Grand Canyon: Rim-to-Rim 1 of n

I hadn’t intended to drive for 16 hours. It’s around midnight and my friend and I are about two hours away from Bright Angel Lodge at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. I pull over for gas, to stretch my legs, and wake myself up. 

“Can you drive for a couple hours?” I ask.

“Oh yeah.” He replies.

I finish filling the tank. He sprints back and forth across the parking lot.

We get back on the road.

Nine months earlier we’d been catching up in the kitchen at a friend’s birthday party. I’d been inspired to hike the Grand Canyon by reading Kevin Fedarko’s book, A Walk in the Park. 

I hadn’t been on an overnight backpacking trip in more than 30 years. I’d never been to the Grand Canyon. I’d only seen it from the window of a plane at 30 thousand feet en route to and from work in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Somewhat spur of the moment during our kitchen conversation I said, “I’m going to go hike the Grand Canyon next summer.” Other than telling my wife I wanted to do it, I hadn’t said a word about it to anyone. Verbalizing this to my friend was a way of making myself accountable for it, a way for me to commit to something I really wanted to do.

My friend enthusiastically asked if he could join. He’s one of my oldest and best friends, I knew he was serious. “Of course,” I replied. And that was it. 

The next day I sent him a text:

We both spent time watching Grand Canyon hikers on YouTube. We started training, researching gear, nutrition, and hydration. We hadn’t won the lottery yet, but we decided if we didn’t pull a permit for the Grand Canyon, we’d find something else to do during the same time frame.

December came around and I entered the backcou

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