Descent Overwhelming

After a last minute gear check, we headed over to Maswik for a light breakfast consisting of yogurt, muffins, and coffee. We left our Ford Explorer at the backcountry parking lot and caught the shuttle over to Yaki Point and the South Kaibab Trailhead. We started down the trail around 07:20 that morning. There were several groups already there, but everyone took time to space out before descending. Ironically some of the groups we thought looked like hearty hikers didn't turn up at Phantom until several hours after us looking a bit worse for the wear.

The South Kaibab is one of the main trails down into the inner gorge and Phantom Ranch. The South Kaibab is a corridor trail that is well maintained. Other than the fact that it is steep with endless switchbacks, the hike down is not too bad. Every bend graces you with another spectacular view. For the most part the trail is wide and about 7 miles distance to Phantom Ranch. The trail takes you over Black Bridge.

One of the unique aspects about hiking the Grand Canyon is that the hike down is a relentless hike down as is the hike up is a relentless hike up. Going down your quads and the heels of your feet are hammered as you continual put the brakes on. When climbing out your glutes, calves and the balls of your feet will start to talk to you and usually with four letter words. As we descended through the Kaibab limestone and Toroweap formation, we noted that although it seemed we had been hiking for a while it hardly appeared that we covered any vertical distance. Throughout the 5 days of hiking that phenomenon would repeat itself. The enormity of the canyon seems to distort distance traveled. Every time you think you were going to make your objective around the next bend, or the next switchback, there was always one more, then another, then another........ It seemed to go on forever.

Elliot's prowess (and mentality?) as a runner quickly became evident. I had allowed him to take the lead after passing through the Toroweap formation and he quickly sped off. At the beginning of the Supai Group, I stopped to chat with a group who were already having foot troubles, I then noticed El was gone from sight. It appears every switchback became a race to him. Sorry guy, but I think I am going to lead from here on out. There was no way I could keep up with him. Trying had me winded in minutes. I have hiked a lot of deserts and have learned from other trip leaders to set a more methodical pace. I get into my mode and just keep going. We eventually got into a good routine that I referred to as the slinky-maneuver. I would continue on at a steady methodic pace. El would wait until I got about 100 feet ahead of him then he would race up behind me and pause until I increased the distance again. It worked out quite well for everyone. We made it to Bright Angel Camp and Phantom Ranch by 13:00. We jumped into Bright Angel Creek after setting up camp. The cold water on those aching feet felt wonderful.

One day into it we already started with gear trouble. The bite valve on my hydro-cell continually leaked (It would plague me for the rest of the trip). As I worked on that, El found out his stove would not start, and after about 40 minutes he could not get it to prime. We would use mine for the rest of the trip. I was stunned at how much food El brought. Most people bring a food bag; he had a food duffel. It had to take up half his pack. After exploring up the North Kaibab for about 1 mile through The Box, the rest of the day was spent at Boat Beach, and then a few cold ones at the canteen. I unfortunately suffered some huge blisters on the bottom of both heels that required some attention. Dinner that night consisted of chicken and gravy with parmesan rice, dehydrated fruit, and hot chocolate. Distance traveled: 7 miles. Time: 5 hrs 30 min. You can also throw in an extra 2 miles for the round trip for the North Kaibab jaunt.