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God and Roger

Posted on May 31, 2009
3 Comments

God and Roger. In that order, is who I thank for opportunity to hike the Grand Canyon. If it hadn’t been for Roger, I would not have had the amazing and meaningful experience that I had.

I’ve known Roger for a number of years and climbed two of Southern California highest peaks with him and his son last Summer.

In the canyon, Roger and I probably hiked a total of eighteen hours within just a few strides of each other. I admired his unending determination despite walking in some serious pain. He often apologized for the pace, but most often the best hiking is non-rushed hiking.

The hike consisted of three very large, long and grueling sets of switchbacks separated by a eight to nine mile esplanade (plateau) and a low-lying valley. The middle set of switchbacks were the longest and steepest, while the last set of switchbacks were the most exposed (narrow trail along cliffs) and the most painful at the end of a very long day (ten hours of nearly non-stop hiking).

I was grateful for Roger’s pace on the last set of switchbacks. My legs hurt and my toes were trying to form four letter words. We caught up with Alex, Denise, and Randy at Thunder River Falls (a true oasis in the middle of a desert, which was half-way down the last switchbacks).

When we left there I was tired of the pounding on my toes and I was exceedingly eager to stop walking. Roger didn’t know it, but I was working to keep up with him. We FINALLY got into camp at 6:00 and I was asleep by 7:00.

On the last day, Roger and I walked along together all day (from 5:30am to 5:30pm) except for perhaps a short mile. The closer we got to the final climb to the Rim, the slower I wanted to Roger to walk (yet his pace stayed consistent). My three days in the canyon left an impression on me. I didn’t want it to end. I didn’t want the power of the canyon and the comradery within the canyon to end.

When we (the four guys, Denise was already at the cars) crested the canyon together, I lingered. I stopped and looked one last time at the canyon, I thanked my Lord for those three days, and I thanked Him for Roger’s invitation and rich friendship.

(In the picture above (see it larger here) we are just leaving Thunder River Falls (another picture here). Roger is in some serious pain, but trudging faithfully along (he’s fourth from the front). Tomorrow I hope to write about Alex, Roger’s son, a fourteen year old who impressed all of us.)

More photos here

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