Monday, October 24.
Originally we were signed up for a 5 am breakfast at Phantom Ranch… luckily Kendrick got this changed to 7 am and we all went over to the cabin to eat our take out breakfast from Phantom Ranch. We had scrambled eggs, an orange, sausages and pancakes… it was quite yummy. Once we finished breakfast we headed back to camp to pack up and hit the trail. We were on the trail by 8 am and we crossed the silver bridge and took the River trail to the Bright Angel trail and began to our trek up the canyon.
We walked along Pipe Creek as we ascended the Bright Angel trail on our way to Indian Garden campground. By the way… Indian Garden has been renamed Havasupai Garden Campground to honor the Havasupai people who originally inhabited the area and considered it “sacred ground.” The Havasupai people live 8 miles below the rim in an area known as the Supai and is only accessible via hiking or mule ride (L. Frisby, 9.21.21).
There were a lot of green plants and trees along the trail with the plentiful supply of water from the creek. I had forgotten about seeing the waterfall but once I saw it I remembered this spot from my February trip. We went up the Devil’s Corkscrew and at the top of it was “Oh Jesus Point” where I lost my balance on the February trip and I scared myself and everyone else too.
We had a rest break and saw a woman carrying a bicycle strapped to her back - her name was Sam and she was completing the Arizona trail and had chosen a route through the Grand Canyon that didn’t allow bicycle riding… so she had packed it in. She was doing this hike alone and I thought she was awesome.
We made great time to Havasupai Garden and arrived about noon. Kendrick had taken the lead on this day and had four of the five tents in our group set up when we arrived. Once camp setup was completed we hiked out to Plateau Point to have dinner.
At camp it had been shady, damp, and chilly. At Plateau Point it was sunny, warm, with very little wind, and a very few people outside of our group - surprising but super nice. We saw a condor and I got a good photo of it and we were able to read the tag on its wings - J1. A little while later we saw a 2nd condor circling above us… so cool! We headed back to camp before the sunset and after the dice game we turned in early.
Great capture of the condor. I really liked your narrative. Thanks for the information on the name change. If you ever get a chance you should hike to the village of Supai to see their wonderful waterfalls.
