Extreme Organics

Our family is busy – just like yours. One of the things we do to take advantage of the time we do have together is build traditions. Many of these are around holidays and one of the BIG ones is each child’s 18th birthday. My second child recently turned 18 and here’s what we did …

Kevin enjoys camping and backpacking. We had one very memorable two-man camping trip when he turned 12, but for 18, it had to be more than the typical camping trip – something really special. After researching our national parks and racking our brains we came up with the idea of a backpacking trip, just for the two of us, to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Each year about 5 million people visit the Grand Canyon. But the hike to the bottom is only attempted by fewer than 1 percent of the visitors. This seemed like an adequately “special” hike.

We began planning months in advance, researching trails, obtaining a hiking permit, researching weather conditions, making equipment lists, buying or renting the equipment we didn’t already have, making travel plans, and finally purchasing the much needed supplies for the hike to the bottom. Our trek was in February, when weather conditions vary as much as 20 degrees from the top to the bottom and we might face rain or even snow. We had to be prepared for almost anything. The good news – it wouldn’t be scorching hot, as it is in the summer months.

One of my big fears was how difficult it would be to eat 100% organic food during the hike. Dehydrated backpacking food is a godsend to keep the packs light, but I knew I might be forced to carry heavier foods and be limited to dried fruits and nuts. This diet is not idea for a strenuous hike. You can imagine my relief when we went to our local REI to find high-quality, certified organic, dehydrated foods created just for hikers. Of course this makes sense – hikers know that in order to excel in strenuous situations you need great fuel!

The day of our departure arrived and our packs, with all our gear, layers of clothing, food, and cooking stoves were light enough to carry to the bottom – and, hopefully, back up again. Our first leg of the journey required a flight, followed by a car to the Grand Canyon where we stayed over night before the hike began. Before leaving we had one last “cooked meal” at the lodge.

The next day we descended the canyon to just beyond the halfway point and our campground. The majestic, tranquil beauty was breathtaking. We made it with just enough time to pitch our tent and make our way to a lookout on Plateau Point to catch the last rays of daylight, then race back to our campground for dinner.

On day two we woke to a magical sunrise through the mist. After breakfast we set off to the bottom, carrying only what we needed for the day and knowing we needed to make it back to our campground by nightfall. Once at the bottom we decided to try another short hike (after all, we’d come this far, why not see as much as we could?) to the other side of the Colorado River, where we fired up our little camp stoves for another organic meal (eaten with spontaneous chopsticks – we hadn’t carried utensils on this leg. Knowing the sun would not wait for us, we turned around and headed back to camp, arriving just before it had gotten too dark.

On the third morning we repacked everything and headed to the top, very slowly. I’m often asked, “What’s harder, going down or coming back up?” That’s not an easy answer, both are hard, both are so rewarding.

We reached the rim arm-in-arm late that afternoon to the cheers of waiting family members. We did it and it will be life-time-memorable, along the way I learned some pretty cool things about extreme organics:

1) Finding organic backpacking food was easy – sports enthusiasts know they have to eat well to perform well.

2) Getting some great organic food at the national park lodge was very doable – many restaurants now have some organic options.

3) Airports and airplanes are still the hardest place to find great organic options – I still need to “backpack” my own organic food whenever I fly.