Tactical Retreat

The return hike back down to Phantom Ranch was fraught with uncertainty.  Was MG too fatigued to make another 7 mile hike?  Would there be campground space?  Was it possible that the afternoon heat would be too much for both of us?

So, we paced ourselves and hoped for the best.  Unfortunately, for the first 3 miles or so, the July sun beat down on us relentlessly and we made very poor time, stopping at every bit of shade and cursing the trail designers for not placing those upper 3 miles of path closer to Bright Angel Creek like it is (by necessity) in the box canyon portion.

Bright Angel Creek in the box canyon

Phantom Canyon on the North Kaibab

But we started to catch a series of good breaks as we entered "the box".  The good thing about hiking in July is that the monsoon season is underway - which means clouds.  As it clouded up, our spirits (and pace) picked up.  We started to think that maybe we'd make it back to Phantom before dark.

AND WE DID!

Ah!  A cabin - so near, yet so far!

So we stumbled back in to Phantom Ranch with 14 miles on our feet for the day.  So we walked staggered up to the canteen window (it was closed for dinner prep when we arrived) and the conversation went like this:

ME:  "We planned to hike to the north rim today, but could only make Cottonwood Campground.  The other part of our group had the back country pass so...what are our options."

WONDERFUL Xanterra person: "Well, do you want beds?"

We made it!, but what now?

ME:  <stunned into silence>  "Uh, sure!  You mean with like showers and AC?"

WXP:  "There were lots of cancellations for the dorms today - pouring rain on the south rim.  We should have dorm space for both of you."

ME:  "Heck yes!"

WXP:  "What about dinner?"

ME:  "TWO of them?"

WXP:  "Yes?"

So that evening, we had everything we'd hoped for if we'd climbed out of the canyon.  We had beds, dinner, AC, showers, and we weren't dead.

The Long March...

North Kaibab trail map (The Mystery Hiker on the right).

...otherwise known as the North Kaibab Trail. This was where the plan went awry. Here MG and Gregg had to make what we assumed at the time was possibly a life-or-death decision. OK, maybe that's reaching a bit, being a bit melodramatic. The plan for the day was to make the entire 14 mile hike from Phantom Ranch to the North Rim. This hike is comprised of a 7 mile trek with a modest gain in elevation from Phantom Ranch to Cottonwood campground and a second 7 mile stretch with a tremendous elevation gain from Cottonwood to the North Rim.

Our little adventure started at about 6:30am (which we later learned was far too late a start should we ever again be crazy enough to try this whole hike in one day.) We found out later that our uphill pace (Mary Gere's and mine) is about 1 mile per hour. That means we would climb out of the Canyon at about 8:30pm at the earliest. Can you see where this is going? We couldn't at 6:30am...

So, we hustled up the trail in order to beat the sun and get up to Cottonwood campground as quickly as we could. Don't get me wrong - for all the terrible warnings given us about "The Box", I found this stretch of the trail - the first 4 miles or so of the North Kaibab - to be absolutely awesome. We didn't stop for many pictures, but here are a few:

Bright Angel Creek

Random "Majestic Peak"

I think this is called Clement-Powell Butte. Heh,heh - there's a lot of "Buttes" in the Canyon.

One hour's march - break time for both teams

Now, throughout the trip we tried to find a way to take a photograph that would provide some visual cue about how high/far away/deep the Grand Canyon really is. Unfortunately, I think we failed. I took a vertical panorama series from the rest spot shown above that, when stitched together, was bigger than the Blogger uploader allows. The canyon is so steep, narrow, and tall here that there was no way with our regular little camera lens to show it all. I think that John may have some pictures that show the ridiculous scale we're talking about.

To get back to the suspenseful, life-and-death story though: While we were proud members of Team Thunder on the first day, it became obvious by the time we stumbled in to Cottonwood Campground,well behind the others, Mary Gere literally panting for breath, that we were going to have to choose another name. We could go with Team Last Thing You'll Ever Do, or at the suggestion of our faithful leader, Team Turn Back. Turn back! Turn back! It may be cliche, but the final decision was made by Mary Gere after John told her that "discretion is the better part of valor". Mary Gere is so well known for being discreet, of course, but she still realized the wisdom of his words and taking in to the consideration the look of panic on Gregg's (and everyone else's) face every time she said she really wanted to do it, she agreed to co-captain Team Turn Back. Turn back! Turn back!

Before the decision was even finalized, the newly christened Team Chapbuns (Austin & Andrew) headed to the North Rim, with the news that Mary Gere was suffering and that Zach had a sprained ankle. Once Mary Gere recognized the wisdom of a tactical retreat, Team Thunder (John and, new team member, Zach) lit out as well. And finally, after a lengthy R&R at Cottonwood Campground (and a lovely chat with some athletic German girls who had done more in 3 hours then Mary Gere could conceive of getting done in a day) Team Turn Back (Turn back! Turn back!) turned back.