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...