Mile 65

Mile 65

It’s the evening of October 2nd, day four of my hike! I’m at the campground on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. I’m sitting in a chair on the porch of the general store, sipping a Diet Pepsi as I write. The forecast says it will get 27 degrees tonight so I decided to eat an ice cream bar to celebrate! There is no cell service here, but the store has spotty WiFi so I was able to call Eva and talk for a few minutes before the call dropped.

Day 3: Three words: wet, cold, windy! I lost count of how many times I stopped to adjust what I was wearing to accommodate the weather. It was difficult to stay warm and dry. I was fascinated with how the rain would bead up on leaves on the ground and ended up taking way too many pictures. I hiked 20+ miles today and camped just before the boundary of the Grand Canyon National Park North Rim. 

I’ve seen several hikers today but the weather is not conducive to socializing. After crawling into my tent I started hearing noises nearby so I reluctantly put on my jacket and shoes and hung my food in a tree so I wouldn’t be disturbed in the middle of the night. It’s starting to rain and I expect it to be cold again tonight. 

Day 4: I woke up to snow on the ground and another very cold morning. I hiked 13+ miles to the North Rim campground with a stop at the ranger station to get a permit to camp at the bottom of the Grand Canyon! I’ll be staying at the Bright Angel Campground site 33, a group site reserved for AZT hikers. I met a couple of mountain bikers on trail today and one flagged me down in a trailhead parking lot after his ride and gave me some cheese, an apple, and a gluten-free beer! The other biker tracked me down in the North Rim campground and brought me chips, another apple, and hung out for about an hour while we discussed his 2024 hike of the Continental Divide Trail!

You can find additional photos on the Where's Loren page by clicking the Google AZT Photo Album link. Check back often for new photos added to the album. 

Thanks for following along! 

Butterfingers