My “Grand” Adventure
Last week was my 37th birthday. For many, birthdays are a thing to be avoided once you’re on the “wrong side” of 35, but for me, birthdays are a sacred celebration. Another year around the sun, above ground, and breathing.
When I was 16, I almost died. That’s a story for another day, but I’m not being dramatic here. After going through a “turn my life upside down” event that changed me in every way, I became profoundly aware that our time here is limited. We don’t know when it’s going to end, but one thing is certain —our time here will end. After that, birthdays really took on a new significance in my life.
When I was younger, I marked birthdays with trying something new to eat that I never had before, a tradition started by my Auntie Joanie. After my near-death experience, I added experiencing something new as a requirement for the day. The last thing I wanted was to meet death with a long list of things I wish I had done. For the last decade or so, I‘ve morphed the new experience requirement into a new experience and/or experience a new place. Travel brings out the best of me, and being somewhere I’ve never been on my birthday has been a gift each year that I’ve done it.
This year, I decided I would hike the Grand Canyon. I had been to the South Rim before, so it technically wasn’t a brand new place, but I have never hiked deep into the canyon. If you’ve done it, you know that inside the canyon is a completely different world than what most people see when standing on an overlook.
It was a decision that I made maybe two weeks before my birthday. I was hunting for bargain flights to Europe, and it dawned on me that the Grand Canyon hike has been on my heart for years. Now was as good a time as any.
I arrived at the canyon with the plan to hike to the North Rim and back, somewhere in the neighborhood of 45 miles, depending on the trails used. I only had two nights booked at the Yavapai Lodge on the South Rim to serve as my home base. I ate a burger, got my pack ready, and at 7:40 pm on October 4th, I started the descent down Bright Angel Trail.
Nothing can really prepare you for miles upon miles of extreme downhill. I knew it was going to hurt, but for some reason I believed that it wouldn’t be so bad. The further I descended into the canyon, the hotter I got. I quickly fell behind on my nutrition and by time I crossed the Colorado River to Phantom Ranch, I was borderline delirious. Despite knowing that falling behind on hydration and/or nutrition within the canyon could be a fatal mistake, I found myself in that situation anyways.
I have hiked, participated in endurance events, run marathons, but quite frankly, I underestimated the canyon. I rested for an hour and a half on a picnic bench at Phantom Ranch, trying to catch up on my hydration and nutrition. Much to my chagrin, I decided to head back up the South Rim rather than continuing on to the North Rim. I wasn’t moving fast enough to make the North Rim and hike back in time to check out of my lodging. I didn’t have a shuttle, room, or campsite booked as a backup option at the North Rim. I certainly didn’t have service at the bottom of the canyon to try to make arrangements to remedy my poor planning, so I made the tough decision to turn around.
When I decide I’m going to do something, that’s what I’m going to do. Making the choice to modify the plan wasn’t easy, and I felt like I was failing myself. The thing is though, I got what I came for. I hiked deep into the Grand Canyon and crossed the Colorado River. I got to watch the sunrise from inside the canyon. I watched the light and shadows dance across the canyon walls and contemplated how small we really are in the vastness of this planet.
As I was hiking out, I decided that I wasn’t going to get stuck in what I didn’t do. Instead, I soaked in the beauty (and pain) of what I accomplished. I chatted with people along the trail, laughed and smiled as I climbed upward. I ended up clocking over 23 miles, and emerged around noon on my birthday, October 5th.
On a whim, while resting, I called the reservation center for the Grand Canyon Lodge at the North Rim. There were cancellations, and I was able to book accommodations for three nights.
When I arrived at the North Rim, it felt like home, like a place I was supposed to be. It felt more remote and quieter than the South Rim. It was a sacred space to honor the Grand Canyon while basking in its beauty, and I was lucky enough to secure last minute reservations. I was joyful, truly joyful.
During those three days, I did some additional hiking, to include 15 miles round trip on the North Kaibab trail. I did some shorter hikes as well, and I completed just under another 20 miles of hiking on the north rim.
For the trip I completed approximately 43 miles, which was essentially what I set out to do. I just took a different path to get there. If I didn’t adjust my plans, I never would have gotten to experience the splendor of the north rim —photographing sunrises and sunsets, having drinks in the saloon, staying in a cabin overlooking the canyon, and hiking different trails. Sometimes the bumps in the road, the changes in plans are what we need, even when we can’t see it as it’s happening.
Happy birthday to me, indeed.
Take Action Now: Next time you find yourself complaining because something didn’t go according to plan, find a way to be grateful for what the change in plans provided. This might require some creativity, but remember, YOU are in control of how you choose to think about things!
