Just back from the road less travelled in the Grand Canyon and I’m a bit conflicted. Don’t get me wrong, it was an excellent trip: great hiking companions, wonderful weather (cept’n cold nights), outstanding views, super off-trail discoveries and just a wonderfully good time.

The conflict arises between wanting to boast about taking a difficult and occasionally challenging route that few people get to experience (because it’s off the normal hiking itinerary, at the far west end of the Grand Canyon trail system, involves crossing an Indian political Fee triangle, has a 20′ rappel, descends a rabbit hole with an ancient sapling for the final down-climb, and isn’t for the exposure-phobic folks like Stanna) and seeing one-other-group-a-day traveling this self-same route like it was no big deal, just something else on their bucket list.

Granted these “other” groups appeared to be skilled, proficient and worthy of boasting they’d notched their hiking poles for this route, but geeze, we figured we were part of a different 0.01%” that was able to brag about being the only ones in that area. Evidently this Route Less Travelled attracts 90% of the 0.01% or some other statistical aberration.

The upside of my conflict is that there are just more people “out there” doing things that make them Younger Next Year, and that pleases me immensely. Not all that we saw were ultra light which would have pegged the glad-scale, but we did get impressed when a light-pack-looking bike-helmeted pair from northern California “interviewed” us all on our gear.  The trick question back to them was “So let’s cut to the chase.  What’s ‘your’ base weight?” To which they “weren’t sure.”  Also impressive was one of a three-person group just behind us on the rappel leg, who evidently free climbed down the 20′ drop while we were putting our packs on.  I’d have like to seen that.

Fortunately, in the 55+ miles of trail we only sighted those other groups on the horizon or passed them going the opposite direction.  One solo hiker wasn’t very amiable when he brushed/bumped past during a fairly steep decline.  Perhaps he was concerned his (reported later by other hikers) apples, cheese and stick of butter rations didn’t allow for small talk.  So we did have all the trails and camps to ourselves save those brief encounters.

Details to follow…