I am traveling with my family to the Grand Canyon in October. My family consists of DH(42), me(44), DD(13) and DS(10). We have our permits and will be hiking down the South Kaibab, staying 2 nights at Bright Angel, then hiking up the Bright Angel.

DH has been on this trek before. But it is an entirely new adventure for our children and me.

Full disclosure. I am 44 years old, have a non-rigorous job (although not sedentary...I'm a healthcare provider), and have not been a regular exerciser for quite some time. Also, I am moderately overweight and have a previous leg injury. I had ruptured my calf muscle last summer. So, all things considered, this will be quite a challenge for me.

To prepare, I have been walking in the neighborhood for the last couple months. This area is flat flat flat. So, in addition, I have challenged myself to more strenuous and hilly environments a few times...but not enough. For example, a few weeks ago, our family went to a state park and took a rugged trail (without packs) involving steep cliffs, ladders and some scrambling. We had a great time, and our learning curve was pretty steep from that trip. I started learning how to compensate for my weeker leg on uneven surfaces. Plus, we tried out some freeze dried meals and learned to use our stove. (although my husband already knows this kind of stuff)

This week, I took my son to an amusement park. This park is very hilly, plus has a water park that involves a LOT of stair climbing. I discovered that the stair climbing resulted in swelling, pain and stiffness to my weeker leg. I am thinking that this is due to the need for more conditioning. 3 dyas later, the pain has subsided and the stiffness and swelling ae much improved. I have continued to walk in the neighborhood while this is healing. On this day, we walked over 9 miles.

So, now I find myself 3 1/2 months from our step off and I feel very anxious about this adventure. Primarily because I don't want to get to the bottom and not be able to make it back out. I think the way down will not be a problem. But, walking uphill is more difficlut because it requires me to dorsi flex that ankle more than it wants to.

All in all, I have determined that I am going to do this trip. I am looking forward to it, but still have some concerns as you can tell. I will continue to challenge and push myself to strengthen that leg, get more weight off and learn the basics of backpacking.

So glad I found this site!