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| Hiking | 12.38 Miles |
1,038 AEG |
| | Hiking | 12.38 Miles | 4 Hrs 54 Mns | | 2.58 mph |
| 1,038 ft AEG | 6 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | I started from the hotel and hiked the most direct route I could find to the AZT, which is behind a campground. There is no permissible route to the trail from there, so I had to hop 2 wire fences to get to the road that led to the AZT. Once I was on it, I headed southbound for a bit before I turned around and headed to the South Rim. On the way there, I took the spur to the parking lot that serves as the official AZT access point from Tusayan and then doubled back towards the Rim again.
The paved trail was a bit of a letdown, despite the fact that it's mentioned on the AZT website. This is done for biker tourists, of which I saw a total of about 9. I stayed on the paved path and at some point there seems to be a difference in terms of what the online and published info about the alignment of this trail says, and what the markings on the actual trail says. Once inside the park, the trail markings are not specific at all, and in many cases not marked at all. Without going into all the details, it seems like I may have hiked the equestrian bypass instead of the main trail. But that's according to the trail markings.
Anyway, I hiked to the South Kaibab TH, saw the closed trail there to go into the canyon, and turned around. Radmila and the kids drove into the park and I met up with them once I was done hiking. I hadn't been to the South Rim in 23 years and the scenery was still amazing, as always. It really hits you how far away the North Rim is once you see everything open up. It's also interesting after hiking 10+ miles in the pines when all of a sudden there it is.
Saw several elk, which around Tusayan and the South Rim are everywhere. I don't remember seeing this many elk here before, but it has been over 2 decades. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
Route ](https://hikearizona.com/dex2/images/smilies/eusa_wall.gif "Brick wall"){kind=small}
Once the ground was dry, that issue went away. 
It started with seeing 2 doe near the trailhead, then near the Pine Grove campground I saw a small herd of deer. Shortly after that, there was a herd of antelope. A mile or so after that I spotted some elk running across a meadow, about 3 or 4 cows and a bull. Not long after that I could hear bulls on either side of the meadow in the trees bugling at each other. All the animals I saw were too far away to get decent pictures with on my phone. I was able to get one picture of an elk cow as it ran out of the trees. On the way out I even saw two tarantulas to add to the wildlife. I don’t think I’ve seen more than one on any given hike. 
Very clear skies made for great lighting as the sun shone thru the trees. 
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