The alarm went off at 5:30 (1 hr prior to sunrise). Around sunrise the campground was about 70% vacant. Many were hiking to the rim and the rest of us were just trying to beat the heat during the climb. From Bright Angel Campground to Indian Garden Campground (elevation 3,800 ft, climb 1,200 ft) is 4.6 miles. We arrived at Indian Garden before 11 and beat the real heat. We cooled our bare toes at Victor’s Oasis, fed by Garden Creek in the campground.

Tuesday we started by the light of a nearly full moon. A few really rocky spots were supplemented with flashlight. We stopped on a point for sunrise. With the early start we arrived at the rim shortly after 10 am. 4.6 miles and 3,000 ft. of vertical climb. By starting early we avoided the heat as the canyon walls provided shadows. Not that we didn’t get warm, just not hot. We watched a California Condor soaring on the thermals even though is was early. We expected their flights to be more active around mid-day when the air temp and thermals really get going. No water concerns today as Bright Angel trail follows the water supply line from the north rim and has 2 refill locations in today’s trek.
The motorhome was awaiting our return in the parking lot located near backcountry office and trailhead. Hot showers were a high priority. Ahh!

There are actually people who RUN rim to rim to rim! They leave, run to the river, race to the opposite rim then return to the side of the canyon they started on, all in the same day. Insane!

The warning signs for the underprepared along the trail “ Down is Optional but Up is Mandatory” makes every attempt to warn against going too far down and experiencing trouble back up.

Take camp shoes. Your feet will be screaming to get OUT of those boots.
Take a bathing suit or clothes to splash in the Creek. It was the informal cool down in camp and looked like great fun.
Stay at Bright Angle camp. It is a beautiful oasis in the narrow Bright Angel Canyon. Creekside sites fill early.
Stay out of the sun, even if you have to hike at night or pre-dawn.
The moonlight hiking and awakening of the canyon were pretty cool.
Pack light!
Hike down Kaibab and up Bright Angel. Those guys who recommend that order are right.
Be prepared to pack out your toilet paper….super gross! That would have been a first for me but we lucked out, potties had not closed for the season yet so my ziplock came home empty.
Yielding to the mule trains is a good thing. It gives you a chance to catch your breath and take in what’s around you.
The ground is really hard when your muscles are tired and your joints are aching.

The place: Awesome, inspiring, magnificent, grand, huge, phenomenal, cool, hot, bright, moonlit, muddy red Colorado (it’s smell and the sight), bats, high cliff edges, deep canyons, cool shade of cottonwood tree oasis, solitary prickly pear cactus, babbling Bright Angle Creek, amazing, solitary silence, suspension bridges, sparkling star filled sky, composting pit toilets, mule poop

The journey: exciting, exhausting, fun,
humbling, challenging, satisfying, a sense of accomplishment, invigorating, camaraderie
of fellow hikers, annoying behavior of fellow hikers (headlamps, peeing in
public)

We got our permit to camp in the canyon. We plan to head out about daylight tomorrow and to be on the canyon floor by afternoon to check out the river and Phantom Ranch. We will break the hike back up into two days with an overnight at the campground at Indian Garden. With any luck, we will be back on the rim by late Tuesday afternoon…..evening maybe? Watch for any update Wednesday or so, after I recover a little.

A quick side trip to the North Rim….for a night on the ground.
We were close so we figured we’d check it out. We left the rig and packed the tent and sleeping bags into the Miata and headed out on the drive through fir and aspen forest with open meadows, quite different from the South Rim where its scrubby juniper and pinion pine. It’s 1000 feet higher over here than on the south rim. They had a big snow a couple days ago….just traces in sheltered areas today. The views from the rim are wonderful; the very best was from Walhalla plateau….a broad bowl shaped amphitheater with great color. We hung out for a beautiful sunset.

We still plan to head to the South Rim in a few days.

Perspective from within.
A “day hike”. Wow…the north Kaibab trail to Roaring springs. 13 miles round trip descending; then or course, re-climbing, 3050 feet. I got a very real feel for how huge this canyon really is. It would have taken another 3 or 4 miles on the trail to even get out of this one canyon of majestic stone walls and the roaring spring that flows from mid-layer along the cliff.