The need to “scratch an itch” can sometimes lead to unexpected activities.
In my 60-plus years, I have been to the south rim of the Grand Canyon several times. Each trip, I was mesmerized by the collage of indescribable colors and shapes that unfold in the canyon.
One feature always stood out to me — a distant trail that seemingly led to the end of a cliff. This was the trail to Plateau Point. Every time I saw this man-made path in the vastness of the Grand Canyon, I was drawn to it.
My wife Marcia and I set out to hike the trail in November 2020. Eight inches of snow at the rim created an icy trail that took too long to navigate, even with crampons. We had to turn around.
In September 2022, Marcia and I had another chance. We had just completed a rafting trip through the entire canyon. Our friends Tom and Dana met us at the south rim for a few days of hiking. Plateau Point was tops on the list.
The four of us set out on the 12-mile round-trip adventure down Bright Angel Trail. Oh, by the way, it was 3,000 feet down and then 3,000 feet back up. We enjoyed amazing views of the Colorado River when we reached Plateau Point. It was incredible to look back at the rim and retrace our path. We enjoyed the views and made it back up without incident.
While we were resting at the rim, Tom was curious about a group of women who were yelling and hugging each other. They had just completed a rim-to-rim-to-rim hike in two days. It took about 5 minutes for Tom to place such a hike very high on his bucket list.
How could we do a 24-mile hike across the Grand Canyon in one day? How could we travel down 6,000 feet and up 5,000 feet in one day?
That evening, I began rationalizing we’d just done half the rim-to-rim hike without any training. The four of us were in to pursue Tom’s hike.
A friend, Chris, plus Tom and Dana’s son, Matthew, completed our hiking group of six. Our support team of Delle, Kim and Kynan agreed to shuttle the cars from the north to south rim.
We had a year to train for the hike. We ran, attended fitness classes, climbed stairs, played tennis and did core strengthening. An August shakedown hike on the hardest trail in Arkansas was a humbling experience. High heat and humidity led to learning about equipment, hydration and nutrition. The shadow of doubt also made an appearance.
Soon enough, we were all gathered at the Grand Canyon north rim, which was 40 degrees and bathed in a full moon during 4 a.m. We each moved at our own pace in the darkness, with headlamps showing the way. Matthew, Tom and Dana took a detour to Ribbon Falls. The rest of us moved along and made it to Phantom Ranch.
This stop at the bottom of the canyon was special for me. My dad described hiking there 75 years prior with some high school friends. They were not prepared and relied on the kindness of others for a meal and shelter that night. His spirit was still there all those years later.
We rested there before starting the climb out. Each of us had our own challenge on the way up. Marcia didn’t like the mile-long hike in loose sand before starting the climb. I relied on praying the rosary to help me up the trail. Dana found the dead weight of a water-soaked shirt in her pack. Tom was the hydration and nutrition specialist during the climb. Chris wondered why he hadn’t heard anything about the steep corkscrew section of the trail. Matthew knew his training plan and youth would eventually get him to the top.
We each finished the rim-to-rim! It took 14-16 hours; some had to use headlamps for the last miles. The sights seen along the way will remain with each of us, and the bonds formed will last as well. When Tom said something about doing it again, we all ran away. We were no longer “itching!”
— Weger lives in Baton Rouge.
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