This will be a bit of a different post than my usual: a blast from the past. In the Blast From the Past series I'll periodically look back on some fond stories from yesteryear. Now, there may be some things that seem to crazy to have occurred or maybe unrealistic, but you know what, you weren't there so you don't know. hah! In the first installation I'll reminisce on my first big backpacking trip at the Grand Canyon after freshman year of Rolla. The trip was instigating by my dear friend Zoe Rechav who texted me. "Grand Canyon?" to which I replied "Yes." I then pulled in my friend Daniel and Zoe got our other friend Kate. Boom. We had the expedition crew.
We started planning in mid summer of 2018, as I recall, while I was on Co-op with Gardner Denver in Sedalia. Missouri had a pretty mild winter that year so I think I got in some good fall training before the actual expedition. Our group would Zoom once in while as we sorted out logistics, food, training, etc as none of us had tried a trip this big before. Daniel and I are both Eagle scouts so we vaguely knew what we were doing....
It turned out an amazing trip! A giant success for my first trip. Someday I'll tell the full story but for now...here is a glimpse at the photoalbum.  |
Early fall check in hike with Daniel
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Training pretty much amounted to filling backpacks with weight and walking around an hour or two a few times a week. I was really into bike riding at this point so I was getting fitness from that too!
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| Fall training going well |
Being that we were all broke college students, we absolutely shoe stringed the budget as you can see below. If you are curious about big trip planning I would guess that these costs are pretty good for nowadays too. Not a bad price tag for a 12 day trip. IT would be good to note that we already had the gear we really needed and we borrowed some stuff.
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| Planning for our trip, trying to scrape by |
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| Planning for our trip, tight but free |
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Playing around in Springfield before we finish prep work
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| Finally all in one spot! T-1 day |
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| Gear checks and weighing |
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| Final review of paperwork |
Loaded up and heading out bright and early
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| Amarillo by midday |
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| Biggest feet in the world |
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| Winter acclimation in Flagstaff |
At the top of the South Rim
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| My favorite lookout |
Zoe and I wandering off to see something fun?
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| Drying socks....I'm a dummy. I actually burned it lol. |
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| Recovering after day 3...we're tired and sore but in good spirits |
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| Camp day 3 and 4 |
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| North Rim |
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| North Rim break |
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I didn't stick
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North Rim on the way back
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Chillin again
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| At the end! Trashbag Poncho and all! |
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