ALONG THE WAY

Closing a Chasm

I'D WANTED TO hike to the floor of the Grand Canyon since my first walk into the chasm several years ago. Once I'd dropped below the Rim, the Canyon had me hooked. Wrapped in its colorful striped walls, I felt compelled to explore more of that wonderland and see the Colorado River up close. And I wanted to hike with my two daughters. They'd grown apart, and I was partly to blame. When they argued, I intervened. When they moved hundreds of miles apart-Karen to Phoenix and Becky to Delaware-I became their phone line: "Tell Karen..." or "Tell Becky. . ." I'd stood between them for years, and they became unwilling to communicate. I hoped the hike would give us a fresh start.

Becky and I met Karen in Phoenix on April 1 a couple of years ago. "It's snowing in Flagstaff and raining in the Canyon," she said. "April Fools," I said.

Becky and I were unprepared for rain, and Karen's car was unprepared for snow. We bought rain gear, but searching for tire chains was like looking for the Dutchman's gold. So we rented a four-wheel-drive SUV. Even so, Flagstaff's snow nearly stopped us. Karen balked, afraid to continue, but she was outvoted. On we went.

The next morning, at the South Kaibab Trailhead, weighted with packs and garbed against the cold, we grouped for a photo. I stood beside, not between, my daughters, an unintentional arrangement, but symbolic of what I had to do.

Wispy clouds drifted over the expanse and cast shadows on temples and terraces. As we descended off the Rim, a sharp wind blasted us and a juniper whose armlike branches clung to a boulder. Though comical, the tree nevertheless survived its uncompromising world, where I wished for compromise.

Each switchback of the red-dust trail unveiled new delights, like ship-shaped O'Neill Butte, the river appearing as a snippet ofgreen ribbon far below, a spray of yellow prince's plume, and the toilet building at the Tipoff, the inner Canyon's Rim. There, we lunched and rested before the last and hardest section.

During our bone-jarring descent into the Canyon, a sinewy man in tank top and shorts ran by us toward the river. Resentment trampled our astonishment. He nimbly descended the Canyon wall, while our shaky legs screamed "Quit!" We hobbled across the bridge to the river's north side. As we stood there relishing level ground, too sore and tired to celebrate, the returning runner approached us again. "I think we should trip him," said Karen. Consensus at last!

After a damp night in our tent and waking to a drizzly dawn, we decided to inquire about Phantom Ranch availability. We wanted to be well-rested for the 10-mile Bright Angel Trail the next day. We were in luck. Ice at the Rim forced last-minute cancellations. Becky booked us a cabin, and Karen came within a mule's whisker of hugging her. They agreed to share the expense. They also cooperated when they gave some Phantom Ranch kids the pound of candy we didn't want in our packs and when they kept me from dumping-a park no-no-our excess gorp. Opposition never felt so good.

And they showed they cared. Becky climbed to her cabin bunk via the windowsill, lost her grip, and fell against the window. It shattered, and Becky landed barefoot in a pool of shards. Karen insisted on checking her for cuts. Hiking out, Becky carried the heaviest pack to spare Karen's painful knees, but I became testy.

A squirrel crawled onto my hat, while I reclined by the trail. Karen shouted a warning. "Don't let him on me," I sputtered. "I didn't see him coming," she said. The tension vanished as quickly as the squirrel, as we laughed at my hat ornament.

Now my daughters share their lives. They stay in touch and get together. And I stand proudly beside them, for they outdid the Colorado River. They closed a chasm.

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