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The Plan:

When RB-One-Kanobi (Jedi Knight) and "g" returned home from their short lived excursion to the Grand Canyon in May (2001), they zoomed full tilt into planning another assault on the Hermit-Tonto-Bright Angel Trail Loop. The idea: To hike the 30 mile loop with the Boys the following October.

Grand Canyon (Part Two) was scheduled for October 12th, 2001. Flying into Phoenix from the Adirondacks were Whiskey-Tottin'-Roger-the-Rock-Grabber, Jim-the-Gentleman-Hiker, Vioxx Mike, and "g." They'd meet up with RB ("g's" brother) and his (business) partner, Satellite-Don, at Terminal 4.

After the rendezvous, the Boys would drive north 3-1/2 hours to the Grand Canyon. They would sleep on the south rim at the Thunderbird Lodge. Hoping to get to the trailhead by 6:00 AM, the Boys hoped to avoid the late-start-debacle experienced by RB and "g" the previous May.

The Marriage

There was a marriage of plans and ideas that gelled at 3:45 AM on 10/12/01. Whiskey-Tottin' and Vioxx-Mike met "g" at their local Stewarts Shop. Vioxx-Mike carried a smart looking attaché case which hosted the 982 urgent e-mail reminders by "g" which he intended to read on their 6-hour flight. Their departure times were 6:30 AM. "g" was flying on a different carrier. It's unclear why. Perhaps he had sent one-too-many e-mail reminders?

PHX or Phx My Luggage

The Boys had smooth sailing into PHX. However, once they landed, they hit plenty of turbulence. First, although "g" arrived in Phoenix 30 minutes ahead of schedule, RB was under a very different impression of his arrival time. When "g" called RB on his cell phone with the good news ("I'm here!"), RB confessed that he was still home and taking a shower. "Dang." thought "g," "He did it to me again!"

Forty-five minutes later, RB rolled up to Terminal 3. They loaded "g's" gear into the van and headed off to Terminal 4.

At 11:18 AM, there was a hearty welcome and reunion at Terminal 4. At the baggage claim area, the Boys realized the unthinkable. Whiskey-Tottin' and The-Gentleman-Hiker's backpacks were AWOL. My gosh… this was truly a crisis. Sandy, Southwest's lost-baggage supervisor, advised the Boys to, "Relax. Just go have lunch and keep calling us. Those pesky backpacks are bound to turn up somewhere."

By this time, Roger started his usual sippin'; Jim had stopped acting so gentlemanly. Over Mexican lunch, the Boys provisionally agreed to the following: (1) they would drive north as planned and call Sandy every 30-minutes on the cell phone; and, (2) if the backpacks did not arrive at the hotel by 7:00 AM the following morning the Boys would be shopping by 8:00 AM at the Canyon's General Store.

The Boys arrived at the Canyon around 5:00 PM. Considering the time change, they had been up nearly 20 hours. It was dusk. The view from Mather's Point was spectacular! The light and the deep rich colors of the canyon's limestone was seductive. It was hard to look away. Yet, they trucked on over to the Thunderbird, unloaded what gear they had, and settled in for a few beers and steak dinners at the adjacent restaurant overlooking the Canyon.

By 10:00 PM, the packs arrived. Roger was quite relieved. Jim would have experienced the same had they been able to wake him from an exhausted state of deep sleep! The best the Boys could figure, American West found the packs, flew them from Vegas to Flagstaff, and then shipped them by taxi to the Canyon. Unfortunately, Jim's backpack got the big crunch.

Only the Gentleman-Hiker would pack 2-liters of fine white wine (in a Platypus hydration bladder) to accompany "g's" first trailside dinner (dehydrated Vegetable Frittata). The big crunch had an uncanny impact on the wine. During the recovery phase of Jim's pack a mysterious and ferocious force must have hit it hard. Half the wine had squeezed out from underneath the bladder's twist-on cap (which was doubly secured with duct tape) and soaked into his ball cap and jacket. Ironically, the leak proof seal on the cap was not broken. With the