Grand Canyon- Into The Abyss

Four forty five came early. Cappy and I were up and out the door by 5 for a drive-through rendezvous with MacD’s for breakfast. Then we drove through the dark to the Backcountry Ranger Station in the Park. We parked the car and went over to the front of the Ranger Station and waited for the Hiker express at 6AM. We were the first people there. By the time the bus arrived there were 20 hikers waiting. The jovial driver greeted us all with a southern drawl and we pulled out headed to the South Kaibab Trailhead.

At the trailhead, the bus disgorged its passengers, most of which scurried down the trail. Cappuccino and I took a few minutes to organize our stuff, and then we tipped off the edge down into the abyss of the Grand Canyon.

The South Kaibab Trail essentially starts out at the top of a cliff and switches back down paths that seem to have been blasted into the rock. The descent is steep, but the views are spectacular. Moving down through the layers of red and orange and beige rock, some 20 feet thick, some 50 feet thick, some only a few inches thick, it’s like walking through a layer cake. The Trail hugs the west side of a ridge, thus putting it in the shadows at this hour of the morning. So, it was quite comfortable as we strolled along.

The rising sun changed the colors of the Canyon with every minute. The light play was wonderful as we dropped deeper and deeper. But all good things must end and so too did those sunrise colors and our shaded trail. A thousand feet below the rim, we walked out of the shadow of the ridge and into the bright morning sunshine.

From here down to the river we would be on exposed ridges or switchbacks with no shade. The temperature had climbed from 58 up to 75 in the hour we had been on the trail. It was going to be a hot one. We got out our sun umbrellas with their silvered domes and plunged ahead.

Under the shade of the umbrella, things were quite comfortable. We continued along ridges down innumerable switchbacks, and then along more ridges. The vegetation changed, becoming more desert like and we started getting occasional glimpses of the river far below us. The temperature steadily rose, and by 10:30 AM it was in the 90s. We had reached a place called the Tipoff Point. The spot where you leave the wide part of the canyon and drop into the narrow inner Canyon that contains the Colorado River 1,500 feet below.

It was another hour of switchbacks to get down to the river by which time the mercury had reached triple digits. We crossed Black bridge, one of two bridges across the Colorado in this area, and walked the final half mile up to the Bright Angel Campground with my thermometer measuring, 101°. Although we had a permit to camp, campsites are first come first serve. We got a good site with some shade trees and enough room for two tents. At that point, we just sat at the picnic table eating Fritos and drinking Gatorade like beverages that we brought. It was 11:40. It had taken us five hours to go 6.6 miles.

After we were rehydrated and had a little lunch, we walked the half mile up to the Phantom Ranch canteen. I got a lemonade and Cappuccino got an iced tea and we sat in the shade and drank them. Then it was over to the Ranger station to look at a map, and then back to our campsite. Cappuccino went for a dip in the creek in her clothes to cool off and I got my shirt wet. As we set up our tents, I happened to look at my thermometer which was reading 105 in the shade. So it was officially very hot. However, with our clothes soaked and a little breeze, it really wasn’t bad at all.

Tomorrow we get up early again and get hiking right away, making our way up the Bright Angel Trail back to the South Rim. It is not supposed to be as hot tomorrow, by which I mean high of only 99°. But we will also be climbing up where it is actually cooler, so we’re hoping we don’t really face temperatures of more than the high 80s.

Anyway, even though it was hot, it has been an amazing day, hiking this wondrous chasm. Such a rugged and beautiful landscape to be part of. It has been an incredible day.

Until tomorrow, Happy Trails!