the point6 blog

Deanna reports, "these are Rambouillet's. The breed is known for their fine wool. This is our first time lambing. We had one ewe and one ram from this set of twins. We have one more ewe expecting any day now!"

Congratulations, Deanna, on the new little lambs.

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This is the latest blog post from new point6 fans and ambassadors Karen Catchpole and Eric Mohl, who are on a multi-year, multi-America adventure called the Trans-Americas Journey.

In our PP6 (pre point6) days we hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back from the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park wearing a brand of hiking socks that shall remain nameless.  It was a hot, dusty, steep experience with heavy packs and our feet suffered.

In October, armed with point6 Light Cushion Mini Crews and Hiking Medium Cushion Crews, we headed into the canyon again—this time from the North Rim. We simply couldn’t resist the challenge and on top of that we miraculously got dorm room reservations at Phantom Ranch, the historic lodge down at the bottom of the canyon—something akin to winning the lottery.
After making a reservation for Cottonwood Campground, mid way between Phantom Ranch and the North Rim, and getting backcountry permits to enter the canyon the only thing left to do was walk. And walk. And walk some more.

Taking a breather at Coconino Overlook, near the beginning of the North Kaibab trail, on our way down into the Grand Canyon.

As compared to the hike from the South Rim, the North Rim route to the bottom of the canyon and back is steeper (descending and ascending 5,600 feet vs. 4,400 feet to and from the South Rim) and longer (28 miles round trip to Phantom Ranch and back, vs. 17 round trip from the South Rim). But we weren’t complaining. The walk was gorgeous from the very first steps as the North Kaibab Trail drops and winds steeply through the rim forest then through the distinct rock layers of the canyon well below the tree line.

Karen hoofing it down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

We hiked, virtually alone, until we reached Cottonwood Campground which has a handful of clean, flat tent sites near a stream—which is a good thing since the piped in water all along the North Rim trails had just been turned off for the season to avoid freezing pipes.

Despite our 40 pound Mountainsmith packs (somehow we can never seem to get much lighter than that) and the incessant downhill pounding our feet felt fine. Between a nicely balanced pack and point6 pampered feet we’ve got it made. We treat our feet to a quick soak in the icy stream anyway as we SteriPEN some drinking and cooking water so we can scarf down a delicious (seriously) freeze-dried Mountain House meal before climbing into our sleeping bags.

Soaking our happy point6 feet in the Colorado River at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

The next day’s walk down to Phantom Ranch was even more breathtaking, mainly because it was so varied. Gone are the layers upon layers of rock that we descended through the previous day, replaced with surprisingly wet and green stretches.

When we reached a section called The Box—four miles through an increasingly narrow and high-walled canyon that crossed and re-crossed the stream—the water thundered off the rock walls and the trail gentled-out to a leisurely stroll almost imperceptibly downhill. It reminded us a bit of some of our hiked through the Himalayas in Nepal and we could have walked like that all day!

Before we knew it, however, we’d arrived at Phantom Ranch which appeared very much like the oasis that it is with trees, grass, clear water and nearly-tame deer wandering to and fro. Not to mention a warm bed in the dorm and a hot shower followed by a hot meal in the ranch’s dining hall where the truly delicious beef stew dinner with fresh, crispy salad, fresh-baked cornbread and chocolate cake fueled us up for the hard part—tomorrow’s return hike back UP the way we’d just come down.

After dinner we sat in on a ranger talk in the dark outdoor amphitheater near the canteen. As the ranger wrapped up, she casually asked if anyone was interested in going scorpion hunting. As feared, scorpion hunting was really, really easy since they were literally all around us. Scorpions glow in the dark, so the rangers used flashlights fitted with black light bulbs to almost instantly reveal a disconcerting number of 2” long very poisonous scorpions covering the rocks near where we’d just been sitting. One of the rangers had been stung many times and her stories of pain and suffering made us suddenly wish we still had our boots on instead of the open-toed sandals and socks we’d worn to dinner. Not even point6 socks are a match for a scorpion!

The next day we hit the trail back up to the North Rim. We were feeling pretty good about our pace and our general head to toe wellness, then we spotted someone coming down the trail toward us and he was moving fast. In fact, he was running.As he passed us, still running, the guy had enough breath to inform us he was on track to make the entire 42 mile trip from the South Rim to the bottom of the canyon up to the North Rim back to the canyon floor then back up to the South Rim—descending and climbing more than 11,300 long hard feet—in EIGHT HOURS.  That’s like running up and down a 1,150 story building spread out over 42 miles. Incredible. We were dying to ask him what socks he was wearing but he was gone before we could get the question out.

We spent the next few hours on the trail simply trying to wrap our heads around what that guy was doing.  At the same time, we were also getting sucked into the addictive nature of the Grand Canyon. Incredibly, we finished our own trip into the canyon and back without a single blister or sore muscle thanks to our point6ers and residual fitness left over from our recent hike up Half Dome (see our previous blog entry below).

It’s a long, hot, steep hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back but our feet aren’t any worse for wear at the end of it.

This made us begin to consider upping the ante ourselves with a hike from the North Rim to the canyon floor, then up to the South Rim in a single day the next time we’re lucky enough to visit Grand Canyon National Park. So far running the Grand Canyon is absolutely out of the question, but this is exactly how the madness starts…

To learn more about the Trans-Americas Journey, our three to four year 150,000+ mile working road trip through North, Central and South America,  go to www.trans-americas.com.