The Reason You Should Never Back Out Of An Adventure

I'm partaking in some R&R this weekend in Arizona and while making my plans I decided I would hike and photograph some of the Grand Canyon and Sedona. Every single person I've spoken to says Sedona is absolutely stunning. But I've actually heard mixed reviews about the Grand Canyon.

So this morning when I woke up at 5:30am (don't EVEN ask - I have no idea...) I decided to just start driving to the Grand Canyon and arrive early enough to beat the weekend crowds. It was beautiful and sunny in the small town of Mayer as I began my journey - but about 30 minutes into the drive everything changed. The sky turned dark and it started raining. And it kept raining and raining and raining. The drive was about two and a half hours and it rained most of the time.

As the elevation climbed to 7,000 feet I began seeing white stuff on the ground - snow. "Crap," I said to myself. Crap because I wore shorts, KEEN hiking sandals and no jacket. Don't ask me what I was thinking because I don't know. I suppose in the back of my mind I had been preparing for the 100 degree weather in the Phoenix metro area later this week. Snow and 39 degree weather did not even register as a possibility.

But I drove on.

I parked my car and had a few moments of chickening out. Let's face it...I'm a total baby when I'm cold. And next weekend I'm getting on a flight that will take me a day and a half to arrive at my destination. I can't afford to catch a cold. And I probably should have brought my hiking boots. And why is my backpack so heavy? ...and so on and so on.

But then I decided to just do what I usually do when I am adventuring by myself and have no idea what I'm doing - just go for it. So I got out of my car, grabbed my jeans from the trunk of my rental and proceeded to buy what is likely the ugliest, cheesiest-looking fleece known to mankind from the gift shop (don't ask me how much that cost - I'm still offended by it).

I changed in the public restroom and then hopped the orange bus to the South Kaibab Trailhead on the South Rim. I'm feeling good at this point. That is until the bus driver makes a joke telling everyone to look out the window at the Grand Canyon...you can see NOTHING. It was so foggy I could have been anywhere in the world on a bus full of strangers. As we exited I started speed-walking towards the trail. I wasn't going to allow myself a moment to back out.

As I started the decent I decided that even if I didn't see anything, I was still getting good exercise. So that's good, right? Then, at about the 10 minute marker, something happened that always seems to happen on adventures - things changed. The fog started to lift. Bits of rain came down here and there but with it the fog seemed to dance in the Canyon and within a half hour a majority of it had lifted and gave way to some absolutely spectacular views. I proceeded to do what any good Asian would do - I took a lot of photos.

As I continued down, the fog lifted completely and the sky opened up presenting fluffy white pillows rolling on the bright blue sky. I stopped at the edge of the trail overlooking the Canyon and could not believe what I was seeing. With the sun bursting through the clouds and a bit of rain still falling, a rainbow had formed. I took some photos and then just sat on a rock in awe.

 

I am now more excited then ever to do a rim to rim hike some day. For those of you who told me the Grand Canyon was "so-so"...I'm not sure we can still be friends. I only saw one small part of it but I'm writing this hours later - smiling, and thinking about the breathtaking beauty I witnessed today on an adventure I almost backed out of.