As I discussed earlier, the snow was really coming down on Sunday night and through the morning. We woke up to blowing winds and lots of snow. We did not let that deter us! We headed down Bright Angel trail which is the longer of the 2 trails to the bottom. We were pretty much dressed for skiing. I think I had 5 shirts on. Oh, I can't forget the 45 pound packs we were both wearing with all of our camping gear. My back hurt the very second I put it on.
We stared down the trail and were very happy to discover that the wind was not blowing below the rim and it was acually very pleasant. We trudged our way down the switchbacks and were pretty much by ourselves for most of the way. The clouds were still very low, so we could not see the canyon rim or floor. So, pretty much were just going for a long walk in the snow.
There are several rest stops along the way down, so we were very happy to reach our first mile stone of the 1.5 mile rest house. As we passed that stop the snow began to thin out and it began to warm up a little. We were cooking. Only about 8.5 to go...
The three mile rest stop brought even less snow and, much to our dismay, lots of mud. We got to know this mud very well throughout the trip.
The next milestone down the trail is Indian Gardens. At this point the snow was pretty much gone. We stopped here for a snack and peeled off a few layer. It had gotten up to 50 degrees by that point. This stop also serves as the half way point. From looking at the trail maps during my research I was under the impression that the trail got smoother from this point. Boy was I wrong.
The next section of the trail was the most difficult in my opinion, and the most morale crushing. For the entire trail there are no mile markers. The rest stops serve as distance markers, otherwise you have no concept of how far your have gone. I quickly realized that I over estimated how far I think we have gone and underestimate how far away I think things are. For e sexing half of the trail there are no milestones to look for. The downward switchbacks continued through a huge side canyon, the mud got thicker and the trail got thinner with steep drop offs on the side. We made it to the bottom of the canyon and began to feel like the end was near. Our next goal was to see the Colorado River. We knew that once we saw the river, the camp ground was going to be close. It had to be!
So, as we walked along the canyon floor along a small stream, we kept expecting the river to be around every corner. It was very very upsetting when each corner just produced more canyon. No river. Our packs were really beginning to cause us back and shoulder pain. Our big toes were killing us and our ankles were so sore from landing on them with the heavy packs. We were taking a lot of breaks and starting to be over the whole hiking thing.
At this point we began to worry because we were losing daylight. We had to get to the camp before 5 to get our steaks. We did not know how much further we had to go, so it was getting a little stressful.
After what felt like hours and hours, maybe it was hours and hours, I don't know, it was all a blur, we finally saw the river!!! It was an amazing sight!
Then, we were crushed again. I knew that we had to get to a suspension bridge to cross the river and get to the camp ground. So, we got to the river and....no bridge.
We followed the trail and could see way down the river and still no bridge. We came across two park rangers taking a break from their own hike and they informed us that it was 2 more miles down the river. I could have sworn we had already hiked 10 miles, guess not.
So, we walked along the river going up and down a trail cut into the cliff until we finally had the glorious sight of the bridge.
We finally got to it and made the pretty harrowing trip over the river. It is a suspension bridge that swings and creaks and the river is completely visable through the slats below your feet. This is not for those afraid of heights. I do not have a fear of heights and I was freaking out a little.
Once we made it off of the bridge we could see civilization. There was a mule corral and signs pointing to the campsites. I think we both broke into a run at this point.
We turned a corner and saw the campsites and threw our stuff in the first empty site and collapsed on the seats of the picnic table. I almost thought I wasn't going to be able to get up. My back, abs, and legs were all fried. We rolled off of seats eventually and went to find a better site. We found a nic site that was by itself and made camp. Luckily the tent we rented went up really easily because we did not have the mental capacity to fight with crazy poles and stuff. It popped right up and we had a nice little temporary home set up right in time for dinner.
We walked, very slowly, down the path the Phantom Ranch, the lodge at the bottom, where we were going to at dinner.
As we waited for dinner we got the first view of the mule people. A bunch of weirdos.
Dinner was served at 5 and was family style. We sat down, barely said two words to each other or our dinner mates and ate as much food as we could pile on our plates. It was the best steak, baked potato, peas and corn we had ever eaten.
The dining room also doubles as a canteen in non-meal hours. I was reading the sign of things for sale and saw the most amazing thing ever! Duffel service!!! This means that we could pay for a horse to carry 30 pounds of our stuff back up to the top! I think we both almost cried when we saw that. It could have cost $500 and we would have still paid for it. Luckily it was only $62. done.
After dinner we went back to our camp and had a glass of wine. The whole idea of bringing a bottle of wine to enjoy after the hike sounded like a great idea at the top of the rim. Do you know how heavy a bottle of wine is after miles? Heavy. We drank it because we needed to lighten the load, not because we wanted it. Luckily the stars came out and we got to sit out and enjoy them. That was beautiful.
We went to bed, froze our butts off all night and then woke up at 0520 to get our camp broken down so that we could drop it off for duffle service. We were on the trail by 0700 and headed up the South Kaibab trail at sunrise.
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