Day 1: Descent and Deflate

At 6:30am, my Great Western Loop hike commenced at the Bright Angel trail. My parents accompanied me down into the canyon for about a mile to send me off. A few tears later and a “see you in 7 months”, we took off. Of all of the goodbyes I’ve made in the last few weeks, it was especially hard to say farewell to them. 

The rim of the Canyon is at ~6,600 feet but we quickly drop 3,000 feet down in the largest crack on earth. At Indian Garden campground, Jenn and I get our last water refill for 11 miles when we reach our campsite. 

We saw a mountain goat today. 

The drop in elevation increases the temperature from 70° on the rim to above 90° on the Tonto trail. Today was HOT, especially coming from Indiana weather. 

We arrived at Granite Rapids campground early afternoon and spent the evening listening to the rapids roar and hanging out. 

The first bit of adversity of the trip occurred after laying on my inflatable sleeping pad. After about an hour and a half, it completely deflated! The night was spent waking up every 90 minutes to inflate the sleeping pad. I am thankful Jenn is using my extra pad so I’ll use that when she leaves me tomorrow. 

Miles: 16ish

Total GWL Poops: 

   Wild: 0

   Toilet: 2