Grand Canyon 2006
A backpacking story by k Munson
This is my first trip into the Grand Canyon, to be quite honest, my first trip to this area period. With this in mind it may give you some added anticipation of our experiences. Our trip this year took us down the South Kaibab trail to Bright Angel campground (day 1), Bright Angel to Cottonwood (day 2), Cottonwood to Ribbon Falls and on to Bright Angel (day 3), Bright Angel to Indian Gardens, Plateau Point and back to Indian Gardens (day 4), Indian Gardens and out to the South Rim and breakfast (day 5). Let us add that the only time we can get permits for is July, the hottest time of the year and mind you the heat was on... but don't that stop you from reading the story.
Grand Canyon July 4th weekend – AKA Lizardfest 06
As we experienced the Grand Canyon, I thought that it would be more fitting to leave it in journal format instead of it truly 'a story'. You will see what a great trip it truly was and hopefully be able to live vicariously through us until you can reach this destination yourself.
July 1, 2006 - Oregon to Arizona and Grand Canyon
1st entry
"Back pain, knee and foot issues, 100 degree weather, nasty arguments, sleepless nights, anxiety, loss of words… you’d think this was a good way to describe our 5 days we spent in the Grand Canyon. It wasn’t, rather it describes the few days prior to our leaving for the trip. However with that said, and hopefully out of the way, possibly this trip will have a much better ending that it’s start.
Actually our trip to the Canyon started before Ken and I got married. He’s traveled this trail several times prior to his knowing of my existence. This is his yearly ritual which hasn’t happened for 3 years. The last two years we’d planned the trip, bought plane tickets and paid for the permit but due to either a broken foot or labor disputes at work we had to readjust our plans. So the fact that we are actually on the plane seams somewhat just shy of a miracle.
While I painfully sit here during our 2 hour flight and awaiting our arrival in Phoenix Arizona, I can’t help but go over our mental checklist about 500 times. I visualize all our gear, clothing, food, etc. I wonder, “did I train enough, should I have done more stairs (like the 131 steps 15-18 times wasn’t enough) in 90 degree heat. Maybe that is what sent my back over the edge or was it the zipline in Melissa’s back yard that did it. I can’t help but wonder.
Higher altitude, high heat backpacking was something quite new to me, walking into something many feel is called hell isn’t exactly something I try to purposely do. But cha know I’m pretty much game for anything once. This may account for some of the additional stress I’ve been experiencing. I’m glad that Ken knows what he is doing, because these last few days have been something of a mess. I wouldn’t be surprised if I for got my pack or something else critical.
July 2nd, 2006 - South Kaibab trail to
1st entry
We are finally here after a 3 hour drive north out of Phoenix. Ken and I walked out to this place called Shishoni Point about a mile off the beaten path. It’s
not a marked area but the locals mentioned it to Ken on one of his prior trips, now it has become part of his trip ritual. Walking out there I still hadn’t seen
the canyon in any true extent yet, we had been driving around doing this and that before places closed. So this walk was nice… nice to finally get off our
butts after sitting for so long.
Looking over the edge made my anxiety go a little arye, this place was huge! truly amazing, very impressive indeed. I can see the trail below... and I can also
see the edge where I stand… but how does one get from here to there without a rope! AHHH I guess I will just have to see in the morning – SHOOTS, THIS SUCKS!!!
About 45 minutes down the South Kaibab we ran into 2 guys who had been stuck canyon side all night. They were hanging on but one was in really in bad shape and the heat of the day was already starting to rise. They had come down w/very little food and water the day before and ended up in a world of trouble. The one was already showing signs of heat exhaustion. They said that a ranger gave them some salty stuff and a bit of water but they could use some electrolytes, which we had. I had brought along my extra bottle for some reason… I guess these two were the lucky ones that needed it. It was probably the only thing that would help them get to the top alive. Majority of the people that hike the Grand Canyonespecially this time of year greatly underestimate by far the power that exists here. The power of the heat, the altitude, the trail and the harsh elements. I couldn’t imagine descending in 100+ … which I thought we were going to do… I was grateful for the 90+ degrees that we did come down in.
This trail was rough. No water anywhere for drinking let alone cooling off in. The estimated travel time on this trail is 4 – 6 hours. The trail itself is 6.3 miles (to Bright Angel Campground – 6.8 to Phantom Ranch). Your starting point is at 7260 feet and camp is 2480 feet, a 4,780 foot drop. The depth of the canyon in several areas that means 1 mile straight down, which means the trail is steep. There are 2 pit bathrooms along the way… and unless we are drinking tons of water… we probably won’t need them. With that said… I’ve never seen a more impressive, massive, beautiful hole in the earth. The Grand Canyon is emense and holds a beauty all its own. I will definitely say the hike down the South Kaibabwas brutal, I do not normally don’t really have knee issues, but I sure felt them this morning. OUCH! I quickly learned to “walk like a mule”, meaning step in the place the mules stepped. It seemed a bit awkward at first… but man did that make all the difference in the world.
Getting down the first section to the “Tip off” was one trial in itself… the last dive was near the bottom. The last 2 miles were harsh on the body, we had some shade because of how the rocks sat, but it was also kind of smelly. The mules that come up and down the trail have their resting points here… and well…THAT REEKS SOMETHING AWFUL!!!
2nd entry
1:15 it is 118 in the sun and 108 in the shade. In the middle of the river it’s slightly less. In the last 10 minutes of my sitting here in the creek, I’ve watched several groups of individuals come on off one of the two trails. I’m not sure when they started but all of them are getting here about 4 hours too late. If you aren’t down by 10 am your better find some place to hide from the heat. Your chances of survival start to drop quickly, not a good situation to be in.
Today was about getting into the canyon, beating the heat and watching the turkeys around you, both literal and figurative. The Phantom Ranch has a pair of
turkeys that nested near the creek. They would visit us form time to time looking for handouts. Needless to say we had none to spare. I guess someone had
brought them down here for a meal and couldn’t find it in their heart to kill them… so now they live here. The other turkeys (figurative ones) consisted of a
Russian from Chicago who wanted to sit in the sun for color (and got a burn) and some other nut guy who we all watched catch a 1 inch fish and swallowed it
whole. It grossed us all out, but there isn’t much else to do on a 118 degree day while sitting in the creek.
Grand Canyon July 4th weekend – AKA Lizardfest 06
As we experienced the Grand Canyon, I thought that it would be more fitting to leave it in journal format instead of it truly 'a story'. You will see what a great trip it truly was and hopefully be able to live vicariously through us until you can reach this destination yourself.
July 1, 2006 - Oregon to Arizona and Grand Canyon
1st entry
"Back pain, knee and foot issues, 100 degree weather, nasty arguments, sleepless nights, anxiety, loss of words… you’d think this was a good way to describe our 5 days we spent in the Grand Canyon. It wasn’t, rather it describes the few days prior to our leaving for the trip. However with that said, and hopefully out of the way, possibly this trip will have a much better ending that it’s start.
Actually our trip to the Canyon started before Ken and I got married. He’s traveled this trail several times prior to his knowing of my existence. This is his yearly ritual which hasn’t happened for 3 years. The last two years we’d planned the trip, bought plane tickets and paid for the permit but due to either a broken foot or labor disputes at work we had to readjust our plans. So the fact that we are actually on the plane seams somewhat just shy of a miracle.
While I painfully sit here during our 2 hour flight and awaiting our arrival in Phoenix Arizona, I can’t help but go over our mental checklist about 500 times. I visualize all our gear, clothing, food, etc. I wonder, “did I train enough, should I have done more stairs (like the 131 steps 15-18 times wasn’t enough) in 90 degree heat. Maybe that is what sent my back over the edge or was it the zipline in Melissa’s back yard that did it. I can’t help but wonder.
Higher altitude, high heat backpacking was something quite new to me, walking into something many feel is called hell isn’t exactly something I try to purposely do. But cha know I’m pretty much game for anything once. This may account for some of the additional stress I’ve been experiencing. I’m glad that Ken knows what he is doing, because these last few days have been something of a mess. I wouldn’t be surprised if I for got my pack or something else critical.
July 2nd, 2006 - South Kaibab trail to
1st entry
We are finally here after a 3 hour drive north out of Phoenix. Ken and I walked out to this place called Shishoni Point about a mile off the beaten path. It’s
not a marked area but the locals mentioned it to Ken on one of his prior trips, now it has become part of his trip ritual. Walking out there I still hadn’t seen
the canyon in any true extent yet, we had been driving around doing this and that before places closed. So this walk was nice… nice to finally get off our
butts after sitting for so long.
Looking over the edge made my anxiety go a little arye, this place was huge! truly amazing, very impressive indeed. I can see the trail below... and I can also
see the edge where I stand… but how does one get from here to there without a rope! AHHH I guess I will just have to see in the morning – SHOOTS, THIS SUCKS!!!
About 45 minutes down the South Kaibab we ran into 2 guys who had been stuck canyon side all night. They were hanging on but one was in really in bad shape and the heat of the day was already starting to rise. They had come down w/very little food and water the day before and ended up in a world of trouble. The one was already showing signs of heat exhaustion. They said that a ranger gave them some salty stuff and a bit of water but they could use some electrolytes, which we had. I had brought along my extra bottle for some reason… I guess these two were the lucky ones that needed it. It was probably the only thing that would help them get to the top alive. Majority of the people that hike the Grand Canyonespecially this time of year greatly underestimate by far the power that exists here. The power of the heat, the altitude, the trail and the harsh elements. I couldn’t imagine descending in 100+ … which I thought we were going to do… I was grateful for the 90+ degrees that we did come down in.
This trail was rough. No water anywhere for drinking let alone cooling off in. The estimated travel time on this trail is 4 – 6 hours. The trail itself is 6.3 miles (to Bright Angel Campground – 6.8 to Phantom Ranch). Your starting point is at 7260 feet and camp is 2480 feet, a 4,780 foot drop. The depth of the canyon in several areas that means 1 mile straight down, which means the trail is steep. There are 2 pit bathrooms along the way… and unless we are drinking tons of water… we probably won’t need them. With that said… I’ve never seen a more impressive, massive, beautiful hole in the earth. The Grand Canyon is emense and holds a beauty all its own. I will definitely say the hike down the South Kaibabwas brutal, I do not normally don’t really have knee issues, but I sure felt them this morning. OUCH! I quickly learned to “walk like a mule”, meaning step in the place the mules stepped. It seemed a bit awkward at first… but man did that make all the difference in the world.
Getting down the first section to the “Tip off” was one trial in itself… the last dive was near the bottom. The last 2 miles were harsh on the body, we had some shade because of how the rocks sat, but it was also kind of smelly. The mules that come up and down the trail have their resting points here… and well…THAT REEKS SOMETHING AWFUL!!!
2nd entry
1:15 it is 118 in the sun and 108 in the shade. In the middle of the river it’s slightly less. In the last 10 minutes of my sitting here in the creek, I’ve watched several groups of individuals come on off one of the two trails. I’m not sure when they started but all of them are getting here about 4 hours too late. If you aren’t down by 10 am your better find some place to hide from the heat. Your chances of survival start to drop quickly, not a good situation to be in.
Today was about getting into the canyon, beating the heat and watching the turkeys around you, both literal and figurative. The Phantom Ranch has a pair of
turkeys that nested near the creek. They would visit us form time to time looking for handouts. Needless to say we had none to spare. I guess someone had
brought them down here for a meal and couldn’t find it in their heart to kill them… so now they live here. The other turkeys (figurative ones) consisted of a
Russian from Chicago who wanted to sit in the sun for color (and got a burn) and some other nut guy who we all watched catch a 1 inch fish and swallowed it
whole. It grossed us all out, but there isn’t much else to do on a 118 degree day while sitting in the creek.
July 3rd, 2006 - Bright Angel to Cottonwood
1st entry.
We slept in this morning to about 5:40. We woke up to our neighborly alarm clock. The group of East Indian brothers next to us were making quite a racket, I think they woke the whole camp. Oh well if you were heading anywhere you needed to be up, so it’s just as well.
During the night just before 3am there was a big clap of thunder, which was followed by a lingering ran shower this was rather irritating. It wasn’t bad if you had a full tent. But those of us who only had a net cover or slept out… well, we got a little wet. We tossed a sheet on top of the Bug-hut and called it good. We got a little wet but who cared, not like we were going to get any dirtier. The temp was still about 88 degrees at that time, almost too warm to sleep.
After breaking camp, we left Bright Angel campground and headed for Cottonwood and made it here just before 10am (a little late). We traveled 7.2 miles with a 1,520 foot gain. Oh this was hot, I was tired, and did I mention it was hot. It was in the 90’s pretty much the whole way. The cloud cover kept in some of the heat, but the rocks had held on to it from the days before. We tried to soak ourselves any chance we got along the way, this was helpful. The trail was amazing, beautiful colors, light and shadows like I’ve never seen. We even got to see a rattle snake that hadn’t taken for full cover yet – that was fun. We are making good time in spite of it all. We are making 2+ – 2.5 miles and hour – which ROCKS! Ken and I took a turn off the main trail to ford the creek and avoid a nasty hill. It resulted in my soaked sloshy boots and loss of time… but it felt really good to get wet I could have stayed there all day.
2nd entry
Ken and I have been kicking it near the Bright Angel creek (here at Cottonwood), which is the same one as the day before only it is 7 miles closer to it’s source, which means its much colder. The temp outside keeps shifting, one moment it’s in the 90’s degrees, then it’s 87 then something else. We await it breaking 100 and staying for awhile. Thus far we are the only two people here at camp, even the Ranger seems to be missing. Just this AM the North Rim finally re-opened after a fire had closed it for several days. Many people that had permits for the North were re-routed to the South. So I believe Bright
Angel was a little more busy than normal, but not over crowded by any means.
I think we’ve officially renamed this 4th of July weekend to Lizardfest 2006. I currently have one eyeballing me. The 2 at camp we’ve named Fred and Wilma, Betty and Barney hang out here by the Range Station. On our hike in, I’d never almost stepped on so many lizards in my life. I think we figured out that they wait in the bushes, when they see us coming they jump across. I think it’s their only form of entertainment. All the monster and baby frogs stay of to the side, even the snakes stay out of the way. But nooooo... the lizards... they are a different breed, they are the daredevils, the suicidal ones, the extremists. Only one I’ve seen thus far has not come out so lucky.
As I sit here on this bench with the massive amounts of ants crawling around, I reflect on the awesome rock and route lines you could climb. Some with bomber holds, others with beautiful crack and just some fun fun climbing. I do have to say if it weren’t for it being so freaking hot… I’d be climbing right now, this is a paradise.
Yep not but 12:25 and the heat lamp just turned on, bet you 5 bucks its’ 100 by 1:00.
3rd entry
Ok it’s 1:15 and it’s 103 – what did I tell ya – UCK!
1st entry.
We slept in this morning to about 5:40. We woke up to our neighborly alarm clock. The group of East Indian brothers next to us were making quite a racket, I think they woke the whole camp. Oh well if you were heading anywhere you needed to be up, so it’s just as well.
During the night just before 3am there was a big clap of thunder, which was followed by a lingering ran shower this was rather irritating. It wasn’t bad if you had a full tent. But those of us who only had a net cover or slept out… well, we got a little wet. We tossed a sheet on top of the Bug-hut and called it good. We got a little wet but who cared, not like we were going to get any dirtier. The temp was still about 88 degrees at that time, almost too warm to sleep.
After breaking camp, we left Bright Angel campground and headed for Cottonwood and made it here just before 10am (a little late). We traveled 7.2 miles with a 1,520 foot gain. Oh this was hot, I was tired, and did I mention it was hot. It was in the 90’s pretty much the whole way. The cloud cover kept in some of the heat, but the rocks had held on to it from the days before. We tried to soak ourselves any chance we got along the way, this was helpful. The trail was amazing, beautiful colors, light and shadows like I’ve never seen. We even got to see a rattle snake that hadn’t taken for full cover yet – that was fun. We are making good time in spite of it all. We are making 2+ – 2.5 miles and hour – which ROCKS! Ken and I took a turn off the main trail to ford the creek and avoid a nasty hill. It resulted in my soaked sloshy boots and loss of time… but it felt really good to get wet I could have stayed there all day.
2nd entry
Ken and I have been kicking it near the Bright Angel creek (here at Cottonwood), which is the same one as the day before only it is 7 miles closer to it’s source, which means its much colder. The temp outside keeps shifting, one moment it’s in the 90’s degrees, then it’s 87 then something else. We await it breaking 100 and staying for awhile. Thus far we are the only two people here at camp, even the Ranger seems to be missing. Just this AM the North Rim finally re-opened after a fire had closed it for several days. Many people that had permits for the North were re-routed to the South. So I believe Bright
Angel was a little more busy than normal, but not over crowded by any means.
I think we’ve officially renamed this 4th of July weekend to Lizardfest 2006. I currently have one eyeballing me. The 2 at camp we’ve named Fred and Wilma, Betty and Barney hang out here by the Range Station. On our hike in, I’d never almost stepped on so many lizards in my life. I think we figured out that they wait in the bushes, when they see us coming they jump across. I think it’s their only form of entertainment. All the monster and baby frogs stay of to the side, even the snakes stay out of the way. But nooooo... the lizards... they are a different breed, they are the daredevils, the suicidal ones, the extremists. Only one I’ve seen thus far has not come out so lucky.
As I sit here on this bench with the massive amounts of ants crawling around, I reflect on the awesome rock and route lines you could climb. Some with bomber holds, others with beautiful crack and just some fun fun climbing. I do have to say if it weren’t for it being so freaking hot… I’d be climbing right now, this is a paradise.
Yep not but 12:25 and the heat lamp just turned on, bet you 5 bucks its’ 100 by 1:00.
3rd entry
Ok it’s 1:15 and it’s 103 – what did I tell ya – UCK!
July 4th, 2006 - Cottonwood to Ribbon Falls to Bright Angel and Phantom Ranch
1st entry
Waking up this morning was a bit of a task. We got to sleep again until 5:00 this time, but getting our 80 year old bodies to move without being somewhat sore was the task. The sad reality is that we aren’t anywhere near 80… we are 43 and 36, but we felt as though we aged 40 years. We even enjoyed laying there watching the giant caterpillars parading out of the tree next to us, heading for their caterpillar convention. It was rather comical really, they were huge and they really moved.
Soon we got moving, Ken made breakfast I broke down camp, we filled our water, packed up and headed back to Bright Angel campground. We planned on making a stop about a mile and a half back down the trial at Ribbon falls. While the cold shower wasn’t the first thing I wanted to do, my smelly body needed it. Being you can’t take soap or even bio-soap into the canyon you get kind of an odor after said recreating as such. You don’t even bring deodorant because it would just melt and make a mess.
The falls were beautiful, a small little push or scramble to get in there but oh so worth it. You could literally stay in here all day to avoid the heat. But we needed to just shower and pause a moment then get hauling. I’d never imagine there being these little oasis down here in this vast barren wasteland… but
there are, and thank goodness.
Soon after leaving the falls we went our alternate route again over the creek via fording the quick moving Bright Angel creek. This time we were more successful in the crossing. Nothing like fording a river though, it can be quite stressing and yet total fun.
We made it back here to Bright Angel campground just before 10am and the heat was already at 103. We passed the same spots as before, but with different shadows. This time it was all downhill, much easier going. I could really take on the essence of the canyon this time and all it has to offer, very impressive to the soul.
After finding camp and moving around a bit we scarfed down some food and made our way to the creek. For a good while the three of us enjoyed the shade, the water and the lack of movement. It was kind of fun hanging creek side the two of us with a lizard. He hung out for quite a while, drinking water, laying in the shade but soon went on his marry little way.
2nd entry
Its now 4:25 and we are once again and still sitting in the creek. We stepped out for a bit to eat, pee and made a trip up to the Phantom Ranch canteen for
a beer. It’s a small little place that is cooled by a swamp cooler for all the people that come in off the rafts or via mules. You get to meet, see and laugh at all kinds of people. The great thing is that they are thinking and doing the same with you. There were a whole bunch of people that came through while the rafts reloaded water and supplies. One guy brought his teenage kids down the river. They came in the Canteen to mail a postcard to grandma and grandpa. When
one was done signing the postcard another started, then another came in the door and signed. This kept going for quite awhile, until I asked “how many stinking kids you do you have?” he said “6”. Goodness, 6 kids and one young at heart dad, that was kool. Then Ken reached over and grabbed the stamp they were using and proceeded to stamp me, twice! Not too long later I did the same to him…his said something like “product of Phantom Ranch” mine said
“carried out by mule”… not sure which was worse. The Canteen is a hilarious place, full of fun, exhaustion and people sitting around wondering why the
^$#!*&@ we are all down here.
3rd entryIt is still near 100 degrees, with a heavy overcast sky. Drops of rain trickled down but not much yet. There’s 30% chance of thunder showers, like the prior nights. Tonight we have had major gusts of wind come through the canyon, but it is so warm you don’t care nor do you want to leave the creek. I mean really, where would you go, back to camp to get over heated there? NOT SO MUCH!!!
Tomorrow starts our climb out of here, we’ll spend one more night at Indian Gardens. Suppose to be the best place for a sunset, I hope we will get one. The hike makes me a little nervous… but it is only 5 miles (1/2) way. Then we get to sit& do nothing… but bake in the heat and wait for night to fall (sunset). The nice thing is that our packs are much lighter and smaller (much less food and will be half the water as when we came down) WHICH IS GREAT!!!
1st entry
Waking up this morning was a bit of a task. We got to sleep again until 5:00 this time, but getting our 80 year old bodies to move without being somewhat sore was the task. The sad reality is that we aren’t anywhere near 80… we are 43 and 36, but we felt as though we aged 40 years. We even enjoyed laying there watching the giant caterpillars parading out of the tree next to us, heading for their caterpillar convention. It was rather comical really, they were huge and they really moved.
Soon we got moving, Ken made breakfast I broke down camp, we filled our water, packed up and headed back to Bright Angel campground. We planned on making a stop about a mile and a half back down the trial at Ribbon falls. While the cold shower wasn’t the first thing I wanted to do, my smelly body needed it. Being you can’t take soap or even bio-soap into the canyon you get kind of an odor after said recreating as such. You don’t even bring deodorant because it would just melt and make a mess.
The falls were beautiful, a small little push or scramble to get in there but oh so worth it. You could literally stay in here all day to avoid the heat. But we needed to just shower and pause a moment then get hauling. I’d never imagine there being these little oasis down here in this vast barren wasteland… but
there are, and thank goodness.
Soon after leaving the falls we went our alternate route again over the creek via fording the quick moving Bright Angel creek. This time we were more successful in the crossing. Nothing like fording a river though, it can be quite stressing and yet total fun.
We made it back here to Bright Angel campground just before 10am and the heat was already at 103. We passed the same spots as before, but with different shadows. This time it was all downhill, much easier going. I could really take on the essence of the canyon this time and all it has to offer, very impressive to the soul.
After finding camp and moving around a bit we scarfed down some food and made our way to the creek. For a good while the three of us enjoyed the shade, the water and the lack of movement. It was kind of fun hanging creek side the two of us with a lizard. He hung out for quite a while, drinking water, laying in the shade but soon went on his marry little way.
2nd entry
Its now 4:25 and we are once again and still sitting in the creek. We stepped out for a bit to eat, pee and made a trip up to the Phantom Ranch canteen for
a beer. It’s a small little place that is cooled by a swamp cooler for all the people that come in off the rafts or via mules. You get to meet, see and laugh at all kinds of people. The great thing is that they are thinking and doing the same with you. There were a whole bunch of people that came through while the rafts reloaded water and supplies. One guy brought his teenage kids down the river. They came in the Canteen to mail a postcard to grandma and grandpa. When
one was done signing the postcard another started, then another came in the door and signed. This kept going for quite awhile, until I asked “how many stinking kids you do you have?” he said “6”. Goodness, 6 kids and one young at heart dad, that was kool. Then Ken reached over and grabbed the stamp they were using and proceeded to stamp me, twice! Not too long later I did the same to him…his said something like “product of Phantom Ranch” mine said
“carried out by mule”… not sure which was worse. The Canteen is a hilarious place, full of fun, exhaustion and people sitting around wondering why the
^$#!*&@ we are all down here.
3rd entryIt is still near 100 degrees, with a heavy overcast sky. Drops of rain trickled down but not much yet. There’s 30% chance of thunder showers, like the prior nights. Tonight we have had major gusts of wind come through the canyon, but it is so warm you don’t care nor do you want to leave the creek. I mean really, where would you go, back to camp to get over heated there? NOT SO MUCH!!!
Tomorrow starts our climb out of here, we’ll spend one more night at Indian Gardens. Suppose to be the best place for a sunset, I hope we will get one. The hike makes me a little nervous… but it is only 5 miles (1/2) way. Then we get to sit& do nothing… but bake in the heat and wait for night to fall (sunset). The nice thing is that our packs are much lighter and smaller (much less food and will be half the water as when we came down) WHICH IS GREAT!!!
July 5, 2006 Phantom Ranch to Indian Gardens to Plateau Point
1st entry. Last night the heat seemed to linger for quite some time. We spent most of the day @ the creek. We ate @ the one major pool here at Bright Angel while watching and wondering about the two guys we’d met earlier yesterday. The 2 younger guys maybe 20ish, who beat the heat down the South Kaibab by 9:00am. They were asking us and wondering while trying to decide which way they should go back up. They had wanted to leave @ 1:30/2:00 (that day!). Ken advised that wouldn't be a good time to leave but to wait until at least 4:00 if not later. Neither one of them had Gatorade (or the like) but had food, and only one of the two had one this trip before, just the same as this, same day in and out. That guy said he barely made it out the first time he did it… ahhhh… people are always gluten for punishment, SO WHY NOT DO IT AGAIN!!! That’s when Ken and I headed for the Canteen for a beer, I don’t want to see when these guys leave. I just sure hope they made it out ok.
We woke roughly 4am this morning. As the day started to fade in we had a visitor come by camp. At first I thought it was as a squirrel coming back for an early breakfast treat… I looked again and realized it wasn’t… it was a skunk! “KRAP!” Ken and I watched this small squirrel sized spotted skunk with its
rather fluffy white tail we were trying to figure out what we were suppose to do. We were stuck zipped up in the Bug-hut, so we couldn’t really run. Do we scare it? “NO... HELLO... IT’S A SKUNK!!!” We already smelled bad enough. So we just waited to see what it was going to do. It had either not seen us or it
could have cared less that we were present, in fact it seemed far less about anything other than finding food. Finally after what seemed like forever… it
just went away. As we watched it go we realized how cute it was and hilarious of an experience we just had. Ken said with a groggy half awake laugh…”its
actually kinda cute... like a kitty cat”… I laughed for a second then said…”YAH… now GET OUT!”
After our encounter we broke camp and got on the trial by 5:50. The heat from the day before was still hanging around like usual, so it was good thing we left early. Once we hit the trail it didn’t take long before we started passing people. Some were stopping 50 yards from camp to read signs and enjoy the views, others already looked like they were in bad shape, it was good they all were starting out early. We passed one guy with his 3 boys. They’d taken the river in, to hike out at the half way point (Phantom Ranch). The youngest of the boys was probably 10/11 and in rough shape. We asked the dad our normal few questions,“How are you guys doing, do you have Gatorade, salty stuff” etc…. Dad said “no but we’ll be fine, we have water.” YIKES! All they had was water and a very small amount of food. There we offered to give some of our precious supplies so they could get out ok and the dad refused, seeming totally unnerved by our presence. All we could do is pray for these guys. The older of the 3 boys seemed a little more concerned hopefully he had enough sense to support this brother. Sad to say that when/if this little guy makes it out he is going to be in bad shape with much thanks to his father. People can be so stupid sometimes.
Soon we came up on another family and couple. We passed but soon stopped at the creek just prior to the first major hill climb. We dropped our packs and soaked our selves in the creek. We chatted with one couple briefly. They had spend 2 extra nights at the Ranch because they came down the South Kaibab and had got lost for a costly 5 & a half hours on some‘detour’ on the Tonto trail. The Tonto trail is virtually impassible this time of year because of the extreme heat, exposure and no water. The gal said she still felt sick but well enough to get out. At least these two stocked up at the Ranch, went early and listened to advice. Being there is no rescue service available, (unless you have countless thousands of dollars to spare for a helicopter ride) you have to get out via your own body and two feet. That is one reason why the Canyon is so brutal.
As we headed out of the creek the family and others we had passed earlier noted where we all were and took note like we might actually know what we are doin. Most of these people come in off the river after 7 days, have a bottle of water and a small amount of food for the trip out. I wish they would take better care of themselves at least listen to the notices and stuff, otherwise its job security for the Rangers, hospitals and morgues.
The first 5 miles were tough, but ok. I can’t believe those that do this in a day or two, down and back, my hats are off to them. Then again with full packs and
having been in the canyon already 4 days… it has taken a toll on us. The difference in the trails are amazing, we are headed back via the Bright Angel trail which is 9.5 miles total. Much less brutal and there is water along the way, still difficult though. This trial was packed with sand like you’d find at the beach. Totally soft sand with packs make for difficult walking, good thing we had a full boot on, made like snow shoes… it would have sucked in anything else.
The majority of elevation gain traversed in switch backs along this gully we were in. Again the heat from yesterday emanated form the rocks, its incredible how they hold on to such intense heat. After playing leapfrog with a couple groups of people we came to Indian Gardens, home for the evening. It was nice that we were only doing 5 miles today, I’m starting to get kinda tired. The canyon is taking it’s toll on me, but I’m still ok, I’m just having to really listen to my body. Being vegetarian makes for difficult protein up keep, but choking down protein bars has helped. We hit our campsite about 8:05 am, 2 hours and 15 minutes from our start this morning.
At 8ish am it had been 87 degrees, we had a little cloud cover which was nice to enjoy the cool air…ahhh… That lasted for only a couple hours this morning. Taking advantage of the coolness we crash out for about an hour. We got up bout 10:30 and the heat started to rise again. By 12 it was reaching 100. So we headed for the little stream and some shade. Now we sit once again with our pillows… in the shade with an even smaller pool of water. Funny how the higher you go the waters get smaller as you’d expect. At the bottom you have the mighty Colorado, which you could sink a few good sized boats in. The Bright Angel you could fit several people side by side in width. Here at the little Garden Creek you’d be lucky if you could get your whole body in the water. WHO CARES IT’S WATER!!!
1st entry. Last night the heat seemed to linger for quite some time. We spent most of the day @ the creek. We ate @ the one major pool here at Bright Angel while watching and wondering about the two guys we’d met earlier yesterday. The 2 younger guys maybe 20ish, who beat the heat down the South Kaibab by 9:00am. They were asking us and wondering while trying to decide which way they should go back up. They had wanted to leave @ 1:30/2:00 (that day!). Ken advised that wouldn't be a good time to leave but to wait until at least 4:00 if not later. Neither one of them had Gatorade (or the like) but had food, and only one of the two had one this trip before, just the same as this, same day in and out. That guy said he barely made it out the first time he did it… ahhhh… people are always gluten for punishment, SO WHY NOT DO IT AGAIN!!! That’s when Ken and I headed for the Canteen for a beer, I don’t want to see when these guys leave. I just sure hope they made it out ok.
We woke roughly 4am this morning. As the day started to fade in we had a visitor come by camp. At first I thought it was as a squirrel coming back for an early breakfast treat… I looked again and realized it wasn’t… it was a skunk! “KRAP!” Ken and I watched this small squirrel sized spotted skunk with its
rather fluffy white tail we were trying to figure out what we were suppose to do. We were stuck zipped up in the Bug-hut, so we couldn’t really run. Do we scare it? “NO... HELLO... IT’S A SKUNK!!!” We already smelled bad enough. So we just waited to see what it was going to do. It had either not seen us or it
could have cared less that we were present, in fact it seemed far less about anything other than finding food. Finally after what seemed like forever… it
just went away. As we watched it go we realized how cute it was and hilarious of an experience we just had. Ken said with a groggy half awake laugh…”its
actually kinda cute... like a kitty cat”… I laughed for a second then said…”YAH… now GET OUT!”
After our encounter we broke camp and got on the trial by 5:50. The heat from the day before was still hanging around like usual, so it was good thing we left early. Once we hit the trail it didn’t take long before we started passing people. Some were stopping 50 yards from camp to read signs and enjoy the views, others already looked like they were in bad shape, it was good they all were starting out early. We passed one guy with his 3 boys. They’d taken the river in, to hike out at the half way point (Phantom Ranch). The youngest of the boys was probably 10/11 and in rough shape. We asked the dad our normal few questions,“How are you guys doing, do you have Gatorade, salty stuff” etc…. Dad said “no but we’ll be fine, we have water.” YIKES! All they had was water and a very small amount of food. There we offered to give some of our precious supplies so they could get out ok and the dad refused, seeming totally unnerved by our presence. All we could do is pray for these guys. The older of the 3 boys seemed a little more concerned hopefully he had enough sense to support this brother. Sad to say that when/if this little guy makes it out he is going to be in bad shape with much thanks to his father. People can be so stupid sometimes.
Soon we came up on another family and couple. We passed but soon stopped at the creek just prior to the first major hill climb. We dropped our packs and soaked our selves in the creek. We chatted with one couple briefly. They had spend 2 extra nights at the Ranch because they came down the South Kaibab and had got lost for a costly 5 & a half hours on some‘detour’ on the Tonto trail. The Tonto trail is virtually impassible this time of year because of the extreme heat, exposure and no water. The gal said she still felt sick but well enough to get out. At least these two stocked up at the Ranch, went early and listened to advice. Being there is no rescue service available, (unless you have countless thousands of dollars to spare for a helicopter ride) you have to get out via your own body and two feet. That is one reason why the Canyon is so brutal.
As we headed out of the creek the family and others we had passed earlier noted where we all were and took note like we might actually know what we are doin. Most of these people come in off the river after 7 days, have a bottle of water and a small amount of food for the trip out. I wish they would take better care of themselves at least listen to the notices and stuff, otherwise its job security for the Rangers, hospitals and morgues.
The first 5 miles were tough, but ok. I can’t believe those that do this in a day or two, down and back, my hats are off to them. Then again with full packs and
having been in the canyon already 4 days… it has taken a toll on us. The difference in the trails are amazing, we are headed back via the Bright Angel trail which is 9.5 miles total. Much less brutal and there is water along the way, still difficult though. This trial was packed with sand like you’d find at the beach. Totally soft sand with packs make for difficult walking, good thing we had a full boot on, made like snow shoes… it would have sucked in anything else.
The majority of elevation gain traversed in switch backs along this gully we were in. Again the heat from yesterday emanated form the rocks, its incredible how they hold on to such intense heat. After playing leapfrog with a couple groups of people we came to Indian Gardens, home for the evening. It was nice that we were only doing 5 miles today, I’m starting to get kinda tired. The canyon is taking it’s toll on me, but I’m still ok, I’m just having to really listen to my body. Being vegetarian makes for difficult protein up keep, but choking down protein bars has helped. We hit our campsite about 8:05 am, 2 hours and 15 minutes from our start this morning.
At 8ish am it had been 87 degrees, we had a little cloud cover which was nice to enjoy the cool air…ahhh… That lasted for only a couple hours this morning. Taking advantage of the coolness we crash out for about an hour. We got up bout 10:30 and the heat started to rise again. By 12 it was reaching 100. So we headed for the little stream and some shade. Now we sit once again with our pillows… in the shade with an even smaller pool of water. Funny how the higher you go the waters get smaller as you’d expect. At the bottom you have the mighty Colorado, which you could sink a few good sized boats in. The Bright Angel you could fit several people side by side in width. Here at the little Garden Creek you’d be lucky if you could get your whole body in the water. WHO CARES IT’S WATER!!!
2nd entry
1:00 now and the temp has cooled some, it’s 96… funny how a couple degrees makes such a huge difference. This camp has quite a few more animals. In fact in our camp spot we were greeted when we first came in, by a few fat spotted squirrels, birds, lizards and a deer chewing its cud laying in the shade. George is the curious little squirrel down here by the creek. He made as many circles around Ken and I as he could before he realized we weren’t gonna feed him. Sitting here watching him has been rather entertaining, not much to do other than watch not smart people walk out to Plateau Point in the heat of the day.
3rd entry.
We headed to Plateau Point late afternoon after the heat cooled off a bit. We enjoyed the view for at least 2 hours by our lonesome. This is a busy area but
all the tourists and mule packs and already left. It is a wonderful place. You get a 360 degree view of the canyon here, it is absolutely amazing. From every position you can jus sit and stare and take in the essence of the canyon. If you lay on your back on some of the lower rocks you can see all 360 degrees without lifting your head. Plus the view of the canyon upside down is quite and experience in itself.
We didn’t get a sunset, there were way too many clouds in the sky and small spits of rain. HOWEVER later in the evening we did get to see a reflection of the sun setting on the rock in the canyon next to us. If we’d been out on Plateau Point at that time we would have missed this show… I’m glad that we didn’t miss it it was amazing.
1:00 now and the temp has cooled some, it’s 96… funny how a couple degrees makes such a huge difference. This camp has quite a few more animals. In fact in our camp spot we were greeted when we first came in, by a few fat spotted squirrels, birds, lizards and a deer chewing its cud laying in the shade. George is the curious little squirrel down here by the creek. He made as many circles around Ken and I as he could before he realized we weren’t gonna feed him. Sitting here watching him has been rather entertaining, not much to do other than watch not smart people walk out to Plateau Point in the heat of the day.
3rd entry.
We headed to Plateau Point late afternoon after the heat cooled off a bit. We enjoyed the view for at least 2 hours by our lonesome. This is a busy area but
all the tourists and mule packs and already left. It is a wonderful place. You get a 360 degree view of the canyon here, it is absolutely amazing. From every position you can jus sit and stare and take in the essence of the canyon. If you lay on your back on some of the lower rocks you can see all 360 degrees without lifting your head. Plus the view of the canyon upside down is quite and experience in itself.
We didn’t get a sunset, there were way too many clouds in the sky and small spits of rain. HOWEVER later in the evening we did get to see a reflection of the sun setting on the rock in the canyon next to us. If we’d been out on Plateau Point at that time we would have missed this show… I’m glad that we didn’t miss it it was amazing.
July 7th 2006 - Sedona
Ahh, waking up in Sedona in a normal bed, recovering peacefully from our past 5 day excursion, what a treat, there is nothing more appreciated than a good bed, real food and some comforts of life. Hang a sec… I think I forgot something…
Yesterday July 6th, 2006 - Indian Gardens to the South Rim and Sedona
The peaceful night sleep that we wanted… we never got. Seems that the night life here is like sleeping in the middle of the nocturnal house at the local zoo. All night long there were critters we were dealing with on the mesh of our tent or trying to scare them away. I soon started having regular conversations with the critter that seemed to be chewing in my ear. If it was any closer to me I’d e able to smell what it was eating. The mouse that was darting round after dinner time the night prior seemed to like running around on the tarp that we had laid under our tent. I personally try to subscribe to the policy of being kind to animals… I am a total animal lover. But there comes a point when I think they really look forward and rather enjoy being flicked off the side of the tent... They know what’s going to happen... yet they keep coming back up.
Sometime near 4:30 I was done listening to the deer chewing off leaves and whatever it was in the bush next to me having its late night snack at every hour. By 5:45 we were packed and heading up our last stretch of the trail. We had our final 4.5 miles and 4000 feet to go. We were the first ones out and up the hill that morning. It didn’t take long before we starting gaining altitude and felt it. There are 3 points between IndianGardens and the South Rim we can stop for water, the final one being at the top. So we carried light on fluids when we left this was good, our packs were much lighter, we had very little food left, couldn’t have planned that any better. We had a few bars to get us out and to the top.
The going was good, very consistent, quite sandy/loose dirt but lots of stairs, easy to get in the zone, totally what I was prepared for. I’d been doing this for the days prior leaving on this trip with Summer (my friend/trainer back home), this I could do. We stopped briefly at the first stop, dunked our heads in water and
made back out quickly. The next stop 1.5 miles from the top we paused a bit longer. Just enough time to fill our water, add Gatorade mix, and gu up. With our renewed sense of energy we headed out… soon we’d be done, could get food and best of all a shower.
Along the final miles of the Bright Angel trail the populous grew. Many of which could have cared less about giving the uphill traveler the right of way. This was disappointing. Everyone that had any clue to trial etiquette knows to yield to up hill traffic, its just common sense and respect. For those that did, THANK YOU, you have no idea what difference it makes! There were some that stopped way in advance and to the side and we thanked everyone that did so pofusely and will continue to do so. We over hear one guy say to another as we passed that “they deserve admiration” that sent chills up my spine, it made the whole trip worth every effort.
Just a few feet from the top, Ken and I put our poles away, grabbed hands and finished the last few step together. “YEEHAA WE ARE THERE!” I could have cried. Everyone that saw and heard us just stared… either because they were trying to figure out if we were totally insane or they were trying to understand where the smell came from. Either way, they started asking questions and it was totally fun to finally just talk because we had no place we really had to be. We took a couple parting shots and headed for the car. Upon finding the car we saw 4 people packed up and heading out, they were carrying way to much heading to Indian Gardens for the night. All out of advice or words to speak all Ken and I could say was “have a good hike”. With that we kicked off our boots, tossed the trash and headed for the showers. The temp was about 80 degrees at the top (always much cooler than in canyon). Time finished was 8:15. It took us 2.5 hours to finish the final 4.5 miles, which was much harder than what we did the day before, but WHATEVER... WE ARE DONE!!!
It took the first 5 minutes of the 10 minute shower to cut through the dirt, but what a feeling to be clean. Next breakfast at Café Tsuyan and a drive to Sedona
for a day of rest, a night of sleep and all the real food we could shove down our throats. What a way to end a perfect trip."
The trip ended truly much better than it ever started, we look forward to the next time when we can spend more time in the places we loved.
Ahh, waking up in Sedona in a normal bed, recovering peacefully from our past 5 day excursion, what a treat, there is nothing more appreciated than a good bed, real food and some comforts of life. Hang a sec… I think I forgot something…
Yesterday July 6th, 2006 - Indian Gardens to the South Rim and Sedona
The peaceful night sleep that we wanted… we never got. Seems that the night life here is like sleeping in the middle of the nocturnal house at the local zoo. All night long there were critters we were dealing with on the mesh of our tent or trying to scare them away. I soon started having regular conversations with the critter that seemed to be chewing in my ear. If it was any closer to me I’d e able to smell what it was eating. The mouse that was darting round after dinner time the night prior seemed to like running around on the tarp that we had laid under our tent. I personally try to subscribe to the policy of being kind to animals… I am a total animal lover. But there comes a point when I think they really look forward and rather enjoy being flicked off the side of the tent... They know what’s going to happen... yet they keep coming back up.
Sometime near 4:30 I was done listening to the deer chewing off leaves and whatever it was in the bush next to me having its late night snack at every hour. By 5:45 we were packed and heading up our last stretch of the trail. We had our final 4.5 miles and 4000 feet to go. We were the first ones out and up the hill that morning. It didn’t take long before we starting gaining altitude and felt it. There are 3 points between IndianGardens and the South Rim we can stop for water, the final one being at the top. So we carried light on fluids when we left this was good, our packs were much lighter, we had very little food left, couldn’t have planned that any better. We had a few bars to get us out and to the top.
The going was good, very consistent, quite sandy/loose dirt but lots of stairs, easy to get in the zone, totally what I was prepared for. I’d been doing this for the days prior leaving on this trip with Summer (my friend/trainer back home), this I could do. We stopped briefly at the first stop, dunked our heads in water and
made back out quickly. The next stop 1.5 miles from the top we paused a bit longer. Just enough time to fill our water, add Gatorade mix, and gu up. With our renewed sense of energy we headed out… soon we’d be done, could get food and best of all a shower.
Along the final miles of the Bright Angel trail the populous grew. Many of which could have cared less about giving the uphill traveler the right of way. This was disappointing. Everyone that had any clue to trial etiquette knows to yield to up hill traffic, its just common sense and respect. For those that did, THANK YOU, you have no idea what difference it makes! There were some that stopped way in advance and to the side and we thanked everyone that did so pofusely and will continue to do so. We over hear one guy say to another as we passed that “they deserve admiration” that sent chills up my spine, it made the whole trip worth every effort.
Just a few feet from the top, Ken and I put our poles away, grabbed hands and finished the last few step together. “YEEHAA WE ARE THERE!” I could have cried. Everyone that saw and heard us just stared… either because they were trying to figure out if we were totally insane or they were trying to understand where the smell came from. Either way, they started asking questions and it was totally fun to finally just talk because we had no place we really had to be. We took a couple parting shots and headed for the car. Upon finding the car we saw 4 people packed up and heading out, they were carrying way to much heading to Indian Gardens for the night. All out of advice or words to speak all Ken and I could say was “have a good hike”. With that we kicked off our boots, tossed the trash and headed for the showers. The temp was about 80 degrees at the top (always much cooler than in canyon). Time finished was 8:15. It took us 2.5 hours to finish the final 4.5 miles, which was much harder than what we did the day before, but WHATEVER... WE ARE DONE!!!
It took the first 5 minutes of the 10 minute shower to cut through the dirt, but what a feeling to be clean. Next breakfast at Café Tsuyan and a drive to Sedona
for a day of rest, a night of sleep and all the real food we could shove down our throats. What a way to end a perfect trip."
The trip ended truly much better than it ever started, we look forward to the next time when we can spend more time in the places we loved.
