I finally got my timing right and was ready to hit the trail as soon as it was light enough.  I still kept my headlamp on briefly to peer into the dark water, but it wasn’t really needed.  I got my shoes and pants and everything dry last night, so I could get them wet again within one minute of starting to hike, crossing Kanab Creek yet again.

I continued upstream for a couple of miles before the creek disappeared on me.  I got eight liters of water at the last point it was flowing since I’ve got to go about 40 miles before I next see water.  My pack was considerably heavier after that.  Since I’ve been walking next to so much water the last couple of days, I have carried very little.  However, I’ve been working on my food load, so it’s still not as bad as my first stretch out of the North Rim.  It seemed like I had passed most of the big boulder obstacles yesterday by the time I got to Shower Bath, so it was much easier going today.  Sometimes it was small rocks that I could just walk over, and sometimes it was bigger, and I had to rock hop, but still way quicker and easier than yesterday.

I slept great last night and was up for the hike slightly before the sun was.  Since I had already been through the narrows and seen Deer Creek Falls yesterday, I decided just to hike through the narrows with my headlamp to get going.  After the narrows, I headed off on what looked like an old trail that I had noticed yesterday.  It didn’t go straight along the river; this trail went in the same direction at a higher elevation.  It worked out for the most part, aside from a couple washed-out parts and a couple of slips.

I didn’t set an alarm since I had another shorter day today, but I was still up unusually early.  It’s so much better than waking up to the alarm clock, though.

I continued down Saddle Canyon, which now had flow from Crazy Jug.  However, the flow wasn’t very much, so it didn’t make travel difficult.  It was the typical weave back and forth across the stream, but I mostly just followed the stream bed as the footprints of the others ahead of me had.  Travel went pretty well, and I made good time.  The canyon walls closed in and opened up, alternating back and forth.  There was one section which was really scenic with tighter canyon walls but still enough room for a bunch of cottonwoods to grow.  The cottonwoods still had half-green leaves on them while the other half were just starting to change.  Surprisingly, not everything is changing down here yet.

I was awake when my alarm went off at quarter to five.  I wanted to hit the trailhead at first light, and I had about an hour to get there, so I got up and started packing accordingly.  It was a clear, cold night, and I’m sure it was below freezing, but I had the motivation to get this day started so I could tackle its challenge.

I don’t really like night hikes, but it was just necessary here.  At least I was just going along the enclosed 4×4 track, not through some exposed scenic vistas.  I was constrained to the muted glow of my headlamp but made good time marching along the road.  I got to the trailhead just as the sun was starting to color the sky oranges and pinks.  I snapped a couple of quick shots and headed down the trail, which would switch back down to Muav Saddle, where I took a brief stop at Theodore Roosevelt cabin.  It’s not actually his cabin, but he was rumored to camp at the spot when he was hunting mountain lions in the when he was president.  I took off my extra layers and prepared for the hard part of the day.

The wind howled last night, just like the last time I camped on the edge of the North Rim several days ago.  However, it barely hit my tent, just like last time too, so that was nice.  It was relatively warm, actually.  The wind was blowing up from the canyon, and maybe that had something to do with it.  I could walk just 100 yards away from the rim, and it got a lot colder.

I watched the sunrise from the rim since I didn’t have to hit the trail first thing.  It was absolutely spectacular with some clouds near where the sun was coming up and amazing colors that were reflected off them from the sun.  Probably one of the best sunrises that I’ve ever seen.

I didn’t sleep well last night at all.  I was on a slight slant, but I don’t think that had anything to do with it.  I was up and at it as soon as it was light enough once again.  The other people in the area were still in their tents, stirring a little bit.

I had just a little bit more trail on the Tonto Trail before I hooked up with the main hiker highway between the North and South Rim.  The trail went quick and easy, and I enjoyed a nice sunrise along the way.  I got to the hiker highway, and it was a very wide dusty path filled with mule droppings and debris.  The Park service uses mules to get supplies in and out of Phantom Ranch at the bottom of the canyon.  After being on the small trails for a while, I didn’t really like this huge multi-use thoroughfare.

It stayed surprisingly warm considering the elevation last night; it was also amazingly still.  This might be why I didn’t sleep too well.  I did wake up to my alarm today, and once again, I got packed up so quickly it was still dark.  I successfully killed some time reading on my Kindle without getting attacked by birds, which is amazing.  I really wanted to wait until it was light before I started hiking today since I was on top of Horseshoe Mesa, and I wanted to see the surrounding terrain from this vantage point.

I took a slight alternate from the Tonto Trail by crossing the Mesa and going down the other side.  My mileage was pretty similar, but I figured this would let me see more.  Unfortunately, I read that a big cave in the Mesa was closed by the park service to protect bats, so I couldn’t visit that.  However, the view from the Mesa was great during the sunrise, with portions of the Canyon gradually getting lit by the sun.  The pink tint of the canyon is just amazing.

For the first time ever in my life, I slept through my alarm clock.  I think the river rapids were too loud, and they drowned it out.  I woke up, and it was getting light out, so I checked my clock, and I realized I overslept almost an hour!  I hastily packed up camp so I could do as much hiking as possible before the sun started beating down on me.

The trail started off next to the Colorado for some pleasant and easy walking.  It then climbed up into some hills to avoid cliffs at the water’s edge.  There was a weird structure built on top of one of the hills using mud for mortar, and I was curious who built it.  That style is typically Indian, but I doubt it would have lasted so long exposed to the elements on top of a hill like that.

It was windy last night, and I had to make sure that none of my gear was going to blow away with me cowboy camping.  The wind was also clawing at my sleeping bag pretty good, trying to snatch it away.  I would have stayed in my tent last night if I could, but I was on a sheer rock, so that wasn’t really possible with the decent pitch, especially with it being windy.

I didn’t set an alarm, but I was still awake and ready to go shortly after sunrise—or rather, when it got light enough.  The sun rises pretty late and sets pretty early in the canyon due to the narrow walls.  I continued on the cliff ledges that I started yesterday, winding in and out of washes to maintain about the same level.  In many places, there was a sheer drop to the Colorado, 200 feet below me.  Pretty good terrain for hiking.

I saw my Canadian friends at camp on the other side of the river and shouted down to them, but they didn’t hear me despite me hearing myself echo down the canyon.  Right after I passed their camp, I met Burnt Snag.  She asked me about the section of the trail that I just passed through since it was slightly exposed.  She was a little hesitant about exposure, so I offered to walk across it with her, especially since I had time to kill today.  We got about halfway across, but she didn’t like its narrowness and exposure and decided to turn around.  She asked if I wanted to hike with her, and I said, “Of course!”  I’ve only hiked with one other person for this entire trail.

It was a warm night.  I was sweating a little bit under my quilt, even though I had it completely open.  Since I dropped 6,000 feet yesterday down to about 2,700, I knew it was going to be a lot warmer down here.  I’ve got several days down here, so it’ll be nice to not have to deal with some of the overnight cold for a bit.

I was tied to the rafter’s schedule today since they were my ride.  We had a breakfast of bagels with cream cheese, lox, and all the fixings.  Way better than my normal cold soak meal.  Once again, they invited me to partake and offered to send me on my way with more food since they had way too much.  I’ve got plenty though, so I declined.

I had to configure my gear to put on the whitewater raft.  We were only going to see one decent rapid today, along with some normal riffles, so I wasn’t too concerned.  I have been carrying a light dry bag, which I’ve been using as a pack liner.  I knew I’d be crossing some areas where I might have to go through deep pools, so I’ve been carrying this bag for those types of eventualities.  This is the first time I’ve had to use it as a dry bag though.  The pack was a tight squeeze, but I got everything in except my food, which is in a separate dry bag.  All the rafters were in dry suits, but all I had was my rain gear, so I just used my raincoat, rain pants, no socks, and my shoes.

I got into Dan’s raft, and we headed out.  As we passed down the river past the riverbank that I would have been walking, I’m so glad that I am taking a raft instead.  I definitely could have hiked the riverbank, but it was pretty bushy, lots of boulders and small rocks, and steep in some places, and it pretty much just would have been a miserable grind for nine miles to get down to the point where I would still need to cross the Colorado.  Sitting on the raft, I was swept along by the river’s current, and I could just look up and enjoy a magnificent canyon surrounding me.  The walls were sheer, and in this portion of the canyon, you could see up and down pretty far, and it was incredibly scenic.