The trail leaving Nankoweap Creek quickly climbed up out of the bed and to the top of a small hill overlooking the creek. The trail the leveled out and meandered back and forth for a while before heading up a shaley slope. I didn't remember this on the way down but was sure that I must have come down it. It was steep in places but the footing was good and it seemed very well packed. Along the way I crossed the dry creek bed that I had taken down to Nankoweap Creek just three days before. The trail crossed right over the bed and never really stayed in it at all. I don't know how I missed it on the way down and guess I was just following the footprints in front of me and wasn't looking for cairns. Anyway the trail didn't go all the way to the top of the shale slope but broke away to the side climbed a more gradual slope.

At 7:30 I took my first rest stop. The trail is still climbing and I can see more crumbly shale ahead. When I continued I realized that the trail does not go up that slope but rather a more stable one next to it. The ascent is steep in sections but is broken up by some more level sections. Once Tilted Mesa comes into view the trail begins to climb straight up the slope towards it, without the aid of switchbacks. Around 7:45 the sun finally cleared the cliffs but the temperature was still nice and cool. There was a very nice breeze coming up from Nankoweap Creek to the east but unfortunately I was heading more to the west and did not get to benefit from it that much.

At 8:30 I took a longer rest stop and actually took the pack off for a while. The view was magnificent and I got the camera out and took some photos. I could see the end of this section of the climb and the break in the Redwall where I will get to the top of Tilted Mesa. The question is how long will it take to get there. The trail did not seem to be the same as the one I came down. I know it has to be but this one seemed a lot steeper and fit more with the NPS trail description.

The trail continued to climb and traverse, climb and traverse for another hour and a half. In places some of the climbs seemed almost vertical and I could not understand why I did not have more trouble on the way down. Even the traverses that appeared almost level on the way down were heading upwards at a pretty good angle. At 11:00 I made it to the top of Tilted Mesa. It was a lot of work but my feet did not feel bad at all. I was lucky.

I proceeded to look for a good spot to take a rest and get out of the sun for a while. The trees on the mesa did not provide enough in the way of shade so I unrolled my sleeping pad and hung that from one of the branches. Once the sun was out of way I was actually quite comfortable. I was doing fine on water so I sucked down about a liter of Gookinade and ate a bunch of the CHEX Mix. Apparently I was occupying someones territory as a little collared lizard not very far away from me seemed annoyed with my presense. He would scamper about from rock to rock and kept doing his weird little push-ups. Maybe I was stealing his shade. There wasn't very much of it to be had up here and I could understand why he might be protective of it. While I was sitting there contemplating the lizard I heard this strange rush of wind and it sounded like an airplane was approaching the area. I was surprised when I looked up and it was only a raven in the middle of a power-dive from the cliffs higher up on the mesa. He flew around for a while and then landed in a tree not too far away and began squawking at me.

I tried to figure out how long it would take me to get back to the rim if I decided to go all the way out today. The hike out had so far taken 4:15 and the hike in from this point had only been 3 hours. I did get a slightly earlier start on the hike out but unless I made good time on the stretch between here and the final climb up through the Supai, I wouldn't make it before dark. It was getting close to noon and it had taken me 7 hours to get to this point on the way in. The next few hours would be fairly easy and level, but it would be hot in the sun. I would just have to wait and see.

At 2:20 I was back in the shade behind Marion Point. The hike from Tilted Mesa had been very hot and there was very little shade along the way. I think I found and used every spot that existed between here and there. It felt good to be in some real shade and not just filtered sunlight. I retrieved my water cache, relished in the dark coolness and ate some lunch. I had plenty of water so I drank a lot. After lunch I wandered over to where I had seen the nice campsite on the way down and was disappointed to see it occupied. I guess that settled that, I was going back to the rim. It had taken me four hours to get to this point on the way in and if I could hold that pace for the rest of the hike out I should make it before dark, though not before sunset.

I knew that this final section would start off hot but it should start to cool off somewhat as the sun got lower in the sky. At 2:50 I was on my way, I past that really nasty section of almost non-existent trail, stopped to take some pictures of it and then tried to kick my body into overdrive to make it out before dark. By the time I reached the final ascent through the Supai Formation to the Nankoweap trailhead the head of the canyon was already in shade and was delightfully cool. It made the short, steep climb to the trailhead much easier and I was at the trailhead at 4:45. It had only taken me 1.5 hours to reach this point on the way in so I was still looking good as far as time went. If I could keep up the pace I would be out a little after 6:00.

Unfortunately I couldn't keep up the pace and my body was starting to give out on me. My feet had started to hurt again during that final climb back to the trailhead and now the steepness of the climb out from the Saddle Mountain saddle to the rim was taking its toll as well and I was stopping frequently. I was watching day slip into night and the views into the Canyon and across to the eastern plateau were incredible. I wished that I could just sit and watch it all happen but I had to keep moving. I don't remember when the sun actually set but it should have been right around 6:00. At that point I had finished the climb and was now heading across the nice level clearing towards the big hill between myself and the rim. I wasn't looking forward to that because I knew I would have to go down the other side before making the final climb to the rim and that was when my feet would bother me the most. By the time I reached the hill it was beginning to get noticeably dark and by the time I started down the other side the trail was all in shadows. The descent from the hill took much longer than expected and I was beginning to get very annoyed.

It was very dark when I finally started the final climb to the rim but I could still make out the trail and I knew that there was nothing on it that would cause me problems. I finally reached the rim in darkness at 6:50 and trudged over to the car which was barely visible in the fading light. It had taken me only 1.5 hours longer to come out than it did to go in and all of that was in the ascent from Nankoweap Creek to Tilted Mesa. From that point on I managed to keep about the same time in both directions and I thought that was wonderful. I now had a full day to relax and enjoy the trip back to Salt Lake City. All I needed to do know was to get out of these stinking clothes and find someplace to spend the night.

Happy Trails