Rim to rim to.... almost rim

Paul and his dad Lee, and family friends Shawn, and his two boys Matt (Paul's friend) and Aaron decided to hike the grand canyon. From the south rim to the north rim and back to the south rim again, in less than 24 hours. They are crazy people I tell you. Lee and Shawn have done it several times before, but it had been a few years since their last time. Paul had been training for this hike while we were in Utah and was SO excited about it. Here they are starting:

They left at 4am in the pitch dark night. They were about 30 minutes in before Shawn started throwing up.  So he turned around alone and headed back for the hotel.  The views from this hike were amazing and I was only jealous that I couldn't see them in person.  Too beautiful. Thank you to Matt for taking pictures.

Look at the trail they were walking on. It's a SHEER cliff! So scary!! 

By the time they got to the bottom of the north rim, Lee's knees started clicking and hurting him really badly. He even got dizzy.  He had knee replacement surgery a few years back. This was his first time trying the rim to rim to rim afterward.  Lee got up the north rim after a few breaks. He took a shuttle down to the south rim, where their hotel was.  He and Shawn, the two seasoned professionals, were now out. Yikes!  Paul and Matt and Aaron continued back down the north rim on their way to the south rim, when about three miles down, Paul muscles started to cramp up.  He decided to turn around and hike BACK up the north rim (the taller of the two sides) for the second time.

By the time he got to the top, he was DONE. He didn't have his wallet or a way to get down to the south rim, so he called his mom. I was in the room as he was talking to her and could only hear half of the conversation, but it was scary. We were really worried about everyone. Shawn had gone back alone. Lee had left on a shuttle alone, and no one could get ahold of him. Paul was now alone and the two guys who had never done the hike, were now attempting the last stretch alone.  Wow. Stacy paid for Paul's hotel room and he crashed hard.  The next morning, he was able to catch a shuttle to the south rim and meet up with Shawn, his dad, and the two victorious hikers! Matt and Aaron beasted the hike. They finished just before 10pm.  Yay!  Then they all drove back down to Phoenix and slept and slept and slept. Then, the next morning, we decided to move to Texas. Good timing... :)