I wanted to share this note because I did a hike over the December holidays (2008) that was very much like the Grand Canyon.  I had hiked the Grand Canyon 7 times and been to the bottom 6 times so I am very familiar with the level of difficulty the Grand Canyon represents.

I climbed Guadalupe Peak which is the highest peak in Texas.  It was exactly like a Grand Canyon hike to the bottom except a bit shorter and a bit less in elevation.  Guadalupe was 4.3 miles and 3,000 feet in elevation change to the top.  The Grand Canyon is 7.6 miles and just over 5,000 feet in elevation change going up.  Perhaps a 1/2 mile of the Grand Canyon hike was even worse than Guadalupe, but otherwise the hikes were very much the same.  Climbing Guadalupe Peak really confirms for me I am ready to go back to the Grand Canyon.  Did I mention the hike up Guadalupe Peak was with a 40 pound pack?   

Because I did so well on the hike up Guadalupe, I think this year (2009), I will go back to the Grand Canyon and do a hike to the bottom and backup again in one day as a sort of "ego" thing.  I am very pleased with the conditioning program we setup.  I do various versions of squats twice a week.  There are approximately 536 squats of various versions in the workout including step up, step down, step sideways, the ball on the wall, leg presses, etc.  I only do the core exercises once a week.  I do arms once a week plus a second time on the major arm exercise.  I am actually stronger in the legs now than before the accident. 

Thank you very much.  I spend about 60 days a year (six times a year for 10 days each) in the outdoors camping in very remote areas.  Being able to continue hiking was the most important discretionary part of my life.  Alas, I have given up the high impact sports because of my age.  Gee, there really is an age limit at least for the high impact.  I plan to keep up the exercise and hiking program well into my 80s and 90s.  By doing this now, I believe I'll be able to keep doing this as I get (even) older.