Driving through the night, you pass long, flat stretches of semi-urban desert. Signs of civilization are dotted along the route, flickering by as the rental car zooms across a dark, seemingly never-ending plateau. A sleepy road-side motel, a trucks-only gas station, a neon-lit, 24hr BBQ joint – in the middle of, seemingly, well, nowhere. The road from Phoenix to Flagstaff, in the wee hours of the morning, can make one feel like the loneliest soul in the west. But then, suddenly and without notice, a vast, gaping aperture materializes just beyond the passenger side window, ripped into the fabric of the planet, stretching for miles on end, as every inch of visible land all but collapses towards the core of the earth for as far as the eye can see.
Just as preliminary, red rays of sun start to flare up, edges appear in the distance, great walls of jagged rock striped in impossible color combinations of yellow and violet, white and gray, pink and green. As hard as you try, your eyes can not peel away from the shapes, the size, the emptiness, and the realization of the upcoming trip slowly dawns: you are about to walk off the rim – and into the heart – of this vast chasm; you will not rejoin the world for a full two and a half days and 20 miles later, and only after you reach the bottom of – and ascend back up – the full length of this impossible-looking gorge. There are no restaurants waiting down there to feed you, no hotels where you can sleep, no stores if you forgot to bring something critical, and no particular sense of safety – it’s you versus the elements. Uncertainty kicks in. Humility, and a tiny tinge of fear too. Scaling the height of the Grand Canyon sounded cool back home, in the safety of your living room, comparing routes and PDF’s on the laptop. It’s different now. There’s no way back.
Three days later and two pairs of shredded knees aside, we realize how lucky we were to we attempt this monumental undertaking with guide-slash-master storyteller Eddie Bowers, of Widland Trekking. It takes an immense amount of planning and expertise to take a group of Five untested strangers into the bottom of one of the world’s largest – and certainly most ancient – canyons, ready to ensure their survival, and at the same time provide a fun, seamless, and as close to upscale an experience as an intentionally-basic hiking trip can allow, all without sacrificing the principle of carrying all your food, drink and shelter on your back and sleeping on the ground.
It takes even more institutional courage to decide you will do so dozens of times a year, and than duplicate the feat in multiple other raw, primal destinations, guiding thousands of guests every year through the natural wonders of Yosemite, the Smokies, Kilimanjaro and the Patagonia mountaintops – providing an attentive experience across some of the wildest and most legendary destinations in North America and around the world. Wildland also hires, trains, and manages all their guide staff, and do not use freelance subcontractors, giving your once-in-a-lifetime vacation that personal, curated feel.
Red rays of sun start to flare up, edges appear in the distance, great walls of jagged rock striped in impossible color combinations of yellow and violet, white and gray, pink and green.
As we embarked on our early spring hike into the core of the earth, they charted an organized tour that felt both coordinated and unimpeded. Our Grand Canyon Classic, a south rim originating hike which included hiking the South Kaibab, sleeping in Phantom Ranch and Indian Gardens, started with a comprehensive prep document, which was full of not only route and trek information, but also a comprehensive and extremely useful packing list, a cheat sheet of tips and tricks, and even a 5-week training program to help condition you and flex those rarely-used muscles needed for the canyon hike. On the day before departing, they recommended we check in at the Little America Hotel, a beautifully-designed partner property complete with outdoor hut tub and comfortable rooms to help you acclimate for the trip. At 5 AM we were picked up by Eddie, our guide, who turned out to be a one-man combination of caretaker, history professor, chef and outdoor guy extraordinaire, whose passion for the Grand Canyon was only paralleled by his well cultivated instinct for story telling. We were sweating and making good time across 8 hours of walk daily, and still the hike felt effortless, with enough time and opportunities to venture off the beaten track and explore.
The 1% of visitors who spend a night at the canyon discover what is really is: a world left behind… where mountain lions still live, herds of buffalo roam the land and California Condors fly overhead
The Canyon is 250 Million years at its top, its rock walls rich with marine fossil that only lives at the bottom of the sea, a silent evidence of the eroding job the Colorado River had completed to open up a path in the stone which is now a mile-high national treasure and major tourist attraction. Official park statistics reveal that only 1% of visitors actually spend a night in the canyon. Those who do, discover what the Red Canyon really is: a world left behind, a primitive, gigantic ecosytem where mountain lions still live, herds of buffalo roam the land and California Condors fly overhead. No amount of photographs or Youtube videos can prepare you to the commanding majesty of the real thing. The same is true of other legendary nature destinations. Whatever your cup of tea might be – American canyons, African mountaintops, Asian forests – Wildland trips are primal, demanding affairs, and at the same time, extraordinarily comfortable and enjoyable hiking experience in one of the planet’s most unique settings. Go out there and try one. Life’s too short not to.
