A 3-hour tour, a 3-hour tour.....

We awoke excited about our hike down the South Kaibab trail to the bottom of the Grand Canyon.  This 7-mile trail is recommended for the descent, but it does not have any water stops, and it is very exposed to sun during the day.  The 10-mile Bright Angel Trail is better for climbing out of the canyon.  It is shadier, has a stream paralleling certain sections, and several stops for critical water.  We had to shop for supplies.  All of the dinner spots at Phantom Ranch were sold out, so we had to take enough food for the hike, lunch & dinner, breakfast and the hike the following day.  We loaded two backpacks and my trailrunning pack, and filled my 4 20-oz bottles, and took about 5 additional water bottles.  Since we were taking a different trail back, we positioned the Paddy Wagon near the the top of Bright Angel and near the pizza place.  We hopped the shuttle to the S. Kaibab trailhead.

Our rookie mistake:  leaving at 9:30!

The rookies mug for the camera at the S. Kaibab trailhead.

Everyone knows to get water at the top.

The hike down started off well.  We were excited about the journey and "how hard can it be going down?"  Besides, our group included two budding Junior Rangers, an experienced trailrunner, and a lifelong camper.

"Piece of cake."

We passed many hikers that were climbing up.  Most of them had simply hiked down a to Ooh Aah Point and were returning to the safety of the South Rim.  After a while, I noticed that we were among only a handful of hikers heading down.  Hmmmm.....   Less than 1% of all Grand Canyon visitors hike to the Colorado River.  I simply chalked it up to math.

Lemme hear you say "Ooh Aah."

At Devil's Corkscrew, we began to feel the heat.

Devil's Corkscrew.  Not a soul on the trail....

As we were going down, temperatures headed in the opposite direction.  It was one of the hottest days in the nation, and we had decided on a mid-morning departure into the hottest place we could find.  We were struggling with very limited shade for a rest.  We soldiered on and finally could see the bridge spanning the Colorado.  I could smell the barn (or was it the road apples left by the mules?)  We made it to the bottom with one drop of water remaining in my last bottle.  Karen and the kids immediately went into the Colorado, while I hunted for the water source.  We then all got into the Bright Angel Creek for a spell.

An audible relief sizzle was heard throughout the canyon.