Hiking Log 21: Surprise Valley to Monument Point
Mileage: About 9
Elevation Gain: About 3766'
Buttkicking Factor: Not so bad, but still tough. 3.5

On the third day, we forced our bodies up at 4:30 am, broke camp, and hit the trail shortly afterward for the long trek up and out of the canyon. This hike isn't as daunting as some others I've been on, because you have two sections of flat walking. In some other locations, you can see exactly how far you have to climb.

The initial ascent up to the esplanade went quickly and easily. Our packs were lighter than when we came down. We were lighter on the water, for one thing. We figured even if we cut it too fine, we weren't going to be hiking in the heat of the day and we had plenty of water waiting for us at the car.


We stopped as soon as we hit the esplanade for coffee and breakfast again. I have to say that the little Starbucks Via packets work very well while hiking! Also, being on the north side of the canyon was a bit of the boon. The south side gets sun far earlier than does the north. The sun finally crested during breakfast, but we soon hiked into the shadow again. We stayed in the shadow most of the way up.

Morning sun on the south side -


Sunrise -




Breakfast of Thai noodles, mixed with miso broth. Salt, yum!


Halfway across the esplanade, we came across some hikers we'd met previously. They offered us some extra water. One of their party members had hiked down and cached enough water for five people, but only three showed up. They were going to just pour it out, not wanting to leave even water (litter) behind. We considered topping off, but didn't want to add to our weight. It turns out we had plenty, so it was the right decision. Hard to waste water, though!

I don't have many photos of the climb up the Bill Hall trail. I'd buckled down grimly for the climb. Surprisingly, it wasn't that bad. Toward the end, I had to coax myself to keep up a steady pace, but there were really only two sections of it that were a slog. There was a nice long section of the trail that was a rolling traverse. Easy and quick to hike, with beautiful views.

Asking hiking buddies to pose for pics is a clever way to get a rest -


The canyon was still in bloom -


Sucking down the electrolyte water probably helped a great deal with keeping up the speed. I use a tangerine/ginger combination that I really like. Francie introduced me to the Clif Shot Bloks, which are an emergency electrolyte blast. They also taste incredibly yummy when exerting. I'm partial to the cran-raz flavor, it turns out, and munched on them steadily on the way up.

Francie beat me up by about five minutes and waited with her camera as I hiked the last few feet to the rim.



This was when I discovered that we had pretty much matched our time hiking up with the time it took to hike down. That's pretty wild. We did hike down the tricky part in the dark though, and Francie has a harder time going down than up. Everyone's body is a little different that way. We took a moment to celebrate and look down the trail, then headed back the last half mile to the parking lot. Francie decided to RUN, pack and all. Yeesh. I followed more sedately and then we headed out to the North Rim Lodge (40 miles of back roads away) for a celebratory lunch. (We were nearly killed by a fucking stupid ATVer en route. I was worried about people driving recklessly on the roads and had an eye open. Luckily for us, I didn't freeze when the guy whipped around a corner in the middle of the road and headed right for us. HE froze and didn't steer out of the way. I bailed our car off the road and he barely missed us. He then slid out of control and nearly flipped. I almost wish he had, but it would likely have been fatal for him. Asshole! It was a seriously close call. We honked at the rest of the party going by, but they were all driving much more sanely and were probably wondering what we were doing off the road. I hope someone figured it out and pinned that young man's ears back. Grr.)

Lodge recovery


Pretty Francie!


Me, surveying my domain! :D


Playing tourist on the balcony, getting a well-deserved rest.


My hair is TOASTED! I think I'm going to trim a bunch off out of mercy.