We arrived at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon at about 9pm. We only had time to check into the Maswik Lodge and get our gear ready before going to sleep. We woke at 2am, on Zach’s birthday, to get started on the hike. We walked from the Lodge to the trailhead of the Bright Angel Trail and started our hike at 3am. We had originally planned to hike down the South Kaibab, because it’s two miles shorter. We changed to the Bright Angel because the shuttles didn’t start running until 4:15am and it was a four mile hike to the South Kaibib trailhead.
We had prepared our backpacks with all the food and gear we’d need for the two days. There were several points along the trail to obtain water. We wore our headlamps but proceeded cautiously down the trail until sunrise. The Bright Angel Trail starts at 6860 feet of elevation and ends at the Colorado River at about 2480 feet elevation. The trail ends at the Phantom Ranch/Bright Angel Campground 9.6 miles from the start with about a 4500 foot drop in elevation. Once the sun was up the trip to the Ranch went quickly except for the tree on the trail and the sand. Shortly after Indian Gardens Campground the trail was blocked by a large tree that had fallen on the trail. We had to carefully work our way through the branches before proceeding. This required us to get much closer to the edge than we wanted. Once we made the turn along the Colorado Rive to travel the two miles to the Phantom Ranch the trail became very sandy and was like walking on the beach.
The North Kaibab Trail is about 4.5 miles longer than the Bright Angel Trail and has more than a 5700 foot climb to the top at 8241 feet, about1400 feet higher than the South Rim. Most rim-to-rim hikers go north to south because it is easier. After Phantom Ranch we hiked a gradual climb up the trail for over seven miles in 110 degree sun with little shade along the way. Bright Angel Creek was agonizingly close but mostly unreachable due to the cliffs. We stopped to cool off whenever possible. After three, what we thought were, brutal hours we reached Cottonwood Campground. Zach was totally out of fluids by the time we arrived. It was time for a liquid refill and some food and rest. Cathy wanted to take a break in the creek at Cottonwood and on hindsight that would have been best.
The next section was Cottonwood Campground to Roaring Springs, a distance on only a little more than 2 miles but it was a 1500 foot climb in the direct sun and 110 plus degrees. On this section Cathy was starting to suffer heat exhaustion. At the trail junction to continue up or go down to Roaring Springs, we started up the trail then decided it would be best to hike the half mile down to Roaring Springs and rest and cool down. That was a good decision. It saved Cathy from becoming one of the 260 people rescued from the canyon each year. We rested and cooled downed for almost an hour. After Cathy felt better we headed up for the last five miles and 3000 feet of climbing.
Our first goal was Supai Tunnel three miles away. The climb up was extremely difficult yet spectacular with switchbacks with sheer drops of over 1000 feet. Makes you want to stay closed to the inside of the trail and not look out. It took us about three hours to hike those three miles. We were ready to finish but still had the last leg and the hike to the North Rim lodge where we were staying that night. At Supai Tunnel we starting talking to a woman named Julie from Golden Colorado who had hiked to the tunnel with her family. We mentioned that when we reached the top we still had to hike an hour to the Lodge. She volunteered to drive us. When we got to the top, Julie was not there. Cathy knew that Zach was thinking, we lost our ride, Cathy was too slow; however, our angel reappeared! Her family got to the top faster than us, nonetheless, she met us when we finished and she had a COLD CORONA with a lime too boot for us a well; a real angel. True Colorado fospitality!
At the lodge we had a beer, dinner and checked into our room and discussed if it was a good idea to do the return trip through the Canyon. Common sense prevailed; we didn’t want Cathy’s heat exhaustion to worsen. We took the van back to the south rim, a 250 mile, five hour trip. We accomplished the goal of hiking from the South to the north Rim on Zach’s birthday, actually his goal. We could have done the return hike in cooler times, but not with that heat. The rest of Friday and Saturday we spent visiting around the south rim and doing a few short hikes.
Saturday we were supposed to pick-up Julie, Zach’s sister and her husband Doug at the Phoenix airport. It was their Wyndham time share in Sedona we were staying at for the next week. Julie called and said Doug had a kidney stone and they probably wouldn’t be coming. That changed our plans; not for the Wyndham but for sharing the week with them. We had been on a number of adventures with them in the past and always had a great time together.
On the way back from the Grand Canyon to Sedona we went up San Francisco Peaks just north of Flagstaff. The San Francisco Peaks are about 12000 feet in elevation and are the ski Mecca for Flagstaff. We took the Skyride at the Snowbowl, the ski lift, to the top. It’s a half hour ride. On the way up a thunderstorm developed and made the ride up more interesting. We didn’t stay at the top very long since it was still storming in the area. By the time we reached the bottom of the Skyride the storms were pretty much gone.
The Snowbowl is also the home of one of the highest disc golf courses in the US and the course with the most elevation change. Even though our legs were tired we, translated Zach, couldn’t pass up playing on such a unique course. Cathy went along for the hike. The course was on the ski slopes and the holes were pretty long. Number 9, a par 5 was 867 feet and hole Number 8 was so steep it was a par 4 at 306 feet. Zach had a great birdie shot on #15 from over 100 feet and played the course below par. After that we drove to Sedona and checked into the Wyndham. Nice place!
On Sunday we drove south with our first stop at Dead Horse Ranch State Park and the Verde River Greenway. The Verde River and Oak Creek River which runs through Sedona are the only two rivers in this part of Arizona that have year round water. The names sounded intriguing but there’s not much there. We also looked at a ride on the Verde River Railroad but didn’t want to ride four hours on bench seats. After that we decided to turn the day into a wine tour of North Central Arizona wineries, that’s right Arizona wineries. Most are in the Tucson area but there are four near Sedona. We stopped at all four and were surprising pleased with the quality of the wine. The wineries were; Javelina Leap, Oak Creek, Page Springs Cellars and Alcantara. Our last stop of the day was Fort Verde, an Indian war fort we some original structures still standing.
Monday we thought we were going for a hike to the base of Cathedral Rock near Sedona. We had our hiking poles with us but they soon ended up in Zach’s backpack. The hike turned into a free climb up to the rock and down. We had to use our hands a lot due to the steepness of the climb. We then went for a hike at Red Rock State Park and returned to the Wyndham. That day we discovered it’s monsoon season in Arizona. It rains most every afternoon somewhere in the area.
Tuesday we figured out we needed to go to the pool at the Wyndham in the morning before the clouds. After that we went to the Riordan Mansion in Flagstaff, a 13000 square foot home designed by the same architect as the El Tovar Hotel in the Grande Canyon, Charles Whittlesey. The house, built in 1904 with all the latest modern features of that day, is in the Arts and Crafts style architecture. After that we went to Meteor Crater about 30 miles east of Flagstaff. It is the best preserved meteorite impact site in the world. The Crater is about a mile wide and 550 feet deep. It is estimated the meteorite was about 150 feet in diameter at the time of impact.
On Wednesday we hiked Doe Mountain and Fay Canyon Trails. Thursday bought us to Jerome the old mining town turned Arizona artist’s shopping Mecca. The best shop there was the kaleidoscope store. We then went to Prescott and toured the territorial governor’s mansion built in the 1840s and Whiskey Row across from the courthouse. Whiskey Row was part of the old time Prescott saloon area and some original saloons are still in operation like the Palace Saloon. We also threw a few bucks away a local casino Called Bucky’s.
We took a jeep safari on Friday. It was called the Mogollon Rim Run Extreme and it was extreme. It was a 50-mile loop that was supposed to last three hours but ended up about three hours and forty minutes. It was a lot a fun and we saw some great sights. The company was Arizona Jeep Tours and our driver’s name was Gene. He took us on some rugged and steep trails. The trail back to Sedona was breathtaking in its beauty.
Saturday was head home day. We were on the “redeye”, so we had the whole day to do stuff. We went to a place called Out of Africa where we could get up-close with African animals. While there we experienced our first Arizona monsoon (thunderstorm). I t was a big one and by the time it was over everyone but the two of us had left the park. As we were walking around one of the lions started roaring and Cathy’s eyes became as big as saucers. The lion was actually a couple hundred yards away and fenced in but to her it sounded right behind us. After we left there we went to a casino and threw away some of our money on slots and blackjack.
Thus we ended our Arizona adventure. We already have a list of other places to see and things to do there; like, Monument Valley, Havasu Falls, Antelope Canyon and Canyon de Chelly and we want to climb Mount Humphries the tallest peak in Arizona.
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