This morning is sunny and cool - a perfect start to a hiking day. Now it's back down the Kaibab Trail all the way to Roaring Springs and the pumping station.
Today there's a bit of a haze, but far less than when there's wind blowing stuff up from L.A.
Our first stereo picture of the day is at the Coconino Overlook, which affords a grand vista across the Canyon, just as the sun is warming up the landscape.
Through the tunnel and a good view of the route down, as the canyon narrows and steepens.
The bridge looks a long way away when you're looking down. (Hold this thought).
Canyon narrower and narrower
Now if you look closely, you can see the power lines on top of the pole. Looping and dangling its way down the slopes, you can see the steel water pipe, held in place by anchor wires, looking a bit like a piece of spaghetti. Can you see it?
For a good 3D view of the trail down, click to get a bigger and higher resolution picture set.
A little while later, we make it to the junction. Keep going straight to get to Manzanita Point and the cottonwood campground, on the way to Phantom Ranch. Turn left to go to the water, and some cool shaded picnic spots and lush grasses.
So there is the source of the water, just pouring out. Because the water is so precious, people need to stay away from the spring itself.
After a delicious lunch, it was time to head back up. ...always harder to go down in the morning and up in the afternoon!
Clic pic for a bigger one
Often when you're going the one way on a trail you just don't see stuff the way you do on the way back. Take this curve in the rock for instance. There are several tiers or floors further and further up, and they look sort of flat and sheltered. Not too much of a climb to the closer ones, and if you look carefully, you can see little stone fences near the edges. People camp up there. Imagine the magnificent morning wake-up views with the sun casting its beams down
A good bit further up the trail...
Desert Varnish. A pretty colorful example of minerals washing down the rock faces!
But now it's getting overcast and the wind is really picking up. Will we have to yank out the rain gear? When only minutes ago it was blue sky and hot? I guess we'll see.
Remember, the blue-framed pictures here can be viewed in higher resolution just by clicking on the pic.
Well, we made it back to the top and it was looking pretty dark, but no rain after all. A couple of cold beers and pizza sounds really good, and top off the day. Tomorrow morning we head back up to Fredonia, and then down to Toroweap for some rustic adventures.
Last look at the Visitor Center
