Day Two Below Rim: Grand Canyon - Sep 17, 2019

The alarm went off at 3:15 am in our tent in Cottonwood Campground. No, 3:15 am is not a typo and yes, we did that intentionally. Our plan for the second day of five on our Rim to Rim hike was to see Ribbon Falls, get through the Box before the heat of the day and make it to Bright Angel Campground by 10 am. That’s a total of 7.7 miles and a 1500 foot drop in elevation.

Right Buddy (RB) did not sleep well. Her hip was bothering her. It has been doing that off and on over the past couple of years, especially after a long hike with a lot of pack weight. Somehow we managed to prepare a hot breakfast, get packed up, fill up our water, use the vault toilets, and be on the trail by 4:45 am. It was still dark, but we had our headlamps on. Starting out, there were no steep drop offs along the trail, so we were quite comfortable hiking in the dark with only the red light of our headlamps.

The spur trail to Ribbon Falls is a little over a mile from Cottonwood Campground. From our research and talking to other hikers, we knew the bridge over Bright Angel Creek on the spur trail to Ribbon Falls has been out since March 2017 (National Park Service News Article). It was damaged by debris from a storm-caused rockslide. There are no immediate plans to repair or replace the bridge. We also knew that people had made a trail around the bridge which required fording the creek on foot. It was about 5:30 am by the time we reached the damaged bridge and it was still dark.

Just before the bridge, there was a narrow trail leading off to the right (to the north) along the steep bank which disappeared into the brush. In the dark, we could not see where the trail led, where it crossed the creek, or where it came up the other bank. Left Buddy (LB) was confused because he read there was another trail that was south of the bridge, but we did not see any trails leading off to the south (left of the bridge). Between the darkness, the steepness of the bank, and not being able to see where it led made us feel uncomfortable to continue down the narrow trail. While we were standing there at the bridge contemplating what to do, we saw a group of headlamps bobbing down the North Kaibab Trail towards us. "That must be the Shelbyville group", we thought. They went to Ribbon Falls the previous evening. So we walked back to the North Kaibab Trail to ask them questions about the spur trail. One of the members of their group was kind enough to escort us back to the bridge and point out the way they went to Ribbon Falls the day before. Yes, they went down the narrow trail and it is a bit of a scramble up the other bank. It then comes back to the bridge on the other side of the creek and joins back into the original spur trail, which leads south then around the corner to the west and back into a small canyon. After we thanked him for the information, we let him go catch back up with his group. We stood there a little while longer, still struggling with what to do.

We still felt uncomfortable with the looks of the trail at the bridge and not being able to see well in the dark. The report of scrambling up the other bank also had us a little concerned. The Shelbyville group was a couple of decades younger than us and likely more athletic and nimble than we are. As much as we were looking forward to seeing Ribbon Falls, we knew in our gut what the right decision was for us. We needed to skip the falls and just move on. It just took us a few minutes to admit it and accept that disappointment.

Back on the North Kaibab Trail, we trudged methodically down the trail, not saying a word to each other. RB was trying hard to hold back the tears. She had been looking forward to seeing Ribbon Falls for over nine months from the start of our planning the rim to rim hike, and the disappointment was settling in. She knew that we would not be hiking another rim to rim any time soon, if ever again, since we are not getting any younger so she may never see Ribbon Falls. After roughly half a mile down the North Kaibab Trail from the Ribbon Falls spur trail, as our spirits were reaching their low point, we came across a trail sign. It said “Ribbon Falls via Creek”. THIS must be the trail to the south that LB had read about! Let’s go! RB’s mood turned 180 degrees as she almost ran down the trail to the creek.

Near the creek, the trail to the falls turned into a spider web of unmarked trails. This is true on both sides of the creek. We imagine the network of creekside trails evolved from people trying to find the best place to cross as the water level of the creek changes throughout the year. The vegetation along the creek is often dense and high enough that you can't always see where a chosen trail segment will lead. Thank goodness the kind gentleman of the Shelbyville group had pointed out the side canyon where the falls were located. This gave us a good bearing to head towards as we navigated through the maze of trails. The Bright Angel Creek is cold and flows swiftly. The spot we chose to ford was about 15 feet across.  For better footing, we left our hiking boots on during the crossing. Our plan was to change into dry socks after we crossed back the second time. Due to the strength of the current and that some of our steps would put the waterline above our ankles, we felt more comfortable using our trekking poles. As an extra measure of safety, we unbuckled our packs so if the creek did sweep us off our feet, we would be able to shed our packs quickly. Thank you Second Chance Hiker for that advice in one of your videos! As we negotiated the web of trails, we would look back every now and then, trying to remember small landmarks, such as turning left towards the creek just past the dead yucca plant, so we could find our way back faster. We chewed up quite a bit of time at the Ribbon Falls Bridge earlier so we didn't want to waste time finding our route back to the main trail when we were done visiting the falls. Making sure we had time to get through the Box before the heat of the day was constantly in the back of our minds as it had been for months prior to the trip.

We made it! By the time we reached Ribbon Falls, the sun had risen and matched the rise of our positive attitudes. The falls were beautiful in the soft morning light. The water falls onto a travertine spire, collecting in a small pool before cascading down the travertine to another small pool at the bottom. A small trail leads up behind the waterfall near the top of the spire where we could view the pool on top of the travertine and look out through the water. Ribbon Falls, or Chimik’yana’kya, is part of the Zuni people's creation story and is one of their sacred sites. After taking a few minutes to soak in the view, the sound, the mist, and to snap a few pictures and videos, our focus switched back to "The Box". We kept thinking about its notoriety and our issues with heat the day before. It would have been nice to sit and relax by Ribbon Falls and enjoy them a little longer, but we felt the pressure to continue towards Phantom Ranch.

Somehow we managed to retrace our steps back through the array of trails to cross Bright Angel Creek again in the same spot. After we crossed back through the creek, we stopped on the bank to change into dry socks. As a little extra insurance against being dehydrated in the Box, we took the time to filter a liter of water from the creek, using our Sawyer Micro Squeeze (paid link), which brought us up to three liters of water each. In addition, we soaked our shirts, hats and bandanas in the cold creek water to prepare ourselves against the heat. OK, now we needed to get cruising down the trail!

It was 7:20 am by the time we finished our excursion to Ribbon Falls and got back on the North Kaibab Trail. The trail report the previous day from a northbound hiker was accurate. The trail was pretty easy and there were several spots that provided access to the creek if needed. The flat, smooth, wide trail made it easy to sustain a pretty good pace. To save time, we ate a couple of our snacks while we were hiking instead of stopping. However, we did stop and take off our packs a couple of times and we never passed up an opportunity to go down to the creek and get our clothing wet again. We also kept an eye on our watches and made sure we were drinking water every 15 minutes, just to ensure we stayed hydrated. Even though we were mindful to keep up a quick pace, RB still managed to take quite a few pictures and videos of the Box which meant we stopped several times, if only briefly, to enjoy the view along the way. LB would hate to think how many pictures RB would have taken had we not felt so rushed!

It was just a few minutes after 10 am when a doe and her fawn greeted us at the welcome sign to Phantom Ranch. We both felt pretty good. The Box was not that bad!  What was all the fuss about? However, we got through it before the heat of the day. We were in the shade most of the morning. Though it had been daylight since we were at Ribbon Falls, the sun was now only high enough to project its rays and heat down into the canyon. Later in the day, after the sun heats up those black canyon walls, the story of The Box would have been different.

A quarter of a mile down the trail past the structures that make up Phantom Ranch we reached the Bright Angel Campground. The campsites are along the west bank of the Bright Angel Creek, less than half a mile before the creek joins the Colorado River. The campsites are partially shaded, but there is access to the creek to cool off. RB was a little surprised to find that the restrooms have flush toilets and sinks with running water. We picked out site 17, on the canyon wall side instead of one on the creek side, since it looked like it would have a little more shade. Similar to what we had done at Cottonwood Campground, we unloaded all the contents of our backpacks into the large bear box (actually an ammunition box) and hung our empty backpacks on hooks on the pole provided at each site. That is the park service’s recommended procedure to keep critters from raiding and damaging our packs.

The Shelbyville group was settling into their group site. Yet again, it was the nicest site in the campground. They had a stone structure that provided places to sit on benches in the shade. Were we jealous again? Yes. Yes we were.

After setting up our tent, we walked back to Phantom Ranch to visit the Canteen. Lemonade never tasted so good. It was probably made with Country Time Lemonade mix, but it was cold and over ice. The Canteen charges $5 for the drink with a cup, but a refill is only $1. They recommend you hang on to your cup and reuse it the whole time you are staying at the bottom of the canyon. Remember, all those cups and trash have to be hauled in and out by mule. We forget how many refills we bought. We drank until our stomachs were bloated. The Canteen also had iced tea, which is what RB normally drinks, but, for some reason, the lemonade was just so refreshing that RB had nothing but lemonade the whole time we were at Phantom Ranch. To help replenish our salts, we also each ate a bag of potato chips.

On the way back to our campsite, we took pictures of the thermometers posted at the campground. At 12:45 pm, the temperature in the shade was 97 degrees Fahrenheit, but in the sun (while it was temporarily behind a cloud), it was 104 degrees. To cool off, we spent some time soaking in the creek. The creek water temperature at Bright Angel Campground is not as cold as at Cottonwood Campground. It was still cold, but you could actually sit down in it without going into shock or turning numb.

RB was starting to get some chafing from her hiking pants. Since she experienced this on the Appalachian Trail earlier in the year, she was a little better prepared this time. She brought along a tube of vaseline and a tube of zinc oxide. For a last resort, she had the spandex shorts that she was using to sleep in that she could use under her hiking pants. However, she would prefer not to wear the same shorts both day and night as it is nice to have clean, dry clothes to sleep in. So, in the afternoon, she started out using the vaseline. When that didn’t seem to have any affect, she switched to the zinc oxide in the evening, along with changing into dry underwear. The zinc oxide helped. She decided to wait until morning to see if she would need to wear the spandex shorts during the day.

At 4 pm, we went back to Phantom Ranch for the Ranger Program… and more lemonade. Ranger Kaylee led the discussion that revolved around three stories. The first story was about John Wesley Powell’s expedition of 1869 on the Colorado River, the first documented descent through the Grand Canyon. The second story was about Pete McBride and Kevin Fedarko’s 750 miles of section hiking the length of the Grand Canyon in 2016. The third story was about Ophelia Watahomigie-Corliss, a Havasupai Tribal Councilwoman who is part of the collaboration between the local tribes and the National Park Service.

Back at our campsite, while we were charging our phones using the battery pack (paid link) we carried with us, our entertainment included watching a preying mantis struggle to get down from our picnic table seat and eventually fall to the ground. He did not appear to be hurt as he crawled away. After making dinner, we returned to Phantom Ranch for the 7:30 pm Ranger Program which was hosted again by Ranger Kaylee. Kaylee is normally stationed at the North Rim, but came down to Phantom Ranch for a few days. She hiked down from the North Rim earlier that day in about five and a half hours. Considering it took us two days, we were impressed. The 7:30 pm program was a discussion about the threatened Mexican Spotted Owl and the recent changes to the Endangered Species Act.

Before turning into our tent for the night, RB wet her hair to cool her body down to make it easier to get to sleep. She also took some ibuprofen so her hip would not keep her awake like it did the night before. By 9 pm we were both in bed content with our activities of the day and a full view of the sky as we again left our rain fly off.  We enjoyed the thought of spending the whole next day relaxing and exploring the bottom of the canyon.

Check out our related video on our YouTube Channel: Day Two Below Rim - Cottonwood to Phantom: Grand Canyon

(RB)