit card.ĭay 1- After hiking out the South Bass Trail in the morning to complete my Royal Arch Loop, I got dropped off at the South Kaibab TH at 3:45 pm to hike back into the Canyon for the annual GCHBA Service Project. Any amount is appreciated! You can also donate via PayPal by clicking the button below. Please put Hiking in the memo, so they know where you heard about their facility. ![]() Since February, over $700 worth of donations have been given to Wildlife Rehabilitation Northwest Tucson! If you haven’t donated yet but would like to, you can send a check made out to Wildlife Rehabilitation Northwest Tucson to Pima Federal Credit Union P.O. I want to thank all of my readers and people who came to my talks who donated to my Wildlife Rehab Fundraiser. This is the first year that I logged all my hikes, and by the end of the year, I will have hiked approximately 750 miles. Whew! I sure got a lot of adventures in this year! Thanks to one of my favorite websites, I was able to keep track of my miles hiked and other stats.
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