Day 3 of 5 - Grand Canyon Rim to Rim (R2R) Hike - May 28, 2017 - Bright Angel Campground to Indian Garden Campground

After a great steak dinner and a wonderful 5 a.m. breakfast, we are ready for an intermediate 5-mile hike up to Indian Gardens.  If you click on the photo you will see the Silver Bridge we crossed to get to the other side of the Colorado River.   

Note:  One thing that I wanted to mention, is Phantom Ranch offers a duffel service that you can request for the mules to carry a sack, not to exceed 30 pounds, up the canyon to the North Rim. Well, that being said, Kathy and I revisited all the items we had in in our backpacks and decided to pay the $75 fee to reduce our weight by 19 pounds.  They could have said $150 dollars, and we would have paid it!

The Silver Bridge was constructed in the late 1960's to support the pipeline carrying water from Roaring Springs to the South Rim. We would have departed Phantom Ranch earlier to beat some of the heat, but we did not want to miss breakfast and we were only hiking just a little over 5 miles.  

The trail follows the river for about a mile and a half before it starts heading up the canyon.  The River Trail also passes through a sand dune habit which tends to make hiking a little harder. 

The Bright Angel Trail and River Trail meet where Pipe Creek enters the Colorado River.  A Rest house which is located here is a great spot for a quick break and snack before you begin your climb.

The portion of the trail from Phantom Ranch to Indian Gardens gains 1400 feet in elevation.  The rule in the Canyon is pack in, pack out.  Which means take everything including your trash with you when you leave. 

   

The majority of the gain is hiking the brutal Devil's Corkscrew which you can see below us. It is a series of switchbacks that appear to never end.  You will definitely take a few breaks ascending this section of the trail.  

This is a photo taken from the top of Devils Corkscrew looking back down to where it begins to ascend.  Mighty glad we finished this section.  

We are very close now to Indian Gardens an oasis in the canyon.  

The campsites here are outstanding.  You can see we have a framed cover over our picnic table and an abundance of shade for most of the day.  We were careful to select the right campsite where late in the afternoon the sun is shielded by canyon walls.  Rest and relaxation are the new order of business.  

There was a group of ladies camped next to us at Indian Gardens.  I took this shot to see what the commotion was going on down below us.

Finally, got to see all the excitement.  A mule deer decided to stop by for dinner.  

The nightly star show at the Canyon was incredible!  Every night in the campgrounds we were amazed to see the beauty of the night sky. 

A couple of facts you might not know about the Grand Canyon

THERE ARE LOTS OF OTHER FOSSILS IN THE AREA

While the dinosaurs might have missed out on seeing the Grand Canyon, lots of other fossils have been found that suggest other creatures frequented the location. They range from ancient marine fossils dating back 1.2 billion years to fairly recent land mammals that left their remains in Canyon caves about 10,000 years ago.

FISH ARE RELATIVELY UNCOMMON IN THE GRAND CANYON.

Prior to modern flood control measures, the Colorado River provided a uniquely difficult habitat for fish, with heavy silt, frequent floods, and temperatures ranging from extreme heat in summer to sub-freezing in winter. As a result, only eight fish species are native to the Grand Canyon, six of which are found nowhere outside of the Colorado River.

Day 2 of 5 - Grand Canyon Rim to Rim (R2R) Hike - May 27, 2017 - Cottonwood Campground to Bright Angel Campground (Phantom Ranch)

Day 2 of our hike was a relatively flat hike of 7.2 miles.  However, the last 2 miles of the trek is through what is known as "the box".  This section enters a narrow canyon with walls that tower over the North Kaibab Trail.  The temperatures inside the walls reach in excess of 130 degrees.

Since I wanted to make sure that we got through the box early, we decided to awake at 3:15 a.m. and be on the trail by 4 a.m.  We decided that I would lead the hike so Kathy could keep an eye on me. 

The rest and stretching I did yesterday paid off.  My legs felt fine and we are on our way.   Once you leave the campground you encounter typical desert vegetation as you see to the right of me. 

The trail is much flatter. The climate is hot, and annual precipitation measures less than ten inches per year.  Water is most precious

Poisonous but beautiful sacred datura is also a common plant in the desert below Cottonwood Campground,

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The most widespread desert tree mesquite grows about fifteen feet tall and is abundant in this area.  They adapt to this dry environment by sending down roots to depths between thirty and one hundred feet.  

It is recommended that hikers reach the Bright Angel Campground before 10 a.m daily. 

Although not in this photo, we wanted to visit Ribbon Falls, a true gem about 1.6 miles down from Cottonwood Campground, but since I had such an issue with my legs yesterday we decided to pass.  Hikers caught in the heat of the day are encouraged to take a siesta there from 10 a.m to 4 p.m,

  

 Though the trail here is not challenging from a perspective of elevation. The gorge of black rock becomes like an oven and can be compared to walking through a parking lot in Phoenix or Las Vegas in the summertime. 

As you can see here, we are starting to enter the inner gorge, a narrow canyon boxed in on either side by 1.7 billion-year-old Vishnu Schist where over 1 billion years of geology is missing, 

Our history lesson for today.   Do you know the difference between a canyon and a gorge?

A canyon is wider than it is high and a gorge is deeper than it is wide.  If you got it right give yourself one point!

Although not common, the Grand Canyon Rattlesnake can occasionally be seen along the North Kaibab Trail.  We did not see any snakes but Kathy did, however, dream that she encountered one on the trail and I simply told her to  "just step over it"

In this photo, you can see the Bright Angel Creek.   In addition to other survival items we brought along, we did purchase a survival straw that we could use to purify water just in case of an emergency,

One thing we did do that helped immensely was to soak our bandanas in the creek and wrap them around our necks to keep cool during our hikes.   

Did I mention that our packs weigh between 30-32 pounds each?  After hiking 14.2 miles you think you did pack the kitchen sink. 

You can see here that the sun is starting to rise and enter the canyon. 

The sign indicates Phantom Ranch is just 3/4 miles ahead. 

After fourteen long trial miles from the North Rim, Phantom Ranch is indeed a welcome sight.  By arriving at  8:30 a.m. we beat the heat.  Another reason that I was glad I was here, is that Kathy arranged steaks dinners for us at 5 p.m. 

Yep, it's me,  soaking my legs and cooling off.  You can only imagine how good it feels!

Kathy taking a well-deserved rest as well.  The temperatures here at Phantom Ranch were in excess of 110 degrees in the sun.  Looking for shade did little to help.

A couple of facts that you might not know about the Grand Canyon:  

IT'S NOT THE DEEPEST CANYON IN THE WORLD

The Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon in Tibet plummets to a depth of 17,567 feet, making it more than 2 miles deeper than the Grand Canyon's 6,093 feet. The Tibetan canyon is also about 30 miles longer than the Grand Canyon

THERE ARE NO DINOSAUR BONES IN THE GRAND CANYON

The Grand Canyon might look like the perfect place to go looking for dinosaur bones, but none have ever been found there and for good reason. The rock that makes up the canyon walls is vastly more ancient than the dinosaurs – about a billion years more ancient, in some cases – but the canyon itself probably didn't form until after the dinosaurs were long gone.