Last night was the best night of sleep so far on the trip. I was up again at just before 6 am, had breakfast, broke camp, and was on the trail at 7:30. No problem with the knee at all so far. I took off my boots to get stuff back over to the other side of Shinumo Creek and once on the other side replaced moleskin and band-aids, as needed, before putting the boots back on. Only the blister on the left big toe was now of any concern but it appeared to be getting worse while the others were getting better. The blister seemed to be growing out around the band-aid and all I could do was apply another band-aid and then tape it up.

The weather, again, was perfect. It was nice and cool and I should be in the shade until I climbed up on top of the Tonto. I knew that the late morning and early afternoon would be hot up there though.

The hike back up the Tapeats gorge was uneventful and easier that I thought it would be. There had been a couple of higher falls on the way down that I thought I would need to take my pack off to climb back up, and then haul the pack up after me, but this turned out not to be the case.

At 8:30 I reached the top of the Tapeats narrows, the chockstone and Redwall Canyon... or so I thought. I filtered some water and refilled both of my two liter bottles. It was going to be hot and I wanted all the water I could carry for today’s hike. I checked the feet again and everything seemed fine.

At 9:15 I headed out of the gorge to search for the route up into Redwall Canyon. I did not see anything in the way of a route up the canyon and it was cluttered with lots of brush and very large rocks so I ended up climbing back up onto the Tonto to see if I could pick it out from above. I contoured east along the north side of the canyon and hoped that I would spot a trail or intersect it in the backside of the canyon. This wasn't working. At times though it did appear that I was on a trail or route of some sort, very faint and not very good. By the time I had contoured back along the south side of the canyon I convinced myself that this was the trail and that it was just not a very good trail and did not get a lot of use. I contoured around the point south of Redwall Canyon and into the big drainage just south of it. This was going to take some time.

At 10:30 I crossed the backside of that drainage and started out along the south side. This trail really sucked and I was not making very good progress at all. At this rate it was going to take much more time than I had to get over to Merlin/Mordred. At times it still looked like I was on a trail but I could not understand why people would consider this a fast route over to Merlin/Mordred. It was taking forever and I knew I still had a long way to go. More and more I found myself just trying to maintain the same level on the Tonto and I was contouring just above the highest outcropping of rock, which seemed to be the easiest place to walk. It was not completely level, however, and my right leg was frequently many inches lower than my left. I was starting to feel this in the knee that I had banged up the prior day but there was nothing much I could do about it except hope the trail would get better.

By 11:15 I was almost back out to the main (Muav) canyon. It was now very warm and I was very thirsty and the water alone was just not cutting it. I stopped for a rest to put on a long-sleeve shirt, some sunscreen and to add some Gookinaid to the water. My little bottle was empty so I drained off about a half liter from one of the two liter bottles so that I could add the Gookinaid and mix it up. When I put the small bottle down it was not level and promptly tumbled over, the contents pouring out and down over the rocks. Great! I mixed up the Gookinaid and then sat there and drank about a half liter while I rested. At least the knee stopped hurting when I stopped moving. I looked at the map and the area that I had just come through was marked as "rough in places..." so I hoped that the "trail" would improve shortly and that I would start to make better time. I had a beautiful view of Holy Grail Temple from where I was sitting.

Around 11:30 I got up and headed out again, continuing to contour as best I could. As I came back out into the main canyon I noticed a huge rock up ahead on the Tonto with what appeared to be a cairn on top. This was encouraging. The rock was a little higher up than I had been contouring at and I hoped that there was a real and much better trail up there. I headed for the rock.

It was definitely a cairn but there still didn't seem to be much in the way of a trail and I was very confused. I continued south and crossed my fingers. At this point I thought I was finished with the side canyons for a while and would just be heading south and east towards Shinumo. And then the unexplainable happened. A new side canyon began to open up before me and confusion turned to chaos. I got out the map and checked it and there was another drainage south of the canyon that I had just come through but it did not look that deep and the "trail" appeared to just cut right across it. I stared at the map and could not figure it out... my mistake was still not registering. I just assumed that the big side canyon that I had just come through was still part of Redwall Canyon and that this side canyon was the one south of it. It had to be. But, it was now getting very close to noon and it was hot and I was already getting tired from trying to follow this trail. I continued on.

As I started to contour into this canyon I noticed what appeared to be a trail, rounding a corner and also heading into the canyon, but about 100 feet below me. Damn! It was definitely a trail or a route or something, at least closer than anything else that I had seen so far. I started to descend on an angle to intercept it. The closer I got to it the more I could see that it was the real trail. It was very distinct along this section and very easy to follow. I didn't understand why I hadn't spotted it earlier if I had been above it all of the time. At least I was finally on it and should now begin to make much better progress. Across this side canyon there was a very nice view of the Dox Castle.

The trail headed into the canyon, contoured around a little side drainage on the north side, and then descended towards the main drainage. There was actually a cairn leading me down into the bed of the drainage and then I saw another leading me up and over a debris pile in the middle. Cool! And then there was nothing! All signs of a trail or route or anything just vanished. I found myself face to face with a huge cliff of Tapeats that was at least 100 feet high and no sign of a route anywhere. The drainage continued up to the left (east) and it was cluttered with very large rocks. There wasn't a cairn to be seen anywhere. The route could not go up the cliff so it had to go up the drainage, right? So, I headed up the drainage and finally made my way back up onto the Tonto. Still nothing. I searched and hunted and the route/trail had simply disappeared. I headed back down to the last cairn and search there some more. Nothing. Dazed and confused, I just sat down where I was and tried to figure out what to do.

I started to try and put the pieces together. It was now 13:00. I had made very little progress throughout the morning. I didn't know where the trail was. I still had water but I was down to about 2 liters and the Gookinaid was just about gone. I did have more Gookinaid but that was technically reserved for other days. At this rate, even if I eventually found the trail again, I seriously doubted that I would make it over to the Merlin and Mordred Abysses before nightfall. I could dry-camp up on the Tonto but I really didn't have enough water to get me through the rest of the today, tonight and an unknown day tomorrow. My knee was also throbbing from all of the climbing up and down that I had just done in this side canyon. I knew deep down inside what the only solution was but getting myself to accept that was not going to be easy. I needed to have a long talk with my inner-self. You are NOT going over to Merlin/Mordred. You are NOT going up to Elaine Castle. You ARE NOT going out at Lancelot Point. You WILL turn around and go back the way you came BEFORE you kill yourself. I really hate it when you're right!

I sat there and let it sink in. I hadn't had lunch yet so I got out some food and sat there and ate and looked around. A cairn... just one cairn... that's all I need to make him change his mind. Nope, it ain't gonna happen. I ate my lunch, put my pack back on and headed back down into the drainage, crossed over to the other side and began following the one segment of this "trail" that I was able to locate. I figured that going back should be quicker as now I was at least on the trail. I was right... for a while anyway.

I followed the trail north, towards the head of the Tapeats narrows, no problem up to the next side canyon and then it just petered out and disappeared, sort of. At times it still looked like I was following some kind of route. As I started to approach the backside of this canyon it became less and less distinct. I knew I had been in this area before as the view of Holy Grail Temple, above me, looked very familiar.I noticed a huge chockstone down below me and stopped to take a couple of photos. My mind was totally shot at this point and the "chockstone" and "Redwall Canyon" still did not sink in. I was not even looking at the map at this point. I knew where I was and I knew where I was going. Not!

As I got closer to the backside of the drainage it rose up and so I descended a little to cross over to the other side. I did not understand why I hadn't noticed this huge chockstone when I had been going the other way. I had been about 80-100 feet higher up on the Tonto and something could have obstructed the view from certain vantage points, but I didn't remember seeing it at all. I hoped I wound find a cairn or trace of trail on the other side but no such luck. Instead of contouring around and into the side canyon (Redwall Canyon) to the north I started climbing over the hill that was in front of me, thinking I would save some time. I hade an awesome view from the top and could see the top of the Tapeats gorge but it was still pretty far away. Gradually, I worked my way over in that direction and finally descending back into the bed of White Creek. The time was 15:30.

I took off my backpack to rest for a while before starting back up the North Bass. I was almost out of water and I knew that the upcoming stretch was dry so I grabbed my water bottles and my filter and went back down into the Tapeats gorge to re-supply. I still had no idea how far I would get today before stopping to make camp. I was hoping to make it above this dry stretch, possibly above that gorge of Bright Angel Shale, but I was very tired and somewhat sore and I could not be sure that I would make it that far. As long as I had a good supply of water I could basically camp anywhere I wanted.

At 16:00 I started back up the trail and set 17:00 as my stop time for the day. The creek bed was just as dry and rocky as I had remembered on the way down. When I thought about the Redwall climb that I would have to do on this trail tomorrow, followed by that nasty ascent back up to Muav Saddle, it made me cringe. I really did not want to be going out this way. I was hoping that, like most Canyon trails, it would be a little easier going up than down.

At 17:00 I started looking for a place to camp. I did not make it above the Bright Angel gorge but I knew I had to be getting close. I found a small bare spot to pitch my tent and set to work on making dinner before the sun went down. It felt very good to be done for the day. After dinner I checked my feet and discovered the beginnings of a fresh blister on my right big toe. The blisters on the bottom of the feet didn't look that bad. The knee felt OK as long as I didn't put too much weight on it. There was still no swelling but it also hurt to put pressure on the side of the kneecap. I had a feeling that the climbing over the next couple of days were going to create some problems here and found a little comfort that I was going out of the Canyon on a known route rather than an unknown one. If I ran into trouble here it wouldn't be too long before someone would be down the trail. Over in the Merlin and Mordred Abysses it could be a very long wait.

Later that night I took out the topo maps that I had with me to look them over and it was then that the mistake I made finally hit me. I could not believe it. I was one side canyon off as far as Redwall Canyon went. Somehow I got it into my head that Redwall Canyon was right at the top of the Tapeats gorge when actually it is the next one south of that. How I made this mistake I still cannot say. It just doesn't make sense, the trail was marked right where is was supposed to be. Of course I couldn't find a trail up that other side canyon - because there wasn't one. That still doesn't explain the problem with loosing the trail again once I was finally on it. But, if I had found it from the start, instead of screwing around up there on the Tonto, I would have had more time to look for it again after I lost it.