It's a Crash! Bang! Grand Canyon Thang!

“hermit rapids was cool. a much different hike down to there than to granite rapids.

it started snowing when we hit the spring just before the final two miles. the wind was blowing pretty hard all day as we climbed.

your trip out was good?”

“flight of the condor


last edited: 3/12/06 4:38:07 PM”

“Great shot, love the feather in his/her mouth.
How was the hike to Hermit Rapids different? More of a boulder hop?
Glad you guys didn't get blown off into the abyss.
My hike was good, a bit of wind also but otherwise pretty uneventfull (except for the mind boggling views of course) :)
Looking forward to more shots.”

“Here's album number two.

http://paigefalk.smugmug.com/gallery/1269211”

“that condor looks like its wearing the same scarf paige was

;-)”

“Paige, what camera and lenses were you using. Beautiful shots! Never saw the Colorado that color, just great shots!”

“Hey Crash, you're right! That bird's got good fashion sense. :)

Tango, I lugged along my Canon DSLR with my Tamron 28-75mm lens, good all around lens that isn't too expensive.
I too had never seen the Colorado that color. The water didn't even need to be filtered let alone settled, tablets would have worked just fine.”

“Thanks. Which Canon? I like Tamron lenses. I have a 28-300 Tamron that I use. Wow! I am 1/2 way through your 2nd album. My coworkers and I are all gathered around looking at them, as we listen to the Penguins Philly hockey game at work!
last edited: 3/12/06 8:19:55 PM”

“Glad to hear you guys had a good time. CAn't wait to hear about this one next week!”

“Lessons learned:

1. I do not really like salmon as much as I thought I did.
2. It's easier to fall into a hole than it is to climb out of it.
3. I can go to bed at 7:30 and not feel like a kid again.
4. Just because you have a map doesn't mean the map is accurate.
5. It is damn hard to eat 6 cups of GORP.
6. A man can only eat so much Granola.
7. A hot cheeseburger and Coke after a trip like this IS better than sex.
8. I don't like that "Frito corn chip" smell that my down sleeping bags are now steeped in.

Oh what else!

This was an experience of a lifetime and I want to thank each and every person for their contribution. It was just an excellent plan with excellent hiking partners and a lot of good luck and timing. It just all "came together" in a magical way, like it was mean to be.

It's going to be hard to get this trip out of my mind, especially having to return to work this week.

This was an experience of a lifetime for me”

“Oh, and did I mention I really REALLY have lost my love for salmon?”

“nice pics paige - looks like fun!”

“Jimmy Sans, you better hope your lovely wife who rushed to meet you at the LUXOR in Las Vegas doesn't read number seven.”

“Tango, Canon 350D, I had the 300D but it died after the JMT.
Glad you guys are enjoying the pics, now get back to work! ;)”

“I just got my pics up.

http://www.stiglu.com/gallery/0603grandcanyon

”

“It's going to be hard to get this trip out of my mind, especially having to return to work this week.

This was an experience of a lifetime for me”
Jimmy san
9:11:45 PM
3/12/06

so... why would you want to get it out of your mind? I always love that the high lasts for a while even though it makes it hard to get back to my "normal" life. I have my own 3-day Canyon trek this weekend. I'm so glad you folks had such a great trip. I envy your condor experience!!”

“Sweet Jason! Glad you made it back OK, did the weather cut your trip short?
last edited: 3/12/06 11:50:58 PM”

“I didn't do the road trip up 395. The weather was questionable and I was looking forward to getting home early.”

“Smart decision. I had a police escort over the Tehachapis, snowing like crazy.
Had to bail on Pt. Reyes the weather here wasn't too hot for camping with the kids.”

“paige, i really like this picture...that's ad quality...you should submit it to osprey ;)

”

“Here's my trip report. I know it's pretty general but I'm too lazy to get in to details.

"I hooked up with eleven others for a five day backpacking trip in the Grand Canyon. This is my first hike below the rim and I can tell you, it really is the GRAND Canyon. No wonder it is one of the Seven Wonders of the World. I found myself looking in awe the whole time. Unfortunately you can’t experience this trip though pictures. The canyon is so huge it doesn’t fit in the viewfinder and 3,000 foot cliffs look like cracks in the ground. The Grand Canyon’s shear size and vast spaces are overwhelming and humbling. There is a sense of deep respect for its timeless existence. We got a whole different perspective once below the rim. We experienced winter conditions on the rim and just a few miles away at the Colorado River we wore t-shirts and shorts in balmy spring like weather. We were fortunate enough to see several endangered California condors soaring above the canyon. We visited Indian Gardens, Plateau Point, Salt Creek, The Monument, Granite Rapids, and Hermit Rapids. A hike to remember for sure."

http://www.stiglu.com”

“You are right in that pictures don't do it justice, but yours as well as the others that attended the trip are fabulous!

I have been to the canyon twice, but not to hike. The first time I saw it, I almost couldn't breathe.

Keep the stories rolling!”

“Thrifty, I too thought Osprey might be interested, you've inspired me to give it a shot. I'll let you know if anything comes of it. Thanks.

Paige”

“Justin wonderful photos!!!! What camera did you use?

Where is the official trip report????”

“paige, the water droplets remind me of the water that's always on the tomato in burger commercials ;)”

“Tango,

I was using a Fuji Finepix S9000 Digital Camera. Decent camera for the money. My only gripe is the dumb flash mount and there is more purple fringing than comparible cameras.

I posted my trip report to my site http://www.stiglu.com I'm expecting CrashBang to start a new thread with a detailed trip report soon.”

“people often say that pictures dont do a place justice, but alot of the ones ive seen have come close, especially paige's, stiglu's, and baume's”

“Thanks Crash, I agree Jason and Dave did an awesome job!

I took over 650 photos, had to whittle them down so as not to bore anyone, but they would be of interest to those on the trip. If anyone wants me to burn them a disk of all the photos send me an email at paigefalk at sbcglobal dot net.”

“All great pics, thanks all for one GREAT TRIP
and yes, Crash that hike up Hermit was a butt kicker,”

“because my job is very intense and it requires a lot of concentration.”

“js, i feel like i came in on the middle of a thought in your head. what in the world are you talking about, mate?”

“Makes sense to me. Read Cindy Lu's post above.”

“oic now”

“I know what thread will require all my attention next week-end! Glad you all had a great time...thanks for giving me something to look forward to!”

“Finally getting around to posting pictures and trail reports on my site.

http://www.corridor9.net

Had a wonderful trip all! Thanks for lighting the fire under us all Crash.”

“What a great trip; talk about the time of my life! Thanks, everyone! I'll post a link to my photos, but I bow down to Paige--awesome shots! FYI: Condor #6 was a 7 year old male.
~Gwen (aka "Cactus Magnet")”

“Flute93, you must have extremely good eyes on your FYI.”

“I had an extra couple of days in the park after you guys left. I reported the condor sightings to the rangers. (I had read that the rangers would want to hear about any sightings.) They told me his vitals. Pretty cool to know more about him, I thought.”

“Enjoyed your pics Rescue, love the one of Sam, looks like he's about to slide off into the Abyss. Also the one of Sam and I, we look so happy, oh wait, we were!!!!”

“Just wanted to say I looked at EACH AND EVERY PICTURE IN EVERY ALBUM POSTED FOR THIS TRIP and THEY TOTALLY KICK ALL FORMS OF A S S!!!

What is this a pic of? (besides rocks knuckle heads!)
”

“If you look closely in the middle, Knucklehead, you'll see the little quarter sized tarantula getting ready to strike. Just below the twig looking thing.

:-P”

“i can't get the GC out of my mind.... i must return”

“The 2 have much in common, lol.”

“Ah, open space!”

“Can I go with?”

“Me too? Seriously.”

“When we going”

“whats that trail that heads east off of the bright angel trail, near the phantom ranch? someone said the escalante, i believe. im goin down that, next”

“Paige gave me the low down on that section as she backpacked it before. Unfortunately, the Bright Angel lodge was already fully booked in April, 2007, otherwise I would already be scheduled to go back.”

“haha.

i was going to post about a reunion tour. i've been thinking about it non stop for two weeks. if anyone is up for it, i'm in for 100% positive.”