Grand Canyon Log (Day 4)

Oct. 19, 2002 – Saturday

8:00 AM – Leaving Bright Angel Campground

This morning I woke up about 30 minutes before everyone else and prayed some more in utter desperation. It will only be by the grace of God that I make it out of here today, I think. I’m going to try to make it to Indian Gardens at least. We’ll decide what to do from there. The guys went down the road to make arrangements with the mules. We decided that I should walk on ahead so that I could get a head start and they would catch up to me. I stopped by the ranger station at the campsite. There the guy helped me wrap up my ankle. As he was doing so, I looked around and saw a dried up stick. I asked him if I could take it because we were not allowed to break branches off trees. He said ‘sure’ and I picked it up and struck the ground with it. Immediately the bottom 6 inches of it broke off. Oh well, it may help me get up the first half mile or so.

9:30 AM – River Rest House

Serious miscalculation. I could have sworn the map said that there was water here. We’re about a mile and a half from the Bright Angel Campground – about where the trail leaves the river. The other guys caught up to me about a mile back. Good thing too because I had the pack with all their water bottles in it. Assuming there was a water station here, I neglected to fill up my water bottle at the camp to keep my load light. So we divided up the water, and I suggested we split up and use our walkie-talkies. Ed went ahead with MJ to try to see if they could get out in time to catch MJ’s flight, and Ed would just come back to pick us up later (or the next day). Dave stayed with me to make sure I was okay, but I told him to go on ahead to this rest house to get water and wait here for me. Imagine his surprise when we discovered that there is no water here. By looking at our map we realized that the next source of water is at Indian Gardens, which is about 3 miles or about 4 hours away. We were almost out of water at this point and were tempted to back track to Bright Angel to get water there even though it would add 3 hours to our hike.

But something unexpected happened. As I stood here in disbelief saying out loud in dismay, “what? No water?” another group of hikers came upon us and offered us some of their water. It wasn’t much, but it was just enough to get us to Indian Gardens. God indeed provides – and on top of that my ankle is feeling considerably better… I’m still slow, but I think I’m making relatively good time (much better than last night at least). AND my stick is holding up nicely. It’s much stronger than it looks yet still very light.

10:30 AM – At the foot of Devil’s Corkscrew

We just got an urgent radio call from Ed and MJ. Apparently MJ was thirstier than he thought because he ran out of water way before Ed and had to resort to drinking his water, and now they’re bone dry.  Ed said that they think they’re suffering from severe dehydration.  It is so bad that I think they’re moving at a snail’s pace because from their description of where they are, as far as I can tell, we’ve almost caught up to them – even with my bad ankle.  They must be hurting.  They’re even tempted to drink from a stream that is taunting them just feet from the trail… but earlier we read this caption in the trail guide about these streams…

Their brains are telling them that they’d better not, but I think they’re getting desperate – like the man in his third day on a life-raft in the middle of the ocean – with an abundance of water within reach but not a drop to drink lest he quicken his demise. I really don’t like the sound of their voices… they seem hopeless. I told them to stop and maybe we can catch up to them and give them what little water we had left.

 

12:00 PM – Indian Gardens Campground.

Hallelujah! I didn’t think you could get drunk on water, but I think I am. I can literally feel the water making its way into my muscles and filling up my sweat glands again. I think I stopped sweating about a half an hour ago. I’m told that this is a sign of the latter stages of dehydration. We filled our water bottles to overflowing and are resting. Dave and I actually just about caught up to MJ and Ed as we were entering Indian Gardens. Apparently, another set of hikers heard them radioing us about their water situation at Devil’s Corkscrew and caught up with them and gave them some water as well. To MJ and Ed, they may as well have sprouted wings.

Our food is just about gone – just a few handfuls of trail mix left., but we’re actually making really good time. This should be enough until we’re out of the canyon. We’re actually still hoping to catch MJ’s plane. It took us 4-5 hours to get here when we thought it would take us from 6-7 at the very least. I think the absence of most of the contents of our packs, the miraculous lack of pain in my ankle, and some divine intervention are the reasons.

So we’re going to divide up again. This time MJ and Dave are going to go ahead of me and Ed. If we’re not out by 4PM, they’re just going to take off to Las Vegas to catch MJ’s plane, and Ed and I will just rest topside until Dave comes back with the car. 

 

3:30 PM – Mile and a Half Rest House (1.5 miles from the top) 

Editor’s Note:  I realized that the following entry would be rather impossible considering the state I was in at the time, so you’ll have to use your imagination.  The reason I wouldn’t be able to write this at the time was because I was suffering from hypoglycemic shock and not aware of it.  I could barely put two words together verbally much less write a log entry.  For those of you who don’t know what hypoglycemic shock is, it is you’re your blood sugar drops to dangerous levels.  Here is a list of the symptoms:

 

About a mile and a half back I noticed that I was breathing very heavily and starting to sweat profusely even though I’m actually shivering from the cold. I’m assuming it’s because of the change in altitude and the thinner air up here. But now I’m feeling really disoriented and whenever we’d stop for a rest (which at this point is literally every 30 or so yards) my body just seems to go completely limp and all I want to do is go to sleep, but somehow I know that if I were to let myself fall asleep I may not be able to wake up. Ed is constantly yelling at me – encouraging me to keep going… but it’s so hard, and a few times I just snapped back at him, calling him other people’s names. At moments I feel that falling over the edge would be a better fate. He said that on a couple of occasions he saw my eyes roll back in my head as I was lying there on the trail, panting for breath and falling in and out of partial consciousness.

4:30 PM – About a Half Mile from the Top. 

About 20 minutes ago, as I was lying in the dirt, another hiker saw me and recognized that I needed some sugar – and fast. So she mixed me a drink with some electrolytes in it and fed me a powerbar. I ate the whole thing amazed at how hungry I was without even knowing it. It’s amazing how quickly I felt better.It was almost immediately. I can’t believe that I didn’t realize it sooner that I was suffering from hypoglycemic shock. The rest of the way should be no problem. I can even see the tourists up top from here. What a stark contrast between civilization and the trail. We just got a radio call from Dave and MJ. It seems that they had some trouble locating the packs that the mules brought up earlier today. It looks like even after all this, MJ is still going to miss his flight. We told them to meet us at the Bright Angel Lodge once they locate our stuff. We can work on getting MJ a flight then.

5:30 PM – In front of Bright Angel Lodge

I came back from trying to locate Dave and MJ and noticed Ed was hunched over his backpack not moving. I realized he was exhibiting the same symptoms I had just a little while prior. I guess he was so concentrated in helping me get out that he didn’t notice that he was almost as weakened as I was. Quickly, I went to the gift shop and bought him two candy bars and a muffin, which he finished off in a matter of seconds and immediately started feeling better. After a Coke he improved even more. 

Now we’re just sitting here in front of this hotel / restaurant watching all the tourists walk by who have no idea of the ordeal we have been through. It’s almost surreal.

Ah, here come Dave and MJ in our lovely purple minivan. We are out of here. See ya Grand Canyon! You didn’t kill us this time… better luck next time.†

8:30 PM – A Cracker Barrel somewhere in Arizona.

We’re about half-way to Las Vegas. We stopped by this Cracker Barrel restaurant, and you should have seen the look on the hostess’ face. We were covered in dust from head to toe and walking like we were 85 years old. After we ordered our food MJ and Ed decided to take a nap…

They didn’t wake up until the server came with our food.MJ lost half of his place setting to the ground when his head rolled off the table and he tried to catch himself. Needless to say, the dishwasher didn’t have to work very hard on our dishes after we were done. I think we licked the paint off the plates.

Now I’m just sitting here in a rocking chair on the porch in front of this restaurant, just thinking about the tribulation we went through. I think I could sit here all night. Ow, it seems the pain in my ankle has also returned. I can barely move it again.

They didn’t wake up until the server came with our food.MJ lost half of his place setting to the ground when his head rolled off the table and he tried to catch himself. Needless to say, the dishwasher didn’t have to work very hard on our dishes after we were done. I think we licked the paint off the plates.

Day 5…