Last Stretch of Trail

Looking back from the South Rim at the final stretch of trail for our
journey. It looks much better from above than from below.

Colorado River

Colorado means "red color". A reference to the red sand that gets
washed into the river when in rains. Further downstream, below
several dams, the water is clear and blue as the lakes formed by the
dams allow the red sand to settle to the bottom
(https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/PmV4EAHGftCKcTZuJR-Pkt2UbL51viCelWWNFj9KrIc?feat=directlink).

North Rim Rainbow, Take 2

If you didn't know I was neurotic, this will clear things up.

I originally posted a version of this picture on December 20, 2012. I
got several nice comments about it, and I agree it is a nice picture.

But...

It suffered from one of the rookie HDR mistakes, the "Horizon Halo".
If you look on the left of the picture where the land meets the sky ,
mysteriously the sky is brighter near the ground even though the sun
is behind me. This is an artifact of the way HDR works.

Anyway it has been bugging me ever since then, so I finally redid the
picture. I hope this one is as well received as the last. I also put
up each of the exposures used to create the HDR image.

The original HDR. Notice the "Horizon Halo"



Lowest exposure. Notice how the horizon on the left appears.

Second exposure. One stop higher (shutter open twice as long as first).

Third exposure. One stop higher (shutter open twice as long as second).

Fourth exposure. One stop higher (shutter open twice as long as third).

Fifth exposure. One stop higher (shutter open twice as long as fourth).

The Helipad

Petja at the helipad at Phantom Ranch next to the Colorado River.
Seven years before, this was was his final stop after being injured in
the canyon. He was evacuated by helicopter. This time he had to get
out under his own power.

Staying Cool

One way to stay cool at Phantom Ranch was to sit in the shade in the
creek. After a while we tried the other way which is to sit in the
cafeteria with a cold beer.

Hot Hot Hot

This is admittedly in the sun. The shade thermometer read 107 F.
This was at 3:00 in the afternoon at Phantom Ranch.

Bridge in Roaring Springs Canyon

Today the terrain on the Kaibab and Bright Angel Trails through Grand
Canyon is easily managable. The challenges are steepness and heat,
but the path is smooth and wide.

I would be interesting to explore other parts of the canyon besides
this one path from the North Rim Lodge to Grand Canyon Village, but
this is the only developed trans canyon trail and there are only a
few, much shorter, trails into the canyon at all.

Cottonwood Campground

Both sites we stayed at featured the post to hang your pack on to keep
the critters out and ammunition cans to store food in. Just don't
leave them in the sun.

Ribbon Falls

Ribbon falls is a beautiful oasis. The hike down was getting hotter
and hotter, so after we set up camp at Cottonwood campground we mad
our way another mile down the road to this wonderfully cool spot.
While the temperature away from here was over 100 degrees it must have
stayed below 80 here in the shade with the cool water flowing past.

We did leave too soon, fooled by how cool it was here and ended up
sweltering the last hours before sunset in our campsite.

Yucca Lifecycle

The yucca plant shown here in its three stages of life. On the left
the juvenile plant. In the middle the plant grows a stem then the
main plant dies. On the right, the stem dies and the seeds are blown
away in the wind.

Roaring Springs

The water supply for all 5,000,000 visitors to both the North Rim and the South Rim comes from Roaring Springs. Roaring Springs is a natural spring that erupts out of the side of the rocks where Roaring Spring Canyon Intersects Bright Angel Canyon. 

From there it is pumped 3,000 feet back up the canyon to the North Rim and is also fed into the transcanyon pipeline for delivery to the South Rim.

It is gravity fed down to the river where Bright Angel Canyon intersects Grand Canyon. From there it is pumped across the Colorado River and up to Indian Garden and then again up to the South Rim lodges. 

As for the name, you probably guessed by now that it is loud. 

We reached this point by 9:00 and were relieved to have water to pour over our heads and fill our water bottles.

Petja in the Canyon

Looking back up Roaring Springs Canyon toward the North Rim. We are almost at
Bright Angel Canyon.

Lower Roaring Springs Canyon

After passing through Supai Tunnel you can mostly see the rest of the
way down Roaring Springs Canyon to the intersection with Bright Angel
Canyon.

From here the trail hugs the left side of the canyon then crosses over
on a bridge and meanders into the sunshine on the right side.

Supai Tunnel

Sometimes it is easier to go over, sometimes it is easier to go
around, and then sometimes it is easier just to blast a hole right
through.

The tunnel really marks the end of any notion of forest and the
beginning of desert. There are no trees to speak of below the tunnel
except for the cottonwoods that grow along any flowing water.

Grand Canyon? Forest? What?

The trailhead is at 8,241 ft elevation so it is easy to forget that in
less than 5 miles you will be in a hot, hostile environment.

Being all downhill this first section goes by quickly too.

Coconino Sandstone

Grand Canyon is made of layers of sedimentary rock. The most
prominent as viewed from from the rim is the Coconino Sandstone.
Perhaps not as thick as other layers, it is definitely the most
distict.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconino_Sandstone

Hiking Rim to Rim

Petja and I hiked Grand Canyon rim to rim this past August. Don't ask
why we picked August, the hottest month of the year. The National
Park website essentially says that while most people (read smart
people) are hiking in the mountains this time of year, some people
(read stupid people) still make the trip down below the rim.

Grand Canyon has the distiction of being the deadliest national park
and most of the casualties are from falling or from heat exhaustion.
Carrying enough water is critical, as is avoiding the heat. They
advise not to hike between 10:00 and 4:00 which is why we casually got
up and hit the trail at 6:45.

North Rim Sunset

Over 90% of the 5,000,000 annual visitors to Grand Canyon go to the
South Rim. Those that make it to North Rim do not necessarily get a
better view of the canyon, but they are the only people who get to see
the Kaibab Squirrels, who only exist in a 20 mile by 40 mile area near
the North Rim Lodge.

North Rim Rainbow

Summer in Grand Canyon means monsoons. These storms appear as a
single cloud formation and move in quickly, dump buckets of rain, then
just as quickly disappear. The end result is a wonderful mixture of
light and shadows and colors that take your breath away.