I did not setup the tent last night and instead just rolled out my sleeping pad and sleeping bag on top of the picnic table and slept under the stars. There was no moon last night and it was an absolutely gorgeous night for doing so. The frogs quit their chorus early, by the time I got back from the evening ranger program, so all I had was crickets on one side and Bright Angel Creek on the other. It didn't start to cool down until very late though I have absolutely no idea what time that was. All I remember is waking up and crawling into the sleeping bag and there was no light from any other campsites. I set the alarm for 4:15 but I was awake at 4 anyway and just lay there in the bag for a while looking at the stars. The Milky Way had risen but was soon washed out by the glow of the coming twilight.

I started the hike out at 4:55 and was at Indian Garden at 7. I reached the 3-mile rest house at 8, the 1½-mile rest house at 9:10 and was back on the rim at 10:20. Not too shabby. I threw my gear in the car and walked over to the Bright Angel Fountain for a scoop of Breyer's Canyon Crunch ice cream. Hey, what can I say, I'm stuck in a rut but it's a good rut. Ice cream for breakfast, yum!

While I was eating my ice cream I noticed the condors soaring around the rim. I first spotted one as I was making my way up that last stretch of trail. I ended up hanging out along the rim there for about an hour watching and trying to get photos. There were 6 in all at the south rim this morning.

Oh, it turns out that I could not have lemonade at Phantom yesterday even if I wanted it as they had run out. Just before they closed down the cantina at 4 pm they also ran out of beer. Phantom Ranch out of both beer and lemonade, who ever heard of such a thing? They must have had quite the crowd there on Friday and there were certainly going to be a lot of unhappy customers for Saturday night. I wonder how often they bring down a beer shipment. Chances are they loaded up an extra mule or two today.