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Day 1 - Saddle Mountain trailhead to Marion Point camp

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The first day started with breakfast at La Bellavia in Flagstaff. From there we made a quick stop at the Subway on US-89 north of town and picked up subs to eat at the trailhead before starting the hike. We made a final pit stop at the restrooms at Navajo Bridge before driving the final leg to the trail. We arrived at the trailhead around 1230 and were on our way around 115.

It took us just under 3 hours to cover the 3.7 miles to the National Park Boundary and the start of the Nankoweap Trail. We had a break there for about a half of an hour before starting the hike to our first night's camp near Marion Point. At one point I had thought about trying to make the first camp on Tilted Mesa but given the time of day that we were starting out on the Nankoweap Trail it did not take long to give up on that idea. I did not get any complaints regarding this as people were already pretty tired from just the hike up the Saddle Mountain saddle.

We passed the first "scary spot" just before Marion Point and everyone just walked right past it. By the time you get to that point you are used to walking on the edge so it really isn't that big of a deal. As long as you don't let yourself get creeped out by it or forget how to walk it's not a big problem. It does seem to be a little worse than the last time I was there in 2012.

It took a little more than 2 hours to cover the 2 miles or so to camp and we arrived there around 630. We had just enough time to setup camp before sunset but it was already starting to get dark by the time we finished dinner. The stars that night were glorious and we had several hours of darkness before the moon rose around midnight.


Group photo at the start of the hike - Parking area for Saddle Mountain Trailhead (Forest Trail #57) (photo by Janice)

Hiking towards the saddle - Saddle Mountain Trailhead (Forest Trail #57) (photo by Janice)

Burn area and a little color along the creek - Saddle Mountain Trailhead (Forest Trail #57)

Max crossing the first scary spot - Nankoweap Trail (photo by Janice)

Trail view - Nankoweap Trail (photo by Janice)

Camp Sweet Camp - Marion Point camp, Nankoweap Trail (photo by Janice)

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