The climb out of Cottonwood Creek's canyon was muddy and slippery. By the time I got on top of Horseshoe Mesa the rain had switched to snow which made travelling a little easier. At least snow doesn't make you feel as damp as rain. But now it was cold as well. The top of the mesa had just been dusted with snow and surprisingly enough the trail was clear and the snow for some reason was not sticking to it. This would change before too long. As I started to climb the trail eventually become covered and then the snow started getting deeper and deeper. I was starting to have second thoughts about whether I should be attempting this today or whether I should just camp and wait out the storm. The snow at this point was only about 6 inches but who knew how much it would be before it ended. I still could not see the rim and had no idea how much snow there was up there. I continued on. At some points it became difficult to tell where the trail should go.

There had been no one on it ahead of me today and many times I was simply guessing at the path. At one point I took a step and there was nothing below my foot to step onto and it just kept going down. I threw myself into a sitting position as at least I knew the ground beneath me was solid. This was not fun. I had to be a lot more careful. The snow was up to about 8 or 9 inches by the time I reached The Saddle in the upper sections of the trail and the rim was still nowhere in sight. The view looking back down towards Horseshoe Mesa and into Cottonwood Creek was magnificent, but I did not want to stop to take pictures. These images would live in my mind without the camera and film, no problem there. By the time I hit the set of stairs that climbs along the northern wall the snow was about a foot deep and some of the drifts were two and three feet. Getting up these stairs in the snow was not easy as I couldn't tell where one step ended and the next began.

The wind was blowing a lot stronger now so I knew I must be getting close to the rim. Shortly after this I saw what I thought was the rim but it wasn't and I still had a little further to go. On and on through the snow and wind and finally I reached the sign that marked the trailhead. This was worth a picture and it is this picture that is used on the top of the Backcountry Trails page.

I made my way over to where I had left my car 4 days ago and brushed the snow off of it. The parking lot sure looked a lot different now than it did then. I threw my gear into the car and hit the road. The road back to the village had not been plowed yet which made for an interesting drive. When I finally reached the village I headed right for the Bright Angel Lounge and a good stiff drink! What a trip! Can I go back again tomorrow?