I thought about just doing the South Kaibab Trail to Cedar Ridge, since I knew that was a pretty easy hike, and only 3 miles round-trip, but I wanted something different, with not so many people. I finally decided on taking the Hermit Trail down to Santa Maria Spring. That would be about 5 miles round-trip and would be a good test. There were more opportunities for shade along that trail, which was a definite plus, and the rest house at Santa Maria Spring would be a very nice place to stop for lunch.

I ended up getting a late start for this trip and did not arrive at Hermit's Rest until close to 11:30. It was a very nice day for a hike though and the temperature was still a little on the cool side on the rim. All of the snow from just a few days ago was gone, but I did spot one little patch of snow in the top section of the trail, that was tucked away in a spot that obviously never received any direct sunlight.

I stopped for a very short rest at Hermit Basin, at the Hermit Trail's junction with the Waldron Trail. There are some nice shade trees there and I sat down for a bit and ate a granola bar and drank some water. The foot was still feeling fine.

The remaining hike to Santa Maria Spring was quite pleasant. It took less than 10 minutes to get the the junction of the Dripping Springs Trail and then very shortly after that the trail reaches a spot where you get your first view of the resthouse at Santa Maria Spring. After a short descent, and Just a little beyond, was a stretch of flat trail that was next to a cliff and completely in shade.

There was another short descent after that and before I knew it I was at Santa Maria Spring. There was a group of backpackers there who had stopped during their hike out from the inner Canyon. They looked like they were getting ready to leave so I waited for that to happen before breaking out my lunch. I had some leftover pizza from the night before that I had brought with me for lunch, and also packed in a can of beer to have with it. It just didn't seem right to be popping open a can of beer in front of a bunch of backpackers, who had obviously been out in the wilds of the Grand Canyon for several days. Had I been smart I would have brought two cans so I could give one away. I am sure that would have made me quite popular.

It didn't take too long for them to leave and as soon as they did I popped open my can of beer and dug into my pizza. I had expected to have warm beer and cold pizza but to my surprise the beer was still on the cool side and the pizza had warmed up considerably. You can never go wrong with pizza and beer and the location was hard to beat, it was a very nice lunch. Another couple strolled in while I was eating and sat on the bench at the other end of the resthouse. They had come up from in the Canyon but were only day hikers.

My foot was feeling fine but after I ate my lunch I took my boots off to give he feet a bit of a rest. I had some salve with me that I had been using on the problem area of the left foot and I applied some of that and rubbed it in. It was supposed to target certain nerve receptors to reduce the burning sensation and I had been using it a lot as a preventative measure.

I arrived at Santa Maria Spring around 1:30 and left there around 2:30 to start the hike back to the rim. I was back at Hermit Basin at 3:00 but did not bother to stop. I had no problems at all with the foot during the hike out and was back at Hermit's Rest at 4:30. The GPS had recorded 4.89 miles for the total distance and a total elevation gain of 1,668 feet.

The day hike worked out well and I was having second thoughts about bailing on the backpacking trip to Clear Creek. Those inner battles are never fun but there were still too many "what ifs" to content with and there was serious potential for having it end badly. The last thing I wanted was another rescue from the Grand Canyon backcountry. Once in any lifetime is enough.