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After a restful night's sleep in a rustic (they weren't kidding) lodge near the north rim of the Grand Canyon, the alarm on my watch woke us at 4 am. Not being an early riser, I was surprised at how awake I was; the lure of the Canyon was greater than the desire to roll over and go back to sleep. It wasn't too much later and we were standing on the rim peering into the depths. "We're going down there?!" 6,000 feet down spread out over 14 miles didn't sound nearly as far as it looked in the still gray and chilly dawn. (Never mind that we'd have to climb back up.) After a few moments spent contemplating what I'd gotten us into, we set off down the North Kaibab Trail. Our destination for the day: Cottonwood Campground - just 7 miles of trail and a 4,000 foot loss in elevation.
As you can see in the photograph, the north rim is not nearly as barren as the south rim. We started our hike through a forest of ponderosa pine, white fir, Gambel oak, and quaking aspen, although shortly after we left the rim the vegetation became more sparse and
Coconino Sandstone
and the Supai Group (red) pinyon pine and juniper dominated the landscape. The buff colored cliff visible in the photograph is Coconino Sandstone covered by the Toroweap Formation. For a bit of a geography lesson - the Toroweap Formation was deposited by an inland sea about 230 million years ago. This inland sea covered the existing desert sand dunes (now Coconino Sandstone) with mud, sand and lime.
Most of the morning passed rather pleasantly and we met up with some great folks from Alabama who were traveling the same route and who, throughout the trip, always managed to stir things up and provide everyone with a good belly laugh. As we hiked down the steepening trail the temperature stayed relatively cool and the scenery quite beautiful. After just a few miles and an early morning snack at a rest area complete with running, potable water (a luxury I’ve never previously run into on a backpacking trip) we hiked through the Supai Tunnel which was blasted through the Supai group in the 1930s. It was at about this point that I considered shaking the dust from my boots into a vial as a record of the trip - they’d gone from being coated with the
buff colored dust of the Coconino Sandstone to the red of the Supai group and Redwall Limestone. I thought that if I could get my boot dust to layer I’d have a mini replica of the layering found in the Canyon. Another geography lesson - the Redwall Limestone (red due to the leaching of iron compounds from the Hermit Shale and Supai formations above it) was formed about 330 million years ago when the area was covered by a vast warm sea. Fossils of fish and invertebrates like nautiloids, corals and brachipods have been documented, but require too much off trail travel in a very inhospitable climate for Paul and I to go searching for.
After the Supai Tunnel the (thankfully wide) trail became quite spectacular as it is carved into the side of the sheer Redwall cliff. By this time the sun had already reared its ugly head and we prepared to cross a bridge to the opposite and sunny side of the side canyon (Roaring Springs) we were descending. As the sun beat down on our pale skin we forged ahead to try to get into camp before the temperature climbed into the 100s thus skipping a
short side trip to Roaring Springs which provides water for both the north and south rims. As our descent continued we passed through the Tonto Group - Muav Limestone, Bright Angel Shale, and Tapeats Sandstone - formed 550 million years ago when a Cambrian sea covered the area and during which time multi-cellular animals first appeared. I’d love to say that I was awed by the age of the rocks we were hiking through, but it was getting HOT.
Just when we started to feel miserable we rounded a corner and came upon the home of the pumphouse operator. With much joy and elation I dropped my pack and stuck as much of myself as possible under the hiker’s water faucet next to the trail. I was in heaven and stayed there until I was good and cold. Paul was initially more conservative, but once he realized I was nearly shivering decided to take the ‘plunge’ as well. We put our feet up for a bit and hung out in the shade before we set off down the trail which parallels Bright Angel Creek. Now in the Lower Sonoran Zone, plant life had changed yet again - datura, yucca,
mormon tea and sharp, spiny prickly pear cactus.
As we continued a now gentle descent along Bright Angel Creek we passed through rocks formed a billion years ago - red Dox Sandstone and within moments saw the welcoming Cottonwoods signaling Cottonwood Camp and our home for the night. It was just shy of 11 am and the shaded thermometer on the information board read 100 degreess.
After setting up camp in the shade of a stunted live oak shrub we scouted around and found a trail to the creek. A previous traveler had created a nice dam of river rocks near the bank under a small waterfall making a nice refreshing pool where we sat for most of the rest of the day.
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Geoff
non-member comment
Awesome
I just love the Grand Canyon and even now don't think I know how close we were to becomming a statistic. After suffereing very bad dehydration.