We slept late (for the Canyon) and didn't get up until around 7. We also lingered over breakfast and didn't get out of camp until probably close to 9. We stopped off at Phantom Ranch to pick up the sack lunches we had ordered the day before and then started up the North Kaibab Trail.

The day hike I had originally planned was to go up the Clear Creek Trail to the Phantom Overlook and then possibly up to the Tonto Platform from there. Since Robin was having problems with her feet and the others were still a littke stiff and sore from the hike down I decided to give them the option of just hiking up along Bright Angel Creek on the North Kaibab Trail which would be somewhat easier. I told them that Ribbon Falls was a 12+ mile roundtrip and I didn't think we would make it that far but everyone opted for it anyway. I don't think anyone felt particularly much like climbing, especially back up to the Tonto.

We had a nice time anyway and I think everyone enjoyed following the meanders of Bright Angel Creek through The Box. It had been a long time since I had been up that way and I had forgotten myself how long it goes on. We did not break out of it until almost noon and I think people we already getting tired at that point. We stopped for a "second breakfast" around 11 and started looking for a place to have lunch just before 1. I figured we could go as late as 1:30 to see how far we could get but we found a nice spot for lunch right around 1 so we stopped there. It didn't seem likely that we would be able to make it to Ribbon Falls and then back to camp from there before dark so I suggested that we start back to camp after we finished lunch. Had I planned on this I would have told people to bring their headlamps but I didn't.

We arrived back at Phantom Ranch just a little after 3:30 and still had a little time to enjoy a beer and some more pretzels before they closed to get ready for dinner. At that point I think Jess at least got more enjoyment out of the beer than she would have got by trudging up to Ribbon Falls and then back to camp. It's the little things, like a cold beer at the end of an 8-mile hike, that makes life so enjoyable.

We delayed dinner that night in an effort to stay awake a little longer but it still didn't get us to the Beer Hall. We didn't eat until almost 6 and it was quite dark by the time we finished.

When Ranger Sjors came around to make the evening rounds at the campground he told us about the entertainment for the evening so we at least got to partake in that. The first round of entertainment was watching the ISS (International Space Station) soar acrosss the sky. I think that was at 6:14pm? I've seen it before but I still think it's cool. After that there was something I had not seen before, something called an Iridium Flare. Apparently this is something that happens when one of the Idirium satellites, which are used by the Iridium satellite telephone network, ends at just the right angle between the Sun and a given position on Earth. The flare-up is caused by the sunlight striking the antennae of these satellites and being reflected back to Earth. These antennae are highly reflective and can produce a flare of light close to magnitude -5, or about 30 times brighter than the planet Venus. Ranger Sjors said we would not be able to see the flare from the campground and suggested we head up to the field next to the ranger station to watch for it. The flare was supposed to occur at 6:47:?? (he gave us the exact second) so around 6:30 we headed up to the ranger station to watch for it. Around 6:45 all of the Christmas and other lights at the station went out and Ranger Sjors came out to join us. There were a couple of other interested people there as well. The phenomenon was truly magnificent and occured exactly as predicted. We spotted the satellite moving across the sky slowly and then all of a sudden it got brighter, and brighter, and brighter... It really was a flare, like a beacon, unbelievably bright... And then in a few seconds it was over. I wish I had remember to check buut I am pretty sure it would have cast a faint shadow.

After that we returned to camp and went to bed. No Beer Hall, even though it was less than an hour away. We needed to get up in the dark our last morning and break down camp and everyone wanted a good nights sleep.