Grand Canyon

I am here. Blizzard! Ugh. I did not think it would snow in Arizona. It is a desert. Yes, we have snow. I hope it goes well. I start the hike tomorrow. I caught the bus to downtown flagstaff. I missed the stop and rode the bus for half an hour. No problem. It was warm on the bus. A wheelchair bound person got on. It took only a few minutes for her to get on. I wandered around flagstaff. Not much to see. I saw Mark's store. Very classy place. I found the Four Season's guide shop. I have a meeting at 4 pm. I hiked over to barne's and nobles. It was a 15 minute walk. I am going to relax and read. What am I doing here? Good question. Hiking. Escaping. Seeking adventure. Putting myself out there.
I wandered around downtown flagstaff. I bought a few things: wool socks, neck guard. I met Brian and Mark. I will be hiking with Mark. Our guide is Bob. I hope I can make it. It was a blizzard today. I hope it won't be too cold. I ate at the worst chinese food ever. I felt like crap afterward.
It has been a great day. I woke up at 6am by wake up call. I set my alarm for too late. I forgot it was mountain time. I packed up and went to the lobby. I met Bob at 6:50 am - exact meeting time. We went back to the shop and met Mark. We drove over to the grand canyon. It has been snowy and cold. The first day has been OK, except for the weather. Snow storms and rain have dampened the experience. Overall, it has been a good experience and I am hiking with good people. It was all downhill. Great scenes. But, during one part we were pelted with ice/snow. It was somewhat painful, but we made it. We are camped at phantom ranch. There are not too many overnighters. It is going to be cold. I am hoping for a peaceful night of rest. I can hear the rush of one of the tributaries to the colorado river. It is the beautiful hum of nature: divine, constant, peaceful. We will be eating dinner soon. I hope it stops raining. We hiked down the south kaibab trail. It is nice descent. We passed by multiple mule trains. They left nice presents and puddles for us. The "presents" look like green goat cheese balls - like the kind I ate in Italy. The trip has been good.
We ate dinner. Bob cooked a great meal: burritos. I had to go to the BR. It was amazingly clean. I was shocked. It is drizzling outside so I will turn in early. Bob, the guide, is an art teacher. Mark is a forensics scientist fron NZ: kiwi. My headlamp works. Thank God.

Ok. I am completely miserable. It is so wet and so cold. I have to pee, but I do not want to leave the tent. I paid money for this? My tent is totally soaked. Tomorrow I will have to wear cold and damp clothes. What am I doing here? The views, the views. That's right. Keep reminding myself. Best parts: views, hiking partners, food, bathroom cleanliness. Worst parts: rain, cold
Yippeee! I did it. I made a daring dash to pee in a bush. Success. I feel better now. It is snowing and raining. I don't think it can get worse.
It was a great hiking day. I woke up at 1 am, and found my clothes to be soaked. My tent was sitting in a puddle. I went to the bathroom and tried to dry my clothes under the air blower. I was half successful. I went back to sleep. The night was quite miserable. But today, the weather was phenomenal: blue skies, minimal clouds, warm at times. The views were awesome. We saw waterfalls, the colorado river, bridges, streams, and the canyon. The hike along bright angel trail was awesome. No snow or rain were seen. We hiked five miles to Indian garden camp. We went up 1500 feet total. One part was called devil's corkscrew. It was particularly steep. Tomorrow we will climb up 3000 feet in 4.6 miles. It will be a steep climb. I hope we make it up in good time because I have a plane to catch at 5 pm. When we reached camp, we set up the tents, packed up the food, and went on a hike to plateau point. It was three miles round trip on flat trails. The trail was not in good shape : mud, mule dung. It was a good side trip. It took us to the edge of the grand canyon and we had panoramic views. It was windy and chilly. Overall, it was a must-see place. I am so glad to be alive. It has been a tremendous experience in terms of scenery, people, endurance/workout. The food has been surprisingly good. We had a bagel sandwich with chips for lunch. Dinner was pasta with olive oil. Last night, we had cold pasta from a bag for lunch, and burritos for dinner. The bathroom at phantom ranch was shockingly clean, like japanese br. Tonight the bathroom is a septic tank. The weather is better tonight. No rain, just cold and wind. Bob said it was unusual to have snow on the ground. We have it, so we are seeing something unique. No mules were seen, but a lot of presents were noted. There was a ton of snow last night. The mule trips were canceled. Flagstaff had a foot of snow and I40 was closed. Luckily, we came a day earlier. I pray that tomorrow my body will be able to make it up to the top, safety for the group, and safe plane ride back to Seattle.

It is midnight and freezing cold. Camping and hiking make me think about the necessities of life. My thoughts become simplified. What should I eat? When should I drink water? Should I piss now or later? How can I keep warm? How are my muscles feeling? Where should I put up the tent? Right now, I am thinking: should I piss now or later? It is so cold outside. I would rather hold it.

I will think of good memories. Since high school, my best non- academic memories include: Jackson hole, Jim M, Bert N., chien tan/taiwan, house party, nu, AE (steelers, hanging out), James W hanging out, Vince L hanging out, hanging with Carol B, sledding in Hershey, dinners after S and L with Chao, crossroads, parties/bbq at pbc, parties at the mansion, medical school graduation party, super bowl party at Joe L, london trip, family trips to vegas and hawaii, japan trip, egypt, scuba in bahamas and hawaii, Tahoe trip, Italy trip, Paris trip, toastmasters, massage.
The best times involve others (friends, church, others). The second-best involve special events. The third-best are international trips alone. I am amazed that EC figured it out at such an early age.
Top experiences: SA, getting into Penn, pbc parties and hanging out, now (job, money, time to travel)
Worst experiences: aloneness (no connection, nothing to do on weekends), anger about rudeness, lies, and rejection, no Christ.

Ultimate best experience: short term medical missions with a friend.
Other great experiences: camping with friends, romantic trip with wife, playing music concert with a group, direct a movie, speak in front of thousands, hosting a political party, international adventure trips with others, winning an election.
EC has taught me the importance of blogging/e-mailing/facebooking/texting, motivated me to travel, how to be more active in life, how to have fun, how to get the most out of my life.
We woke up around 6 am. It was a good night without rain or snow. We ate breakfast and packed up. I started up the trail at 7:30 am. It was an exhausting hike. The first rest stop was @ 1.6 miles. It was not too bad: only a mild elevation gain. My legs were still fresh, so I felt pretty good about it. The views were spectacular. I loved it. No rain or snow; only blue skies. The second part was steeper. It was 1.5 miles away. My legs were definitely becoming more fatigued. I was stopping a lot and drinking a lot of water. I barely made it to the second stop. The trail was covered in packed snow. It was somewhat painful trudging up in the snow, but I am glad it was not mud. The third stop was the top. I climbed up pretty slowly. I ran out of water in the middle. "One step at a time". I was relieved to see the Kolb house which sits at the top. I was tired out from three days of hiking. I had very little reserve. My left knee was aching for some reason. It never ached before. Maybe, I sprained it. Anyway, I was glad that I made it to the top. We caught the shuttle right away. Back in the parking lot, we ate lunch, packed up our stuff, and drove off. I felt like I really accomplished something over the past three days. It met all of my expectations, despite the bad weather and fatigue. I survived some pretty harsh conditions. Bob dropped me off at the airport. Hiking forces me to think about next basic move. I can take my mind off all of the complexities of the world. It is the best psychotherapy. Move forward and focus.