On Election Day, 2004, I led another hike for the Grand Canyon Field Institute with a group of nine people. These mule assisted trips are a great way for folks to enjoy camping at Phantom Ranch without having to carry anything more than a daypack. Not having to haul food and gear in a heavy backpack makes a huge difference in the level of comfort along the trail. We met at the historic Kolb House for our introductory meeting and classroom day. Everyone could look out of the living room window in the comfort of the only private residence ever built on the rim of Grand Canyon and see the great gorge and the route we would take into it. There is no way to describe this unique blend of scenic comfort with the eventual inner canyon magic!
The Kaibab Trail was closed due to a huge section of the trail below Cedar Ridge that was washed out in one of our recent storms. So instead we went down the Bright Angel Trail right past the Kolb House we had been guests at the previous day. The weather was perfect for hiking - no clouds, the blue blue Arizona sky and about 50 degrees temperature at Indian Gardens, 4.5 miles down the trail. This weather was colder than the seasonal average but we had prepared well for it. We hardly broke a sweat the whole four days!
One of the highlights of this trip was seeing so much wildlife - herds of mule deer on the Bright Angel Trail, bighorn sheep many times along the river and near the rim, a fox trotting leisurely along Bright Angel Creek, and of course ringtail cats in the campground. One doesn't normally think of the canyon as a refuge for wildlife but it is such a vast wilderness, they find the canyon a wonderful home. Off season hiking is a good time to spot wildlife. Mike Buchheit, the director of the Field Institute joined us for a night and so did a writer for Arizona Highways magazine. We may see a write-up of this trip within the next few years in that magazine.
Everyone made it out of the canyon within less than seven hours! I'll be leading another mule assisted trip next year with GCFI. Check out my Upcoming Trips page for specific dates and details.
