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I have never been too big on outdoor activities like hiking, camping, rock climbing, and other things. I was always into sports and just hanging out when I was using. I would only do into the woods to do drugs and never really appreciated Nature sober. So coming to Back 2 Basics was a pretty big 180 for me.
I have been here for about a month and a half, and all the hikes we have done have been really easy and mellow, but hiking the Grand Canyon was extremely rough. We began the day by hiking 7 miles into the Grand Canyon on the Kaibab Trail. It was a 7,000 feet drop in elevation. To add another challenge to our hiking, we had to carry 50 pound packs. A resident and I felt pretty confident in our abilities on the first day that we decided to run most of the way down. On our way down we stopped to talk to people and it was interesting because they were from all parts of the world.
At the bottom of the canyon we were staying at Phantom Ranch which is right next to the Colorado River. After our 7 mile hike, we were pretty beat and hot so we decided to cool off by jumping into the river which felt like 40 degrees. It sent my body into shock because of how cold it was. It was crazy to feel how powerful the current of the river was even though we were only 4 feet deep. It felt like the river was dragging me in deeper and deeper, but nothing bad happened. The rest of the day was just relaxing at our campsite under some cottonwood trees and we spent most of our time talking to other campers.
The second day, we packed up camp and hiked another 7 miles to another campsite called Cottonwood. My calves and quad’s were so sore and kept locking up on me which made the hike harder. Along the way we stopped at the Blue Ribbon Waterfall. We were excited that we got to go swimming while we were there. However, the water fall was not that big to go swimming at, so that plan fell through. The rest of the day we were at the camp and had a relaxing and early night.
The next morning we hiked back to Phantom Ranch and hung out by the river for a while. Most of the night was spent talking to other campers. This was cool because they asked us what we did, and there was no shame or guilt in telling them about rehab.
The way out of the canyon was the hardest by far. It was nothing but 7 miles of steep hiking uphill. After many breaks, throbbing legs, and deprived lungs, we made it back to the top. It was a great feeling to have hiked up and back in the Canyon, especially because less than 1% of people who visit the canyon actually hike down.