So finished a GCFI trip this week, and had a few weird interactions.

Campsite 32 has a CCC lean-to, three picnic tables, and six ammo cans for food storage. I pull into site 33, and I have five ammo cans and six lids. Hmm. So I discreetly check out site 33: sure enough, they have six lids and seven cans. So I waltz over and tell them I believe they have one of my storage cans. "Oh, no, I'm sure not."

"Well, see, I have six lids and five cans, and I have 11 people, so we kind of need all our storage."

"By golly, this can I'm sitting on has no lid! It must be yours!"

"Fine, thanks, no harm no foul," and I take the can back.

Later that night one of them walks over (short-cutting through the re-veg area -- tsk, tsk) to apologize and say he had NO idea, NONE that he wasn't supposed to take cans from other sites. Yep, just because it says so on the lid of the can? Just because he has three picnic tables, six ammo cans, AND the benches inside the lean-to to sit on? Poor baby.

Then the water goes out. Again. 24th time this year. I have a water filter, so that's OK, but it means there is one bathroom with two stalls for 45+ women campers. And one has to grab a bucket, clamber down the rock-lined stream bank to Bright Angel Creek, fill said bucket, clamber back up and use it to flush.

So I have actually done this a lot. Our toilet used to break, and we would use a bucket to flush. Also it is a good way to clean the bowl. No biggie.

Except most of the women don't re-fill the bucket. It is too, too difficult to climb up and down with a bucket of water, so I fill the #$%^ buckets every time I go to the bathroom, and every time I walk by the bathroom. And most women apparently have never dealt with a broken bowl, or have never cleaned one, because they don't get the flush technique (which is, for future reference, to pour quickly from a substantial height). One lady gets her boyfriend to haul the water --that's OK -- but then has him flush as well, which is not OK because it means there is a guy in the ladies' room.

So the morning we hike out, I go to the bathroom, and without going into sordid details, I am desperate. And Mr Boyfriend is in the ladies' again. There is a slight problem with the flushing, and he is working on it. I wait, and I wait, and when he steps outside to grab another bucket, I grab the bucket, push past him, and fix the problem: both his and mine. I suppose he thought he was doing the world a favor, but Pl-ease, don't stand around posing in the only two women's stalls in the entire campground.

Busy, busy fall. Did an intro backpack which will be written up in Arizona Highways, then a rim to rim and another RTR next week.

Saw the usual pink rattler at Cottonwood. It likes to hang around the water faucet to catch mice when they show up for a drink.
Lovely full moon, in fact, the first equinox moon in more than a decade. The full moon rose opposite the sunset, right over the equator. Jupiter is also directly opposite the sun, and closest it has been in a while, so it was spectacular. With the full moon, the runners were out. Trotting through Cottonwood at 10 PM, 11 PM, midnight, 1 AM, 2 Am, etc., all stopping by the water faucet (along with the snake) and all conversing LOUDLY about their run. "We can't be more than 5 miles from Phantom Ranch". "You are 6.5 miles from Phantom, and please leave. Now."

Lots of bugs at Bright Angel. We don't get bugs here! Biting flies, something else little that bites (gnats? Miniature flying scorpions?) Took a black light and found a dozen scorpions in the rocks at campsite 33. Very dramatic. A little scary, when they just kept showing up, and showing up, closer, and closer...Bwa ha ha ha.

There has been a lot of talk lately about the mule traffic. With the work being done on the South Kaibab, all mules are on the Bright Angel, and they are limited to ten mules a day going to Phantom Ranch with the 20 pack mules a day which support them. When the South Kaibab is complete, they will start work on the Bright Angel, and then what? Xanterra doesn't want to take mules down the SK, because they say it is too steep for novice riders.
The Park doesn't want mules on its new trail because their hooves have much more effect than hikers' boots. Do the math: my foot is about 12 by 4 which makes it 48 square inches. For the sake of easy math, let's say I weigh 200 pounds when carrying a really heavy pack, my foot pressure is about 4 pounds per square inch. On a day hike it is closer to 3 pounds.

If a mule weighs 2000 pounds, and he or she has a 200 pound load, and the mule shoe is about 12 inches by one inch, it has 180 pounds per square inch. Even if we count the whole foot, which is maybe 4X4, it would be 130 pounds per square inch. And the shoes are metal. Mule riders say their mounts have no more effect on the trails than hikers, but that doesn't add up.

Proponents of the mule rides say that the trails were all built for mules, and therefore mules have the right to stay.

Originally trails were developed by game animals, and then by Ancestral Puebloans, who had no stock animals at all, much less mules. It is true that the Native American trails were improved for mules and burros, but by miners, and mining has been outlawed in the Park.

By the 1960's, Phantom Ranch was so rarely visited that Fred Harvey wanted to close it down. The Park Service told them to raise rates in order to keep it open as a tourist attraction. Hikers at the time weren't even allowed to WALK through Phantom. The first time I visited it on the day hike, the caretaker chased me away.

Also by the 1960's all the trails were in poor repair. Trails outside of the corridor were, in fact, mostly gone. The Tanner had no trail at all below the Tapeats. Hikers made their own way down the last shale slopes. The New Hance (Red Canyon) trail wasn't. A trail, that is. Hikers were given a mimeographed sheet of paper describing "way points" along the route, such as "leave the stream bed when the red rock cliff appears", and "climb to the twin towers in the Redwall".

Us hikers showed up in the sixties as part of the "back to the earth" movement, and we found those abandoned trails. We wore them back in with our busy little feet. The Park Historian, Michael Anderson, believed that we hikers saved the off-corridor trails from oblivion. So mules are not the only animals to thank for the existence of the trails.

When I first started hiking, there were no permits required (hikers had to get a permit, but the numbers were not limited) so it was not uncommon to meet a group of 200 Scouts, 300 Sierra Club hikers, or 100 church members.

Campfires were allowed. Very bad idea. Popular sites such as Indian Gardens had NO living plants. Trees, branches, bushes, grass, flowers, were all torn out for campfires. Bark was stripped from the trees as far as a person could reach.

In 1972, permits were limited and fires were banned. The inner canyon is better off for these changes. Perhaps limiting mule traffic is one of those changes forced upon us by increasing visitation and limited public funds.

This weekend was the Perseid meteor shower, and we were discussing where to go see it. Mather Point? Hopi Point? Just lie in the back yard? Then I mentioned jokingly that Horseshoe Mesa would be nice, and we thought, why not?
I got a permit, and we walked down Thursday night after work. There was an after-school meeting, of course! so we didn't even get on the trail until 6:10.
I finally found a trailhead more obnoxious than the Bright Angel. The Grandview has toilet paper all over, people standing in the middle of the trail taking pictures of themselves, taking pictures of their dogs(!) on the trail. They cut switchbacks shamelessly. The trail is steep enough without taking a shortcut.

Got down in two hours, just before it got too dark to see the route. About 10 minutes from camp I heard a BUZZ and stopped to study a little rattler. He was most upset that I wouldn't move on, but I wanted to point him out to Brad before he (Brad) stepped on it or was startled right off the cliff.
No one else camping on the Mesa. The Milky Way was spectacular, and lots of huge meteors with tails until about 9 PM when we both fell asleep. Woke up at 3 AM because the experts said that would be the best for the shower, but all we got were lots of wee little shooting stars: nothing big. Out in 2 hours ten, but I spent at least ten minutes trying to erase graffiti from the desert varnish, which is really tough. Troop 407 was there, and their leader was either too lazy or too ignorant to keep them from leaving their scratches on the rocks.

Been spending a lot of time on the North Rim lately. spent a night at Cape final out on the way eastern rim. Didn't even know you could get a permit for that. Also hiked down North Kaibab to Supai Tunnel, but turned around because it was a)hot and b) full of mule traffic. The mules have worn the trail down to dust, and it is full of mule droppings. I guess because it isn't as dry on the north side, so it doesn't dry out as fast as on the Bright Angel.

Spent a week on the North rim scoping out hikes for a new class for GCFI. Did Cape Final, Point Imperial, head of the Old Bright Angel, Ken Patrick, and Snake Gulch. Lots of really good rock art in the latter. Told ourselves we would hike in two hours to beat the heat (the gulch is very exposed) and kept seeing better and better rock art. I guess we turned around before the biggest panel, since we had forgotten the map and were guessing at where we were.

Snowed the first day we were there.

Busy,busy, busy. A meet the canyon with a nice couple who are going to Phantom Ranch later this week, then a day with a school from California. One of the middle school boys asked if there were any "hot girls" on the rim, and I said I knew one who often hung around the south rim. After our hike, we were sitting in the shade waiting for the rest of the group to show, and hot chick shows up on cue. I invited her over, and she chatted, and after she left, the guy who wanted to meet her came back from the curio shop. He was rather peeved that the girl of his dreams had come and gone without him.

A five day rim to rim for the field institute. The sign at the trailhead said water was off at Supai Tunnel, so we filled up from a very weak dripping faucet. It wasn't off: but it was off at Roaring Springs. 140 degrees in the sun. Two pink rattlers, a king snake, a big horn (at Phantom: pretty hot for that).

The family next to us at Indian Garden got up at 2 AM to get ready to hike out, and EVERYONE heard them. Yelling and clanging and yelling some more. Caught them at Mile and a Half, and the kid was still yelling. A day hiker on the trail told him to pipe down, even.

Rim to rim this weekend. Dan and Paul's first. I didn't want to drive around so I hiked to Cottonwood the first day and then back. so I guess I did a
Rim to R.

Whoever wrote your names on the Stromotolite rock (I suspect boy scout troop 420) it is bad enough to mess up rocks without messing up fossils.

Counted 318 rim to rim runners from Cottonwood to Phantom, just in the morning. Clue to y'a'll: banana peels and orange peels ARE trash and should be PICKED UP. I got irritated enough to shift into high gear and pass two groups of runners. When I passed a bunch of boys, wearing my full pack and my skirt, one of them muttered: well, that's embarrassing.

Weather nice but very windy. Ribbon falls was really full.

Hiked to Supai as assistant for GCFI. Day one we talked about the Sinyalla Syncline and found the Havasu Springs Fault. It cracks the Redwall and allows the spring to gush out. The 2008 flood scoured the campground and made two new water falls, whilst drying out Navajo. The campground used to have some semblance of privacy with all the trees, but they are dying or gone.

Camped at the end of the campground. Day two hiked up Carbonate Canyon to the old mine and wandered around inside. Day three we climbed down Mooney and hiked to Beaver. The old ladder on the high route is gone, so there is a rope of dubious origin. One participant didn't like the rope, so I took him on the low route. Saw some lost kids on an incorrect high route (they had been cliffing out quite a lot) and turned around. The real route was below them, and much easier.

Day four went to see the Pillar of Gold: a brecca pipe that was advertised as the El Dorado of the Grand Canyon (it wasn't), ate real food in the village (if Supai tacos are real food), visited the museum, and hiked up Carbonate to find some fantastic fossils.

Day five we hiked to the village and dropped off the people who were coptering out. I filled water and started walking out with Marce. We started picking up trash (a lot of that) until we each filled a big bag. Never saw the people ahead of us. We kept walking, and walking, and never saw the others. Thought: boy, those girls are moving! Stopped in the last shade for a drink, and the others caught up! They got lost in the village and were hiking hard to catch us!

Managed to pick up a dollar bill in the village, and then on the trail out I found two twenties. Talk about Canyon Karma. Paid for our lunch at the Snow Cap.

Last weekend we took the MCC geology class. Hiked to Skeleton Point and did geology drawings, then visited Sunset Crater and Grand Falls.

Friday this week hiked down South Kaibab and across to Bright Angel. Flowers are great. Snowed on the north rim -- last weekend in April!

I keep telling myself I don't have to beat every 20 year old out of the canyon, and then someone cuts a switchback and I have to dust him to teach him a lesson.

Hiked to Indian Garden with a women's basic backpacking class. Weather was just right: cool at night and pleasant during the day. All the flowers have started to bloom. One of my participants pointed out that my shirt was the same color as the redbud.

Water out at Phantom Ranch. They fixed one leak and when they turned it back on, another leak sprang forth. Oh well, showers are overrated.

Some mule riders came in while we were drinking lemonade and asked where we had come from. We said we were camped at Indian Garden, and one asked, "Oh, are there cabins there too?". We all decided that 10 miles round trip is a long way to go for a lemonade, even with ice. Maybe a Cherry Pepsi, but a lemonade?

The dude mules met the pack mules at Three Mile, and they had to pass one another while we got to watch. With all the mules on the same trail nowadays, they have to get kind of creative to get past each other. They are actually forming new trails at certain areas where they meet and pass.
Poem written on the trail:to the tune of Smoke gets in your eyes:
I said the hike was hard, my legs felt like lard,
And this trail is tough, it is way too rough, I have had enough.
They said the trail is fine, and I should not whine,
Hiking makes you wise, strengthens up your thighs, and salt gets in your eyes...

Friday we hiked down to Skeleton Point. Spring is definitely here: there were dozens of people on the trail, at the Point, and way too much graffiti on the rocks. I had filled my liter squirt bottle, and I used up half before I got to Cedar Ridge.

Then we had to go to Prescott to mail a package, and Sunday I was supposed to do a Field Institute gig, but the couple canceled at the last minute, so Brad and I hiked to Indian Garden to see the Redbud in bloom. Not as much graffiti on the BA: maybe because it lacks that lovely, smooth Coconino slab section on the South kaibab, that I have termed "graffiti alley". Met a boy on the way out racing his dad. He said they were trying to get to the "motel at the bottom", so I told him to be sure to get the pink rattler junior ranger patch. I can picture him now, bugging his parents to get to the bottom so he can get his patch.

Just a dibble of ice left on the very top of the SK, and some still on Heartbreak Hill and just below. Nothing we couldn't handle without grippers, though Brad did manage to slip on the way up and twist his back.

Got out of the rut this weekend and went to South Canyon. Used to run in and out of that all the time when I was a kid. I don't remember it being that exposed...no trail, just a route. Down-climbing in the Coconino, and lots of loose scree, then rock hopping all the way down the wash to the Colorado.

There was water in the wash, so we dropped packs and ran to the River and back. I thought the redbud would be in bloom at Vaseys, but it was not so. I had also forgotten the joys of alkaline water in the slickrock. Ick. Brad dropped his canteen and it split, and when we got out our emergency Platypus, it had a crack in it. Fortunately I'd thrown in an extra folding canteen because I thought we would be settling grit out of the River water.

Ran up to the head of the canyon to see some really nice fossil footprints, and then climbed out. Took less time to climb out than in, as is usual with a loose route. Carried out someone's discarded water bottle and tore apart a campfire ring. Same person? Perhaps. There was a cache of what looked like gatorade, and we debated leaving it, until we saw that it had a critter hole in it, and had been there so long it had fermented. Why don't people clean up their caches? With the incoming storm tomorrow, it was nice and cool hiking out. I do remember from our college hikes there that the last 1000 feet is all in the sun, and we never carried enough water...

Spent last week running a Mule-assist for the Grand Canyon Field Institute. One lucky fella on the trip. Mules were down very late on Tuesday: didn't get in until 5 PM. Rockslide on the Bright Angel, so they couldn't start down till noon, and then they were very vexed. I guess if they aren't chosen by then, they figure they get the day off. Sjors says lots of rock slides this spring.

Saturday hiked to Horseshoe Mesa. Much, much nasty ice and snow. That trail is narrow and slippery enough without adding complications. Picked up a colman inflatable mattress that weighed 9 pounds (!) and carried it out. Mucho karma points for that one.

Hiked to just below Cedar Ridge on Friday. Had to get to Prescott for an appointment, so we hiked down for an hour, showed some fossils to a gaggle of girl scouts, and hiked out to shower and drive down. Sunday we hiked to Skeleton Point. Lots and lots of persons out for Spring Break. Even saw my boss on the trail with a batch of kids.

The top of the Kaibab is terrible. Glare ice and steep ... and about half the hikers with no crampons. They have a good old time sliding down, but I don't know how they think they will get back out. Brad passed one couple who commented: lucky thing you have those crampons, and he said: luck had nothing to do with it. Then I passed them, and they said, lucky thing YOU have those crampons, and I said: I wouldn't have come down that trail without them. No sympathy at all.

My Skeleton Point Raven has a girlfriend now. Just before I got this picture, he chowed down on a big hunk of TP. Ewww! I knew they would eat anything but, geepers...

Dan came down today and we hiked from Kaibab to Bright Angel. I can't remember the last time I did that. Maybe 30+ years ago? 8 hours. It started out nice, but the weather deteriorated and by the time we got out it was snowing hard.

Saw a bighorn that Della told us had been chasing people, so we figured maybe she is about to be a mother. Those hormones are killers. Then a little baby pink rattler on the Corkscrew. I'm tired, but my good knee hurts more than my muscles do. My bad knee did OK. Oh, well.

Last weekend spent the entire three days in meetings. First the GCFI annual instructor round-up, then two days at the GCFI sponsored Guide Training Seminar. I always learn something new. This time I got to tour the rim with a local historian who gave me all sorts of tidbits I can use when I take people around.

This weekend, Brad was in a meeting Friday, so I worked on the online college class I am taking, then walked the rim trail. Saturday we drove to Flag so Brad could train to be an Odyssey of the Mind judge, and Sunday we hiked to Indian Garden and out. It was foggy on the way down, but cleared up and was actually warm at IG. Two hours and 5 minutes out, and it was really slow in the slush. I prefer the ice, because I don't slip back with every step I take. Spring must be here: I picked up orange peels and a face mask (yuck) on the way out, and saw someone cut a switchback. Their rationale: the trail was too muddy.

Got out of the corridor this weekend to do a Hermit Bright Angel. Met one guy who camped (probably illegally -- no permit) at Hermit on his way to Horn. He said we should have camped in the overhang to get away from the dew, and I said, "Yeah, except it is illegal." He grinned, "You pays your money and you takes your chances". Except since I didn't see a permit, perhaps he did not pay his money.

Weather was nice: ice on the trails is melting fast. Lots of mud. The mules really tear up the trail when it is wet.

It was cold and we got dewed upon because we are too stubborn to put up a tent. Found some nice fossils. Indian Garden had no one at 3 PM and by dark it was almost full. Quiet, though. The gal next to us never made a sound, but she was chain smoking. I managed to carry my thumb drives down: they were in my jacket pocket. Baked a chocolate cake at Indian garden for Valentine's Day but it didn't work quite right.

When we were at Cinch-up, a young lad stopped me and asked if I would mind being in a movie. I replied, "I am ready for my close-up, Mr. Lucas". They are making a new orientation film for the new visitor center, and I might be in it. I suppose the skirt and the purple top (which perfectly matched the purple ear band) were hard to pass up.

Hiked to Phantom this weekend. Brad had to attend a class in Flag, so he didn't get to hike down in the storm.

Going down there was a bighorn leading the mules out. I guess like the snowplow for the train?

Got in about 3, then on the layover day we hiked to Clear Creek and watched the storm move in. Gail and Mike hiked to Ribbon Falls, but got rained on. I sat by the canteen watching the world go by and got to talk with Ranger Patrick and Ranger Matt. I figure if one sits at Phantom long enough, everyone one knows (who hikes) will come by.

In the cabin, reached over to get my headband and there was a bark scorpion on the clock. I guess the clock was the warmest place. Put it in a cup and carried it outside. Lori Rome has told me about scorpion karma: squish a scorpion and get bit: and I wasn't going to tempt it. I did, however, get bit by a spider that night, so maybe the spider was jealous.

The roof in cabin eight leaks. Made a big puddle that got my pack wet. So I want a refund, Xanterra. Rain all night, a little snow on the way out, and everyone took off home to beat the storm.

Hiked down to Skeleton today. South Kaibab is pretty iffy. They apparently shoved the top two switchbacks, but then one is on one's own. In places the drifts were shoulder high. Some of the trail leaves the trail as people try to get down without getting too close to the edge, which no longer has any sort of protective rock wall. Can't imagine doing this without grippers.

Passed by two runners in shorts, tees, and grippers. No clothes, no food, no water. Ok, but if anything goes wrong, WFR tells us to use what the other hiker has to fix him up, and they had nothing. I would have stepped into the knee-deep soft snow on the side of the packed trail, or caught the grippers on the water bars, or probably cut my leg with my own grippers had I tried to run.

My raven was not at Skeleton, possibly because a red tailed hawk was cruising.

Dragged our weary bodies out of bed and clumped over to the rim for a workout, and what should our wondering eyes behold but an inversion layer! Haven't seen one for at least twenty years. Debated if we should keep hiking or run out to the rim trail and get a better view, but we kept hiking, and 20 minutes later the clouds lifted, so that was a good choice.

No one on the trail. One dude in cotton jeans and no ice grippers asked if we were doing OK. better than you, I guess? Or was that a disguised cry for help?

They plowed the rim trail Saturday, so the skiing was pretty nice. A few inches of fresh snow over plowed. Skiing into the snow blocks ones glasses and makes it hard to see. Also, old show tunes make a good rhythm for skiing ("You've got to be taught, to be afraid, of people whose eyes are oddly made...").

Sunday hiked down to Three Mile. Lots of snow still. About two feet. First mile had been shoveled, then it was just what people and mules have worn down.

Thursday we didn't get enough snow to close school (even though every other school in Northern Arizona is closed) but we did get a two hour delay. We hiked down to the second tunnel on the Bright Angel. Started out in the dark with our headlamps. Only one set of tracks ahead of us on the trail.

At the first tunnel we heard a shout: "Turn off your lights!'. We stopped, understandably confused. "Turn off your lights! The mules are coming!". So we did.

The pack mules passed us. I guess our lights would destroy their night vision. Without headlamps I could see Okay, but not enough to trust myself on the trail with that drop-off on my right. I let the mules get ahead and turned my lights back on. I figured that was allowed, or else imagine the lawsuits? Xanterra TOLD me to hike down in the dark with no lights...

Very quiet, very alone (except for the mules) and our leds made the falling snow look like it was strobing.

Friday hiked down to skeleton then drove to Flagstaff to pick up a new washer. Saturday at the folks' for their anniversary, today hiked to Skeleton again. Looks like the trail crew has a new toy. It appears that this object crushes rocks. Must replace a few student conservation volunteers at least.

The resident raven is still at SP. He gets closer every time, and still hasn't figured out that we won't feed him. But it makes for good pictures. Took about a dozen trying to get it with its beak open. Oh, well. It would probably have opened up for a piece of bagel.

Was passed by some kids (in their 20's or so) and caught them at the chimney. Turns out they are professional guides from Colorado, and they had just hiked down to the River and back. So I didn't feel that hot about passing them, except maybe that I do have a few years on them. But I'm not competitive or anything.

Hiked to Three Mile Resthouse. Carried out a canteen and managed to reuinite it with its owner. He was most appreciative. Almost beat Brad out but got caught behind a mule on the last switchback.

When there is this much snow, no one is writing their name on the walls and no one is cutting switchbacks. Because the wimps who do such things stay home, or because they can't find the rocks or the shortcuts under the snow?

Hiked down the Hermit. Turned around before Santa Maria because of glare ice. Top of the trail was REALLY icy. People who slide down on their bottoms make the trail more packed and thus more dangerous.

Found an old milk tin with a solder spot on the bottom. I think this dates it to early 1900's. Since the trail was built in 1913, this makes sense.

Hiked down to Skeleton Pt. Very windy. The wind was, in fact, playing a little tune on the holes that adjust my trekking poles. Ice for two miles, then dry, then ice on the dark side of O'Neil. The trail crew mules were hauling dirt, so we sat in the sun and mostly out of the wind waiting for them to dump their load (of dirt).

People writing on the snow instead of the rocks. This is refreshing, except when they write silly obscenities.

Got to teach a class on Mary Colter for the Field Institute. We spent day one talking about Colter and visiting her buildings on the South Rim, including the Watchtower, but we were too tired to get out to Hermits Rest. Then we hiked down the snowy and icy South Kaibab, spent two days at Phantom Ranch, and hiked out. Took an history tour of the Ranch and snuck into the 10-person cabins to look at the prickly pear ceiling. The pipeline was out, again, so we didn't get showers the second night, but they didn't have showers in 1922 either.

First night the door to the bathroom was so squeaky everyone woke up anytime it was opened or closed. We couldn't find any WD-40, so I stole a pat of butter from dinner and used that on the hinges. Worked great.