Do you ever do things just for the hell of it? Maybe just to be able to say you did it, or to test your resolve?
Our planned 3 day back country excursion into the Grand Canyon valley in late July certainly qualifies. Admittedly, it isn’t the best time of year to be camping in the Grand Canyon, but we just had to do it. According the the park service, the valley where we will be camping is 15-20 degrees hotter than “above the rim”. Adding to the brutality is the 5 mile hike we will have to endure to get to our planned campsite. The park service suggests allowing one hour for every mile you plan to hike, going down into the valley, and double that coming back up. Per that advice, we are looking at 15 hours of hiking. Furthermore, they suggest you limit travel to the hours before 9AM and after 4PM.
We just received our backcountry permit in the mail, and it only cost us $30 for the three days we plan to hike. Assuming we don’t have to pay for any rescue services, this will be a pretty inexpensive excursion. We’ll let you know how it goes. 😉
WAIT! 15 hours??!! WHY wasn’t this mentioned before – you sneak! Just be warned that you’ll probably have to carry me and my pack for 10 of those hours!