On May 11th I did 21.2 Miles to the North Rim Campground. On May 12th I did 21.1 Miles to Swamp Point. On May 13th I did 13.1 Miles to Saddle Canyon just Pass Jug Canyon. On May 14th I did 11.7 Miles to Fish Canyon. On May 15th I did 12.9 Miles to Showerbath Spring. On May 16th I didn 22.3 Miles to Hack Canyon. On May 17th I 27.7 Miles to Maroney Well.
Listen to "Koto" by CloZee. This song is guaranteed to make you move 10% faster, which was needed on this intense section. Try it and see if you don't actually move faster, if I'm wrong you can buy me a beer.
After resupplying in the S.Rim I found a campsite in Mather Camground and tried to get some shut eye before doing Rim to Rim the next day. I initially didnt plan on going up to the S.Rim for a resupply but since the N.Rim doesn't open till the 15th of May I had to change plans. The Rim to Rim hike isn't terrible, it ended up being a 21.2 mile day with 4,600 feet loss and 5,800 feet gained. It was straightforward going down and across the Colorado river again but instread of hitching across I took the more pedestrian way and used the suspension bridge. I took a late lunch at Ribbon Falls which felt like an oasis in the desert canyon, it was a much needed reprive from the desert heat. The winds were horrendous all day and actually knocked me over, it didnt help that my pack was super heavy with 8 days of food and at the base of the climb I had to collect and carry 8 liters of water since the next reliable source was 38 miles away. It was a little slow going but the North Rim is soooo beautiful that taking extra time to go up it wasn't a burden. The North Rim trail is drastically different than the South Rim and had us winding around the red rock Canyon walls for miles as we worked our way up to the plateau.
On the way up Sprinkler and I met a Ranger. She turned out to be a PSAR (Preventative Search and Rescue) Ranger. This is a unique job tittle that started out in the Grand Canyon. In 1996 there were so many deaths and accidents in the Grand Canyon the Superintendent almost closed the entire park to give the first responders a rest. So in 1997 they created PSAR and their job is to help distraught people in the park before it becomes and emergency. We hiked with the Ranger for the last 2 miles of the North rim trail and had so many questions about desert emergencies (I definitely did not tell her I had heat exhaustion a few days ago). We parted ways at the top of the rim (I now have a new list of books the ranger suggested I read) and made our way to the N. Rim Campground. The next day was a chill walk along some double track which allowed us to sleep in as the temperature at night was in the 20s. The double track lead us to North Bass Trail head setting us up for the hardest section of the trail.
The guidebook lists the next section as extreme (the only section listed this way), which is probably a good description of the route; it was both extremely hard and extremely beautiful and worth all of the blood and sweat (the tears were saved for joy). After North Bass we bushwhacked through a canyon for 4 miles, navigating dryfalls that required us to lower our backs via rope, and going cross country on unmakred and loose terrain with serious fall consequences. We were going less than 1 mile per hour trying to make our way into the heart of Saddle Canyon. We were able to reach the section of the canyon where the walls got super high and close together creating a narrow path filled with polished sandstone and plunge pools. We probably went through 20 pools, some only thigh deep and some up to the waist. Entering the pool was the hardest part as there was no easy way to lower yourself in, you usually just had to slide in and hope for the best (on one I slipped and ended up landing on my back in the pool). Other times we would hand each others packs down and ferry them across above our heads. It was such a fun canyon and it allowed us to cool off, plus the water in the canyon gave way to some unique flora and at times it felt like we were walking through a conservatory. The next day started with some slow boulder hopping where we meet up with Tapeats River. Tapeats river is a river feed by a spring that just comes out the side of the mountain and is absolutely raging and has white water in it. I had never seen a single spring fed river before have so much power (I only took pictures at the safe spots and needed to be ready on the dangerous crossings so the pictures I do have look chill). We followed the river down the canyon for 1.3 miles which took us 2 hours. We had to cross the river many times navigating the rapids and at times just had to walk down the middle of it because of the sheer canyon walls. The river had swiftest water I have ever crossed and the irony of crossing a super strong river in the middle of the desert was not lost. We left Tapeats River and made our way up Thunder Spings which was another huge water source that is literally being pressed out the side of the mountain. After topping out we went through Suprise Valley and down Deer Creek to a stunning narrow canyon with gushing water. The canyons water was too swift and had too much white water to ford, so we had to walk the top of the rim and followed it until it dumped into the Colorado River. This was our third time hitting the CO River in the Grand Canyon. We followed the river down stream for 7.5 miles following game trails as we made made out way over talus slopes, benches and the occasional sand bar. The going was slow and hot (the temperature reached 98 degrees), but the surroundings made the slog worth it. We camped at Fish Canyon and got up at 430am to start the.next boulder hop. It was an extremely tedious 4.5 mile long boulder field along the Colorado River. I got to Kanab Creek at about 930 and waited in the shade for Sprinkler, she didn't come up to the creek till 1030, I was wondering if something went wrong but it was just the opposite. Some rafters saw her scrambling on the rocks and yelled out to see if she wanted a care package. When she said yes they were able to leave some fruit and cider in the river that she was able to scramble down to and get (this is the the 4th time we have gotten beer/cider from rafters!). We decided to take Kanab Creek slow, partially because it was super slow going around the boulders and partially because it was the coolest canyon we had been in. There were swimming holes around every bend that we could dive into. We were going about 1 MPH but that was mostly because we were busy eating our rafter care package and swimming the entire way up the canyon. We made a small side trip up to Whispering Falls which was one of the most peaceful places I have ever been with a crystal clear pools underneath. We then set out sights on camp and made a push before dark. Camp was at Showerbath Springs. There was a cluster of ferns about 15 feet in the air, 30 feet long and 20 feet deep that water was just pouring out of. I took a cold shower underneath the ferns and jumped into the pool behind it for a bath (I now get why it's called showerbath) and repeated the process a few times and felt euphoric before crawling into my sleeping bag.
The next day we continued to follow Kanab Creek Upstream, about 2 Miles from camp the water disappeared and we were walking on a dry creek bed. We followed the dry bed to Hack Canyon, which was also dry making it a 25 mile water carry to Hack Resevoir. Sprinkler had a cache at Hack Reservoir, she initially was hiking with another partner so there is extra snacks and water in her cache I could use, which will help me get to Colorado City without completley running out of food. I am super thankful for the extra little bit of food, as I have been extremely calorie deficient and was having a hard time rationing food as I am down 27 lbs (my belt had a 2 inch tail on it when in started and now it's over 8 inches). After getting extra food at the cache we made our way towards Colorado City going across flat(ish) sage brush country.
Both Sprinkler and I are pretty tired, when ever something shitty things happens we don't even get mad we usually just laugh about it. After packing up one morning Sprinkler brushed up against a cactus and her leg looked like a porcupine, she didn't even notice at first and just nonchalantly pulled all of the needles out. When I fell into the plunge pool my dinner got wet with stagnant water, the options were simple, eat it as is or don't eat anything, I definitely ate the dinner. We joke that we are going feral and I sometimes wonder if it's actually a joke.
