When the weather forecast says 80% chance of rain, and snow accumulation of 2 inches, and you hike to Three Mile anyway, you get wet.

It started out really pretty, with the clouds moving around and swirling through the buttes, but then the rain moved in. We ran down to three mile and visited the new bathroom. It is so new there isn't even any graffiti on the doors. How does the old poem go? A man's ambition must be small, to write his name on the outhouse wall?

We then ate a snack in the rest house. A backpacker came in and a lady asked him if there was a bathroom. He said, "I think they are supposed to open one."

I said, "It's open".

He said, "They were building one, I know."

I said, "It's open".

The lady said, "Well, I saw the new building." IT'S OPEN! The invisible woman lives.

A runner on his way down asked if the trail got any less muddy, and I told him, dream on, so he turned around. He was headed for Phantom Ranch and out, but noon is a little late to start if you ask me. Not a good day to be dressed in shorts. I had wool on from the skin out, and I was warm enough until I got to the top and stopped hiking.

Passed a lady coming down who asked if it is really harder coming out. I said, "Not at all. The Park Service just hires me to breathe hard as I climb out to scare people". An inch of new snow on the car when we got out.

Saturday we were in the Big City to see the boy compete in fencing. He came in third, which he was pretty happy with. Sunday afternoon we then ran down to Skeleton Point, figuring it would be less crowded than the BA.

I would have hated to see the BA. SK was really full. Erased a number of names all the way down, and by golly, AP added his/her name and "AP loves Mom" at Ooh Ah while I was down there. Fast work, you little twerp, but no match for the Graffitinator.

A few couples were asking people on their way out if it is really hard coming out. I noticed that they only asked the ones who looked pretty good: not the ones with their tongues dragging on the ground. I suppose they knew the answer they wanted...

Driving back, three kids dashed in front of the car, so I slowed in case anyone or anything else was going to appear from the woods. A snowball came crashing out of nowhere and hit the car. I slammed on the brakes, Brad jumped out of the car and chased the kids all the way into the campground, yelling "If I get my hands on you, you're dead meat!" I'm sure they didn't expect that. Probably looking for a couch potato who would throw up his hands and say, "Kids these days!". We were going to drive around the campground once, just to shake them up and let them think we were hunting them, but we wanted to get back and get ready for Monday.

Ran down to mile and a half before we had to take off for a meeting out of town. No one on the trail, period. We have gotten so used to stepping around people and letting people pass (uphill has the right of way!) (until we are going uphill, I notice) that it was a treat to be all alone.

A nice sunset just warming up, and speaking of warming up, there were some people in tee shirts, sitting in their car with the motor running, who would jump out, take a picture, and then jump back in. Grand Canyon sweatshirts are on sale in the store, guys.

Ice is just about gone, and what remains is easily bypassed.

Linda's name was back on the rock at mile and a half, so maybe that was her glaring at me the other day. But I came back, and erased your name again, nyeah, nyeah, nyeah. The revenge of the Graffitinator.

Met four people heading down, and a new used Kleenex in the trail so ONE OF YOU DROPPED IT, I KNOW IT! What is wrong with picking up your stinking Kleenex? Or using a handkerchief? Bio-hazzard on the trail!

Spent the weekend in the big city doing taxes, but we did get a refund this year. My knee was acting up. I did a couple of day Meet the Canyons for the Field institute, and then hiked Bass Hermit, and then did a Meet the Canyon, and then did an Intro Indian Garden, so could it be, gee, I don't know, OVERUSE??

Anyhow I rested and stretched and iced all weekend and today we hiked to Mile and a Half because next week will be crazy and I don't know when I'll get a workout again. Lots of people before Kolb Seep. Spoke to one young man about throwing rocks, but he apologized and stopped. That's what I like to hear.

Ted and Linda: your names are gone from Mile and a Half. Actually, I commented rather loudly on the fact that I was erasing your names, and added a few insults, and a woman started glaring at me, so one does wonder: was that Linda?

Took a group down to Indian Gardens with a day hike to Phantom Ranch and back. A very nice group. I always get the good groups. It must be my Canyon Karma rewarding me for all that graffiti removal. Either that, or I am so mean and ornery that everyone is afraid to cause trouble.

There was an earthquake the first night. One could hear it: a deep rumble in the ground with a sound of sloshing water. That is about as good as it gets around here. Also a skunk. We could all smell it, but no one was willing to flash a light about in case we irritated it. One of the fans in the outhouse was broken, and I thought I was gonna die of asphyxiation on the spot. One tends to forget that the dehydrating toilets down there work pretty well until they don't. And no rangers around to complain to.

The Redbud is in bloom. I didn't expect that, and it was a nice bonus. This Redbud is only found in the GC, and it is in bloom maybe a week or so. The campground was full every night. So full, in fact, that a small group had to stay in the large group site both nights. Gee, I would have sacrificed and stayed in the large site if I knew it was required to do so.

They are putting in a new bathroom at Pipe creek Beach, and the copter was bringing supplies in and out. Very windy, so it was tricky. We got too close to the hovering bird, and the ranger yelled, "Get back, get back!", which we did with alacrity. I ain't gonna argue with a bladed object that large.

Gale force winds the second night, but no one blew away. It was supposed to snow, which it did on the North Rim, which made for nice pictures and kept the riffraff off the trail. I didn't take a lot of pictures, and most of those were Redbuds, which tend to all look alike, but I did take movies, so I'll post those.

Got out of the corridor big time and hiked Bass to Hermit. When we did this hike two years ago we had to share every camp with a group of four guys, a group of three we suspected was an illegal guiding operation, and one illegal who bragged about never getting a permit. This time we were dogged by a group of six who pulled in every night just about dusk.

Going down the Bass worked fine, and there was plenty of water in the "secret" potholes. I say secret because we seem to be the only group that can find them. We loaded up with water there and camped just below. All other groups continued on to the Colorado River which was running brown and nasty.

The West Tonto is a come-and-go trail. Dr. D. and I were trying to remember if the trail was easier to find when the burros were there. Neither of us seem to remember losing it much, but one does tend to remember the past with rosy glasses and all. The burros also made parallel trails and fouled the water, so we don't miss them, but they may have kept the Tonto in better shape. It was easy to lose where it went in and out of canyons and where it crossed the plateaus.

There was water at each of the named canyon except Agate. Sometimes one had to search above the trail, sometimes below, but there was always something. Third night we loaded up with water at Turquoise and waited for our other group. Sure enough they got there about dusk, so we took our water out to the point and dry camped alone. Many mosquitoes, even so far from water.

Boucher was private. Two years ago there was a de-veg crew running around. This year we had a nice site, and a little family came in and moved upstream, and the big group seems to have collapsed as soon as they hit the water, which was about a half mile away from us.

We got to Hermit just in time to snag the best site: the flat one with the overhang. A guy asked if we were staying the night, and we said yes, so he went off to camp illegally on the west side of the creek. Admittedly, one of the three small group sites is pretty slanty, and only one site has shade, but one can sit by the creek until the sun gets low, after all. One does not have to camp illegally.

Wandered about the old Hermit Camp. Both Park Service caches have been broken into. Reported same to the PS when I got out. Bozos think they are doing something clever when they steal the food and water from the ranger caches. Or maybe they are just losers who can't stand leaving well enough alone.

Started out at 5 AM because Dr. D. had to get on the road early. A.B., I saw your name carved into the Redwall, and you now are the recipient of my special Canyon Curse. Every endeavor you attempt will result in woe until you come back and clean off the rock. So there.

Got out in 4 hours, 20 minutes, not bad for such a long trail with big steps. Passed a young couple at the top, and they whispered, "Gee, that old lady is in pretty good shape!". You bet your a**.

Spent the weekend at Phantom. It snowed on the rim, but it just rained a little on us. Since we were in the cabin, it didn't matter. Erased CL and a couple of other graffiti at the breccia pipe. Hiked to Ribbon Falls on the layover day, and came out in three and a half hours. It irritates me so much when people sign their silly names on the rocks, but I feel a little warm and fuzzy when I see a particularly nasty carving that I got rid of, Matthew 2008 in the Manachaca, and July in the Esplanade.

I tried taking some video with my digital camera, since I am teaching the kids at school to work with same.