2006 Grand Canyon Adventure :: Day 6

Today was the first cloudy day and it is currently raining lightly. I was on the trail early this morning headed for Indian Gardens. It was a pretty hike on the Bright Angel trail as I climbed out of the Inner Canyon to the base of the South Rim. Indian Gardens is pretty, with a number of cottonwoods and aspens. You usually do not think of the Grand Canyon as having lush vegetation but where there is water, it is very green. And where it is green, there are generally Indian ruins, thus the name of this camping area. I arrived here around 1:00pm and soon took off on a hike along the Tonto trail, which I had read about. The Tonto trail follows the Tonto Platform, which is part of the broad expanse between the inner canyon and the outer canyon walls. It is a beautiful trail with great big dramatic views. I hiked 3 miles to a place called Pipe Springs on the Tonto Trail and I was completely alone, as one of the park rangers had told me I would be. I do not believe that there was another person within a several mile radius. I sat on a large rock and could look behind me to see the spot high on the South Rim canyon wall where I had begun my hike 6 days ago, before me I could see the North Rim far in the horizon, and in between was the deep gorge of the Inner Canyon. As I sat there I could imagine each of my footprints along the way that had left an imprint in the soft red desert sand. Each of them had been filled with a special memory, and now they were slowly disappearing in the canyon wind and the inevitable passing of time. In my mind, however, I know that I will retrace those steps over and over again, and in doing so I will keep those memories alive.

Today I also saw my first condor. It was high overhead but still looked huge. It also was very graceful, which surprised me due to their enormous wing span.

It's funny, but after walking for six days I am feeling better than ever. I have not had any blisters and my legs are no longer sore. My only use of the extensive medical kit I have been carrying has been to place a bandage over a spot on my lower hip where the backpack belt has been rubbing.

I have now developed a good routine of setting up and taking down the tent, packing the backpack and putting it on and off. I have also developed "trail legs," as I rarely slip on the loose trail rocks anymore and I can move pretty briskly up or down hill. There are things though that I will admit, I baffle myself by my slowness. I am wearing zip off pants, and every morning I start with the whole leg zipped, and as soon as I warm up I stop and take my boots off to unzip the lower half and turn them into shorts. Just today I noticed that there are zippers running up the lower leg so that they can be unzipped and pulled over your boots. How did it take six days for me to see that? Another moment of brilliance was after having spent a day wondering what kind of animal made the little holes on the side of the trails. After a great deal of thought about it, I looked at the trekking poles that I and every other hiker was carrying and realized that the animal was human.

My meals generally have been limited but good. The very best meals have been the packets of instant flavored mashed potatoes. After dinner tonight I hiked a mile and a half to a place called Plateau Point, which overlooks the Colorado River, and has an incredible 360 degree panoramic view of this part of the canyon. I returned in the dark and am now laying in the tent with the rain falling softly on the shell. The sound of the rain is comforting and I am tired.