The goal for the first day was simply to get from the South Kaibab trailhead to my camp about midway along the Clear Creek Trail. I had a few short breaks along the way and a longer rest at Phantom Ranch before the final leg to camp.

6:55 - El Tovar

I am running a little behind schedule. I got out of the house a little late and then after about 5 miles remembered that I forgot my hat and had to go back for it. It was supposed to be plenty sunny this week and I wanted a hat. I will still make that 8am shuttle. I have to! I ordered blacked trout with scrambled eggs for breakfast and I will just ask for the check as soon as the meal arrives.

It is about 20 degrees warmer this time over the last time I did this and it is probably going to warm up very quickly as I start down the trail. I have a mild headache this morning and I hope that just goes away before I start down. I don't know what's causing it as I have had plenty to drink. I went to bed a little after 9 last night and woke up a little after 2. I napped a little after that until the alarm went off at 4:30.

10:30 - Skeleton Point

The normal Hiker's Special shuttle to the South Kaibab trailhead did not seem to be running and the bus that I took from the Backcountry Office made a lot more stops than the Hiker's Special would have. It was a modified Village Route/South Kaibab bus. I don't know what happened to the other bus. One person I talked to said may have stopped running for the season.

I didn't start down the trail until about 8:45 and arrived at Cedar Ridge a little after 9:30. I didn't stay there long at all and just took a few photos and left for Skeleton Point. I am taking a longer break here at Skeleton. I got here at 10:30 and will leave around 10:45. Three miles down and 4.5 more to Phantom Ranch.

13:50 - Phantom Ranch

I got here a little before 1:30, about a half hour later than last time because of the later start. I am going to need to cut the visit short if I want to be able to make it to the campsite I want for tonight. I brought a copy of my "Grand Canyon Memories" photo book with me and I am going to leave it in the library here. The library is not looking so good and has a lot fewer books than I remember. It needs some new additions.

I weighed my backpack at the Backcountry Office before I left and it was 52 pounds, a little more that it should be for my weight. Ideally a backpack should not weigh more than a quarter of your body weight so it should be a little less than 45 for me. I am not really carrying anything different so it must always weigh about that though. The book may be about a pound and that stays here but I need to add 3 quarts of water and that will be 6 pounds.

The hike out from here back up to the Tonto level on the north side of the river is going to be brutal. Luckily a lot of the water weight will be gone by tomorrow morning.

19:20 - Camp Sweet Camp

I made it to the same camp as last time but for a while there I didn't think I was going to make it. It was almost 2:30 by the time I left Phantom Ranch and it was slow going up to the Phantom Overlook on the Clear Creek Trail. I arrived there at 3:20 after several stops to catch my breath. The weight of the backpack was really getting to me on the uphill sections. I rested a while at the Phantom Overlook and then continued on up. I took another short break in some shade just before breaking out onto the Tonto about 4:20. I finally got to camp at 5:40 and setup the tent as the Sun was sinking behind the south rim cliffs. It was dark by the time I finished dinner.

I've got a foot problem already. The small toes on both feet have been mashed into the toes next to them and the right one looks like it may have a blood blister on the left side of the toenail where it was pressed up against the other toe. I have worn there boots several times already with no problems so I don't understand what's wrong. I had them on all day yesterday with no problems so it must have something to do with the downhill. The socks I had on today seemed a little tight too but I doubt that could be it.

There is a beautiful crescent moon out tonight and I spent some time trying to take photos of that after dinner. The crickets are serenading me right now and I love it. The weather was perfect today and I don't think it will get so cold tonight. It is very nice out right now. The planet Jupiter is shining through the doorway to the tent and that is the brightest object in the sky.

I am going to try and read a chapter in my book but I don't know if that will be possible as I feel pretty tired. It has been a long day and my body is wiped but I don't feel bad at all, just tired. It will be interesting to see what I feel like in the morning.