Friday hiked down to Indian Garden by myself.  Got my favorite campsite.  Of course, about 3:00 a commercial group came in and I had the largest site to myself while they crammed their tents into a single.  They had tortellini with chicken and a cucumber salad, tomorrow they will have steak diane {!}.  Serves them right to cram together. 

I have been looking for the Thayer pictographs for about 10 years, and I finally found them.  I was clambering around the Tapeats and a group of geezers spotted me from the trail.  They thought I was lost.  Yeah, I am across the creek and up on a cliff, are you guys on the trail?  I assured them I was exploring.  I imagine them going to the ranger and reporting a crazy lady in a skirt messing around the cliffs, and the ranger sighing and saying, "Of course she was".  Anyhow, found them.  Then I sat in the shade admiring them for a good half hour.  Hidden so no one on the trail could spot me. Class Three so I cannot tell anyone where they are.

Hiked out in two and a half, which including picking up one of the grossest items I have yet to find.  One of those special "hold the water" towels which stiffen like a board when dry.  Someone had used it as TP.  I actually walked past it and made myself go back.  I didn't even have a big trash bag, so I emptied my food bag, which barely fit it, particularly since it was dry and too stiff to fold.  Also I did NOT want to touch it.  Then when I stopped to snack, I poured a whole bottle of hand sanitizer on myself, and even then I picked up my cookie with a plastic bag so I didn't touch it. 

The wind was blowing like crazy.  I had my hammock up, and it works well in the wind.  I just wrapped myself up like a burrito.  Usually I am inundated by the dust.  IG is the only site one can rig a hammock legally, since the pack hanging bars and ramadas are so close together.  In fact, the permit says that hammocks are not allowed at Bright Angel, which does not mean no one tries to rig them on the trees. 

Spent a good half hour by myself out at Plateau Point.  On the way back, I met every commercial group there on their way for sunset.  The wind was really ripping on the River: I could see the waves going upstream from the point. 

hammock rigging in the large site by myself, ha!

UFO's over the Canyon

Plateau point