Before starting that I explored upstream a bit from my campsite. I found the spring that was just upstream from where the trail reaches the creek and immediately discovered that it was really the one downstream of it. That is to say I found where the trail really comes down to the creek and I had not been on it yesterday afternoon when I arrived here. Just upstream from the real trail was another spring. I guess the trail did not stay in the creek bed that I was following and I must have missed the exit. Since I was following someone else's footprints this must happen frequently and I would have to pay better attention on the way back.

At 8:30 I began the trek to the river. Nankoweap Canyon was nice and shady for most of the way down to the river and I didn't see the sun at all until I was almost there. This is due to the fact that Nankoweap Mesa blocks the sun to the east and south until well after noon. The route down to the river was in the creek bed, there was no trail, and in most places it was very rocky and I had to try and pick the best route through. I had toyed with the idea of bringing my Tevas for this but eventually dropped the idea because I was already carrying too much weight. While doing this hike I wished that I could have left something else behind in favor of the Tevas. At least that way I could have just walked in the creek itself, which was by far the easiest route. Some spots were fairly level and sandy or gravelly but most of the route was very rocky. My feet did not bother me at all on the way down to the river and it was a very enjoyable hike. The fact that I was only carrying a small day pack with whatever I might need for the day also helped.

The scenery along the creek was very nice and there were many very impressive cliffs of Tapeats Sandstone along the way and one especially nice one that had a very large overhanging shelf at the top. There were also numerous places where springs fed down into the creek in these places a great deal of plant life managed to take hold. All in all it was a very pleasant mornings walk. On my way down to the river I also met a river party that was going upstream in search of something called Mystic Falls and decided that maybe I would try that myself tomorrow.

It took about 2 hours to get to the river and I reached it just about 10:30. It was already starting to get quite warm and I was anxious to get to the ruins because I knew that they would be in the shade. Apparently I had missed the spot where the trail climbed out of the creek bed and I had arrived right at Nankoweap delta, that's what I get for enjoying the scenery and not keeping an eye out for cairns. I could see the granary high up in the cliffs and knew where I needed to be so I just took off in that direction. Unfortunately there was a huge field of prickly pear cactus that was quite dense between me and the granaries. I could also see a trail on the other side of the field that appeared to be heading in the right direction. I managed to pick my way about halfway across the field before I found some footprints leading in the right direction that I could follow.

When I finally got to the base of the cliffs and could see the trail leading up to the granaries, I could not believe how steep it was. The Park Service lists this as an "unimproved trail", as opposed to the Nankoweap which is... Anyway, most of the bottom was in full sun and it was a brutally hot climb. Only the very top was in the shade and I was very happy when I finally reached it. There were a few other people at the granaries who had come in on a private river trip. We talked for a good while and I was very surprised to discover that one of these people, Doris, was also a member of the Grand Canyon Pioneers Society. She was equally surprised and actually neither one of us should have been, after all where else would you expect to meet another Grand Canyon Pioneer but in the Grand Canyon. I was also surprised to learn that Jim Ohlman, a very famous Grand Canyon veteran hiker and climber, Grand Canyon Pioneer, and editor of the book Hiking in the Grand Canyon Backcountry was also with the trip. Unfortunately he was off climbing a butte or mesa or something and was not expected back until very late in the day.

After a while these other people left the granaries and I had them to myself to photograph and explore. I was surprised to discover how small they really were as they look a lot bigger in photographs. That's probably because most people tend to photograph them by themselves with no people in the pictures for scale. Where's Robin when I really need her. Anyway each of the rooms in the granaries was maybe just a little bigger than one meter square and would probably only hold a few bushels of corn. Since this was probably only seed corn and wasn't meant to be eaten, except in emergencies, it was probably more than enough for the Anasazi's purposes.

After taking some photos and inspecting the site I decided to have some lunch. It was close to noon and I could already see that the trail I had come up was going deeper into the shadows and the longer I delayed up here the less sun I would have to endure on the way down. The hike up was strenuous but did not cause my feet any problems. I knew that going down would be a different story and that my toes would be getting jammed into the front of the boots again. For lunch I finished off the rest of the beef stick that I had started for lunch the day before and also ate a couple of tortillas.

At around 12:30 I started to head back to camp and found the trail that led back over to Nankoweap Creek. It was very hot and there was still some shade left in the creek but not nearly as much as there had been on the way down. Most of the bigger cliffs still had large patches of shade left under them and I moved from one to the next and took my rest breaks beneath them. About halfway back to camp I encountered Doris and some of her friends again (who were also in a shady spot) and we talked for a little while longer.

It took a lot longer to get back to camp than it took to get to the river and around 4:15 or so I strolled into camp. I refilled my water bottles, sucked down a good deal of water and then broke out my book and read for a while before dinner. My feet were hurting really bad and I was tempted to break camp the next morning and start back for the rim. Dinner that night consisted of macaroni and cheese and hot dogs.