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GRAND CANYON RIM TO RIM HIKE, SEPT 13-21, 2003, By Bill Huggins |
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MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 15.
DAY ONE ON THE TRAIL
Breakfast at seven o'clock and meet the van at 7:20 to take us to the Kaibab Trail head. We were the only three hikers to be transported.
Bill Huggins at the head of the North Kaibab Trail, looking fresh and eager. That look won't last long.
We hit the trail in full daylight, fresh and ready to go. The trail was in fairly good condition as the mule trips from the North Rim are not as frequent as from the South. We made good time with Al being the point man.
Al Roberts stops for a break at the Coconino Overlook a mile and a half down the North Kaibab Trail. The San Francisco Peaks just north of flagstaff can be seen in the haze on the horizon.
View of the bridge across the canyon at the bottom of the Supai layer. Many years ago on our first hike North on this trail when we saw the bridge way down below us, It struck us that after we hiked down to the bridge we would have to hike the same distance back up the other side to get to the same elevation where we were standing. It was a very depressing thought to us first time hikers.
Al Roberts standing on the Roaring Springs Trail along the famous vertical section. His brother, Phil, is farther down the trai. This is one of the prettiest, and most spectacular sections of the North Kaibab Trai.
We did not stop at Roaring Springs which is 4.7 miles from the top as we had all been there on previous trips.
View of Roaring Springs across the canyon from the main trail. We did not take the side trail down to Roaring Springs, as we had been there many times before, and we did not need water.
Besides, there was no need to as we had plenty of water to last until we arrived at Bruce Aiken's home only a short distance on down the trail. We took a long rest at Bruce's place. Removed our packs and ate our trail food while sitting at Bruce's picnic table. Bruce no longer maintains the lemonade stand as he did in past years. That project belonged to his children, and probably they are grown and gone from home by now. Back on the trail again and on toward Cottonwood Campground. We had to arrive there early enough to get a good campsite. We did arrive there about mid afternoon, but all the good shady campsites were already taken. We claimed a small but decent one, transferred our food over into the animal proof metal containers and waited and rested until the sun went down. It cools off quickly when the sun goes down, so we made preparations for our gourmet evening meal.
Phil at left supervises supper preparations, to be sure that Al knows how to boil water. His advice is greatly appreciated by Al.
We were visited by the Park Ranger who checked our permit to verify that we were legal. Al was the official camp cook for the entire trip as he owned the stove. "Cooking" consists of boiling water for the Mountain House freeze dried foods, which are amazingly delicious. Perhaps an old shoe would be delicious under the same circumstances? After dinner and after dark there is but one thing to do. Roll out the sleeping bags and turn in. Rest would be needed for the next day.
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