Today we got up early. Well most of us got up early. Geoff conned me into driving him to the Kaibab trail. I drove him four miles away to the trail head, at 2:30 AM !!! He decided to hike down the Kaibab trail, run the across the river an come up the other side on Bright Angel Trail. Now you need to know that EVERYWHERE there are signs saying don't do this. He did it. They rescue 250 people every year from the canyon. Geoff is unstoppable and pigheaded though. He talked to a ranger, who seemed to think it might be okay for Geoff to do. Most people only hike down and hike up the next day after 8 hours of hiking up! Geoff ran down the steep trail and came up the other trail, in 5.5 hours!it should have taken over two days of hiking. It was 16.9 miles and elevation was 7200. He did drink enough and did not get dehydrated. Meanwhile, Chris decided to hike at 6:30 am with the Spencer's on Bright Angel trail....so I got up AGAIN! Beca was still hobbling, Sam was tired and Zack...well he is six! I was not waking him up at the crack of dawn! Plus I was too tired and worried at this point about Geoff. His plan was to start at 2:30AM and hopefully get back before sunset. Geoff somehow met up with the group on his way up the trail....VERY tired.
We let him rest a bit. Then off we went to meet Molly the ranger. Chris did the trick then! Watch the video to see! Then we went off to finish the ranger program with our favorite ranger Molly. It was so windy, the kids were almost blown away during the ranger badge ceremony. Later we went to Hermits Rest, way out on the west side of the rim. Chris had an exhaustion breakdown at this point. He slumped way down among the rock wall and sun and I gave him caffeine and medicine and hoped for the best. He was much better after an hour. Geoff was hobbling at this point and getting tired....Beca was hobbling from her ankle....Chris was moving slow...Deb and I were getting blown away in the 55 mph winds! Back at the hotel rooms, took a break again. Rick, Doug, Martty, Geoff all needed a nap. Deb and I snuck out with the kids to the geology museum to watch the sunset. It was amazing. I am glad she dragged me there! We took the kids to a program about the 1000 caves found at the park. They are off limits. They have evidence of lots of megafauna animals that loved in the area and used the caves. It was interesting. It became more interesting when Zack needed to go to the bathroom and it was pitch black! I did not have a flashlight. Chris slumped and had a major exhaustion breakdown at that point too. It was okay though in the end. Everyone got home, put to bed! Beca moved upstairs to the Spencer's room, so Chris got a bed that night. Geoff was still sleeping when we arrived back at the hotel.
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