They prepared their bags with the essentials: food, water and a change of clothes. They didn’t plan on just finishing the trail; John Rankin and Candy Baxter-Smith of Bradford wanted to truly live the experience, not just for them, but for Smith’s parents — avid travelers who died of cancer and were unable to make the journey themselves.

To Smith, it was already decided for her — she would take their ashes with her. She was determined to cross the trip through the Grand Canyon off of her parents’ bucket list, and to bring their ashes to a final rest while there.

When they arrived at the canyon on Oct. 17, they avoided the traditional tourist route on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, which more resembled a metropolitan city filled with lodges, grocery stores and shops. The couple instead began their trail on the North Rim, a clearer area for their journey.

When they awoke on the early Tuesday morning of their trip, they were greeted by 50-degree weather accompanied by strong winds that blasted around the edges of the canyon. But all they could focus on was the unquantifiable amount of stars that decorated the dark skies.

After their early morning meal, they began the 24-mile journey to the South Rim — 24 miles that seemed even longer when including the elevation changes.

To get to the South Rim, they first needed to journey 4,000 feet downwards into the canyon — a feat that proved difficult for the couple that considers themselves casual hikers. As the morning began to turn into afternoon, the temperatures spiked to about 80 degrees, forcing them to strip down to shirts and shorts.

Later in the day, while at the base of the canyon, they looked towards the map to see how much they had left to go — about 12 miles and 3,000 feet upwards. The couple decided to camp out near the Colorado River, and made due with the rations that they had. When they awoke the next morning, the sun peered through the canyons, granting them a spectacular view of the trail they had traveled behind them. While the journey had been quite frustrating for them up until then, with no end in sight, the beauty of the canyon had reassured them they had made the right choice to make the experience of a lifetime.

After washing their faces in the river, they began their trip again towards the South Rim. The elevation left it nearly impossible to see their end goal, forcing them to keep their trail map in hand. But the couple continued moving forward, determined to finish what they had started. Finally arriving at the South Rim, they gave an accomplished sigh of relief, embraced each other and looked back at the trail they had traveled.

With the view in sight, Smith took a few photos, and simply posted this to her Facebook page, “Words are not found. Made it rim to rim through the Grand Canyon. Mom and Dad will love it.”