It turns out going to bed at 9pm does not come naturally to me, even when I was up a 6am and have hiked 17 miles in the last two days. I’m sure I was just starting to drift off For Real when the alarm went off at 4am, but I got up anyway. We had a disgusting breakfast of freeze-dried biscuits and gravy (my least favorite of the pouch meals, but you don’t start this hike on an empty stomach, and even if I wanted to pay for another $30 breakfast, early service doesn’t start until 5am. That’s what I get for thinking 6:30 as “late” service is funny). … More Laura’s Journal: Hiking out of the Grand Canyon