The Grandfather

Full title of this story: "IF YOU DON'T KEEP GOING, I WILL LET YOU FALL OVER THE EDGE AND DIE."

It's Michael Rubino:

Indiana's most notorious grandfather wants you to know he's sorry. But for what? Hard to say. Chris Carlson has been over it and over it, and he's still not sure what went wrong that day on the Bright Angel Trail. Help him, he says. When did he cross the line? Tell him. Please, sir? Ma'am? Tell him.  Is he sorry for what he did to his grandsons?  Like he tried to explain to the guys at the Florence Correctional Center in Arizona, all of that was completely blown out of proportion by the prosecution and the media. But when word got out that Carlson was that guy—the one accused of shoving and browbeating and starving his three grandsons on one of the Grand Canyon's most dangerous trails, in extreme heat—the inmates weren't forgiving. Roll up or we'll roll you up!they said, and stepped to him hard. So here he is, in self-imposed solitary confinement, talking to a reporter on a long-distance call from the safety of a prison office.

Is he sorry for taking the hike?

Hmmm. Maybe. But, on second thought, nah, not really. When they got around to tackling the Grand Canyon last August, Carlson, then 45, and his three oldest grandchildren—then 12, 9, and 8—were practically experts, having spent the summer hiking in nearly half a dozen countries and a good chunk of the western United States. Okay, the boys might have been a little soft when they left Indianapolis at the start of the summer—kind of chubby and out of shape—but by the end they were friggin' rocks, even the 8-year-old.