Went down South Kaibab to the Tipoff and out. Trail is almost dry. I could have made the whole thing without crampons, but for the little bit of glare ice on the second switchback, and that could have been bypassed with care. It is nice to walk on a trail as wide as a sidewalk and clear of mud and ice. Passed two other groups on the way down.

Amy, Emily, and Art: trust me: no one cares that you hiked a mile down the trail. So no need to write your name on the rocks.

I bought a new stiffer brush to try on the graffiti at the halfway sign in the Redwall. Limestone is tough, because the scratches are deeper. The new brush almost works. It is obvious that something was written there, and it injures the patina on the rocks, but at least the letters are now illegible. After all, writing on the rocks injures the patina as well. It just breaks my heart when people scratch things into these beautiful rocks. I'll try a little vinegar next: it makes the limestone fizz so it might help get rid of the writings.
The river was green a few days ago and now it is brown. Snow must be melting in the White Mountains, or Utah, or both.

The pack mules came into sight as we were finishing lunch, so we took off to beat them out. They took even more stops than the dude mules. I beat them out handily. Maybe they had a heavy load, or they were training a new mule. Passed another lady in sequined tennis shoes. What are these people thinking?

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.

The Grandview is icy, the Bright Angel is icky with mule runoff, it is too windy for the South Kaibab, so we hiked to Dripping Springs. No ice except one little stretch just above the Toroweap. No one else on the trail at all. Very nice fossils all along the way.

Coming out from the springs we spottted something blue down in the wash. So we had to backtrack and clamber down to check it out. Thinking: I hope it's not a hiker. It was a 10 gallon water jug. So we packed it out, climbing up the cliffs and scree holding onto it until I could get to a good spot to jam it into my pack. Picked up major karma points today.

It has rained most of the day, and the Bright Angel is slippery as snot. Running water, deep pools full of GREEN water (and we know where the green comes from, don't we?). Looks muddy below Mile and a Half, but that's as far as we went. Anyway, the clouds were gorgeous.

Went over to Yavapai to see what I could see, which was solid clouds all the way down. A tourist asked if there was a phone number one could call to see what the visibility was before arriving. Yeah, but by the time you got here, it would probably have changed. In fact, had he waited around for a couple of hours, he would have seen sights like these.

Got out of the corridor this weekend. Hiked down the Grandview with two friends and camped at Cottonwood Spring. The trail was uber icy. Scary, in fact. Of course the Grandview has always freaked me out, and with ice, well... Jesse had dislocated her shoulder and her physical therapist told her she could walk but not carry a pack, so she tied the pack onto one shoulder. I'm not sure that's what the PT meant, but she decided to only come for the one night.

The first night was COLD. In the morning, the water bottles were supercold. When I tried to pour water, the water froze in the bottle as I was pouring. This happens when the temperature is way below freezing. Our companions hiked out, leaving us to the ice age.

Lots of water at Cottonwood Spring. Lots of water at Grapevine. Very dead bobcat in Grapevine. Thought we saw a ruin in an overhang whilst hiking into Grapevine as well.

We loaded up with water at Boulder from a small pothole and camped out near the point figuring it would be warmer. It was. It barely got below freezing, and I didn't even tie up my sleeping bag hood until midnight. Found a lot of worked churt. Maybe a worksite for the Ancestral Puebloans. Found some beautiful cruciana tracks. That's trilobites, ya'll.

Lots of water in Lone Tree. None at Cremation, but when is there? Loaded up with water again to camp just outside the use area. Colder than night two: not as cold as night one.

Forgot what a pain it is to hike down and and out of two of the three branches of Cremation. It is steep and loose and just a whole lot of fun.

Hiking out from the tipoff we were just ahead of the mules. I can stay ahead of them as long as I don't stop, and I had to stop to put on clothes, put on crampons, put crampons on again when they fell off... so the mules were only about 5 minutes behind me at the very end. Glare ice in the Dark Side of O'Neil, just below Cedar Ridge, Poison Point, and of course in the last chute. Two hours 45 minutes from the Tipoff with full packs.

Met a young lady hiking down and I noticed two things. She was wearing sparkly, spangly tennis shoes, and I spared a piteous thought for how they will look when she is done. And she smelled of good perfume. I smelled of wet, dirty wool.

All during the hike we were thinking of the two runners who tried this route in one day in July. The woman died. No matter how strong you think you are, surely coming down the west side of Horseshoe Mesa would give you a clue that this is not good trail. Then it is so rough and narrow getting into Grapevine. And rough and interesting going in and out of some of the little drainages. By the time they could see the South Kaibab, they must have been running without water for hours. It is physically impossible to carry enough water to keep you alive in the full sun in summer down there. And they carried like a liter and a half... I would have turned around at Cottonwood, or maybe Grapevine, but then I am a wimp. A live wimp, but a wimp.

Spent the weekend at Phantom with girlfriends. We were in for the dorm, but I got on the waiting list at 6 AM and got upgraded to a cabin. A bit icy and sloppy on the way down until below O'Neil, then not bad. Trail crew is hard at work below the tipoff.

I have been staying at Phantom for 22 years, and I have never had the steak dinner. This time we did. I loved the baked potato and the veggies, but the steak was a little gristly. I've heard others complain about this as well. However, it was so huge that Kim and I split one and still couldn't finish it, so one can certainly work around the gristle.

Second day we climbed to Clear Creek overlook and watched a bald eagle fly below us. Then we got to see him/her in the cottonwood tree.

Hiked out in four and a half hours with a Canyon newbie, which isn't bad at all. They must have noticed us hiking too fast, because they posted a speed camera just below the tipoff:

Hiked down to Cedar Ridge with a group. Weather was cold but clear. Mud was frozen, which was actually nice. It began to snow after we got out, which is good timing. Very strong group, too. They hiked out almost as fast as I would have myself, all the while complaining about how out of shape they felt climbing at 7,000 feet. Then we walked back along the Rim Trail and could watch the snow sweeping into the North Rim, then Phantom, then the South Rim, so we called it quits.

Went down South Kaibab just to see how different it is from Bright Angel in this snow. Packed snow with some ice until Ooh Ah, then mud, then packed snow and ice until under Cedar Ridge, then ice under mud. We turned around because the mud was so ooshy and all we wanted was a little workout.

Quite a bit of sun on the trail, though,as befits the route planned as the winter access to Phantom Ranch. Talked to someone at Phantom two weeks ago who insisted that everyone hike out the Bright Angel, anytime, any season. I said I prefer the SK in winter (actually, at any time, but most people can't come out fast enough to beat the heat on SK in the warm season). He assured me when one heads out the BA, the River Trail is a nice warm-up. Sure, hike two miles, and you are all warmed up and at Pipe Creek Beach, poised to start up the Inner Gorge. Hike two miles on the South Kaibab, and you are on top of the Inner Gorge. And very warmed up indeed. This being the self same expert who knew everything about the Canyon, I didn't bother to argue. Let him go out the BA. It just means more solitude for moi.

Spent a week in Phoenix doing yard work with the boy. Xerrascape sure collects a lot of debris. Did some mountain biking and a hike in South Mountain Park: the largest city park in the world, according to some.



















When we came back, there was new snow, surprise! Waited until it stopped a bit then walked down to mile and a half. Not too bad: the snow was nicely packed and not very crowded. No one throwing rocks, because they were all buried, and no one writing their names because they can't get to the cliffs.

I've heard to stay away from yellow snow, but I think the green snow is worse.

I was experimenting with a new way to tie on my instep crampons, and they fell off twice. The last time I had to run back down the trail and snatch them up from under the mules, then run back up to stay ahead of the beasties. They stop a lot on the way out, and I hate getting stuck behind them.