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Southwest 2014
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Our ten-person group had begun to spread out a bit, and we took a short break and regrouped at Skeleton Point. We were well and truly "into" the Grand Canyon now: the south rim was now a fair distance behind us, and we were making direct progress towards the the canyon's bottom. Due to the scale of the place, it began to feel less like a canyon and more like a vast terrain of towers, buttes and mesas surrounded by high plateaus. A whole separate world on its own.
Top of the Redwall
Immediately after Skeleton Point, the South Kaibab trail starts a major descent. This descent is through one of the Grand Canyon's most difficult obstacles - the Redwall Limestone. This 700-ish foot layer of dense grayish limestone is a major barrier because it almost always erodes in such a way as to present a large, unbroken vertical cliff. The name "Redwall" derives from the fact that the surface of the limestone is often stained red from depositions from the layers above it.
Back and forth, back and forth
The South Kaibab trail takes advantage of one of the rare places where the Redwall is not an unbroken cliff, at the north end of Cedar Ridge. With the assistance of some careful blasting and engineering, the South Kaibab switchbacks down through the Redwall. The upper portion of the trail through the Redwall is especially scenic, with several airy cliff-edge lookouts giving views down into the inner canyon. There are even a few glimpses of the green strip of Phantom Ranch, nestled away near the mouth of Bright Angel canyon, more than 2500 feet below.
courtesy JInnes
Supply Train
An Airy Corner
Glimpse of Phantom Ranch
We met several mule trains coming up as we descended the Redwall switchbacks on the South Kaibab trail, and we dutifully followed the rules to quietly stand off-trail on the uphill side to let them pass. While quaint, picturesque, and clearly historic, I was beginning to have some not-so-positive opinions of these mule trains. While watching the mules climb by, it was fairly clear that the eroded-out condition of the trailbed was due to the way the mules positioned and pushed off with their hooves while climbing. The passing of each mule scooped out a bit more dirt from between the erosion control logs embedded sideways in the trail. This, in turn, was gradually turning the trail from a smooth slope into a deeply scalloped, awkwardly-spaced series of holes - a situation which can pound a backpack-laden human body when descending (as well as increasing effort when ascending). Where possible, I had taken to walking along the stones which lined the edge of the trail.
courtesy RHanel
courtesy JInnes
Fabulous Mid-Canyon View
Speedy Ladies
Caroline and Steps
Owing to a combination of varying hiking speeds and varying picture-taking gusto, our ten-person group became quite spread out along the Redwall switchbacks. Caroline, Jenn and Stephanie had pulled far ahead, and we could see them already nearing the bottom of the switchbacks.
courtesy PChen
Mule Wrangler
Another checkpoint glance
Excellent cross-canyon view
I like switchbacks. However, as cool as they are, I was glad to arrive at the bottom of these eroded ones. We had now entered the next lower layer of geologic strata - the Muav Limestone - and we were approaching the wide greenish benchlands of Bright Angel shale atop the Tonto platform. The trail had thankfully changed into a nice, smooth traversing path, headed north.
courtesy RHanel
 Nice Traverse
Our sudden descent through the Redwall had come with a significant rise in temperature. Where it had been warm but relatively comfortable atop the Redwall, the thousand or so feet of descent had brought us into a much warmer climate regime. Although not truly hot by Grand Canyon standards, the temperature was now in the high 80s F (low 30s C). Hot enough - especially for non heat-acclimated folk like us - to start to crave shade.
Approaching Tonto Junction
After stopping for a rest break in the shade of a couple of huge boulders (which also served the useful purpose of re-joining us back into a single group, rather than strung out along the trail), we continued on. We were now very close to reaching the Tonto platform, and the next "rest area" along the trail.
courtesy PChen
 Gathering Moisture
At four thousand feet of elevation and 4.4 miles (7km) from the trailhead, we arrived at the Tonto platform rest area. Here, at a four-way junction, the 100+ km platform-following Tonto trail crosses the South Kaibab trail. There was also another 3-stall composting toilet building here. Even though we had just taken a short break, we felt it was time for another.
courtesy JInnes
 A Break at the Tonto
Just half an hour before, we had been seeking refuge from the hot sun. Now, however, a dark overcast had drifted in from the south and obscured half of the sky, and the direct heating effect of the sun was absent. Everything was now "in shade". The forecast had called for the possibility of inclement weather in the afternoon, even the possibilty a thunderstorm. No significant accumulations of rain were expected, however.
courtesy JInnes
 Over the Tipoff
We had continued to maintain our roughly 1.5 mile-per-hour pace down to the Tonto junction. In order to maintain this pace, however, it was now time to continue on. Under darkening skies, we marched north, continuing our descent along the South Kaibab trail.

The trail soon began its final phase - a steep and switchbacking descent down into the Inner Gorge of the Colorado, all the way down to river level. The beginning of this drop is known as the "Tipoff", and this represented - for me - new terrain. While I had hiked the upper South Kaibab before, I had never done this lower section down to the river.
courtesy BConnell
First View of Inner Gorge
Cutting through the Hakatai
Lower Trail Panorama
The section of trail below the Tipoff proved to be quite scenic and interesting. The trail wound down through many colorful layers of a very old set of strata known as the Grand Canyon Supergroup - especially the deep ruddy Hakatai Shale. We had increasingly clear views of the Colorado, coursing its way west between the steep and foreboding walls of the Inner Gorge.
courtesy JInnes
The Charging Girls
A Trail through Shale
Basement Rocks
A typical itinerary for doing a rim-to-rim traverse would very possibly specify an overnight at the Phantom Ranch campground. After all, the Phantom Ranch campground, situated at the junction of the South and North Kaibab Trails - is directly along the route, and therefore the shortest and easiest option. However, during the planning phase for this trip, we had two contingents - one wanting the easiest and most direct route, and another wanting something a bit more adventurous and bit farther away from the crowds. The more adventurous options involved extra overnights and a start from somewhere other than one of the two "highway" trails from the south rim.

In the end, we created a compromise route that utilized the main corridor trails and a 3-night itinerary, but added a little variation onto the end of the first day. Instead of camping at Phantom Ranch, we would continue onto the much quieter north-side Clear Creek trail, and make camp at the start of the "at-large" camping zone, about 2 miles in along the trail.
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[ Return to "The Checklist Edition" Home page | Introduction | Day 1 : South Kaibab to Clear Creek Trail | Day 2 : Clear Creek Tr to Cottonwood Camp | Day 3 : Cottonwood Camp to North Rim | The North Rim | Drive to Zion | Lady Mountain Redux | The Subway | Angel's Landing | Zion in Flood | Valley of Fire | Wind-up and Return | The "Short Report" | GPS Data ]


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