It’s been a while since I posted anything about hiking. Mostly I’ve been keeping up with a 6-mile hike once a week on the long loop of the Konza Prairie. I’ll be honest some weeks it is super hard to get out the door – it feels like I shouldn’t be giving up those work hours or I need to be someplace to do a thing for a boy or it is cold outside and winter hiking really isn’t my thing.
But every week that I make that hike, I’m not very far along the trail before I realize that I’m so glad I made the time. Every.single.time. So, then you might think that the next week I wouldn’t have the same problem getting out the door. But I do.
So each week I need to remind myself – that the weather or the season or the business of the week does not matter. I need the sunlight. I need the feel of my feet on the trail. I need the closeness to nature. I need those minutes to center myself and to let go of the worries that weigh me down. My body needs the hike to stay strong because it doesn’t take very many weeks away from the trail for the 6-mile loop to feel difficult again. I remember a time when a 2-mile hike was hard and I’m proud that I can now do a weekly 6-mile hike without much thought.
Also, this is just a thought for now. But we’ve been talking seriously about another family Grand Canyon hike. You can read about our first Grand Canyon hike here.
Trail down the canyon. 
On the way down 
Made it to the river! 
Devil’s Corkscrew 
At the top of Devil’s Corkscrew 
On the way up!
This time it would be a rim-to-rim hike with nights spent in the canyon along the way. We’ve been plotting a possible course starting at the North Rim, the first day hike down to the Cottonwood Campground for the night, the second day hike to the Phantom Ranch area stopping to see some falls along the way and camp near Phantom Ranch for the night, the third day up to Indian Campground to spend the night and the the fourth day up to the top of the South Rim. We’ve done the hike to and from the Phantom Ranch before and we know from that experience that taking a break after the Devil’s Corkscrew (fairly aptly named as far as I’m concerned) at Indian Gardens is a very nice idea. If we’re serious about this, I need to start training again now!
Also, you know how some people go crazy and buy sports cars or whatever for a mid-life crisis? I think my person mid-life craziness might be to hike the Grand Canyon twice in my 40s.
