Day 4
Wow, that was a cold night! Neither of us slept well. I eventually put on my rain jacket and it was reasonably warm up top, but my feet felt like blocks of ice. When I got up, I noticed a thin layer of frost on the tent. Both of our sleeping bags have a low rating of 30-32, which means the comfort is much higher. On the plus side, Will shared hot water, so I made instant coffee after eating my delicious cold-soaked porridge.
Half a mile from the Grand Canyon National Park boundary, we met Suzanne “Z.” It turned out that she and her husband were the ones who had filled the water supply we used on Day 1. It was nice to thank our benefactor. She lives in Flagstaff and is doing her first thru-hike.
During the day I spotted six short-horned iguanas! I managed to catch and carefully hold two, one tiny and one large.
We reached the North Kaibab TH in the afternoon and took the side trail to the North Rim campground. I got a permit to sleep in the canyon the following night and then we set up our tent in the hiker/cyclist site. It was at the south end of the campground, right on the rim, with an excellent view. There were two others in the site, one of them an Australian named Paul. He had finished the Colorado Trail and still had time left on his visa, so he hopped over to the AZT. He’s not sure how far he’ll go. It turns out he also thru-hiked the AT in 2022, about two weeks before me.
Will and I found a nice ledge to watch the sunset over the canyon. Afterward, we ate dinner at a picnic table. He saw a mouse, luckily there were some food storage containers on the table. As I got ready for bed, it was wonderful to be so comfortably warm.
Day 5
What a great night’s sleep! Will and I quickly packed up the tent. I made sure to give him the poles and tent pegs I had with me. Then we hiked the 1.2 miles to the North Rim Lodge on a beautiful trail that meandered along the edge of the canyon. Will invited me to the breakfast buffet, where I ate loads of cheesy eggs, country potatoes, yogurt, and coffee. The lodge’s windows had a great view of the canyon.
Just before 10am our trail angel Lori arrived at the lodge. She took me back to the North Kaibab TH and then took Will (I loaded him up) back to his car. I packed up my supplies and tent, filled water bottles, mixed electrolytes, etc. As I picked up my pack, Cheez-It called out. It turns out he, Commando and Pine Cone had camped at the park boundary last night. Cheez-It hopes to camp in the canyon for two nights. We gave each other a fist bump and he wished me bon voyage.
A friend wrote to me, “It’s so cool that you can go back millions of years and then go back to the present.” I really liked this viewpoint and kept coming back there on my hike.
The descent was incredible! Only 14 miles, but a descent of 1,760 feet. I watched as the cliffs that were initially level with me slowly disappeared from my sight. The first third was the steepest, then it became very gentle. Shortly after, it flowed into Bright Angel Creek and followed it to the campground. There were so many lizards! And lots of creative trail building. In the early afternoon, I used my umbrella for a couple of hours and ended up in the shade of the canyon walls.
At the campsite I saw Paul’s tent and set up mine in the same group site. A man in the neighboring group site looked so familiar… we chatted and it turned out I camped next to him at Tumbling Run in Michaux! How crazy that less than a month later Andrew and I were camping next to each other again, on the other side of the country! I had dinner with Paul. He lives in Adelaide, looks to be in his 60s and has never seen a bear on his hikes around the USA.
Day 6
Paul and I hiked the Bright Angel Trail out of the Grand Canyon. It is 10 miles long and climbs 4,350 feet. At the beginning we crossed a suspension bridge over the Colorado River. It was nice hiking with Paul, both for the conversation and because one of us would occasionally notice a view that the other missed. I enjoyed guessing where the trail would go next. The terrain was drier than the north side of the canyon, except for the section that followed Garden Creek, which actually became a creek at one point.
There was water and a bathroom at the 4.5 mile point (measured from the summit). We ate a snack and filled our bottles. After that, the climb got steeper, albeit gradually with lots of switchbacks. I thought a lot about the mules…nobody asked them if they wanted to trudge up and down the canyon. Near the summit, the trail hugged rocky cliff walls and passed through two short man-made tunnels. Beyond the second, an ambitious squirrel entertained the tourists.
We left the canyon before noon. Paul went to get supplies and I ate a quick lunch. I used FarOut to find the fastest route through Grand Canyon Village. Soon I was on a paved trail heading south to Tusayan. On the outskirts of town I encountered a herd of eight elk. I didn’t know there were elk in Arizona! At the visitor center I picked up my first supply box. I manned a table, organized and loaded equipment.
Late in the afternoon I met Paul at the center and we checked out the water sources in the next section. We both had enough food for at least five days and our packs were big enough to have plenty of room. By 5:30pm we were on the connector trail. We hiked a few miles along the AZT before setting up our tents on flat ground covered with pine needles.
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