We dropped about 1600 feet back to the canyon floor in the first few miles. It was really hot down there! Lots of humidity as well. We had nice easy walking all the way to Phantom Ranch.
I came across Carrie taking a break and she commented on her crazy hair and then said to me "But you're giving me a run for my money!" So we decided a picture was in order. Yeah we are smokin' hot!
Flowers and cacti were just starting to bloom when we were down there.
Kind of hard to see but this is Ingrid and Carrie doing a gnarly river crossing. Carolen, Nancy, and I opted to go a different way that didn't require water!
We knew we were getting close to Phantom Ranch when day hikers started increasing. They smelled good, had bellies full of food, and slept in a cushy bed the night before. One guy stopped me and asked, "You guys have a guide, right?" I said, "Nope, we are avid backpackers and do this all the time. It's a blast." Cue in shocked look and he said "What, you ladies?!!!" What's up with the sexist comments out here anyway! LOL.
We rushed the bathrooms at Phantom Ranch and as I was coming out, Nancy walks up and says "The store has lemonade!" SHUT UP! Beeline for the ice cold lemonade. Ahhhhhhhh.
We ate our lunches at a picnic table, got another lemonade, and decided a good frolick in the creek was in order. We stripped down to our chonies and sat in the creek. Delicious cold water on the sore muscles!
We reluctantly left the creek and started walking again. As we strolled back through Bright Angel campground, who do we see sitting on a picnic table? Camo Pants! We asked him again where his group was and he didn't know- somewhere behind us. We did find out that the older dude had a ranger drive him out from the North Rim because his knee was not good. That was the last we'd see of Camo Pants although we would leapfrog a bit with the 3 other guys on the final ascent.
Got a picture of this deer just chillin' in the campground.
We had to get back across the Colorado River on this crazy suspension bridge and I almost had a heart attack. The steel grids under foot were all open so you could see the river rushing underneath and some weren't bolted down and shifted under weight. I was gripping the hand rail with my right hand and holding my poles in my left, doing yoga breathing and trying to keep it together. Ingrid kept stopping to take pictures and I couldn't even summon the breath to yell "Keep Walking!" Every time we stopped it took me a minute to get going again. It was scary!
After we made it across, I had to stop a minute to catch my breath and ease the heart palpitations.
Nancy maneuvering a successful creek crossing :-)
Mule crap everywhere!
We had to ascend about 1300 feet to get to Indian Gardens but it felt like 3000. Switchback after switchback but the views were amazing.
This picture is "The One" that I will blow up.
Here's Ingrid on the switchback below me.
The closer we got to Indian Gardens, the more lush the landscape. There were waterfalls, creeks, flowers, lots of greenery, and what looked like cherry blossom trees but probably were something else.
I should have taken the time to eat another snack because by the time we made it to Indian Gardens I was shaking. I remember going straight for my food, getting the dried pineapple in the system, while the chicken and dumplings rehydrated. I said some stupid stuff like I wasn't going to set up my tent and I was going to sleep on my tyvek. I guess that's not stupid but the wind was picking up and getting chilly. Once the pineapple hit my blood stream and the ole' brain cells got some of that sugar, I realized that I was indeed going to set up my tent. I slept without the rain fly though and it was nice to be able to gaze at the stars.
1 comment:
Great pix Tina! Great adventure. No pix of the mules? Bummer.
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