We ourselves were on the trail at 5:30 and by 6:15 we had covered the two miles or so of the River Trail and were now on the Bright Angel. We crossed Garden Creek a couple of times and then came to the little falls that it has just before you hit the Devil's Corkscrew section of the trail. We started up the Devil's Corkscrew at 6:45 and reached the top around 7:30. Just the very top section was in the sun and it was not that warm yet.

There are some nice little falls and cascades along Garden Creek right at the top of the corkscrew section. Right after this the creek makes a nose dive to the falls that we passed down below. From here you get to follow along Garden Creek all the way to Indian Gardens. It was nice and cool and shady along this section of the trail and there were all kinds of birds out and about, enjoying the early morning hours. We reached Indian Gardens at 8:00, only two and a half hours after leaving Bright Angel Campground. It's no record but we were making pretty good time. Half of the trail (mileage-wise) was now behind us but two-thirds of the elevation gain (3000 feet or more) still lay ahead. We rested at Indian Gardens and sucked down some Gookinade.

After a rest of 10-15 minutes we were on our way again. The hike to the Three-Mile resthouse is fairly easy with about half of it being flat and the other half going uphill. We reached the resthouse at 9:15, took another break and sucked down some more Gookinade The views from the cliffs behind the resthouse are splendid and I took some photos from out there. In about 10 minutes we were back on the trail and heading for the Mile-and-a-Half resthouse. This section of the trail really drags on and it's where people first stay to show signs of tiring.

We reached the Mile-and-a-Half resthouse at 10:30, just as expected and prepared ourselves for the final assault. The last mile or so of the Bright Angel Trail is a killer. One of the switchbacks at the top climbs up at a very steep angle but they are all very, very long. We climbed and climbed and climbed and it seemed like there was no end in sight. The I spotted the Kolb Studio up there hanging onto the rim. Then all of a sudden you come to a tunnel and you know you're getting close. One more tunnel and you're almost done. Just one more corner... just a few more steps... there's the sign marking the trailhead. Just about when your body is ready to collapse from exhaustion it's all over. We reached the rim at 11:58. I told Robin we would be out by noon and she figured it would be more like 2 pm or 1 pm at the earliest. The first stop was the Bright Angel snackbar for a dish of Breyer's Canyon Crunch ice cream. After that it was a taxi ride back to the South Kaibab trailhead to pick up the car. After that it was a shower! Dinner that evening was the usual post-hike feast at the Arizona Steakhouse.