I was at the Campground registration at 8am. Yesterday I had decided that after a full day adventure into the Canyon the best thing to do would be to avoid driving, and the second best thing to do would be to stay another night at Mather Campground. The place is a popular spot, so I didn’t want to take any chances. 8am I was waiting for the office to open, and by 8:05 I was lined up for a full day at the Grand Canyon. The Mather Campground is one of my favourite sites so far. It’s a real Camper’s Campground; more ‘ground’ then ‘camp’. Miniature hide-outs, big enough for one man to call a tent, are buried throughout the grounds surrounded by the aftermath of exploded hikers. It’s not a real campground unless there are shoes hanging from the trees and hiking gear scattered over the picnic tables like placemats. Small fires are burning with their main function being for cooking, and late night heat being their only other use. Vehicles are organized as compact home-away-from-homes, with everything a person could need to survive, and nothing more. In addition, when the sun goes down the campers disappear for the night, and come first light they are ready to attack the day. The sites are carved out of the woods, and at night, Stars! Normally when I’m tenting it, the setting of the sun corresponds with the ditching of my glasses, but out here, I need the sharpest vision to take advantage of the blanket of stars above me.
The Campground also provides area-locals that are available to come by and check on you at night. Last night I woke up at about 3 o’clock and could hear a gentle rustling just outside my tent. I carefully unzipped one of the windows to see the dark outline of some night creature. At the time I of course assumed it was someone looking to steal something from the site, like me. But the outline looked more like a four-legged something, like a cow something, or a horse something, or a crawling samsquanch kind of something. Then just like that it was gone. 4:30 rolls around, and I hear the visitor again, this time with a few friends. At this point I was just plan curious… and too scared to do anything but find out what was creeping around my tent… plus I desperately had to go to the bathroom, so I held my breath and snuck out of the tent. I was surrounded by Elk. A small herd had moved in and were snacking on the near by brush. I was the outsider. I was consumed by nature and no one (the Elk) seemed too concerned with my presence. I stood out in the dark with three or four of my new local friends and took in night. Mather Campground, what a place. I’ve been to the ‘campgrounds’ with the monster RVs and the eighteen-man luxury garrisons posing as tents, but this encampment is all about you and nature and that’s it. I felt like I fit right in.
I had decided on the South Kaibab Trail for my Grand Canyon entry. It was described as steep, moderately difficult, and very scenic; Perfect! It was an out-and-back, or rather a down-and-up, with multiple rest-points. I was very excited, now I just needed to get to the trailhead. The Grand Canyon Village offers a free shuttle service that operates in the same way a municipal transit system might, they also offer very little in terms of full day parking, so I was busing it. There was a transfer that I needed to make, and it took some time for the bus to find my stop (not cause it was lost, just cause I was impatient and wanted to be picked up Right Away!). I finally made it to the South Kaibab Trail entrance and I was off.
The trail doubled as a Mule Trail, which meant it hung off the cliff and twisted back and forth on top of itself as it descended almost directly down into the canyon. I couldn’t stop with the camera; every few steps there was a new shot, around every corner there was a better vista. Plus I was descending, what a breeze. There was however this small voice in the back of my mind that was screaming at me to be cautious. Not that I needed any extra anxiety about falling into the gorge, or getting dried out by the sun, or facing off against a Mule on the narrow trail, it was my lack of experience on down-and-ups that was ever so slightly plaguing my thoughts. I know the Rocky Mountain routine in the Kananaskis like the ‘how to place an order’ process at the McDonald’s drive thru (yeah, I’ve been to the Arches once or twice), but those scrambles and day hikes are up-and-downs, meaning you get the heavy exertion out of the way at the start. My worry was that the adventure would take over and draw me deeper and deeper into the Grand Canyon, leaving my return climb to be more and more daunting, and potentially defeat me as a ‘Master Hiker’. Suspense? Yeah you want me to keep you hanging? Who knows maybe I’m writing this from my broken cell on the edge of the Colorado river with no more water and a sprained ankle…
Well, that’s not the case. I dominated. It was such a cool hike. The trail started off with an initial leg that brought you down 600feet from the South Rim to an overlook called Ooh Aah Point. It was a 3km distance and gave you great view of the Canyon. As I descended I noticed that the valley seemed to open up and offer new crevasse and buttes that were not initially evident from the upper ridge. As I left Ooh Aah Point the crowds had already started to thin out. It was hot, there was very little shade, and as a few people pointed out to me, we are in fact at quite an altitude (aaaaand so is Calgary, so I was in good shape). The next leg of the hike stretched out away from the preliminary cliff descent. This meant my Camera got even less rest. We were walking on the top of a rise that fell off on both sides. 
This could mean either ‘wow, this is stupid, why are we up so high, I hate this canyon and its evil ways’, or ‘Amazing, everywhere I turn it’s nothing but breath-taking views, I love life!’. I sided with the later.
Our next stop was Cedar Ridge. The trail flattened out and I found a small tree to hide under. The sun was intense. All over the park there are warnings of how to 
avoid death when hiking in the Grand Canyon, one of these most important points is not to enter the canyon during midday. But seriously, what else am I going to do from 10am to 4pm if not to head down to a place even hotter then the scorching desert climate of Arizona on the South Rim. I liked it under the tree. I thought about staying under the tree. I had everything I needed under the tree; a couple Power Bars, two different kinds of Trail Mix, Gatorade, Water, an Apple (that may have been the greatest tasting apple I have ever had), my video camera (to talk to of course), sunscreen, and my SLR. The shade was comforting. Plus, this appeared to be the break down for the traffic on South Kaibab Trail: between the South Rim and Ooh Aah Point, everyone and the Mules, from Ooh Aah to Cedar Ridge; everyone minus the very small, the very large, and their friends, passed Cedar Ridge; no one, at all. I had already gone 3 miles and was right around 1,140 feet below the rim, the views were great, and like I said, the shade was really working for me. Plus I was afraid to tackle the unknown alone. The only way I was pushing on was if I knew there was the possibility that someone else could send for one of the Mules to rescue me if I fell victim to the gorge. Just as I had rationalized 
the benefits of starting my ascent, a group of three started down past the Ridge. Yessss! I’m in.
avoid death when hiking in the Grand Canyon, one of these most important points is not to enter the canyon during midday. But seriously, what else am I going to do from 10am to 4pm if not to head down to a place even hotter then the scorching desert climate of Arizona on the South Rim. I liked it under the tree. I thought about staying under the tree. I had everything I needed under the tree; a couple Power Bars, two different kinds of Trail Mix, Gatorade, Water, an Apple (that may have been the greatest tasting apple I have ever had), my video camera (to talk to of course), sunscreen, and my SLR. The shade was comforting. Plus, this appeared to be the break down for the traffic on South Kaibab Trail: between the South Rim and Ooh Aah Point, everyone and the Mules, from Ooh Aah to Cedar Ridge; everyone minus the very small, the very large, and their friends, passed Cedar Ridge; no one, at all. I had already gone 3 miles and was right around 1,140 feet below the rim, the views were great, and like I said, the shade was really working for me. Plus I was afraid to tackle the unknown alone. The only way I was pushing on was if I knew there was the possibility that someone else could send for one of the Mules to rescue me if I fell victim to the gorge. Just as I had rationalized 
the benefits of starting my ascent, a group of three started down past the Ridge. Yessss! I’m in. 
Skeleton Point was on the other side of a small rise in the ridge we had been descending down. The Point itself was not visible from either of the two outlooks along the trail or from the South Rim. 
As I made my way around the ridge towards the centre of the canyon I discovered that brand new views of the canyon floor had been hiding from the average hiker; you needed to commit to this trail to reap the benefits. But the big reward for me was just passed Skeleton point, further around the bend and down another hundred feet or so; it was the Colorado River. You could finally see into the inner-most valley that housed the same river that had been causing all this damage. Within the group of three that I had latched onto, two of the hikers were from Pennsylvania on vacation doing a similar style road trip to mine (they were retired though, staying in the nice resort hotels, eating at great restaurants, and driving a luxury automobile, but pretty much the same deal as the Jackson MiniTramp), the other group member was a guide. What a bonus! He mentioned that the spot we had stopped at was one of the most rewarding vistas off the South Rim trails. We chatted and had a snack in the shade of the cliff and looked out over the deep cut of the lower valley. The descent was totally worth it. I had wanted to see what that deepest cut of the canyon had to offer, and being able to stare down the cool blue river as it twisting along was a real bonus. With that I called it quits. 
I let the group of three get a bit of a head start back up the trail while I captured the moment with both video and stills. Then I started to climb upwards. 
The trip back up wasn’t as strenuous as I had anticipated. Maybe it’s cause I’m awesome, who knows? It was tough not to take the same pictures a second time as I retraced my steps along the trail. In many cases I did take the shot again, justifying it to myself as being a new shot because the sun had shifted its position (in many case it was actually true, the canyon looked quite a bit different on the way back up with the afternoon sun taking over from the bright morning rays). All in all I completed the hike in about five and a half hours. It was a very casual pace that I kept, with snack breaks and pictures to be taken every ten feet. I spent close to an hour at Cedar Ridge relaxing and waiting to see if I could make new friends that might take me down the trail a little further. And then at the vista point passed Skeleton I stopped for a good half hour or forty minutes to lunch and chat with the Adventurous Three. It was a great hike; a hike that left me wanting more, and left me absolutely exhausted. It’s tough to leave this place after only a two night stay, there are so many more trails to explore, so much more of the massive crack in the Earth to see. But the road is calling me, and I need to share myself with many more National Parks.
I finished the day on my cell phone, chatting with several members of the Fam back at the Command Center. The sun was setting and I was telling tales of my Canyon descent while wandering the South Rim trail. The
Sunset event at the Grand Canyon isn’t quite the performance that’s put on by the big star in Santorini, but the show does draw a crowd. And I’m not sure, but I think he puts on this same act every night… just mugging for the camera, milking it for all it’s worth. It’s going to be hard for these other parks to top the two days I’ve spent at Arizona’s pride and joy, but I’m curious to see what’s waiting for me. Time to head north.
Day Fourteen: Jackson 1, Canyon 0… Oh geez, don’t jinks it.
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