DrRic Hiking Excursions 2022 April Bryce Canyon Group
1-Itinerary:
-fly into Las Vegas Airport morning of April 21st. Ideally wait for group to arrive before 11am. If renting your own car then we just meet at Bryce Best Western Plus at 5pm on the 21st in the lobby as our basecamp. Meet up to preferentially make sure you pick a buddy to be watching over each other. If a non-hiker is coming with you, ok to attend meetings and meal time or picture times.
My flight is United 203 at 717am with arrival at 916 am
I have reserved a standard car and can fit 4 people with 4 check-ins’.
(My outbound flight is United 1583 departing Las Vegas April 25th at 645pm arriving Ohare at 1207am (both direct flights)
I would suggest stopping in Vegas at the Whole Foods Market 6689 S. Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas Nevada 89119 to purchase basic nutrition for the days nutrition. Most likely we will hang together to eat dinner and celebrate our Summits for the day. I am investigating options for night hikes just outside the park. At any time if not interested in meet up -ok to be on your own.
As a disclaimer, DrRic Hiking Excursions is all volunteer and Dr Saguil assumes no responsibility for injuries, occurrences, flight cancellations, inclement weather and emotional/physical hardships that may occur while on the trip.
As a sports medicine trained primary care physician, first aid will be offered under the Good Samaritan Act. Patients enrolled with his Herbal411 Warrior Membership may get more personalized care within the scope of any treatment that can be administered on the trip.
Also all pictures taken by doctor are going to be published on DrRic’s social media to inspire his subscribers/friends to also make healthy lifestyle changes. (For future bucket list events…Grand Canyon summer!)
The plan is to meet up before dinner-time at “base camp” to discuss hiking strategies for next day. Basecamp default will be the lobby of Best Western Plus hotel Bryce Canyon (times to be approximately 1.5 hours after sunset)
Day hikes will be determined end of March as we watch the pandemic, weather and the performance of the group during training hikes. Thus all participants are required to attend the monthly mandatory hikes. The reason for having a designated buddy would be if a hiker is slower than the average group speed, it is only fair to allow the group to move onward and allow the slower participants to enjoy the Canyon at a comfortable pace with the designated buddy. Most moderate trails are 3-6miles, but the group will be combining 2 trails daily to see more park vistas. The longest strenuous trail is the Fairyland Loop at 8miles and it is suggested to take 4-5 hours to finish the loop.
Even for those just visiting the park for pictures at the rim sunrise or sunset, all points in the park are breathtaking.
2-Safety
I cannot ask anyone to share their medical history (that is not part of my herbal411 clinic), however for those sharing a car, you should be comfortable with using an N95 mask while in the car as the potential for covid (although low) still exists (on the plane and in the car).
I anticipate also visiting Zion National Park as it is on the way to Bryce for the overlook trail (the picture I use for the landing page of DrRic Hiking Excursions on Facebook!) Also depending on how fast the group tackles the day hikes, visiting Zion again is possible as the trails/vistas at Zion are also breathtaking and only 1.5 hours from Bryce Canyon.
Hikers wanting to get to Bryce earlier/later within our stay (April 21st to 25th) are welcome to just join up any day as long as you attend the prior evening meet up. We will need a head count and declaration of your “hiking buddy” to make sure we can depart from the morning/evening rally point on time. Most hikes will begin before sunrise as Bryce Canyon is know to glow and the color change of the hoodoos (rock formations within the canyon) are a spiritual event)
Evening hikes will be more informal as darkness and starlight changes the landscape and for safety reasons we should only be doing short hikes for the night sky experience (again depending on the weather)
The temperatures in Bryce during April are averages of 20’s to 50’s and snow storms in April are still possible. See https://wildlandtrekking.com/bryce-canyon-visitor-guide/visiting-bryce-canyon-in-april/
Bryce Canyon is at an elevation of 9,100ft.
As a reference, Denvers International Airport is at 5,430ft,
Las Vegas International Airport is at 2,181ft
My strenuous Colorado hikes are at 14,000ft (and I have had elevation sickness each time but still continued to hike even with pre hike training in Illinois as there is no way to prepare for elevation unless you rent a pressure tent to sleep in nightly the week before the trip. See https://www.outsideonline.com/health/running/do-altitude-tents-work/
3-Training Schedule in Illinois:
Highly Suggested:
January 23rd - 5 miles done St James Farm Forest Preserve
February 20th - To be announced
March 20th - Shamrock Shuffle 2 Mile + “1 More Round” (another loop for distance) https://www.shamrockshuffle.com/
April 21st - The Excursion at Bryce
Bonus Group Hikes:
February 13th - Raceway Woods Forest Preserve Carpentersville (meet at the rt 31 East Parking Lot)
9am
February 27th - to be announced
March 13th - to be announced
On your own training:
Accrue your own weekly mileage to be “tolerant “ to 8-10 miles or 5-6 hours of hiking with a 15-20lb back pack
example-
2/13 5 miles cold weather clothing check
2/20 5 miles cold weather clothing check
2/27 5 miles walking sticks
3/6 5-6 miles walking sticks and equipment break in
3/13 6 miles walking sticks and equipment break in
3/20 6 miles with weighted back pack
3/27 6-8 miles 2-3mph pace with weighted back pack
4/3 7-8 miles 2-3mph pace with weighted back pack
4/10 8-10miles 2-3 mph pace with weighted back pack
Weekly jogging/treadmill/forced march/indoor cycle/ neighborhood (cardio)
Weekly calisthenics (legs core shoulders)
Updates and announcements will be on
Facebook DrRic -Hiking Excursions
and
Herbal411.com DrRic’s Ranting Section
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