Indian Garden to Plateau Point to Indian Garden to South Rim

Day Six Miles: 7.8
Cumulative Miles: 50.5

October 31, 2011
South Rim
8:50pm

Made it out.  Nearly got eaten by a mountain lion last night.  Hike up wasn't bad - under three hours before breaks.  Car was dead but got a jump.  More later.

November 1, 2011
South Rim
7:30am

Ok... Now I have a bit of time to write!  So, back to Plateau Point, sunset on October 30.  We had dinner out there and chatted with the Ranger and "the Boys" for a while.  We'd just missed seeing a condor on the rocks!  Eventually, everyone left and we spent a happy hour or so doing star traces.  A little after eight we packed it up - it had taken us 40 minutes to get out there and we were guessing it would take an hour to get back in the dark.  Once we were off the Plateau and into the drainages, I caught some mule deer eyes in my headlamp.  They were very obviously mule deer, even in the dark - you could see the ears and they didn't so much as glance at us.  On we went.

A few hundred yards downwind, I caught a new pair of eyes with my light.  These were lower, closer together, and shaped differently.  No mule ears.  And - worst of all - these eyes watched us, tracking and following.  Without discussing anything, we both started booking it our of there, so fast that we made it back in 30 minutes!  Only then did we start talking and realize that we had both independently concluded that it was a mountain lion!  I guess we'll never know for sure, but I know what my cat's eyes look like in the dark. I spent the whole night trying to convince myself that I was ridiculous and it had been a deer, but I just couldn't.  And that is how we nearly got eaten by a mountain lion.

November 1, 2011
Marble Canyon
8pm

Ok, so, back to Halloween.  We rolled out of bed late, around 6, shoved food, water, stove and cameras into our packs and headed back to Plateau Point for dawn.  We had breakfast out there before heading back to Indian Gardens to break camp.  No more mountain lions tried to eat us but we did get the stink eye from a mama mulie, beautifully silhouetted against the dawn, who we disturbed!  We hit the Bright Angel trail again at 10:30 for the final 4.5ish mile push to the Rim.

Our hike was broken into even thirds by two rest houses.  The first leg was the worst - steep, and we'd skipped our usual midday snack!  We rested an hour at the rest house for lunch though.  Second leg went fast - not as steep.  We stayed 45 minutes at that rest house, snacking and finally toasting with Baileys before the last push.  It was steep, but we were so close it didn't matter!  We reached the Rim at 3!  We did it!!

Shortly thereafter, we lost our buzz upon finding out that the car was dead, but a nice ranger gave us a jump and we were off to steak dinner.

Today we drove to Lees Ferry to camp prior to Horseshoe Bend and Antelope Canyon tomorrow.  The wind was epic!  We were eating dinner in the car when our tent collapsed!  So we called it, stuffed the tent in the car and got a room here in Marble Canyon to enjoy a good night's sleep (and the three B's, Booze Bread and Butter).

QotD: "Our tent was just like, 'screw you guys, I'm going home!'"

Bright Angel Campground to Indian Garden Campground to Plateau Point to Indian Garden Campground

Day Five Miles: 7.7
Cumulative Miles: 42.7

October 30, 2011
Plateau Point
4:40pm

The sun is setting on our last night in the Canyon.  Tomorrow it is back to showers and stead dinners and the real world.  I am definitely feeling a bit melancholy, but I'll save the reflections for tomorrow.

This morning we set out around 7:30 after a delicious breakfast of pumpkin pie.  We had a slow start due to photography breaks, but the trail to Indian Garden was short and the switchbacks not as hard as I thought they might be - we made camp by 11:30.  We actually had a relaxing afternoon playing cards before heading the 1.5 miles out here to the Point.

We brought out our victory dinner - beef burgundy - to eat between sunset photos and star photos.  It's amazing out here - the plateau juts out over the inner canyon and you can see the Colorado and both Rims.

Cottonwood Campground to Bright Angel Campground

Day Four Miles: 7.2
Cumulative Miles: 35

October 29, 2011
Bright Angel Campground
3:15 pm

One of the interesting things about these trails is that they are so populated.  You can meet some interesting people and get to know those sharing the trail with you.  On day one we hiked with Scott and Jennifer.  Day two we kept leapfrogging with two large groups.  Day three was pretty neat though - since we went up-and-back we met everyone who came in N. Kaibob that day.  About a mile before we reached the Rim, we ran into a group of parents and young teens hiking in.  When we explained that we were doing up-and-back, one of the men said "Wow, you guys are animals!"  We laughed and continued on.

Later, back at camp, S headed for the latrine but had to stop and chat with all of our new friends along the way. Then, from back in one of the sites, "Hey! It's the animal!"  I guess we have a nickname now!  (We give them names too, like "blister guy.")

S plays mountain goat to get the perfect shot

Today we got a nice, early start.  We packed up our gear and said goodbye to Cottonwood campsite #6 and were on the road at 7:30.  We made Ribbon Falls around 8:15 and proceeded to stop for nearly three hours to take pictures!  We also had an epic creek crossing before pressing on.

We stopped again around the halfway point and indulged ourselves with a hot lunch of leftover sketti and mishmash.  1.5 hours there.  I think we kept not wanting to leave, since from this morning, every step we take is leading back to the real world and the end of this trip.  We're already planning another, North-South-North but we need to get the boys in on that one!

Well, we're back in Bright Angel now, in site 6 instead of site 4.  6 is more private but also has more prickly pears.  Tomorrow we begin the final two-day push to the south rim.

QotD: "I'm a man!" - Blister Guy on why he can bathe in the creek and we really can't.  "Maybe it will make us hungry!" - as we try to finish dinner and our neighbors start toking up.  "Cobbler Girls" - our other nickname!

Cottonwood Campground to North Rim to Cottonwood Campground

Day Three Miles: 13.6
Cumulative Miles: 27.8

October 28, 2011
Cottonwood Campground
6:20pm

Sorry I didn't write more last night but we were in bed by 7!  A quick sponge bath, dinner and we were zonked!  All good though, because we were up before 5:30 this morning.  We anticipated the trip to the rim to take as much as six hours.  The woman a few sites down had done it in 3.5 but she was in crazy good shape.  It's almost 7 miles to the rim and lots of elevation gain.  As it happened, whatever we've been doing to prep for this trip has been working - we made the rim in just under 4.5 hours!

When you look at the canyon from a distance, all you see are reds and oranges and browns.  When you get up close though,  you see layers of purple, blue and green rocks as well.  It's pretty neat.

The other thing that is hard to grasp from the outside is the scale.  You look at the Canyon and think "Yeah, that's big," but it doesn't compare to how it feels when you are standing next to a boulder the size of a house, so deep in that you can't see either rim.  Words just can't describe it and I know that even doing what I am doing I am only experiencing the smallest portion of what this Canyon is.

Anyway, two! rims down, one to go on our epic Rim to Rim to Rim trip.  As I wrote on the Ranger Station Message board, AK GIRLS KICK ASS!  Seriously, the only other person we've met so far with an itinerary as awesome as ours was a woman.  The guys are totally wimping out.

Ok, sketti dinner now and hopefully star trails before bed.  Night!

PS: "Hey, it's the animal!"  Elaboration later.

Bright Angel Campground to Cottonwood Campground

Day Two Miles: 7.2
Cumulative Miles: 14.2

The rut was on!  Later we saw a buck trying to drive a fawn away from a doe.

October 27, 2011
Cottonwood Campground
3:45pm

Day Two hike is over!  We had a slow start and got on the road at 9.  Once we warmed up, the first few miles were great, following the creek up through a shady canyon.  Then we broke out into the sun, which wasn't as nice!  We did find a nice lunch spot with a view and stopped there for an hour.  A little further was a trail split.  The right fork was labeled "Ribbon Falls via Bridge" and the left was unmarked.  Since we wanted to see the falls, we took the right fork.  Bad Idea! Left fork just made you ford the creek before a level trail met with both Ribbon Falls and the trail to Cottonwood.  The right fork made you climb a freaking mountain!  We ended up skipping the falls - we'll get another chance in two days!

Home Sweet Home - Cottonwood Campground