ブライトエンジェルシェールに拘っていました。家の近くにあるビーバーダム山脈にもあるはずの地層なのに、どれだかまだ特定できていなかったからです。見てみたい、触ってみたいというのが今回の旅の目的でもありました。だからブライトエンジェル登山道を降りる予定でした。I was quite eager to know what was the Bright Angel Shale. It’s because I understand that the Beaver Dam Mountains near our house also exposes the same strata, but hadn’t identified which layer it is. One of the highlights of the trip was to see and touch the Bright Angel Shale. So we naturally had chosen Bright Angel Trail in the Grand Canyon for our hike.

プラトーポイントまで行けたらいいな。バンちゃんは若い頃、そこまで日帰りでいって帰って来たそうです。でも、今は体力も衰えているので自信なさそうです。I wished that we could go all the way to Plateau Point, but at the same time, I understood that it could be too ambitious to do so for me. Banchan has done the round-trip hike in one day when he was young. But now even he hesitated to do so.

ビジターセンターの前の掲示によると、インディアンガーデンまでなら 6ー9 時間で行って来られる。それが私が密かに決めた目標でした。According to the bulleton board, it takes about 6-9 hours round trip to Indian Garden. We could do that. So it became my goal, although I didn’t tell anyone about it.

ところが、いざ行こうとすると難関が待ち受けていました。凍りついた雪道です。But despite my determination, we had found an obstacle literary right in front of us. It was an icy trail.

勿論、アイゼンを購入すれば行けたのでしょう。アイゼンでの歩行練習もしてないで降るのは少々危険です。友人夫妻も一緒だったので断念しました。Of course, we could buy crampons at a nearby shop, but we gave it up instead. We didn’t want to risk ourselves as well as our couple friend. The first time wearing crampons and walking down with them without practicing could be dangerous.

ボ〜ッと鳥たちの行方をおったりして、今日は一体何をして過ごすんだい？と気力のないまま話し合います。”What do we do now?” we asked. We discussed what we could do, but I just followed birds flying through the air, without much enthusiasm.

ベンチの上に作られた雪だるまを見てもちっとも面白くない。It didn’t excite me even when I found a snowman on a bench.

登山靴にアイゼンをつけて出発の準備まさに完了という人たちに出会いました。5日間のハイキング予定だと言っていました。We met a group of people who are ready to go down after putting crampons on to their hiking shoes. They told us they were planning a five day hike to go down and up.

まだまだ寒いグランドキャニオン。どうやら私達は準備不足だったようです。これをしっかり受け止めて来年に向けて頑張ります。3泊ぐらいで帰ってくる計画を立てたい。それまで体力トレーニングをして準備しようと誓い合いました。I should have known that the Grand Canyon rim was still very cold. It appears that we didn’t prepare enough for the hike, and I accepted it. We said to each other that we will come back here again next year with a three night hiking plan. Until then, we promised to each other to train ourselves for the grand hike.