We got on the trail at our usual 10:30 start time. Since it was only 5 miles, there wasn’t any real push to get going any earlier. It was a steady climb out of the inner canyon once we crossed the silver bridge spanning the Colorado. Chris handled the hike well, even if slow. Part of the speed issue was knee, part was the constant talking with Brian which was great because it kept her mind off of her knee. Pam and I are not fast walkers by any stretch (we average about 1.5 mph including breaks and meals). Even so, we would end up having really long rests waiting for them to catch up.
I had planned this trip for several months and applied for the permit at the earliest time allowed, 3 months before the start date. We ran into a college kid who was driving cross country and walked up to the Backcountry Office the day before and got his permit. It is definitely the perfect time to go, ideal hiking weather and no crowds. The Bright Angel Trail used to be a toll trail down to the bottom that entrepreneurs had tried to cash in on the past after the mining dried up. As a result, you walk by a lot of abandoned mining equipment and old mines along the trail.
We came to a level spot a couple miles into the climb with a stream running through the area and plenty of trees for shade so we found our lunch/nap spot. Even with the slow climbing, long rest breaks, and frequent picture stops, we made it into Indian Garden Campground by 2p. There were already a few people in camp, including an 80 year old man hiking with his grandson. He had been in the Canyon over 40 years ago.
While we were setting up camp, a female ranger stopped in to check our permits and just chat for a bit. She recommended that we consider hiking out to Plateau Point for sunset. This sounded like fun, but we decided to add another twist. Since it was so early and we weren’t hungry at all, we decided to take all of our supper stuff out and to cook supper there to pass the time until the sunset. Brian agreed to go and as we were packing up, Joan and Tom stopped by. We invited them to go as well.
Around 4p, our caravan headed out to Plateau Point for supper and sunset. This was a flat mile and a half walk out to the rim of the inner canyon. Once we got there we were blown away. We were 1300’ directly above the Colorado River—a straight fall to the river! There were a few other hikers out there, but we were the only ones cooking. After absorbing the views for a bit—the river below, the outer canyon 3040’ wall behind us, the 450’ water fall beside/below us (the stream of our lunch spot heading down to join the Colorado River) we decided to start cooking supper.
Because I hadn’t investigated enough about the camp facilities in the GC, I had brought an REI camp chair with me that I hadn’t used at all in four days. On the way out to the point, everyone had tried to help me out by carrying the pack (only 1 pack for our foursome with food, water, lights, cooking stoves, etc) but I insisted on not sharing the load because I had also thrown in my chair and I didn’t want to feel obligated to share my throne when I revealed it. While the water was boiling, I set up my chair and became the envy of every person within a 6 mile radius. Even people on the south rim were signaling down their awe of my chair.
Joan and Tom added even more class to the event—they brought cheese, crackers and wine to share with the entire group. I have a vivid recall of the look Joan gave me while she was serving me the wine and appetizers—a mix between awe and “what in the hell is wrong with this guy”. I was duly shamed into sharing my chair with all once the initial jealousy was wearing off. I knew everyone was coveting my seat and I had lorded over them long enough so I allowed everyone a minute each to experience greatness in the outdoors—no more than that, because there was still the trip out and lessor mortals might grow too soft to finish the climb out and perish; I would not be able to bear the guilt. For their own sakes, I kicked them out of the chair.
As spectacular as the sunset was from the outer rim, the colors were even more vivid and varied from the rim of the inner canyon. The exposed rock layers of the canyon are different colors from the different time eras. Add in the colors from the sunset and there just aren’t words in my vocabulary to describe the beauty. I just stood in awe for about 20 minutes only to turn around and see Chris almost falling out of my chair—the beauty and luxury proved too much for her in the end.
We walked back in the dark by headlamp to the campground. We haven’t done a lot of night hiking so far and since we had already seen the views, I didn’t feel like we were really missing anything. That said, it was actually kind of exhilarating hiking in the dark. Brian invited us all back to his camp for an additional night-cap of Drambuie which he had been carrying for his last night (which is actually going to be tomorrow night for him but we’re heading up in the morning so he decided to share with us since we’ve been together the whole trip).
We were in bed by 9:30—our latest night of the trip so far, but what an amazing day of hiking in the GC culminating with the most spectacular dinner spot we’ve ever had.
