Focus: South Kaibob Trailhead to Bright Angel Campground

First light, just below the trailhead

Day One Miles: 7 miles
Cumulative Miles: 7 miles

My photography platform at Ooh-Ahh

October 26, 2011
Bright Angel Campground
6:00pm

Great news! I just managed to get the camera battery out after several long minutes with the leatherman! No more rationing! Yay!

Dawn at Ooh-Aah

We hit the trail (S. Kaibob) this morning around 7:30 and booked it down to Ooh-Aah point for dawn. My R knee was a bit unhappy to start but quickly settled in. The first three or so miles were easy-peasy. All the refits I did last week for pack and boots really paid off. The last few miles were steeper and harder mentally because you could see the Colorado and got this "almost there" feeling. A little after noon we were eating lunch on the north side of the river!

The sun struggles to peek through the clouds

We continued to Bright Angel and got our camp set up and cached some food with the Rangers before exploring. I did not expect the bottom of the canyon to look like this! I imagined a flat, desert-type area with the canyon walls blocking out the sky. Instead, we have a creek lined with cottonwoods and you are actually so deep into the "inner" canyon that you can't see the north or south rims at all. We had fantastic views on the way down though, even though it rained on and off. Glad I brought my rain jacket, I almost left it at home! Packs were pretty heavy (over 30% bodyweight) today, but they carried well.

Sunbeams!

Left knee is a bit sore, right is fine. Feet are sore but no blisters! Chocolate Baileys cheesecake for dessert! Tomorrow should be pretty easy - 7 miles gently uphill to Cottonwood & Ribbon Falls. Should be gorgeous weather too, if a bit on the hot side - 70. For now, I will go be sociable before an early bedtime, sleeping to the roar of the creek.

PS. There are flush toilets! Cushiest backpacking trip ever!

Rain means rainbows!

October 27, 2011
Bright Angel Campground
7:30am

Camp is almost packed, but I wanted to write about last night while it's still fresh. After a few rounds of cards and cheesecake, S and I headed to the bathhouse to wash dishes and get ready for bed. I finished first and headed back to camp alone. Counting to find our site, my headlamp picked up a pair of reflective eyes! A glance at the site number confirmed that the animal was in our camp! I edged closer to see what it was and it jumped up on the table and stared back at me - a ringtail! Way cool. I never thought I'd see one in the wild. I froze, hoping it would stay so S could see, but when it decided I wasn't going to noms its face, it decided to noms my backpack, so I scared it off. The end!