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| Hiking | 19.30 Miles |
4,042 AEG |
| | Hiking | 19.30 Miles | 7 Hrs 45 Mns | | 2.49 mph |
| 4,042 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | I have R2R planned for October so I thought it would be a good idea to get up to the Canyon and see what I'm in for. Drove up that morning and got to the Canyon around 4:30 am. Decided that I would make this a true loop so I parked at the visitor center and took the Rim trail to Bright Angel. Still plenty dark out for this portion of the hike. Enjoyed the stars (something you don't get to enjoy in the city) and enjoyed the temps (mid 50's when I started....haven't enjoyed those since March). By the time I got to the BA the sky was already starting to color. I was disappointed to discover that the valley haze that has been omnipresent for the last month is also part of the Grand Canyon experience.  It is not as bad, but it definitely "mutes" the colors. Made good time going down BA; I was in the cliff shadows the entire time. That changed as soon as I got on the Tonto. There was slight detour at Indian Gardens, but the detour was well signed and the Tonto juncture came within a few hundred yards after the detour. There was an immediate change upon stepping onto the Tonto. It is a solid single track that was rockier than I expected. Most of the rocks are loose and could be raked to the sides....what have the Rangers been doing??  j/k. Compared to the Tonto the Bright Angel is a super highway. There was only some minor elevation change on the Tonto and two unexpected water crossings. The first was only a trickle, but the second was more signicant....not that I could see it, because I had to go through a "reed forest" to cross it.  Luckily, previous trail blazers had created a solid crossing so it wasn't that difficult, just unexpected. These rivlets sustained the only source of greenery on the Tonto. Pretty much the entire shelf seemed burnt, not from a fire, but from the sun. Reached the S Kaibab juncture in good shape, (I thought)...more to come.
Not really impressed with the views from Tip Off site. I think the dead/dormant vegetation and the hazy skies spoiled some of the allure that might have been what made the Top Off special. There are bathrooms there and a nice shade ramada to give hikers a reprieve. This is something I probably should have taken advantage of before my ascent. The climb from Tip Off to Skeleton Point kicked my  I want to say it was a combination of the sun, lack of a breeze and the stair like fashioning of the trail (plus not being in the best of shape) that was my downfall. The grade of the trail wasn't that bad, in fact there were a couple of relatively flat sections interspersed throughout the hike. I joked earlier about the Rangers not raking the Tonto. It was obvious where they spent their time on trail maintenance. The rock work that composed the trail was very impressive on the S Kaibab. A lot of it looks like it has been there for years, but it was evident that some was just recently done. Not sure how many times I stopped along the way, but wherever I could find shade or or a nice cross breeze I would stop and take advantage of it. I'm guessing it took me over 2 and 1/2 hours to do the climb.  There were some nice views along the way, especially around Skeleton Point and a little above Cedar Ridge.
Reaching the top felt fantastic but I still had 2 miles to go along the Rim trail. Easy walk on a paved path. Never done this section of the Rim Trail so it was nice to scratch it off the list. Views were good, but once again the haziness detracted some of the vibrancy of coloration from the Canyon. It was cool to look down and see where I had been. This part of the Rim trail is not as nice as the rest of the Rim trail because of a fire had occurred years ago and denuded a section of the forest.
Lost track of the number of hikers I encountered. Didn't see anyone on the Tonto, but the other trails were represented. Wildlife included a small snake (species unknown), a handful of squirrels (one of which was very talkative) and three groupings totaling 7 deer. The first encounter were 2 does and a fawn. They were coming up the Bright Angel trail as I was coming. We shared a moment. I passed within 6 feet of them and after I had passed, they continued on up the trail. Very cute! The other cool experience was on the Tonto. I had just done one of the sweeping curves that wrap around a chasm and I look across and there on the trail that I was just on were two bucks walking slowly along it. Guessing they were making their way to one of the springs/creeks that I was approaching. This just goes to show that all the trails in the Grand Canyon are "multi-use" trails.  |
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Brr. Wally was nice enough to get the fire going so we could warm up a little to eat breakfast and pack up. Wally suggested we do this loop and Bob and I juped on board. Joe B. was going to listen to some guest speakers so we dropped him off up top and parked at Bright Angel. We took the shuttle over to South Kaibab trailhead. It's always interesting talking to other hikers on the ride over. We hit the trail around 8:30. It was nice to take the Tonto over to see some different angles of the Canyon.Only saw one couple and a group of six other hikers on this section. We crossed one other small creek that was a pretty cool area and then ate lunch at Bright Angel Campground. Headed up a little before noon. Saw tons of people and lots of great views but no Mules 
this time around. Joe met us a couple miles from the top and offered to cary all our packs. Joe is a really nice guy.Topped out in a little over five hours. Great hike and workout. Bob offered to buy dinner in Flag so we were off to the races. 
