Alright, folks. I am here to bring you my thoughts on the trail that my father and I completed at the Grand Canyon. I will put a note here and say that this trail is rated DIFFICULT and it is no joke for most that have even attempted this trail. The whole trail is roughly 17-19 miles all around depending on detours and stops. 

So with that out there let's dive in. 

The trail that my father and I completed is Rim- RIver- To Rim or some people just call it Rim to River. The trail starts on South Kaibab and ends up Bright Angel. A while back we did Suuth Kibab and came back up the same trail and it was terrible. We had a late start, it was super steep and we learned a lesson about water and how much we really love to drink it. It was very intense at that time. 

For this adventure, we had planned this out over the years and talked about how we wanted to finish a hike that didn't require permits. In the end, this was the route we decided on that would be best for us to do in one day and not get a backpacking permit. 

To begin with this adventure I would advise having a campsite at Mathers Campground and to make sure that you have a day or two in front of the trail and a day or two after you have completed the trail to rest. This also will give you a weather window. Please make sure to check for rain/ wet conditions or you could find yourself scurrying out of the trail in mud and that is never ideal in any situation but definitely not ideal in the Grand Canyon itself. We planned for a week of staying in the campground and we were there at the end of September when the weather would be cooler. Ideally, you want the weather to be anywhere from 50's to 70's  up top and maybe high 70's to 80's at the bottom. You don't want to get caught at the bottom of the canyon when it could be in the 100 heat index. That's how people end up being rescued or dying from heat exhaustion. Always, always, always check conditions before attempting this hike. 

Once you have planned out your time frame make sure to get plenty of rest and pack your bag the day before. We planned to have our camelbacks completely filled and brought several snacks to eat every few hours. It is also highly recommended to have trekking poles and a hat or shirt that is breathable for the hike. Once your pack is ready set your alarm for being up at 4 a.m. We made sure to have coffee before we left and I ate chicken and potato for breakfast as a starter of fuel. The first bus is at 5 a.m over on Bright Angel. Take your car over there so that you have immediate access when you get up from the trail. The bus that comes at 5 a.m is an "express line" and will take you to the trail. By the time you get over there, it will be roughly 5:30. If you need to use the restroom they do have one at the start and we both went ahead and used it since the next bathroom wasn't for 3 miles or so. 

The trail itself is outstandingly beautiful but it is VERY steep. South Kaibab is around 7,200 ft high and as you go down you lose around 4860 ft of elevation. Getting down to the river is about 6.3 miles and even though it is down the real truth about this is that it's not smooth going down. It has steps and they are all different heights. In the beginning, you will need a headlamp but by the time we got a mile and a half in you can start to see first light. By the time we got down to three miles, the sun was rising and we no longer needed headlamps or long sleeves since it started to warm up quickly in the canyon. 

Every corner you turn will reveal an amazing landscape and it will take your breath away. Make sure to stop and take photos and videos along the way but be aware of your time. The best way to accomplish this hike is to be heading up and out of the canyon before noon. 

I will say that by the time we got down to the river, my toenails were hurting. A lot. They were sore from the stepping down and I loved it when we ran into areas on the trial where it was Smooth and it had zero human-made steps. When you get down to the river you cross over the first bridge and go towards the famous Phantom Lodge. This is your first water point. So for reference, you have to have enough water for the first 7 miles. When you get there refill what you need to and water your hat or shirt. For us, this was an amazing way to keep us smiling and stop us from being miserable. The heat at the bottom of the canyon is a lot to take when you are doing long hikes and by being able to cool down I felt so much better. I also brought sunscreen since I didn't have a long-sleeved sleeve breathable shirt. But that's honestly ok. 

After you refill your water and wet your hat you continue onward towards the second bridge and then follow alongside the river for quite a while. It's a beautiful view and we even saw some mules on their way to the ranch with supplies. After some time of following the trial, there will be a river "resting house" on the left-hand side and that is the start up the box canyon to make your way up. Here you can stop to take a rest and use the restroom. 

The box canyon hike up isn't too steep but it does have switchbacks with a gradual incline afterward. You follow this up until you get to an oasis of sorts. To be honest I didn't know how green the Grand Canyon could be but it was super green. It has trees, a stream, and is full of plants. It was shaded and a nice change of pace from the usual scenery you see in the Grand Canyon. 

After a while longer of hiking you make it Indian Garden. From here it's 4.5 miles to the end of the trail. This is a great place to replenish water, wet your hat, and take a rest. By the time we got here, we were pretty much in the clear and knew we would be alright. Around that point, it was a little past noon so we knew that the heat wasn't the issue but the steep trail ahead was. We talked to some other hikers and a ranger that was around and after having some electrolytes and a snack we put on our packs and started up the steep trail. The next resthouse is at Mile 3 (3 miles to the top) and you gain roughly 950 elevation in that short trip. 

After mile three your next resthouse is at mile 1.5. From here you start to gain elevation rapidly. I highly recommend having those trekking poles and using them as it is almost a 12% grade from mile three onward to get out of the canyon. 

Once you get to the next resthouse you are roughly at 5,729 feet. Around this point, I remember thinking that I wanted to get out of the canyon. My right foot was on fire and it was starting to get excruciatingly painful. Of course, there's nothing you can do at that point but push through the pain to get out. In truth, I think the last three miles would have been ok if my foot hadn't started hurting but I remember thinking to myself that it sucked ass. We kept going back and forth with these other hikers and one made a comment that the hike was taking a toll on me. It was in the sense that my foot was throbbing but the rest of me was ok. I made sure to try to stretch my leg and back when we stopped for a breather and take in plenty of water. 

Once you get past the 1.5 mile resthouse there aren't any other stops. You now have the home stretch to get out. From here it's constant switchbacks and the elevation continues to climb. By the time you leave the canyon and are done with the trail, you are back at 6800 feet. From mile 3 to the top it's a struggle. Luckily there is shade going up the trail in the afternoon so you are not constantly in the blazing sun cooking away as you work up the trail. 

When we finally got out of the canyon and were in the parking lot I felt like a sack of potatoes. My foot was hurting like crazy but I managed to limp my way to the truck. In truth, my foot only started to hurt the last three miles and while it was annoying to have it flare up I am still proud I finished the hike. It's strenuous but amazingly beautiful and only 1% of people that go to the Grand Canyon attempt this hike. It honestly is a memory I will not forget. 

Hello Everyone! I hope you all are doing well on this fine Friday afternoon. 

   I am here with some news regarding my travels and life updates. 

A few months ago I discovered that my current job won't let me travel and work anymore. This was discovered when I tried to get into the system while traveling up to P.A to visit my partner's family. He was driving nad I was supposed to log on for an hour and the system kicked me out. This was new information since about a month before it worked fine. It was slow but it still managed to log me in and let me do normal work functions. 

I'm not going to lie this was disheartening as it meant that I could not longer attempt to do another trip in the van with this job. Im not saying I like the job but with this discovery, I realized that I was screwed from doing what I love. Last year it was amazing and even though I had van trouble in the end I still enjoyed every waking minute of being able to wake up in a new place, work my day away, and then go on an afternoon hike with Lylah. It boosted my spirits and made work bearable. Now I'm stuck once again. 

Of course, I should have seen it coming as they did announce that they were changing their systems around so who knew what was going on but it still made me sad to realize that I couldn't go forward with my plans. 

So I'm looking into new work and I've found some promising options to move forward with. Ones that don't require a hard-wired connection and ones that will allow me to get a few months in the new year living in my van. I'm not 100% sure what I will choose yet but I am keeping an eye on different possibilities daily and know that I will need to decide soon since my current contract ends at the end of October. 

With that being said im hopefully to stay in the South part of the United States and trael in January and February to see new things since i havent explore much of New Mexico, Arizona or Nevada. So who knows. Im Keeping my eyes open on what opporunities come my way. 

But for now it seems weekend trips will have to be a thing for some solo hiking in the East with Lylah and hopefully that will help my sanity some. 

More posts coming your way. Stay tuned. 

Great news! The van maintenance is complete. Not going to lie the list was a lot longer than I expected it to be when it came to things that needed to be fixed. For a long time, the van has had this growl and I thought that was part of the van, thinking that he just liked to make noise. To be honest I don't mind a little bit of grunge. My Volkswagon has this grungy sound and even though it's annoying to most people I love the way it sounds. It gives it character so when I bought Gimli I thought that was just part of his character. Turns out it wasn't. 

The alternator was the source of the growl and luckily there was a place in town that was able to fix it. Along with the alternator being the source of the growl, the intake had a pretty good leak going on which lead to high long-term fuel trims. Along with these issues stacked on everything else, the list was quite long in terms of what needed to be fixed or changed. Of course, there are a few other things to be done before I head back out but in terms of the main components that make the van safe and ready for travel, we now have those completed. 

The next step in Gimli is the last part of the build. Currently, we're looking for a way to make the passenger seat rotate so that I can use that as a seat for work, and we're going to build a cabinet area that goes all the way from the passenger seat to the bed frame on the passenger side. The passenger doors will be able to be opened for airflow if I so choose, but you will no longer be able to get in and out. This will also stop the power drain on one side and hopefully stop me from accidentally draining the battery by having one of those doors accidentally propped open. 

It will also make storing kitchen supplies easier as well as make my life easier for food quality. With a cooler, there is always a chance of it being ruined by temp, ice, dunking in water for a long time, etc. So we will also be upgrading to a fridge for more of a boondocking experience. 

It's a relief to know that were so close to Gimli's completion. I can't wait to see how everything turns out. 

Its May 1st. Waking up this morning was a strange feeling becuase it was the day I was supposed to arrive back in Tennessee. But due to the van giving me strange noises that made me nervous everytime I turned it on I made the deicison to come home early. Now that ive had time to settle and work on the van with Dad it became apparent that I amde the right call. There was a long list of things that needed to be done. Some of them are easy to do but take a lot of time to get right. 

This is the list 

Along with this list we also had maintence to do. I learned how to do the parking break on the van and also got to learn how to change out the spark plugs. Along with these changes dad discovered my front shocks were totalled and I honestly have no idea how long they have been done for. Needless to stay I got lucky that they didnt just fall apart completely on me. That would have been a very bad phone call with plenty of curse words and lots of tears. 

We still havent gotten the sound tracked down yet. The weird gruff that he was doing is a question mark but that will come after I get the new carpet installed along with the seats back in place.

So far the radio has been installed along with the backup camera. Im excited for those updates becuase the old radio had a terrible blue light that would blind you at night. It also made the occasional weird noise that you never got warning about. It would start and for hours would just keep going. It sounded like a shrill coming from under the radio and I Swear I was ready to murder someone when it came on during long drives. 

With the radio now changed out and the camera installed we can move forward. I maanged to scrape up as much of the old glue as possible and we even found a wire that was shorting from bad placement by the previous owners. With those tasks completed its time to put down the new carpet. Next stop, carpet store. 

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To help with future travels I do have art pieces for sale. Down below is one of my new favorites. Click the link to purchase. 

It's been Two weeks since I've been home. I feel somewhat back to normal now that I've settled back in. 

Going from a van back to living in a home that ISNT on wheels is a big transition. Especially when it comes to finding the right balance between work and normal activities. Mostly though it is exhausting. The transition is a lot to take on and it's different from the way it felt when it was only two months. For seven months my "home" has been wherever I've parked. Vegas, Stanley, Pheonix, Valley of Fire, Bozeman, and so many other beautiful locations. Every day was a new adventure and it was filled with new tastes, new views, and new people that I got to meet. Being home is nice in the sense that I get to go back to a normal workout routine, I get to hang out with family, cuddle my wonderful kitty Spice,  and of course, I have access to a hot shower (which has been my best friend since I've been back). 

Now that I feel like I'm settled back in I can take the time to focus on the next steps. Currently, we're fixing the van. We did the parking brake and now we're working to find the source of the weird noise that started in Casper, Wyoming. There are a few possibilities but it's unclear yet as to the source. Once the big fixes are done we have one more upgrade to do to the inside of the van before I finally say that it's completed. I'm excited to do these upgrades and I can't wait to see the final product. This will be the cherry on top of this design. 

As for Youtube, I do have some videos in process and I am also practicing my spray paint work. I even have a few for sale right now. 

Stay tuned for what is to come.