Current mood:

artistic

Grand Canyon...part 3, the inner gorge!

Ribbon Falls Worth the small hike to get there!

After a hot and restful night at Cottonwood Campground we struggled out of bed noticing how sore our calves were and were on the trail by 6:20 am. About a mile away from the camp was a short side hike to Ribbon Falls. It was quite an incredible site to see. We turned around a corner and there in a great red amphitheater was this enormous waterfall. The environment was entirely different than anything in the area, lush mosses grew readily and many plants were in flower. It was obviously an archaeological site as well...who wouldn't want to live there? You could go around on the left side and end up behind the falls in the middle there. Thankfully we went when we did, because on our way out we met about 3 groups of folks. It was nice to just be alone with the falls. This second day of hiking was really nice in that the descent was minimal (about 1000 feet over 7 miles instead of 4500 feet over 7 miles). It was much easier on Adam's knee. Another nice thing about this hike is because the walls are so sheer on either side of the canyon the sun doesn't reach the depths until about 10:00 AM. This kept the temperature down. About 11:20 we reached Phantom Ranch and Bright Angel Campground.

Phantom Ranch! We made it!

For those of you interested at all in Geology, the inner gorge is one of the few places (it may be the only) where you can see some of the oldest rocks in the whole world! The Vishnu Schist (I love that word) is about 1.8 BILLION years old. It's fun to run your hand along it as it is a bit micacious and rather smooth. You can even see veins of pink granite where liquid hot mag-ma flowed through it. Phantom Ranch showed up at just about the right time of day and we were thankful for its cottonwood trees and (gasp!) air-conditioned canteen.

Adam in Bright Angel Adam finds the water a little chilly!

Of course, we had to get into the water again. It was warmer than at Cottonwood camp and a great way to cool off.

Full Camping Pirate Regalia Yearrrgh!

Phantom Ranch Canteen

Phantom Ranch is its own sort of world. The only other folks down there are hikers who have braved the canyon, mule riders, and the occasional river runners. It's also a place of history as lots of famous folks have stayed in the area (Teddy Roosevelt) and down by the boat beach, John Wesley Powell. There are some ruins there as well dating from about 1100 AD of some puebloan rooms and a kiva. Manos and metates are still in place, just as they were left. It was amazing to look at the suspension bridges across the ruddy Colorado river and thing about all those CCC boys and others that worked hard to build the trails and the bridges...quite a feat and comment on human ingenuity.

All of the prickly pear cactus (I'm talking the real deal Vernal folks, not that crappy knockoff we've got around Vernal) had their little fruits on them. They ranged in color from pink to a deep and somber eggplant color. I didn't want to risk splinters so I let them be, but occasionally I would see where something had eaten them. Sacred datura was also quite abundant. I originally thought they were squash blossoms, but they are highly deadly and some native groups used them for trances, though I wouldn't recommend it as they are extremely poisonous. The animals down there are very used to people and I also about got run over by two young deer that were bounding and playing around us. I just watched them, thinking that this is what they do when no one is around. They weren't bothered by us at all and continued playing tag for about three minutes.

Everything at the Ranch had to be brought down by mule or people power. There used to be a swimming pool (unfortunately filled in now) that I'm sure will be an archaeological site one day because they used old, obsolete materials to fill it including: old oil lamps/stoves, a pool table (originally brought down into the canyon by CCC boys in the 1930's) and a piano! Now it is covered with willows and natural vegetation. At the canteen I sent several postcards out via mule and we also had dinners and breakfasts there (served family style where everyone passes to each other).

We were at Phantom Ranch for two days, the second just to explore and recoup. Unfortunately on one of my postcards I mentioned that I was feeling great and the only one not hurting at Phantom ranch. After that remark irony and fate tag teamed me with a karmic bitch-slap to my left knee! That's right, on my day off, as I was jogging back to camp to put the rainfly up, I twisted my knee something fierce. This never happens to me, I've always had great joints and can't even remember the last time I sprained anything. For the rest of the time I just tried to lay down so that I could prepare for the ascent the next day! I was quite worried about how it would go with a 40lb pack and over 9 miles. Stay tuned!

Sacred Datura at Night Psychotropic and highly deadly, but really pretty.