J: Sam was a little hung over the next day so the drive to the Grand Canyon was on me and she didn't even feel guilty during the drive.
Once there we scoped out our options and as luck would have it; there was a cancellation and we booked up a wood cabin at Phantom Ranch at the bottom on the Canyon and planned a walk down! We bought all the bits we needed for the hike, then set up a campsite at the rim. It was honestly the most wonderful campsite I've ever had the pleasure to visit. It was in a pine forest and had fire pits around. We made a big fire, and the survival kit came good as we needed the metal match and the wire-saw. We made a great big fire as it was freezing; and for once I mean it! There was actual snow around us and the night temperature forecast was zero! But it was so beautiful and dry it didn't matter, we ate burgers and took in our surroundings. We wished all the guys from home were there then. Finally, once it was dark we slipped to bed excited for the morning.

S: So, we had planned our walk, first going down the South Kaibab route, as there wasn't any ice on the way down, it was a safer way of doing the trek. So off we set and the ground is just mud, mud and more mud, after the first hour the ground dried out and walking became easier. About 1/4 of the way day we passed all the mules coming back up the path with people who had trekked down on them the day before. They all looked very comfortable. The scenery is only something you can dream of, you see all the contours of where the river Colorado had cut in and the colours of the different types of rock and suddenly you must stop to take it all in and remember where you are. Now we are only a little competitive and we always play a game of catch up to the people in front and overtake, just something to keep the momentum going. About half way down my back is started to give me some grief and I know it's because we are going downhill. About 3/4 of the way I'm really struggling and walking hunched over and James being the gentleman he is, takes my bag off me and carries both.

J: So I'm double loaded and Sam is leaning on me. I wondered if she would make it for a bit. But then there it was, the Colorado River. We knew we were only a few miles from the ranch.
Being at the bottom is incredible, so different from that moment of euphoria at the top of a mountain. We made it to the ranch and in only 3 hours 50 mins! After trying to care for Sam I left her to rest and took a little walk to a quiet spot and just read my book in possibly the most stunning place I've ever read before. It was awesome to be one of the small percentage of visitors to the Grand Canyon to make it to the bottom.

S: After having a rest and lay down, we went and had a massive home cooked stew for tea which made us feel homely. We sat talking to some of the other hikers and they were amazed at some of the tales we had to tell. They had all hiked the trail before and were all leaving it a day before they left as there were more treks to be done at the bottom. After tea, my back went into spasms and I couldn't move, let alone go to the toilet without help. I was seriously getting worried as I had taken every pain killer I had and it wasn't getting any easier. All I had in my head, was at least they can get a helicopter here if need be lol. The next morning, I was still in pain but I knew that I had to get out of the canyon so after a breakfast of pancakes, bacon and pain killers we set off. Once I started moving, and the first part of the trek was flat along the Colorado Rover which helped my back loosen up before the climb started. There were a couple of guys in front of us, and I admitted defeat then, we would not be keeping up with them today.

J: Thankfully all the back rubs and pills seamed to working for Sam and it looked like I wasn't going to have to carry her out. On the journey, we started under the clouds in the Canyon and walking up through them was eerie. We found waterfalls on the route which were on a different path called Angel Bright Trail. It was a longer route than the day before but had water stops. Although I was baffled by the detailed 7.5 mile walk the day before as it felt a long way so we GPS tracked the new trail which should be 9.5 miles. This new trail offered a very different scenery, more plant life and with that, we were lucky enough to turn a corner and find a stag standing in the path! I'm sure that's lucky somehow.

S: We had to cross a couple of streams and James is obviously nimbler footed as I ended up with two wet feet and he did not. The only problem was I ended up with matching blisters on my heels due to my shoes getting wet but all in good fun. As we starting to climb there was a lot of mist around and you couldn't tell how far the top was, and suddenly you looked over the canyon and we weren't far from the top. We both held hands and made it up to the ridge and we were proud of the achievement we had accomplished even if I'd had to work a little harder. Oh, and the maps lied the trail was way over 11 miles, so I'm not sure who measured it. By the time we reached the top we were both starving so we popped into the lodge and had dinner again as we had already eaten a roll and cereal bar on the walk up.

J: It was a fantastic achievement and I'm proud of Sam, who managed to nearly jog up in just 4 hours 40 mins, only 50 mins longer than the decent, they say nearly double the time to get out as walking down, so we smashed that.
We decided we had earnt a relaxing afternoon and went back to the campsite. Set up a fire which Sam started to learn how to make, and we cooked jacket potatoes, baked beans and popcorn on the fire. But just before bed we thought we would heat the car up slightly.... She clearly didn't like sitting still for a couple days as we had another flat battery! That was a cold night and we cuddled up for body warmth.
In the morning we had to lay there until we heard someone pass then quickly jump out to ask for another jump start, they were happy to help in exchange for information about the canyon walk as they were going to do it that day.

S: We then decided as the car had been started we could have breakfast and then start our drive around the south rim of the canyon. There were different places to stop including Zuni point, Grandview point and Moran point but none offered views quite as amazing as the trek had. And watching me get out of the car was most amusing as I was walking like an old woman, fingers crossed two days and I'll be back to normal.