The Rim to Rim Trail - The adventure begins – fly from Vancouver to Las Vegas – arrive at 9pm – rent a car and drive to Boulder City just outside of Vegas.
The next morning we were up early to drive to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon – 277miles and 5 hours later. At the South rim we park our car and get a shuttle to the North Rim another 210 miles and another 5 hours of driving.
This adventure includes Phil, Grace and Annette (Phil’s mum) and we finally reach the North rim Kaibab lodge where we eat some food and stay the night. The shuttle leaves at 5:30am the next morning to drive another 10 miles to the trailhead -
At Last the 42km hike/run begins – we don’t really have a plan in mind just to finish before it gets dark. Annette has been dreaming about this adventure for years and her fear of not making it was not going to come true. She would make it no problem she just had to drink and eat enough and the heat shouldn’t take too much out of her. It was cool at the top of the North Rim a little dark when we started but when sun came up.
WOW what an amazing Canyon…it was huge. It quickly warmed up as we dropped in elevation and at the bottom it was a desert so super hot and dry. The trail offered everything from clean drinking water to plenty of places to take a break.
14 miles later we reached Phantom Ranch the switchbacks down were awesome and we made good time. We ran most of the way down took our time at the bottom and then headed out to hike up to the South Rim.
First we crossed the Colorado River and had about 2000M of elevation lay ahead. Lots of rock staircases and just an amazing trail not knowing where the top was almost a good thing as we didn’t notice it was taking a long time.
Indian Gardens was a great site as it was half way up the South side. Then we hit the 3 mile resthouse and then the 1.5 mile resthouse. Almost at the top and Annette pipes up and says if we run to the top we can make it in 10.5 hours.
This was a great adventure – we would even go back as there were so many other trails to discover.
42km in 10.5 hours with a lot of elevation well done team!
Check out the pictures below to see all the pictures from our Rim 2 Rim trip in the Grand Canyon.
Grace and I made a quick trip up to one of our favorite Fishing holes up near Fort St. James a couple of weeks ago. The fishing was great as usual but we were also rewarded with the opportunity to see a family of eagles catching and eating fish. It was quite amazing to watch the two adult eagles collecting fish and bringing them to their young in the nest. Here are some of the best pictures from the two days we spent up there.
Do you have some bananas going a little too ripe? Here’s a great recipe to use them up.
Ingredients
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup of packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1.5 cups of mashed ripe bananas
2 cups all purpose gluten free flour
3 teaspoons baking soda
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Directions
In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs, bananas and vanilla. Combine flour and baking soda; add to creamed mixture just until combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Fill paper lined muffin cups half full. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to wire racks.
Here is a quick video from the first of many days hiking The West Coast Trail. We started at the South end which is the hardest end. The trail is tough and you go for ever but don’t make much distance. One foot in front of the other until you reach your camp.
The West Coast Trail what an amazing trip and some great video – it’s been a while since we hiked it in August 2010 but the videos will be edited and posted regularly for the next few months. Stay tuned for some great views and some great fun. The team was Phil, Grace, Phil’s mum – Annette and Grace’s dad – Gale. A great trip and here’s a video of how we got to the trailhead.
The North Face Dirty Feet 6 hour enduro on June 19th in Kamloops will be held at Kenna Cartwright Park. Here is a quick video of the trails and what to expect in the race. You can join up as a team or solo. The relay teams are either 4 or 2 and they are open to all male, female or co-ed. The trail will be fun and there will be a best costume prize so get your friends together and join us for a great event. Maybe this video will get you pumped to race or just get out and ride.
Awesome day out today riding around on the trails above Bachelor Heights. We found a couple of new trails that we had not been on before. The weather was almost perfect 12 -15 degrees and slightly overcast. The trails are in great shape and the company today was awesome. Thanks Grace and Leyla for an awesome day on the trails.
