Moral of the Story: November 2017

I moved back to Utah at the end of August 2017 after living in D.C. for 2 years and NYC for 3.5 years, where I learned I am a city girl at heart. I was very intimidated by all the outdoorsy people in the West but I believe “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone” so I was ready to challenge myself and experience Utah to the fullest.

Almost to the top

I asked my super outdoorsy friend to take me on a hike and she told me about this group called Adventures with Will that does an annual hike through the Grand Canyon from the North Rim to the South Rim in one day. That blew my mind but she’d done it the last 2 years and was preparing for the 3rd time in 3 weeks. She said anyone can join and I was in good enough shape from dancing and my regular Pilates/Yoga/Barre workouts to do it. I didn’t quite believe her but the more she talked convincingly about it, the more I thought this is the epic kind of challenge I like preparing for and accomplishing, like Ballroom Dance Camp just 3 months prior (see blog post). She said I just have to pay $85 to the organizer (for van rental & gas) and can borrow all the camping stuff from her. She added me to the Facebook event and a couple days later, I sent in my money!

Planning out my food for the 3 day trip

I was a little daunted that I had only 3 weeks to prepare so I started asking friends to go on hikes with me. I managed to fit in 4 hikes that were about 6-7 miles long, which was only ¼ of the Rim to Rim hike. As the hike got closer, I did other things to prepare:

Bought way too much nonperishable foods at Walmart
Asked friends for pep talks, which I re-read several times
Listened to episodes from my new favorite podcast The School of Greatness by Lewis Howes. I listened to one with Erik Weihenmayer, a blind hiker/kayaker/rock climber, and one with Olympian Apolo Ohno (who happens to be from my hometown near Seattle!)
Started meditating again with the Calm app
Ordered a backpack with a water pouch (I hate the word “bladder”) and portable charger for my phone for pics
Did more yoga so I can be more flexible for dance pics
Stayed home from 2 activities I wanted to go to the few days before so I could go to sleep earlier and train my body to wake up earlier for the 3am start time

The mini group I hiked with

As I told my friends, family, and coworkers about the big hike, they were enthusiastic and encouraging but I got more and more scared and anxious.

Supportive person - “Are you getting excited for the hike?!”
Me - “No, I’m dreading it and I just want it to be over.”

Early morning light

One coworker said, “If you’re dreading it so much, why don’t you just drop out?” I was horrified by that suggestion and replied, “I can’t quit! I’d lose all respect for myself!” So I actually started thinking about all the reasons I’m choosing to put myself thru this despite the fact that I hate hiking and am not good at endurance workouts at all. I came up with a lot of reasons!

Because YOLO
To get out of my comfort zone
To prove to myself I can do hard things
To see one of the 7 natural wonders of the world up close
For exercise and to challenge my body
To be more outdoorsy, cuz I live in the West now and it’s what ppl do for fun here (weird)
For the dance pics

Look at all the trees in the desert!!

Friday morning, I woke up at 5am to do yoga and pack before meeting up with the 21 other people for the 6 hr drive down. My nose started running like crazy and the more I blew it, the more stuffy it got. I was confused because I didn’t feel sick and I’d taken my allergy medicine.

Ribbon Falls detour

On the drive, people were excitedly talking and getting to know each other but I barely spoke cuz I could barely breathe! started to worry and I'm a devout Mormon so I asked one of the guys if he could give me a Priesthood Blessing the next morning if my nose was still runny. He said he’d been inactive and was just starting to come back to the Church. I thought that was great he was coming back and said no problem.

Abundant cacti

As we set up camp at the trailhead, I was feeling so congested, I asked another guy if he could give me a blessing before bed cuz I couldn’t imagine having to do a full day of intense hiking without being able to breathe. He said, “Ok, let me go talk to someone first.” I said ok and waited in my tent. I waited for what seemed like a long time and finally peeked out looking for him. He was talking to another guy reviewing the words to give a Priesthood Blessing. I was touched and happy that he was humble enough to ask for help and gets a chance to exercise his Priesthood. He came back and said he didn’t have any consecrated oil and I said I didn’t care haha. He gave me a BEAUTIFUL blessing that gave me much more than I’d asked for. Not only did the Lord bless me through that guy with “clear breathing”, He also blessed me with strength, health, vigor, and a positive attitude to finish the hike. That last part was what I lacked the most up until that point but if the Lord believed in me, I did too!

Cool rock overhangs

I shared a tent with my friend who invited me. Despite sleeping with 2 sleeping pads, 2 sleeping bags, leggings & sweatpants, long sleeve shirt & sweatshirt, socks and furry slippers, a hat, gloves, and hand & feet warmers…I woke up many times freezing. It got down to about 25 degrees Fahrenheit. We got 4-5 hours of sleep before starting the hike at 4:15am. The first 2-3 hours were steep going downhill in the dark and several things went wrong:

My flashlight went out in the first 10 minutes, so I had to stay close to the person in front of me and whoever was behind me had to stay close too.
My water pouch tube didn’t work AT ALL. So whenever I needed to take a drink, I had to stop and drink from my big Gatorade bottle, which I will be forever grateful to my friend for making me buy. I don’t think I’d ever drank Gatorade. I just kept refilling that at all the water stations along the South Kaibab then Bright Angel trails.
I slipped and twisted my knee early on and it was sore for a while.
My portable charger never arrived so I just kept my phone on airplane mode, and I actually had 79% battery at the end of the hike!

Majestic rocks

BUT guess what?! I could breathe clearly the entire time! Didn’t even need to use my Kleenex and extra toilet paper til the end when it got chillier. The Lord didn’t let me down! Also, I later realized the problems with my portable charger and water pouch were a tender mercy cuz I returned it and got my $55 back haha. And I learned I always need to pack extra batteries.

Little stream we washed our feet in after lunch

As the sun came up, we were treated to gorgeous views. I marveled at all the desert fauna and flora (lots of deer), especially the odd-looking yucca plants. We were beside a bubbling stream nearly the whole time and I loved taking in all the greenery alongside the towering canyon walls. 14 miles in, we stopped at Phantom Ranch – a bigger camp ground with a few buildings, places for mules, bathrooms, and picnic tables. We rested for about an hour eating, dumping the red dirt from our shoes/socks, stretching, and washing our feet in the ice cold stream. I hate taking medicine unless I really need to but I took Ibuprofen to help with inflammation. That and Gatorade really made a difference; my muscles felt fatigued but not in pain.

The mighty Colorado

I actually led the way most of the time because [I learned that] when I’m focused on a time bound physical goal, I tend to minimize talking to conserve energy and just forge ahead to the finish (I learned this about myself on the hike). Or maybe it was because I was the 5th wheel with 2 couples haha.

The River that gauged this huge canyon over millenia

One of the hardest parts of the hike before the vertical climb at the end was the sandy part next to the Colorado River. We felt like we were on a beach trying to keep from sinking in! I’ve been studying Mindfulness this year and one of the most useful principles is – pain is mandatory [thru life] but suffering is optional. Suffering comes from resisting the pain. If we just accept the pain, it’ll come and pass. So I applied this on the hike by thinking “Ok, this is my life from now on and I’ll accept it” whenever things got harder – trail got steeper, legs got more tired, mounds of mule dung stunk up the trail, etc. Another useful mindset that I learned in my preparatory hikes is – enjoy the views and ignore the pain, basically redirecting my attention.

Beach sand at the bottom of a canyon!?

After our last stop for water and the restroom, it was a steep 4.5 miles straight up to the South Rim. That was when I mentally and physically kicked into another gear. I started focusing on getting to the top and refused to let my mind complain or dwell on how infinite the trail looked. I started praying a lot and talking to God like, “Ok Heavenly Father, you said I could do this. Please bless me with that strength, vigor, health and positive attitude you promised yesterday!”

View from the first set of switchbacks

I found a steady pace and stuck with it. In yoga, when things get really hard and painful, they tell you to focus on the breath and I got mine to be really regular – inhale for 4 counts, exhale for 4 counts. I found that if I gave my body enough oxygen, my muscles didn’t burn. I was in the zone! This was a really new foreign feeling to me because I avoid all endurance exercises/activities haha. I actually loved the log steps in the trail and the frequent switchbacks because it made me feel and see the rapid progress towards the top.

Pics don't do it justice at all

This is an unusual hike, opposite of hiking a mountain because the hardest part is at the end going uphill when you’re most exhausted! Lots of people gave the advice to eat and drink water regularly so I drank water in short intervals the whole time and ate my little bag of chocolate covered cherries slowly. I somehow started passing tons of people, but near the top when my pace slowed, tons of people passed me. I had to keep my pride in check and remind myself this is not a competition. Good thing I'm the least competitive person I know. We’re all on our own journey to endure to the end and it doesn’t matter how fast we go as long as we’re headed in the right direction and don’t quit. Yes, that is a directly applicable lesson for life.

The vertical wall up to the South Rim!

3 scriptures kept popping in my mind during the last arduous ascent:

John 9:3 “Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.”
Ether 12:27 “And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.”
Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”

Gotta make it up before sunset!

So here’s the thing - the coolest part of this whole trip experience was feeling the love and power of God work in me and learning that sometimes, God gives us a weakness so we’ll be humbled to come to Him for help, and He’ll bless us with more than we ever asked for.

How much dynamite did it take to blow this hole for the trail?

The estimated time and distance was 16 hours, 24 miles. It took me 13 hours 10 minutes, 26 miles. I never would’ve finished that hike on my own if it weren’t for that Priesthood Blessing. I never would’ve thought to ask for a Priesthood Blessing if I didn’t suddenly get a miserably runny/stuffy nose. God gave me that small temporary problem so I would come to Him and He could give me greater blessings. How cool is that?! I feel like God gives us these blessings so we can help bring others to Him because He loves us and loves to bless us. I feel like Alma from the Book of Mormon who proclaimed, “Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever.” (Alma 26:12)

Good thing I'm not afraid of heights. Oh wait, I AM.

The power of the Priesthood is real. I am so grateful for men who keep themselves worthy to serve and bless others. God loves and supports us, even in trials and challenges we volunteer and pay for! He keeps His promises and He always delivers, often more that we expect or deserve. I love Him so much and I’m grateful He stayed close to me through this entire experience.

My friends who passed me near the end - champs!

We all had ourselves a feast at the cafeteria that night, then camped again. Camping is the worst. Seriously, I don’t understand why anyone does this for fun. See Jim Gaffigan’s camping skit – it’s true!

I honestly loved the log steps cuz they gave me leverage going up.

Sunday morning, we took a long scenic route to drive home, stopping at 3 lookout spots along the Grand Canyon and got a completely different view from the rim! I’m grateful I found yummy sufficient nonperishable foods to bring so I didn’t have to spend money on the Sabbath. We got back to Provo about 8pm and all rushed to get home. That hot shower and soft warm bed never felt so good! And we all survived to tell the tale at work the next day :) Hallelujah.