This is a review of the North Rim
trip on Sept. 1, 2011. Since REI refused to publish I decided to put it on-line
so the people can finally learn the TRUTH about the trip as although much have
been written there is lot of stuff left uncovered , well until now …
Dream like escape into
another world
Trip classification system
First of all due the unified
system REI is using to classify all trips we are in a a-a-a let’s call it interesting
situation where winter climb of Mt. Washington is classified as level 3 enterprise
in the search page (level 4 in its own page) and the Grand Canyon excursion is deemed level 5. Hmm does this make sense to you? Let’s look at
the facts. The typical REI Mt. Washington climb have 50% percent failure rate
(one in 2 does not make it to the top). Grand Canyon - perhaps even 20% would
be generous (although true in our particular case). So what is causing the dissonance
in the scales? I have no insider’s information but if I have to make a wild
guess REI likely factored that Mt Washington despite the difficulties is a one
day effort while in the case of the Grand Canyon you have to lug your backpack
for days (4 to be precise). So although
you do not have to deal with 70+ miles wind you still have to face minor hurdles,
i.e. being deprived by Internet, braking your beloved Kindle and similar injustice
that easily puts the modern human down to his or her knees :)
I would like to ask for forgiveness
from those of my comrades that may consider my trip rating critique as over the
top. Perhaps, it was the great energy that emanates from the Canyon, the deep
knowledge of the area’s geology demonstrated by our guides, not to mention the
delicious food, and the chance of spending time with similarly minded people that
have affected my perception of this memorable excursion making it appear less demanding
than it actually was.
Advices to potential travelers
Here are my notes. Written in a
way intended to please the hardcore adventure gamers! There is one main quest (going to the bottom
and up) and two optional quests (the bat cave over the waterfall and the
Canyons climb). There is also a special quest that is unlocked only under
certain circumstances and may replace one of the optional quests (the chopper
rescue mission).
Main quest
Prelude. Physical preparation.
My parents were visiting me just
before the trip so I did not have time to prepare properly and following the
saying that desperate time requires desperate measures I took some urgent,
unorthodox measures including limiting the beer to 50% and partying to a 1/3 of
the usual to make itup . Yes, yes don’t look at me like that of course that I
am joking! I ain't throwing away good
booze for a week for some hole in the Earth :) Seriously, the better you prepare the more you will
be able enjoy the beauty of the Canyon instead of your own elaborate breathing.
Our party
We had 7 adventurers in our party
including 2 blonde Amazon girls, 2
twins, 2 ultra cool guides (Tom and
Todd) , a guy that is either Hercules reincarnated or Arnie may have been
naughtier in the past than we ever suspected ! (Sorry Darren :) )
a tough cookie from New England and yours truly.
Tip 1. Start up time.
Check your e-mail before the trip in the brochure I received
from REI the meeting time was 10AM but it was changed to 8AM!
Tip 2. Optional quest
I am experience points (XP) hound
so the moment I heard about the optional quests I jumped on them like
old drunk on a black label Jack Daniels! :)
The bat cave
The first one is climb up to a
bat cave above a waterfall. I made it to the pre-ultimate level but considering
that your climbing 5.7/5.8 rock with no protection whatsoever I decided that
the risk/reward ratio was not good. Hit the gym if you want to do it as even
the Todd (guide) was struggling on the down climb. Also the rocks gets quite hot
in mid day so be careful there.
The second quest I was told is
some canyoneering that if you have
watched the movie about the Aron
Ralston (the guy who amputated his
own arm when it was pinned under 800-pound
rock) you should have an idea about I am talking about. Unfortunately, our
group did not menage to try it as one of the brothers (S) got severely hit by
the altitude change and fatigue. The lack of good (any!) booze and frivolous
ladies may have also contributed but this is just a speculation.
The chopper mission
Todd mentioned to me that Tom (the other guide) tried to use a satellite
phone borrowed from a rafting party to ask for evacuation but did not manage to
get a signal. Note that the guides who are very strict on weight and what to
carry in the Canyon do not have satellite phones and neither REI’s not their
list of required items includes SAT phone.
I fortunately have rented one for this trip so we called the rangers and
thus triggered the optional quest - the “Chopper mission”
The rangers were phenomenal – arrived literally within minutes. If you wonder – it will cost you 2k to get
evacuated. Less if you have insurance. BTW I spoke with S . later and he
mentioned that he was told in the hospital that spending another day in the
Canyon could have had serious
implications on his health so don’t be cheap on insurance as you never know!
Tip. 3 Be prepared
I took all the things that were recommended. The guides made us take out
all unnecessary staff (they even have a scale to make sure you are within the 35-40
pounds limit). Later I discovered that they kept their cell phones and in
addition lug inflatable pillows and a small book library– cheating b*star*ds! :) Anyway from the items missing in their official
list I found useful to have a small knife (I saw the girls using their teeth to
cut tape! ) e-book reader (for the long hours spent waiting for the Sun to
become more bearable) and a SAT phone – useful tool to check to help a comrade in need or to make sure your girlfriend is not cheating
on you while you are suffering in the abyss :). I prefer to be self reliant so I also carried
multi-tool , and medical kit although both are provided by the guides.
Tip4. Poles or not?
I left the poles in the car (it could have been different if we were
talking about Polish girls :) )The guides do not use / recommend them but
some people swear by them so decide
based on what makes you feel comfortable.
Tip5. Fivefingers
I tried them with no problem one day. However, Todd told me that a guy in
a previous trip had severe blisters so if you decide to use them condition your
feet in advance.
Vegas
A picture is worth a thousand words and I may post it some day - suffice to say after a short work in the Sin city I got my trip money (and some more :) back!
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