Miles 568-697 on the Arizona Trail Part 2 of 2

Flagstaff to Grand Canyon South Rim Part 2

The next morning was pretty chilly. I really did not want to get up and hike out in the cold. It was still 30 inside my tent after I woke up and the sun had risen. I laid in bed until 0830 when I finally motivated myself enough to brave the weather. At this point it was warming up nicely. I left camp at 0900 with my fleece on. It came off very soon after. Not even a mile later. The snow was all melted already and the trail was a little muddy through a grassy area with the occasional pine trees.

The view of Humphreys Peak was so nice and especially pretty covered in snow.

I needed water. I didn’t have far to go before I reached the turn off for the lake. I bush whacked to it which worked out well because I came out where there was still water. If I took the road, it would have been twice as long of a trip.

After grabbing water at the lake which really barely qualified as a pond, the scenery became more grassy with fewer trees. I entered an area with cows again.

In the cow area I came across the water cache I was hoping for. Luckily it was full and I could grab a liter. Water is pretty scarce; it feels like it’s typically 15 miles between each source.

The hike eventually turned onto a dirt road and the trees became infrequent. I found a sunny patch to have lunch near trees in the off chance I got hot. I pulled out my tent to dry off and enjoyed walking tamales and reading in the sun.

I didn’t get too hot. I ended up putting my puffy on towards the end of lunch. When I got started up again, I left the trees fully. Any that were still around were small junipers and scrub oaks. I walked the road through grassy plains.

At the end of my day, I reached the turn off for the cow tank. I dropped my pack, walked the 0.25 mile to it, grabbed water, and came back. I camped shortly after between a pair of junipers. The sky had a couple clouds in the direction of the sunset and they were lit up with reds and oranges.

The next morning was chilly as well, but I didn’t linger quite as long. I was hiking by 0805 and was soon at the next cache. I grabbed enough water at the tank so I left it for the next hikers. The morning was all dirt roads, fast and flat. There were good unimpeded views of Humphreys Peak all day.

While I was walking along, I saw something that looked like a blueish iguana run across in front of me. It obviously wasn’t one. I grabbed a photo of it and looked it up. It was a conman collared lizard.

I chatted with my husband while walking for a bit since I had good service. While taking to him, I saw what I was pretty sure were pronghorn antelope. They were pretty far away and hopped off when they saw me. I stopped for lunch under a scrub oak. It was the only tree around for a while. The leaves are super pointy and I got stabbed a few times by them. There were also a few cactus spines around that poked into my gear. I have no idea where the cactus was or how they got there.

My lunch break lasted a very long time which was becoming the usual. But I eventually kept hiking. The afternoon was uneventful. I got to the next turn off for water. This time it was a wildlife tank a half mile off trail. I dropped my pack for the walk down and back. The water tasted of algae, but it’s better than no water. I finally started seeing more trees again later in the day. I was struggling to find a good place to camp so I ended up walking later than I planned. About two miles from the forest boundary I found a Garmin and sleeping pad under a downed tree. It looked like it had been knocked off when the person went under. I hadn’t seen a single person other than a guy in a truck early in the morning so I figured they were heading north as well. I sent their Garmin a message in hopes they’d check their messages when they got internet. I never got a response. I reached my camp after getting back into the national forest off of the private property. There was tons of good camping available.

The next morning I headed out at 0800 again. The hiking continued to be easy and fast. At the water cache a couple hours into my day, I met the first backpacker I’d seen in weeks. She was section hiking and we chatted for a bit while filling up. I didn’t need much water since I went to the tank the evening before. The caches are great on this trail, but you can never fully trust they won’t be empty so it’s best to have enough to get by without it. I hit the next water source, an actual tank, and grabbed some water.

I took a lunch break shortly after in the shade. It was getting warm again but I was also getting back into an area with trees. My lunch break might be a record for me now, 3 hours long. It was lovely. I was trying to kill time since I wanted to get to Tusayan in the morning for breakfast.

The afternoon was uneventful until the trail turned to walk along what seemed like the edge of a plateau. I got my first glimpse of the Grand Canyon! Shortly before camp, I blew past the turn for water. I never did see a trail so I bush whacked up to the wildlife tank. The wildlife tanks are large rain catches that funnel into underground tanks and feed out to concrete troughs the wildlife can drink out of.

I didn’t go much farther after before I found a camp spot I liked far out on a spur. I could just see the edge of the canyon from it. While making dinner, a herd of elk walked through. They didn’t notice me until they got pretty close and then took off.

Since I stopped so early, I decided to cowboy camp and enjoy the views. I kind of regretted it with the wind making it chilly, but the night sky was beautiful to see.

The next morning while I was laying around reading, another, or maybe the same, elk herd came through again. They didn’t notice me laying there so I got to watch them without spooking them.

I had a nice lazy morning, leaving camp at the usual 8ish. I had a few highlights to look forward to this day. First would be the fire tower. A little under two hours into my day, I reached an interpretive loop which I took. I realized after, the signs are set up to start at the parking lot. I read them all in backwards order. I was able to figure out what was going on anyway. They were telling the story of the area where the ponderosa pines in the area were being taken over by dwarf mistletoe which looks more like a fungus than a plant. It’s a plant though.

Foresters had to come in and clear the affected trees to prevent the spread. One sign was especially sad. It was talking about the success and said to look out on the thriving forest. Unfortunately it had been burned recently. It wasn’t alive anymore.

After learning all about dwarf mistletoe killing ponderosa pines, I reached the fire tower. I grabbed water at the cache and headed out on the Vishnu trail first. Two people were on the tower already and the sign said two at a time. I wasn’t in a rush so I may as well see what the trail had to offer. It took me out to the edge of the cliff where I could see the edge of the Grand Canyon. Trees were blocking the view, but I’d have a good one when I went up the tower soon.

Back at the tower, I climbed up to the top and looked out to the canyon. I can’t wait to see it up close.

The rest of the morning was quiet and I didn’t see any more of the canyon. I took a now standard two hour lunch under a pine tree on top of a bunch of ants. Luckily they weren’t the biting type so I didn’t need to move. After lunch, I headed to the next water tank. This one was also an actual tank. I got water directly from it, scooping it out with my cnoc bladder tied to my trekking pole and a pine cone to keep it open.

I sat there and filtered water.

The trail was all on dirt roads at this point. I passed through a few barbed wire gates blocking off grazing areas.

Near the end of the day, I saw a black lump in the distance. I thought it was probably a cow and it was confirmed when I saw the tail swish. There weren’t any others around though. Usually they hang out in groups. As I got closer I saw a tiny black lump with it. It was a little baby! It had to have been born yesterday or today; it was so small and rumpled.

I ended up camping immediately after seeing them about ten feet up on a small plateau. It was an early relaxing camp where I spent a couple hours reading after my ramen bomb dinner.

Town day! I woke up early and read for a bit, but not as long. I got out earlier than usual, 0715. I’d be in Tusayan by 0800. I had a breakfast of tamales, eggs, and beans followed by a coffee at Starbucks to use up my expiring points.

I looked around the gift shop and headed across the street to the IMAX visitor center. I wandered the shop a bit until I realized the next movie was at 0930, not 1030 like the sign outside said. It was 0915, so why not! The movie was a 37 minute video in the Grand Canyon. It was cool and definitely got me excited to get to the park in 6 miles. They even had a replica of the boats Powell’s expedition team used in 1869 to run the length of the river for the first time recorded, probably the first time ever since who would do that.