Map Miles: Today: 4.7/ Total: 759.4
GPS Miles: Today: 4.7/ Total: 799.8
Today’s Miles Sponsored By: Meghan and Kevin
Restless sleep found me waking up every hour before finally giving in and just getting up at 4:45. I put on my rain clothes and grabbed the things I’d need for the day and headed to the bus stop where I just missed it.
I had a slow morning of coffee at the bike rental shop before heading to the South Kaibab Trail. Since I didn’t need to end up at the campground, I figured I’d walk the whole rim rather than the cut offs through the village.
Lydia’s Geopet was a bit afraid of the heights, but loved the views.
Rain clouds threatened in the sky, but it stayed dry for the first little bit. I even scared up a huge herd of elk. They’re everywhere up here!
Elk wandering across the trail.
And then the rain began. Seattle style. Drizzling. Enough that I pulled out my umbrella (not Seattle style).
It’s been so long since I’ve used my rain gear!
The clouds added some drama to the panorama.
Rainy vistas.
In classic Jacob/Daybreaker style I turned what should have been a 1.5 hour walk into a three hour stroll stopping at every info board and the Yavapi Geology Museum.
When I finished at the Bright Angel Trailhead I went to turn my Delorme InReach off. But it was already off. I tried to turn it back on and it wasn’t responding to anything. This is a little concerning to me because this next stretch is the toughest one of the trip. I’m even having to detour my route (thanks to the help of the awesome backcountry rangers) because of some of the treacherous conditions right now. And also it’s fun having a route track to refer back to at the end!! I’ll be a little sad not to have that. I tried to call Delorme, but their service department was closed for the day. First thing on the agenda tomorrow.
The Bright Angel Trail is somewhere down there.
The clouds had continued to roll in and by the time I got to the end the canyon was no longer visible.
And then the heavy rain began.
And then the snow began.
And then the heavy snow began.
And then the sleet began.
I was so thankful to be inside today- and it was even cold there!
I finished the rest of my chores- PO, backcountry ranger, showers, had some regular old generic park service concessionaire food and that was the day.
Things cleared a little by the late afternoon. The campsite is empty tonight- not surprising that nobody hiked in in that mess. Forecast is good for tomorrow. Somewhere between 8-9 days to Colorado City. Let the adventure begin..err…continue. 🙂
My campsite the last two nights.
Daybreaker 
I forgot to tell you, besides the very wet rain all day… the one time we could take a little standing break under an overhanging rock that was the few minutes of the day when lighting cracked right above us and thunder boomed! We got out of there in a hurry.
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