Hikers Lost For Six Days In Grand Canyon

Lisa and I were married on March 31, 2001. We had talked it over the months preceding our wedding day and decided to backpack the Grand Canyon on our honeymoon for five days. We bought our permit through the National Park Service and the trip was on.

We trained for three months, walking everyday and building up our stamina. We made a hike in the Ocala National Forest with Brian and Brett, Lisa's sons and my future stepsons. We planned our supplies carefully and read up on survival techniques and familiarized ourselves with the different trails because we would be hiking into remote areas where rescue would be extremely difficult if not impossible. The weeks leading up to our departure we assembled all our gear and supplies, made the reservations for our lodging, for our rental car to drive from Phoenix to the Grand Canyon and arranged our flights to Phoenix.

We were married on Saturday, March 31, 2001 at the Isle Of Pines South Beach Park, a quaint outdoor casual wedding, with friends and family and departed the following Tuesday, April 3, 2001. Lisa's sons would stay with their dad, while we were in the Grand Canyon. My son's, James and Ricky were living on their own, James, 22, in Brandon, Florida and Ricky, 23, in Cherry Point with the USMC.

We arrived at Bright Angle Lodge at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon that afternoon and took a brief practice hike down Bright Angel Trail. Wednesday we took a longer hike down Bright Angel Trail, and then explored the top of the South Rim for the rest of the day. Thursday was the first day of our backpacking trip and we wanted to adjust as much as we could to the seven thousand foot altitude of the South Rim. We ate well Wednesday night, checked our equipment one more time, made taxi reservations to South Kaibab Trailhead for the following morning and hit the sack early.

We woke at 5:00 AM, cleaned up, gathered our personal belongings and moved them to the rental car, had a light breakfast, checked out of our room and waited for our cab.

We arrived at the South Kaibab Trailhead at 6:30 AM. Lisa's backpack weighed in at sixty five pounds and mine weighed in at eighty five pounds. Carrying six days of food and supplies was not a light load. We would be lost to society and one with nature for the next six days. The trip began.

We started down South Kaibab trail Thursday and climbed out five days later exiting from Bright Angel Trail. We traveled thirty four miles of switchbacks, trails, crossing streams and hiked from the South Rim to the North Rim and back. We camped at Phantom Ranch, Cottonwood Springs and Indian Gardens.

Together we began a journey that is still going on to this day. The experiences of joy, wonderment and hardship that we shared on this trip as a newly married couple created a bond between us that is unbreakable and has helped us through lifes trials and tribulations, through personal tragedy and personal triumph. It brought us to the face of god and made us realize what really matters in life minus the distractions that we are all surrounded by. The experience continues to this day to remind us of the importance of family and friends and the richness of our lives, not measured by financial wealth, but by our relationships with our families and friends and how we treat the people around us.

In 2008 we lost our son James. He was twenty eight years old when he left us. Then in March 2009 we lost our thirty year old son, Ricky. Ricky served proudly in the USMC and was a veteran of Iraq. Ricky is survived by his wife Dorothy and our grandaughter Lauren.

When we feel our spirits dampening, we remember the lessons that we learned in the Grand Canyon and before long, a smile touches our faces with a joyful tear in our eye and life continues on down that beautiful trail.

The pictures of this slideshow do not begin to do justice to the beauty and the majesty of the Grand Canyon. You must experience it personally by seeing it for yourself. Only then can you comprehend the magnificence of this natural wonder located here in the United States of America.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Grand Canyon
• backpacking
• hikers
• South Kaibab Trail
• Phantom Ranch
• Cottonwood Springs
• Bright Angel Trail
• Plateau Point
• Indian Gardens
• Lost

[DennyRec]

I'm going there this coming spring. Makes me stop and think. Thank you for sharing your video and story.

[rajuncajun121]

@DennyRec The spring and autumn are the best months for hiking the canyon. Your will make some great memories there. God's speend and be safe.

[bskinner48]

Thanks for sharing. In the summer of '09 I hiked the Canyon in celebration of my 60th year with one of my dearest friends. It's a magical place. Your video is touching. I'm sorry for your losses.

[rajuncajun121]

@bskinner48 I'm glad that you were able to have the Grand Canon experience from a hikers view. Seeing it from the rim is beautiful, but hiking the Grand Canyon is the only way to actually see and experience the full majesty of the Canyon it in all its glory. The only thing missing from hiking the Grand Canyon is that Marching Band and a standing ovation at the top when you finally walk out on the Bright Angel Trailhead at Bright Angel Lodge.

[Mi37591]

I hiked down the Canyon and out, from the Hermit Trail to the Bright Angel, got lost once, but recovered, It is scary getting lost.

[hirschrep]

Thank you for sharing your story

[aznsketcher]

6:35 WOOOOw....that is an amazing view.

[HikingAbe]

Thanks for sharing.