At the beginning of the year I decided to get out more, and set an initial goal of hiking enough to wear our a pair of shoes. The goal was later adjusted to hike 1,000 miles by the end of the year. Well I'm on my 3rd pair of shoes, and with this epic trip broke the 1,000 mile mark. Why not make it my first backpack, in my first trip into this lightly visited place in the Grand Canyon too!

I'm not ashamed to admit I was a little apprehensive to hike into this gash in the earth with about 70lbs on my back. Man was it worth it, what a gorgeous area.


A short video by Joe (Check out his pack in my photos)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hf3UeLcCHro

Day two we floated the Little Colorado River in cheapo inflatable kids floaties. Joe and I were careful to portage around the more dicey drops and rapids not wanting to ruin our $5.00 investments. Joel on the other hand threw all caution to the wind and ran most of the rapids with his fabric raft.

We spent part of the late afternoon chatting in one of the 3 camps (9 total workers / volunteers) of Humpback Chub Taggers. What an interesting group, with equally "interesting" stories.

We started our climb out after our 4am wakeup call and breaking down camp. It was only 4 hours out (up) as opposed to the 5-1/2 hours in (down).

Thanks to Joe and Bob for setting this up and guidance on the backpacking. Joel thanks for the use of the equipment and help. A special thanks for driving and being patient when we were on the maze of Navajo roads and you asked which way and all you heard was silence.