As I walked along, a bead of sweat dripped down my forehead and plopped on the dry sand. The ground crunched under my feet as I trudged on. The path was barely wide enough for two people so we walked single file. Behind me was my mom, Sheryl, and my brother Isaac. In front of me was my dad, Scott. All of us carried backpacks with water bottles, snacks, and a change of clothes. My brother and I were fortunate enough to have bags with built-in water containers that we could drink through a hose. We were on our way to the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

This all started a year earlier when my mom decided we were going to hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. After our reservations were made, we received a DVD from Grand Canyon National Park. The DVD explained how dangerous hiking could be. We were going down during one of the hottest times of the year.

The night before the hike, my mom and I went to check our reservation for our cabin. On the bottom of the canyon there is a place called Phantom Ranch that has rentable cabins for hikers. As we were confirming our reservation, the man behind the desk looked at me and exclaimed, “How old are you?”

“I’m nine years old,” I replied.

“We haven’t had anyone as young as you in a long time.”

Hearing this made me nervous. I thought kids my age did this all the time.

In the morning, we got up well before the sun rose to get ready for the big day. As I crawled out of my sleeping bag, the fresh smell of bacon hit my nose. My dad had gotten up earlier to make a small breakfast. We quickly ate and drove to the rim of the canyon. The trail we were taking down was called the South Kaibab Trail. It was a seven and a half mile trail twisting and turning down the southern side of the canyon. There were no water stops, so we had to carry everything we needed with us.

We began our descent in the dark, following the lights of our headlamps. We left as early as possible in order to avoid the deathly heat of the day. After around a half hour of hiking in the dark, the sun began to crawl over the horizon. It lit up the other side of the canyon revealing layer after layer of sand and rock built up over time. The trail was steep and slippery from the loose sand, requiring us to keep a sure footing.

Around half the way down, the trail opened up and turned away from the open canyon. I could see a man moving quickly upwards to us. I thought he must just be some other hiker like us but on his way up not down. This turned out to be false. As he neared I saw how little gear he had with him, then I realized. He was running. As he jogged by I thought to myself, if that man could run up and down this trail I sure could hike it.

Once we reached the bottom I was wiped out. By then the sun was beating down making it unbearable to not be in the shade. My feet were aching and calloused from the treacherous walking. As we walked by the Colorado river I spotted a stream called the Bright Angel Creek. Jumping in the water sounded like the greatest thing to do. I threw my bag off and ran into the stream, with my family following close behind. The cold water numbed my skin but it felt great.

Once we reached the cabin we hung up our clothes to dry. After just a few minutes, the sun had sucked the water out of them. The cabin was a tiny building with a locker to keep food safe from small animals and bunk beds for us to sleep on. We threw our bags on the bed and headed off to dinner.

We ate at a lodge in Phantom Ranch. It was a large log building with tables set up in a cafeteria style room. They served steaming hot beef stew and a sweet cornbread which melted in my mouth. I devoured the meal after the long day of hiking.

The next morning we woke up in the dark to begin the climb up. This time we took the Bright Angel trail which had two water stops on it. Once the sun was in the sky, it felt like a sauna. Every time I walked past a stream or creek I soaked my hat and poured cold water over my face. After almost halfway up with no water stops, I was about ready to be done.

“How much longer until the water stops?” I asked my dad. “I don’t think I can take another step.”
“We're almost there,” he replied.
“Ugh,” I groaned, trudging along. As I looked up I saw switchback after switchback. The trail looked like it never would end.

Eventually, we got to the first water stop which felt like a God send. It was around two thirds of the way up. We refilled our water bottles and soaked our hats. From then on it was easy going. I got back my energy and set the pace. The rest of my family had a tough time keeping up with me.

The Bright Angel Trail was slightly less treacherous than the trail we took down. It was a couple miles longer but the water stops made it very appealing. As we walked around a bend in the trail we saw a group of mules on their way down. At that point the trail was very thin with a rock wall on one side, and an almost straight drop on the other side leading to the Colorado River. We stopped not knowing what to do. There was barely enough room for us to walk two people wide let alone a mule and a person. Looking ahead I saw a slight indent in the rock face on our left. We jogged up to it and laid flat against the wall hoping there would be enough room to allow the mules to pass. Thankfully there was just enough space to let them pass without any problems.

At the second water stop, we sat down and had a snack. The rim of the canyon was just a couple miles further. We continued on, all of us excited to have almost accomplished our goal. As we neared the top we started to see more and more people casually walking. The excitement continued to grow step by step, knowing I had almost reached the rim. Finally, the path switched back one last time.

I had climbed the Grand Canyon.

As I looked down from the rim the whole canyon lay before me. I could see miles of trail cutting across the steep sides. It was wild to think I had been at the bottom of it just that morning. An overwhelming sense of accomplishment washed over me. Some people never dared hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon yet I just did at only nine years old. I felt if I could do this I could do anything. Just because something seems like an impossible task doesn’t mean it's not possible. With hard work and determination you can accomplish anything. After taking in the beauty of it, I turned around, knowing I would never forget this experience.