Saturday was an easy day.
Lazy around camp for a bit, go for a walk, late after lunch we pack up and hike around 2 miles to the next camp site.
A place called Clear Creek.
I could not sleep past 4:30, so was up and wandering around with camera in hand……
I was a bit surprised to see headlamps work their way across the bridge at that hour….
They then made their way down the trail towards me.
This time it was my turn to be annoying and hold people up by talking to them… I just had to know what was going on…..
Turns out they were trail runners and were doing a similar trek to us. Down the South Kaibab, along the river and up the Bright Angel.
So, wait, they were at the bottom at 5am…. What time did you guys leave the rim?
3am.
Yeah!! Perhaps one day. If I get to the point where I can rack out 20 miles as easily as I can do my current 13’s, I might have a go at that…….
They move on, and so do I.
The moon is well up and I want to get a few more shots before the sunrise.
Basicly I high tail it back up what we came down yesterday.
I know there is a really sweet lookout back up the trail and I want to get there for sunrise.
I do and I am not disappointed.
I won’t say much here, but it was an amazing experience standing there on my own watching this sunrise on Saturday morning.
Just. Amazing.
Heading back down, I wanted to take a photo of Bright Angel Creek.
Lloyd is awake when I get back, so I had coffee and oats for breakfast!
We went for a walk along the river since we were not going to see that part of the river again, thought we better take it in while we could.
I know it looks similar, but this is infact the South Kaibab Bridge, it is also known as South Bright Angel Bridge.
(Cause, you know, thats not confusing!).
Anyway, we have lunch, slowly pack up camp and head off to Clear Creek trailhead.
The trail guide said that this is not a well traveled path and so is not maintained much by the park service.
Yowza were they ever understating things!
It was fantastic!!!!
One of my clear highlights of the trip was this trail.
It was just so beautiful, quiet and rugged.
The views were just gob smacking.
A picture tells a thousand words, but even then, it somehow falls short of what it was like being in it.
The hike is along a ridgeline, you have towering cliffs on one side and a breathtaking drop on the other side.
Even the Strava cross section can not really convey the coolness of this trail.
Once we got to the first spot where camping is allowed, we made camp.
Since there is nothing out there (unlike Bright Angel where there are toilets and water), you have to have everything you need, water food and shelter with you.
Lloyd and I cut it a bit fine on the water, we had measured out exactly what we needed and not a lot more. (Remember, we were only 2 miles from water – so it was not that big of a deal, but a lesson for next time).
Again, just some photos to try and show what we were camping in.
This is the view in one direction;
And this is the view in the other direction;
My main camera battery was getting flat, too many cold, long exposures I think, but I just had to keep pushing it.
In the other direction there was some cloud that was picking up some light;
It was a wild night. We had rain, wind and more wind. Not a lot of sleep, but hey, check out the view in the morning after things calmed down a little;
I used the LED torch to light up the tent a little and help it ‘pop’. I deliberately did not do the classic shot of putting the light in the tent. I think that one has been done to death……
Anyway, it was cold, so breakfast (coffee) was of some importance;
Thankfully we got going around sunrise, we knew we had a big day ahead of us, but did not realise just how big.
Click on the photos to make them bigger.
Click on ‘Trips’ in the categories to the left to see more trip reports.
