I passed one person at the very first switchback who asked if I was interested in hiking together but I declined as I really looking forward to doing the hike alone... just me and the Canyon... and my camera. Doing this hike with someone who didn't know me probably would have been very annoying for both of us. I like to be able to enjoy the hike and stop for photos whenever I want. Anyone who is interested and making time on the trail should not be hiking with me.

I made it to Ooh Aah Point a little before 530 and it was getting very close to sunrise. I was pretty sure when I started that I would not make it to Cedar Ridge in time for it but I ended up being pretty close. I stopped a nice spot just below Ooh Aah Point that had a nice view to the east and got to see the sun come up right behind Wotan's Throne on the north rim.

I was at Cedar Ridge about 10 minutes after sunrise but only stopped there long enough to take a few photos before continuing down the trail. It was a beautiful morning for a hike and I thoroughly enjoyed watching the sun light up the Canyon as headed along the ridge towards Skeleton Point.

I arrived at Skeleton Point a little after 630 and stopped there for a while to have some breakfast. I found a nice spot to rest on the west side looking out over the Tonto Platform below. I could pick out much of the Tonto Trail and was really looking forward to hiking that section again. I have hiked the South Kaibab Trail and Bright Angel Trail many times but only a few times have done section of the Tonto Trail that connects them. I've always loved the views from the Tonto Trail.

After about a half of an hour break for breakfast, and enjoying the scenery spread out before me, I was on my way again. I hiked down to the top of the Redwall switchbacks and then through the Redwall to the Tonto Platform. There was just the occasional cloud to be seen in the sky during the day and it was the most beautiful shade of blue. I could not have asked for a more beautiful day to be doing this hike.

After about an hour more of hiking I finally reached the junction with the Tonto Trail and headed west, towards Indian Garden. The trail was exactly as I remember and I loved looking up at the majestic cliffs along the south rim and the temples and buttes of the inner canyon. I enjoyed hiking up into and across the Pipe Creek drainage and I took about short break in some shade there. I met a father and daughter there who had hiked over from Indian Garden, where they were camped. I talked with them for a while as I munched on a granola bar and guzzled some water.

From Pipe Creek it was just under two hours over to Indian Garden. The morning was starting to warm up already and I was looking forward to relaxing under the shady trees for a while there before starting the hike back up to the rim. It was only a little before 1030 when I arrived at Indian Garden and I immediately headed for the day use area. I had brought a few slices of cold pizza with me to have for lunch and I was happy to discover that it was still cold when I took it out of my backpack and unwrapped it. There were a couple of ground squirrels hanging out in the use area and I was happy to see that they were more interested in eating the seed from the grass that was growing then trying to steal my pizza.

I left Indian Garden a little before 11am to start the hike back up to the rim. I made good time going up to the Three-Mile resthouse, arriving there around noon and staying a while to get out of the sun and eat some trailmix.

Shortly beyond the resthouse I came across a block of sandstone off to the side of the trail that had fossilized footprints in it. I don't remember ever seeing it before and I assume it was part of some recent trail reconstruction project. On checking my logs it appears the last time I had used the Bright Angel Trail was during my spring trip of 2015 so perhaps it wasn't so recent.

I made another short stop at the Mile-and-a-Half resthouse and that was the last rest stop before reaching the rim. I made a brief stop to photograph a rather large centipede that had managed to crawl out onto the trail. After taking some photos I was looking for a stick to move it off of the trail since there was a lot of heavy traffic but before I could do so a woman who was not paying attention promptly stepped on it. I don't know if she killed it or not but it wasn't moving after. I moved it off of the trail anyway. I also stopped to take some photos of the pictographs near the top of the Bright Angel Trail.

I was back on the rim just after 2pm and the numbers on the GPS said I covered 15 miles in just over 9 hours. I had a moving average of 2.5 miles per hour and an overall average of 1.7 mpg. After a little souvenir I shopping started the drive back to Flagstaff. I passed a small herd of pronghorns on the way back and stopped for a while to get some photos of them.