How Did Escaping the Heat in Flagstaff Nearly End with Plunging into the Grand Canyon? (and barely going to Flagstaff)

To date I have ripped my shorts while hiking Seven Falls in Tucson and broken my phone while hiking Devil's Bridge in Sedona. Now, I can add almost falling into the Grand Canyon while attempting an extremely short hike onto that list.

The strangest part about this story is that the Grand Canyon was never even a thought in our minds when Jenn and I were trying to figure out how to escape the 115 degree temps predicted for Phoenix last weekend. The original intent was to take off for Flagstaff on Saturday morning, find a campground to set up for the night and get in some hiking in the area. I thought that going back to Sunset Crater and hiking into more of the volcanic areas would be fun since we didn't get to see much on the first trip.

We started off to Flagstaff at about 9:00 AM on Saturday. Phoenix temps had already cracked triple digits so I was extremely happy to leave it behind for the weekend. Our first stop near Flagstaff was a spot where Jenn had camped before at Ashurst Lake. It was beautiful and secluded, so it would have been great for a nice relaxing weekend. For all it had in serenity, it lacked in hiking opportunity. So we were back on the road headed toward a campground I had read about near Sunset Crater.

We passed by the first Grand Canyon sign without a thought, but the second one saying it was only a little over 70 miles away couldn't be ignored. Jenn said "Let's go!" I started to object wanting to stick to the plan, but then realized that isn't how we do things. Just like that we called an audible and were on our way to see one of the greatest sights nature has ever created.

This would be my first trip to the Grand Canyon. I know that's almost a sacrilegious statement having lived in Arizona for nearly a decade. It was finally time to cross it off the bucket list! We were able to use my National Parks and Monuments pass to avoid the $30 fee, bringing the total fee savings from the pass to $60. Only $20 dollars in saved fees until it has paid for itself and I've only had it since April. It is probably one of the best investments I've ever made.

Here's a couple of Canyon pics that can explain the beauty more than I ever could in words, so I won't even try:

Alright, now that I just saved myself 3000 words on to the "huh?" part of the article title. We were getting desperate to find a place to stay for the night. All the campgrounds were booked and we were running out of options. I decided to reach out to my buddy Ryan who lives at the Grand Canyon village to see if he had any suggestions. He met up with us to go over some of the free camping spots in the area. It was getting late so we let him know we just wanted a camping spot and a spot to watch the sunset. After going through the best spot to look for free camping he wanted to show us a spot few tourists would know about where we could get a great view of the sunset. 

We blew past a "Shuttle Buses Only" sign, parked the car in a spot with no other vehicles and walked over to the area where the shuttle bus tourists were looking out over the canyon. Ryan point to a rock less than a half mile away and said "that's the spot. You'll be the only two there." Talk about romantic! I loved the idea of watching the sunset at the Grand Canyon with the woman I love, with no one else around. 

Ryan walked past the rail, climbed down a couple of rocks, and jumped down a few feet from another. I followed behind and right when I was getting to the point where he had just jumped, my foot caught the edge of the rock. As he was saying "Watch your....holy shit!", I was falling face first toward the great abyss that is the Grand Canyon! The tourist gasps and screams made me realize that I was pretty lucky to get out of it with a scraped up knee, ripped up hand, and banged up lower leg and ankle. Ryan caught my hand on my way down so I was able to avoid a much longer roll down the side of the Canyon. 

As I stood up, I tried to put pressure on my leg, hoping that I might be able to still get to that rock in time for the sunset. The shaking, bleeding, and throbbing in my right leg told me that probably wasn't the smartest idea. We bandaged it up and put some ointment on the wounds. I felt bad for Ryan because he felt terrible thinking he put us in danger. I felt worse for Jenn because our beautiful sunset at the secluded rock had been ruined and now she was worried about my injuries and still in shock from what could have happened. 

I waited for Ryan to leave before proposing that we go back to an area that allowed tourist vehicles. This is a decision I still feel terrible about because we didn't get to enjoy the entire sunset while we were racing to our new location. In addition to many things I owe her already, I now owe Jenn a Grand Canyon sunset. We did get to see the tail end of it and there were a few good photo opportunities, but it could have been so much better. 

We debated on sleeping in the car for the night before finally attempting to find one of the free camping areas Ryan told us about. I don't want to give away the secret here, but the campsite we found turned out to be beautiful, but just secluded enough to be slightly terrifying at night. Also, I had a sinking feeling it wasn't the best idea to be in the woods covered in bloody bandages for predators to smell. Maybe that's just a shark thing, but still possibly stupid. In the end everything turned out okay and I wasn't the land version of chum for a mountain lion. Which once again reinforces one of the beliefs I started this blog on: 

More often than not, even when we make the worst decisions imaginable, things work out better than expected.

We explored the Canyon a little more on Sunday before heading back to Phoenix. On the trip back came that takeaway that I get from every one of these trips. Jenn took the scenic route back through Oak Creek Canyon and Sedona. Along the way we stopped off at a gorgeous area called Cave Springs. She told me stories of how her family used to go there all the time to swim and how she missed those times. I love these moments when she opens up to me and shares these things that were such important memories in her life. I'm touched every time she shares something with me. Maybe some day I'll look back on this and my most vivid memory will be that first view of the Canyon or the beautiful part of the sunset we did get to see. Today, however, my most vivid memory is of watching her jump from rock to rock across the creek remembering happy times she had spent with family.