First Hike- September 25

We got up about 6am, make a nice breakfast of bacon and eggs and prepared for our first hike. We'd looked at the Guide and decided to do part of the Hermit's Rest trail. Walking up to the shuttle stop we climbed aboard the Blue Route shuttle and rode to the Blue/Red transfer below the Bright Angel trailhead.

Transferring to the Red shuttle we rode out to the Hermit's Rest trailhead and overlook. A cute little curio/gift shop designed by Mary Coulter sits there. She was an architect for the Fred Harvey company and while I didn't get any books on her while out there, I do want to do a bit more reading as she seems like a very interesting person.

The trail was exceptionally rough. Its an unmaintained trail, very rocky, both big and small rocks, and fairly steep. It changes 1000ft of elevation in 1.5 miles.

We pushed hard and did a 3 mile round trip in about 3 hours. We noticed that we descended about the same speed we climbed. Mainly because descending is harder on our joints while climbing is harder on our lungs and muscles. Lungs recover, muscles can be stretched, aching joints, well, those are just miserable.

We did a bit of shopping in the visitors center and at the General Store. I'm interested in learning more about the history of the canyon. Both the Native Americans who lived in and around the Canyon (the Havalupai for one lived in the Canyon, hence Indian Gardens rest area on the Bright Angel Trail) and the early white settlers to the area.

Hermit's Rest gets its name from Louis Boucher, "the Hermit." Who lived in the area apparently.

Its interesting, I'd say 40-60% of the people at the canyon are foreign. Its so cool hearing all the languages and accents. Germans were thick, but I could hear French, both France and Quebecois varieties, various Asian dialects, various eastern European dialects and even some Middle Eastern language. Plenty of various accented English speakers as well, England, Australia and probably other places as well.

Two English sisters in their early to mid 20s flew into Portland and drove to Las Vegas before heading to the Canyon. They were on their way to Phoenix see their uncle. The younger was going to be driving back to Portland to fly back so she could go to school.

A German couple flew to Phoenix and the biked up to the campground! It was interesting as their bikes had internal rear hubs. I hadn't seen touring bikes that used those before, but I suppose it makes as much sense. I'm just a luddite who is scared of internal stuff I can't fiddle with. Sure, if my rear derailleur goes out, I can't shift, but I can at least have one gear. If that breaks, you're sort of toast.

This night had the first fire of the trip. It was small, but nice.