Grand canyon by moonlight (Part 2 of X)

Continued, from https://waterrockwoman.wordpress.com/2015/08/05/grand-canyon-by-moonlight-part-1-of-x/

I arrived at the park midday on August 2nd, coming in from the east and an early morning spent at Wapatki National Monument, touring a few pueblo ruins before the sun got too hot and other visitors arrived. Cloudy skies early, a few fat-drop rain showers on the drive. Met a family from France outside the GC backcountry office, also waiting for the office lunch break to end so we could ask the staffers a few questions about trail and weather conditions. The French were on the last stop of a month-long vacation, and were preparing to hike to Phantom Ranch for a night. They kindly did not make fun of my lunch, a recently-discovered cheap coleslaw replacement – helpings of broccoli slaw ($1.29 at walmart, or $1.50 or so at Safeway) in a plastic cup, doused in yogurt-base bleu cheese dressing.

At 1300 the backcountry information office reopened, and I spoke to a woman there about my hiking plans, down the South Kaibab and back up the Bright Angel, starting after dark. She didn’t know the expected moonrise time but told me a bit about a hike she’d done a year ago, down the Kaibab and across the Tonto trail to Indian Garden, at night. Sounded like a worthwhile, minor, changeup – the Tonto trail runs four or so miles from Tip-off to Indian Garden, bridging the two rim-to-river trails, and the views would be better on the plateau than in the canyons descending and then ascending the last 1000 feet or so to the Colorado River. Weather report indicated clear skies after 2200, so I figured I’d play my start time by ear based on the cloud cover – I should have plenty of time to hike down, across, and back up the 12 or so miles starting even that late – with a goal of ascending the last mile or two of switchbacks around sunrise.

Map! http://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/upload/corridor_map.pdf . Note the tonto trail is not labeled- it’s the dotted line bridging the trails above tip-off and then below Indian Garden.

I also asked the staff about mountain lions – I’d seen a cluster of game crossing signs driving through the park that morning, including a pair of mountain lion signs, which concerned me enough to inquire about their prevalence below the rim. Don’t get me wrong, mountain lions are way cool, but not an animal I’d care to encounter unawares, hiking alone at night – they’re not dangerous to groups of hikers but have been known to stalk solo hikers. I’ve since tried to remember the exact response I received to this question – at the time, what I recall was, mountain lions are not active in the area of the Corridor trails. But later, I was thinking the response may have been – hikers don’t typically encounter mountain lions on corridor trails. Regardless, I left the office not worried about cats, and decided I didn’t need to carry my bear spray (which is not bear spray at all, but gel pepper spray my friend Jules gave me and another cyclist, back in Baltimore, last year).

Spent a lazy afternoon dozing in the back of the truck, hoping the cloudy skies would clear. A decent thunderstorm hit just before 5 pm, but as it passed and the sun returned, I decided to get an earlier start – boiled some cheesy pasta for dinner and filled my pack, with a gallon of water capacity to fill at the trailhead, 2 headlights, various emergency contents, long-sleeved wool shirt and tights, a rainjacket, and 2-inch knife (the Gerber knife Amanda gave her bridesmaids last year, what she calls her “bra-strap knife”, for its small size). By six-thirty I was on the bike headed the five or so miles to the South Kaibab trailhead. The skies to the west were almost cloudless and I decided to begin before dark, to catch the sunset at the beginning of the hike. I left the rim and headed down some steep switchbacks around seven fifteen, with sunset shortly following about fifteen minutes later.

To be continued…