With Greg Wood turning 60 this year, his daughter Macy suggested a milestone challenge: that the two of them hike the Grand Canyon rim to rim. Last month, the two completed the 26-mile hike down and up the Grand Canyon’s walls.
Wood, who lives in Owensboro, has always enjoyed hiking. With Macy living in Phoenix, they previously had trekked a couple of miles into the canyon. The idea of a rim-to-rim hike piqued his interest. He began researching it and reading blogs about the experience, and he began to think, “I can do this.”
He went to the gym, but prior to the canyon trip, the longest he had hiked was 16 miles.
Wood, his daughter, and a friend of Macy’s began the hike in the early morning of September 23. He said it is rare to do a one-day hike of the canyon — there are places to camp for those who make a pit stop overnight — but they decided to try it.
The morning weather was 30 degrees with flurries, so they had to wear layers that would have to be added to their packs later as the temperature rose, along with the five liters of water and food.
Beginning in the dark with countless switchbacks, Wood said he kept thinking about the idea of stepping out and falling off the trail, but he pressed on.
“Things were going good,” he said. “The first 10 miles, all you do is descend, but there is no way to simulate downhill hiking. My quads were burning and my feet and ankles were hurting.”
When they got to the Colorado River, where the temperature registered 92 degrees on the canyon floor, Wood soaked his swollen feet in the water before the ascent.
“It was the toughest thing I have ever done,” he said. “My daughter and her friend said they both felt [the burn].”
Four miles at the bottom of the canyon left a 12-mile hike up the rim, with stops to rest as their legs were “on fire.”
As the sun began to disappear on the ascent, Wood said they could see the headlights of other hikers.
“I would think, ‘Gosh, I have to get all the way up to where they are,’” he said.
As they were hiking, they would meet people from all over the world. Most were in their 20s, 30s or 40s.
“One group of eight men and women we saw see on the switchbacks, we wanted to catch them or pass them, because we are competitive,” he said.
They didn’t catch up, but the group was waiting for them, clapping and cheering when they exited the rim.
“It just shows we are all in it together,” he said.
The entire hike was logged as 26.6 miles with 70,000 steps and 6,500 feet of elevation change. The hike took 13 hours, but the total time was 16 hours.
“I burned 5,700 calories, and there is no way I consumed that because I wasn’t hungry. But each time we stopped, I knew I needed to eat,” he said. “We also took electrolyte tablets.”
Woods said he was able to enjoy the beauty of the Grand Canyon and the changing types of trees and grass that related to the varying temperatures, but he doubts he will do it again.
“It is a sense of accomplishment and such a mental high that I could do anything,” he said. “And then I was back to reality and I underestimated the impact of the letdown. It will be hard to top that.”
His daughter said she plans to hike the canyon again and has also hiked El Capitan, an 18-mile trek.
“It all just shows that you can do most anything if you set your mind to it,” Wood said. “Go for it … if you fall a little short, at least you tried.”
