4.6mi 3060 ft up

Indian Gardens, being the closest improved campground to South Rim, receives a lot of traffic. Hikers, just passing through, and campers alike enjoy the unexpected shade in the middle of a desert environment. Water, picnic tables, and composting toilets provide a comfortable oasis to wait out the sun before resuming your hike, but all of us passing through are hard on the desert plants. Re-vegetation projects are in evidence all along the corridor trails in the canyon. Some creative placement of fencing, brush piles, rocks, and well-planned paths are allowing vegetation to return along in high-traffic areas.

The view from whence we came.

We are climbing Jacob's Ladder...

Every rung is higher, higher...

After many breaks in shady spots and a peanut butter roll up at Mile-and-a-Half Resthouse, the last tunnel before the trailhead!

A happy, healthy crew, ready for ice cream. We left Indians Gardens at 5:45 and reached the South Rim at 10:15. Pretty good for the old folks. I had to take many breaks and let my heart catch up, but the worst our crew has to show for the effort is 4 blue toenails, and we got those on North Kaibab. Toenails grow back. We will get to keep the memories.

A rim-side cabin and a little relaxation to celebrate our accomplishment. Rim-side cabins get mixed reviews. Some people expect privacy and quiet. I enjoyed being in the middle of the action at South Rim. As we cleaned up and relaxed after 5 days and 4 nights below the rim, we could hear the murmuring of the 95% who only see the canyon by walking the Rim Trail right in front of our cabins. We had a different experience. Only 5 percent of the visitors to Grand Canyon get to the Colorado River. It was a privilege to be in that group.

Bright Angel Lodge where you check in to Rim-Side Cabins, Thunderbird, and Kachina Lodges, as well as the shuttle to North Rim and mule rides. Busy place at times.

Elk appreciate the watered grass at Thunderbird, Kachina, and El Tovar Lodges.

Plateau Point Side Hike from Indian Gardens

Our friends Bill and Connie. Plateau Point, offering views of the Colorado River both up and downstream at the same time, is 1.5 miles of flat trail from Indian Gardens. It is the flat grassy plateau which can be seen from South Rim. The campground emptied out right before sunset for the photo opportunity.

My eighth graders will have a new raven photo next year when we read Edgar Alan Poe's "The Raven."

East from Plateau Point.

Brahma Temple on the left, and Zoroaster Temple on the right are the two prominent buttes that dominate the skyline in this part of Grand Canyon.

From my comfort zone on the rocks where the mules are tied up, it looked like these people were perched on a pile of rocks. I conquered my fear of heights to hike the canyon rim to rim, but I chose to take in Plateau from a distance.

View looking west from Plateau Point to the Colorado River 1,300' below.

Moonrise over the canyon.

4.7mi 1320 ft up

Contemplating the unknown. 4450 ft, 9.3 miles to go. A rim-side cabin awaits us at South Rim.

Sunset on the Colorado River from the Silver Bridge. Tomorrow, breakfast at 5:00AM at Phantom Ranch.

The mule generously shares his trough with the mule deer on our way out of Bright Angel.

A wonder of engineering, the Silver Bridge is the most direct to Bright Angel Trail and South Rim.

Currently the mules are all using Bright Angel as South Kaibab Trail is under repair. We only met 3 mule trains on our way out. The mountains of mule dung and rivers of pee were hyperbolic.

Feeling positive about a short hiking day. We left Bright Angel at 6:00. Met 2 mule trains-trail crew and then mail. Trail along the river was sandy. River Resthouse as we began our ascent to Indian Gardens. Composting toilets were well maintained though they do run out of TP. Come prepared.

The climb begins with The Devil's Corkscrew.

Rest in the shade.

Connie

Approaching Indian Gardens where we will camp tonight before the final hike out of the canyon.

Rock ledge right before Indian Gardens.

Another well manages NPS campground. Mark and I slept in our fly-less tent and Connie and Bill went one better and skipped the tent altogether to sleep under the stars.

View from our Indian Gardens campsite. Tomorrow the climb.

Day of Rest on the Canyon Floor

June 1, 2010, we reserved 2 spots in a 10 person women's dorm for Connie and I for June 11 and 12, 2011. Bill and Mark were out of luck. No room in the inn. We will try for 2 nights at Bright Angel for them on February, 1 2011. That's way it works. If you want to stay at Phantom Ranch, make the reservation 1 year ahead with Xanterra, and if you want to stay at a backcountry campsite, enter the lottery 4 months out.

Swamp air-conditioning in the canteen is heavenly. The canteen is open from 8-4 and from 8 -10. It is closed during breakfast and dinner which is served family style by reservation only. Even if you stay at Bright Angel Campground, take advantage of home-cooked breakfasts and dinners and pack less food. We made reservations for 2 breakfasts and 2 dinners. We had the hiker's stew at 6:30on the day we hiked in, and the 5:00 steak dinner the next evening on the night before we hiked out. I recommend the hiker's stew as no one needs 12 ounces of beef in one sitting, but it was great. The hiker's stew meal is served last and therefore did not feel as rushed.

The lucky few got to stay in cabins at Phantom Ranch. Try for reservations at Phantom, but I would happily settle for the campground.

Campground accommodations do not prevent you from hanging out at the canteen to write postcards and enjoy the swamp air-conditioning and a giant lemonade.

Yes, the thermometer really says 122. It's not a good idea to hang out in the sun or try to hike in the middle of the afternoon. It is really not too bad in the shade. Especially if you are sitting in Bright Angel Creek.

Path down the middle of Bright Angel Campground. People were camping on both sides, but the vegetation provides some privacy for all. Nice management of the resource.

Streamside sites.

Canyon wall sites. We could have switched for night 2, but after Ralphie the fox paid us a visit the first night, we decided to stay put.

Important: Keep a clean campsite. Hang packs, store food in ammo boxes provided each campsite and keep all plastic bags out of site. Mule deer and ground squirrels have learned to associate human food with plastic bags. Whether the bags contain food or not the critters will eat the bags...not good for their digestive systems.

Even though, Connie and I had dorm beds for both nights, I was torn. I really wanted a night in the Bright Angel Campground.

I got the best of both worlds, one night in a dorm and one night in a tent with no rain fly under the stars with a full moon framed by canyon walls. I might have also wanted to help the men be trail ready after the 5:00am early breakfast before our hike to Indian Gardens.

7.3 mi 1600 ft down

Ribbon Falls, 1.5 miles from Cottonwood Campground. I stayed with the packs to keep the critters away and to gather my strength for the rest of the day and the rest of the crew went to get their photos. Everyone was happy with their decision. It was much easier for the rest of the crew to handle the one scramble on the hike without their packs. We were on the trail to Phantom by 8:00. I wrote 3 postcards while I waited.

Trail chic for The Box.

The Box is a narrow, dark red-walled canyon that goes on and on. The dark walls reflect the heat back down on hikers. Beware The Box. Leave Cottonwood early or wait until evening. Respect the heat. We got started early and hiked in the shade for more than half. In the full sun it was an asphalt hallway in the summer in Oklahoma. Even though you are hiking along Bright Angel Creek, there are only a few places to access the creek easily. Do it. Wet your clothes and hike air-conditioned or suffer. Your clothes dry quickly in the heat. The rest of my crew was tough. I didn't want a repeat of day1. I wouldn't be so fearful of The Box in the future. It was beautiful and dramatic. But it should be respected. The heat is debilitating. Getting on the trail by 4:30 would be smart. Get on sun time and stay cool.

Merciful shade....

I will never whine again. I hiked on manicured trails for all 23 miles of my rim to rim hike. Notice the green buckets in the left of the picture. The trail crew of men, women, and mules filled and carried buckets of sand, gravel, and rock to where ever it was needed so that I could walk on wide, safe trails in 102˚ heat. They work in that heat every day. The Canyon Trail Crews are my heroes.

Two nights at Phantom Ranch...for the women. Two nights at Bright Angel for the men. Four meals, 2 breakfasts and 2 dinners. Swamp air-conditioning and showers are $43.09 per night luxury for the women. Though all are welcome to enjoy free ice water, swamp air, and beverages in the canteen if you can make to the bottom of the canyon.

Hiker's stew was the best. Breakfasts were excellent. No complaints about the steak dinner except that no one needs 12 ounces of meat a 5:00PM. The steak dinner felt rushed so that the stew dinner could be served at 6:30PM. I would choose 2 stew dinners in the future.