Got up at 0:dark thirty to hike before a meeting. We only needed the flashlights until Kolb Seep and could probably have switched them off before that. The trail is still icy, particularly at Heartbreak Hill, and ice under mud thereafter. It is probably pretty sloppy once it gets above freezing.

It was 25 degrees when we left the rim, and my hands are still cold, even after breakfast and several cups of tea. However, in four months it will be too hot to go below the Redwall, so enjoy it while you can, I guess. No wildlife below the rim that we could see, but a couple of nice deer at the West Rim Drive and a herd of elk outside the Backcountry Office.