We spent all of the winter, after Christmas, training for our most our most dangerous adventure yet -- THE GRAND CANYON. You know why they call it Grand now, don't you? It is because we have been there. All through the cold winter months of early 2006, Chris and Melani filled their packs with phone books and hiked the flatlands of Ohio in a desperate attempt to ready themselves for the Canyon. We were actually really worried about the boys (and ourselves) getting down, and not being able to get back up again. As it turned out, we arrived at the rim of the Canyon amid flurries of snow. That night we slept in our tent, (well, Melani attempted to sleep in the warmth of the car for a couple of hours), and it was less than 20 degrees. The next morning we set out to hike the canyon. It was more beautiful and inspiring and hard than any backpacking trip yet. The trail is very primitive, marked by cairns. Much of the time you hike on the Hermit Trail, you are hiking with a sheer drop off to one side. This is no small thing with three children and a top heavy pack. The kids carried nothing at all, and as a reult were feeling fresh and fine for the majority of the trail. Our packs, on the other hand, continued to get more and more burdensome as the day wore on. Still, we met nice people and saw things that only a handful of people get to see every year. When we arrived at the Hermit Creek camp at the bottom, it was dusk. We had hiked eight miles, and to see the colored domes of the other tents as we rounded one of the last bends in the trail was like finding El Dorado. The bottom of the canyon was like a secret garden, with beautiful trees and flowers. Our camp that night was restful, and we woke early the next morning to get started. The next day proved to be difficult from the very start. To begin with, it is almost entirely onwards and upwards with little or no relief. We pushed ourselves very hard, as we had to be in Tucson that night. It was agreed by all the Muratores, that this was one of the hardest won accomplishments yet. Chris ended the afternoon with a bruised chest and shoulders from his heavy pack, and still had to drive seven hours to get to Grandma and Grandpa Muratores house!
