July 23, 2016

Today we plan on hiking one of the trails down into the canyon.  Not completely down into the canyon – we’ve been warned very thoroughly about going too far in.  Most of the warnings involve info about temperatures and a lack of water, that sure, the going down is easy, but the coming up is steep and should not be attempted in the afternoon.  You need at least a liter of water per hour you expect to be out.  So JA made us 2L of gatorade for the camelbaks and we took water in nalgene bottles.  Our goal today is to go at least 3 miles in on the South Kaibab trail (where the mules go up and down).

 But first, I need coffee.  I made pancakes earlier and then boiled water in the pan to clean it/use for coffee.  I figured since the coffee might taste a bit like pancakes, let’s just add maple syrup for sweetening.  I bought this press travel mug from REI.  It works ok, but I’m not super happy with it.  The filter at the bottom isn’t great and the seal isn’t secure and if you tilt the whole thing wrong, you end up with coffee all over.  Still, it’s better than no coffee.

 We parked at the visitor center and took a shuttle to the South Kaibab trailhead.  And look, mules!  And a horse in there.  But mules!  I love mules!  Smarter than horses, better to work with than donkeys.  And stronger than both.  I don’t know why they aren’t more popular.

 It’s a shame we can’t go all the way to the bottom.  That’ll have to be for another trip.  And we’ll need a backcountry permit for that.

 Gorgeous view from the start.  We got here a little later than we wanted, started around 10am, so that might play into the hike.

 Switchbacks galore await us.

 It goes surprisingly quickly.  Then again, we’re starting off fresh, ready to go, and going downwards.

 I thought of you, KL, when I took this picture.

 The path is really cool and very well maintained.  Lots of shade.  There was a group of sorority girls in front of us – we eventually passed them and I suspect they only made it about a mile in before deciding to head back as we didn’t see them again on the hike.

 The path leveled out for a bit and the shade was pretty awesome.  We saw some poor folks who were already beat coming back up the trail.  I could only hope was that we weren’t going to look like that coming back.

 Beautiful formations on the ridge above us.  I’m not sure how far down we are, but we’re only about twenty minutes or so into this hike.

 Slowly sloping downwards.  I wonder if they did this purposely to give folks a break coming back up.  So far, it’s a very pleasant walk.

 The view from where we were.

You can see the switchbacks we came down in this pic.

 I love being out here.  It’s so pretty.

 The path went around this rock and gave us a great view of what was ahead.

 This is the first stop on the South Kaibab.  It’s about a mile into the trail and is aptly named.  It gave a great view down into the canyon.

 JA walks to the edge of one of the rocks to look over.  I managed to bring myself there as well – looking down was amazing in the best sense of the word, but I could only do it for a short period before I began to doubt my balance.

 We’re not even close to being done hiking.  Time to head down.  We’ve got about half a mile to go to the next part, but it supposedly drops a lot in elevation.  We can start to feel the day heating up a bit as well.

 It gets pretty steep.  And for awhile, I wasn’t sure if these puddles were the result of the rain yesterday or of mules kicking out some chemicals.

 We just keep going down.  Most of the elevation drop happens in this leg of the trail.

 We’re following along the edge of various cliffs.  One wrong step and you’re off into the canyon forever.

 Hey!  There’s mules down there!  That’s our final point for today – Cedar Ridge.

 Gotta wonder how well that tree is anchored.

 The trails are pretty well kept.  I like the brace of rebar to hold things.

 And we’re here.  I’m super excited to see the mules.  I know the guys here probably think I’m just another silly tourist, but this was one of my favorite parts of the hike.

 They’re all tied together, in a long string.  And pretty well trained.  The guys at the lead gave a whistle and a shout and the mules followed along without balking.  I wonder if they’ve got the easier job – carrying stuff instead of riders.  I particularly liked this big guy in the back – he’s stocky and looks like he might have a good mind between those ears.

 Mule train!

 Off and up and away they go.

 Let’s see what sight Cedar Ridge can give us.

 JA looks out.  The colors are fantastic here.  I love the red dirt.  I’m not sure where Skeleton Point (the next look out on the trail, which we sadly will not see this trip) but it’s out of view for us.

 You can see where the trail wraps around that formation.  I really want to go…but it’s hot and we encountered a some of folks who clearly did not prep for the hike.  We don’t want to be among them.

 The view was great.  We eventually gave it up to some other hikers who came behind us and set off to find a spot to take a break, eat a snack, and prepare for the hike up.

 Lots of shade there.  Perfect.

 JA gets a visitor while we rest.  We had chex mix with us and clearly this guy has been fed by people.  Nope, we didn’t share.

Across the canyon from us is a pretty large-looking cave.  Maybe one of these days…

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