My eye lids slowly separate as dust crumbles back into my already semi dry and slightly anxious eyes. Turning on my inreach to get a weather report, suns turn into blue lines of rain and changes yet again, weather is reporting higher integers than zero just to the right of the decimal. Math is finally paying off when I widen my eyes to confirm what I am already realizing, rain is on the way and its not coming as gradual as expected.  

A 0430 rise and the darkness still clouds my introspection and questions if I even got the sleep I needed.  Knowing I went to bed a 630pm the evening before should give away the feeling that my body had enough horizontal yet the lack of clouds in the sky make me question the data I received. 

The day before, we had a similar abundance of sleep and a early start with the blue hour throwing colors of violet onto the redwall like a changing lens filter cycling through pigments of magenta.

Hiking up Jumpup canyon from the Kanab Creek junction was our approach to Rattlesnake Canyon

As the hours ticked by the sun turned the violet hour into rich colors from purple to pink  and into its classically known redwall. 

Although the hiking was long, the boulder hoping that I have been used to was, for the most part, absent.

There were indeed polished like stones and boulders in the wash hiking but it was about as straightforward as can be and relatively easy. 

The condition of my knee continued to elaborate and the GC team I have put together became a machine that was out doing the conductor, not a bad problem to have at all, yet an extra 10 minute break was in need for the patella to air out. 

Was passed Ojojojojojojojojojojojojojojojojojojojoojojoj...or whatever that is called, canyon and got into Indian hollow. 

There were a few up climbs in there and a bit of route finding through a couple annoying patches of crumbly sandstone that brought us to the top of the esplanade. 

Its always a charm to get to the vast expanse of the esplanade where route finding became straightforward and a direct route to rattlesnake canyon was a breeze.

less than an hour and we were facing the tail end of rattlesnake canyon. 

Typical crumbly downclimbing and sandstone maneuvering had our team meandering around the supai with a fantastic view of the redwall below and what will become a of the remainder of our day. 

In the distance we can see how the canyon slithers around into the redwall which is why I am assuming the name rattlesnake canyon came from,

but it is the grand canyon and there are indeed rattlesnakes around so I would hope there might be a better story for its name maker. 

Once in the redwall, I grasp onto my anticipation that we have finally made it to this slightly of classic track of a canyon.

I surgically enjoy the lesser known places that still provide a beautiful output for effort and Rattlesnake canyon did not disappoint. 

The sounds of team interaction echo through the canyon walls as I endeavor to place myself in the middle of the team to help with rope management and anchor requirements, but to photograph our moments as we pass through. 

At this very moment we come together in our lives to seek an experience and tap into our curiosity, a curiosity of what we will encounter. 

With greatness comes our reference experiences that we develop amongst ourselves and for one another. 

We get help along the way to achieve greatness and that achievement comes with the realization that continuing development is an evolution that never ends in the pursuit of making something great, that much better. 

The canyon was beautiful, the raps were fun, we encountered 6-8 raps and went through some very interesting sections of narrow redwall but its what we become that I find the most valuable.  

Our aspirations also included discovering a sneak route from rattlesnake canyon to kirks chasm canyon, which was successful. 

Pat hiked up a break before the last rap to discover that we can indeed gain the top of the redwall and it appeared with our research that we could gain the top of the redwall in kirks chasm canyon by following the bench. We hard fixed a line in the last rap and prepared to ascend the rope the following day so we could attempt this plan but the threshold of threatening weather halted this plan for another time. 

I am looking forward to completing the sneak route over to kirks chasm the following year and sharing that experience with the team as the grand canyon still hold plenty of exploration for generations to come.