Grand Canyon - Phantom Ranch -- some photos (May 5, 2014) (last of a set)

This is final post of a set of four (here is post #1; here is post #2; here is post #3).

This final post includes photos of our hike up and out of the Grand Canyon via the Bright Angel Trail on May 5, 2014.  We enjoyed spectacular weather - significantly cooler than on our hikes up this trail in 2004 and 2007.

Breakfast was served at 5:00a.  Though we were up earlier to pack, take duffels to the mule loading area, etc.

All made it up the trail in good order - a fine finish to our little adventure.

[Repeating:  click-to-enlarge photos - you'll lose access to the captions - but it's worth it.]

[Repeating:  immediately following the last photo is a video picking up the day's photos taken on the Narrative Clip camera ("wearable technology" that was clipped to my shirt during the trip and automatically snapping pictures every 30 seconds).  Those photos are running along in the video at a pace of about two per second.  Photo quality naturally suffers on this device, especially in comparison to the other photos - but the Clip does somewhat succeed in providing an alternative viewpoint of the day's proceedings.]

Finishing 5a breakfast in the canteen (still pretty dark outside).  Check out those canned peaches
in CPG's future!  Looks like (almost) all hikers are awake and ready to hit the trail.

All 20 of us - the only time we were all assembled for a group photo.  Locked and
loaded for commencement of the up-hike.  Phantom Ranch.  5:45a.  Pretty
much the last time any of us saw Jon, who skedaddled up the trail.

Another wonderful Jim-shot of "small person set in mighty nature"  (as in similar photo in post #3, Carol is the 
subject here).  Here she is walking along Bright Angel Creek (thus all the trees) at beginning stage 
of the up-hike.  The path ahead looks beautiful - with a hint of the ominous.  Great picture.  

Pat, PJr, Alex approaching the silver bridge, with Colorado River in background.

A great look back at the silver bridge as we start moving along the "river trail" portion
of the up-hike.  I love this portion along the Colorado River.

Sisters.  River Trail.  Along the legendary Colorado River.  Bottom of Grand Canyon.  Nice.

Hikers have now left the "river trail" and are just beginning to head up the 
main section of the Bright Angel Trail.  Luis, K, N, Charlie, Nick.

First rest stop for this group.  Very little elevation gain to this point.  All (especially one
certain hiker) seem to be in good spirits.  

Now we're climbing steadily.  This gives a sense of the switchbacks in this phase.

I love this section of the trail.  Climbing rapidly here, with great views 
of the trail behind, and of dramatic rock formations everywhere.  

See what I mean by "great views of the trail behind?"  What fun to pass through 
this section.  Steep, spectacular climb.

One of the vantage points for photos like the preceding one.  Pausing here provided
a welcome break from climbing  - plus spectacular views. 

How great is this photo (thanks again, Theresa)?  Our crew continues upward toward 
Indian Gardens.  A bit less steep here.  A bit more moisture available (as the plants indicate).

K leads a group across a small watercourse.  We're now coming up
into what we call the "notch.."  (By the way, N's taped-up shoes somehow 
survived the entire hike.)

I like Nick's photo here - we took a rest break here at beginning of the "notch."
It was a great spot.

Ascending through the "notch" toward Indian Gardens.  Water running below the trail; we
are still mostly in shade at this stage.  This is a great picture of an excellent trail segment.
(By the way, note the contrast to South Kaibab Trail (photos in post #2) - that trail does 
not have any segments with running water, trees, shade.)

Maeve, K and N look great in this shot as we near Indian Gardens.  
Even so, Luis "makes" the photo - what an awesome pose.

Only photo in this set of posts to come via the "Narrative Clip" camera.
PJR, CPG, Pat H etc. taking main rest stop of the hike at shady Indian Gardens.

I love this shot of our hiker group ascending past Indian Gardens.  

In fact, I love the preceding shot so much that I'm 
here including another version of essentially the same thing.
Except that I (obsessed with "small persons in mighty nature" 
photos) think this one is even more dramatic.

Luis, Charlie, Alex, PJr, CPG, Nick; me kneeling.

We've made quite a bit of progress by this time.  

The group takes a short break at "one and a half mile" rest house.  Well up the trail now,
I was starting to get a little sad that we were almost finished.

K looking good, keeping up her pace.  (About the only good photo that I took myself.)  

EPG keeping at it, Jim stalking behind.

I really like this look-back - it shows so much of the trail we've completed ("three mile" rest house
perched at right; Indian Gardens is in the concentrated "green" area in the center of the middle
distance; a bit farther back is the "notch" from where the trail drops out of sight).  Nice!

Mike 'n me.  We've almost made it to the top.

Pausing very near the top.  L-R Luis, N, CPG, Alex, Pat, Maeve, Mike, EPG, 
Charlie, PJr, me, Carol, Nick, Theresa, Jim.

Dave and Marlene - with PJ, the early finishers waiting for the rest of us to emerge (not counting Jon, who
was on his own (rapid) pace).  Those three flew up the trail; these two evidently not any the worse for wear.

We made such good time up the trail that we had to wait for the duffels coming up
via mule train.  But at least we had a fine place to wait!

Trip detritus.

Grand Canyon - Phantom Ranch -- some photos (May 4, 2014)

This is post #3 of a series (#1 is here; #2 is here).

This post includes various photos giving a glimpse of the group's doings on May 4, 2014.  This day was spent entirely at the bottom of Grand Canyon - a unique, delightful, place.  24 hours entirely without cell phones, TV, news.  24 hours entirely present with fellow hikers, plus what are properly called natural wonders.  Nice.

Early stages of hike along North Kaibab Trail to Ribbon Falls.  Heading toward the "Box."
 Just look at this photo (especially amazing if you click-to-enlarge)!  I love the sunlight and clouds here.

Principal activities for the day:

• Breakfast in the "canteen" (the community building at Phantom Ranch where meals are served; and where, between meals, food/beverage and misc. are available and folks hang out); pick up sack lunches
• Most of our group then did all (or part of) the 12+ mile round trip hike to Ribbon Falls
• Afternoon fun in the "canteen"
• Miscellaneous wandering around Bright Angel Creek, Colorado River, etc. 
• Hiker's stew dinner at the "canteen"
• Ranger talk (focused on those irrepressible Kolb Bros)
• Followed by black light scorpion hunt (OK, only one or two folks went on the hunt (one being Mike))
• Evening fun in the "canteen"
• Relatively early bedtime for most in anticipation of early start for next day's hike-out
• Stargazing for others

Repeating comment from post #2:  "(Click-to-enlarge photos, as always.  Doing so loses access to the pithy captions, but that's definitely the right trade-off.)"

(Immediately following the last photo is a video picking up the day's photos taken on the Narrative Clip camera ("wearable technology" that was clipped to my shirt during the trip and automatically snapping pictures every 30 seconds).  Those photos are running along in the video at a pace of about two per second.  Photo quality naturally suffers on this device, especially in comparison to the other photos - but the Clip does somewhat succeed in providing an alternative viewpoint of the day's proceedings.)

My favorite type of photo:  contrasting the size of our human presence (in this case, Carol) against
 nature's grandeur.  (If that sounds cliched, so be it!)

Another "man persons in nature" photo" . . . my favorite . . . 

Most of the Ribbon Falls hiking contingent.  At the outset we weren't committed to making the 
entire hike (and thus didn't really pack or dress properly in all cases); accordingly, some of this 
group returned to Phantom Ranch after completing about half of the Ribbon Falls hike.

Me 'n Charlie on one of the six bridges spanning Bright Angel 
Creek between Phantom Ranch and Ribbon Falls.  

Might be the single greatest photo from the entire trip.  Outstanding views of 
the canyon, Mike and Bright Angel Creek.
And then Jim adds an entire extra dimension. 

Making our way out of the Box (nickname for the beginning portion of the hike (immediately north 
of Phantom Ranch) due to steep canyon walls on both sides) - here, the canyon is opening up a bit .  
Still a long ways to Ribbon Falls.  But honestly:  who wouldn't want to follow this trail for as long as it goes?

Out of the Box and continuing on toward Ribbon Falls.

This effort turned into some really nice photos.  (Thanks, Carol & Jim.)

Theresa and Alex at the final bridge prior to arriving at Ribbon Falls.

Finally made it to Ribbon Falls.  We had no idea that it would look so spectacular.  Certainly
the falls are tiny on an absolute scale - but the near-shock of encountering this in the desert
on a scorching-sunny day is quite impressive.  In this photo Jon is making his way toward 
the water at center/right; I'm approaching the falls from the left.

The waterfall was unbelievably refreshing on this hot day (as Nick can attest).

Much enjoying Ribbon Falls.  Jon, me, PJ, PJr.

Yes, I like this photo of PJ and me.
Part of the visual impact of Ribbon Falls stems from the access to the back of the falls - from
where one looks out through layers and layers and layers:  water and lush green plants, then rock and 
desert trees, then additional layers of stark, bone-dry canyon walls of varying hues; then blue sky.

Nick had brought along water filtering equipment - without it, we all would have had to turn back.
With it, there was a fair amount of work for Nick, Jon, Paul Jr., Alex here below the falls.
For the record, it was a success:  no one became ill using the filtered water.

Meanwhile, back at the (Phantom) Ranch:  non-hikers plus early returners from Ribbon Falls hike avail 
themselves of the pleasures of the "canteen".  Maeve and Dave share expressions of appropriate caution, if 
not outright disdain, as Maeve starts slicing the sausage, or whatever it is, included in the sack lunch picked up 
from Phantom Ranch every day.  Others are focused on a card game.  CPG is focused on photo-bombing.  

Now the afternoon "canteen" group has moved into "Sequence" battles (these were repeated after dinner).  
Dave has arrayed the fruits of their drinking labors into something that, I think, was intended
to resemble the Canyon itself.  An appropriate homage', I 'd say.

Sportsmanship display.  L-R Dave, EPG, K, CPG, Pat Herrarrarrarraa, N, Luis, Mike.
CPG apparently on green-loser team.

Cooling off in Bright Angel Creek, late afternoon.  Including dam-building efforts.

Hiker's stew!!  With cornbread!  Best meal at Phantom Ranch.  Going around the table:  N, C, Marlene, Pat 
Herrarrarrarraa, Jon, Theresa, PJr (whose pose is a shout-out to absent POC), PJ, EPG, Luis, K.  

Table 2:  Jim, Dave, unknown photo-bombers, Nick, Maeve, Charlie, Mike.
Note eager anticipation, by all, for the famed stew.

The same group - with right side of the table providing expressions charmingly similar to
their expressions in the photo immediately above.  All are celebrating Phantom Ranch's 
chocolate cake - to repeat, it's been served as the dessert at every single dinner served in the 
canteen since it switched from a resort to a place accommodating hikers.

Eighteen of our group of 20 - posing on canteen steps right after being kicked 
out at conclusion of dinner time.  (We would return later for cards, Sequence, beers, etc.)

Mike, Nick, etc. eagerly soaking up ranger-knowledge about the fabulous Kolb Bros.

One of our final steps as the evening wore on:  Charlie stamps three postcards, signed by most 
of the group, addressed to Ernest and Helen Gales, Bode, Iowa 50519.  

Grand Canyon - Phantom Ranch -- some photos (May 2 and May 3)

Very lucky to have multiple sets of great photos from our 2014 hike (summarized here).

It can be a bit daunting to look through the entire package of photo sets, so I'm placing just a few on this website - hopefully a reasonably representative sampling.

This post picks up some photos from our night-before "reception at the Rim," along with photos from the hike down the South Kaibab through arrival at Phantom Ranch.  Will cover the rest of the adventure via subsequent posts.

(Click-to-enlarge photos, as always.  Doing so loses access to the pithy captions, but that's definitely the right trade-off.)

(Immediately following the last photo is a video picking up the day's photos taken on the Narrative Clip camera ("wearable technology" that was clipped to my shirt during the trip and automatically snapping pictures every 30 seconds).  Those photos are running along in the video at a pace of about two per second.  Photo quality naturally suffers on this device, especially in comparison to the other photos - but the Clip does somewhat succeed in providing an alternative viewpoint of the day's proceedings.)

Getting ready to take in a sunset at South Rim (Friday evening, May 2)

Siblings.  Yes, I enjoyed having them along.

Sunset reception . . .

Food prep team at work - our best food array yet. (With inspector and photo-bomber.)

A fine setting for some yakking, etc.  Our third "reception at the Rim" (2004, 2007, 2014).
Plus we can look quite far down the Bright Angel Trail and think about what's to come.

A toast to conclude the reception . . . utilizing Mike's home-brew.

Advance party heading down South Kaibab Trail (Saturday, May 3)

The rest of the hiking party, ready to head down the South Kaibab (after
an unplanned side trip for a little shoe-shopping).

Colors.  Jim.

South Kaibab Trail - built for views.

Advance party caught this amazing photo near rim.  I'm still waiting for my 
first glimpse of one of these.

This group appears to be in pretty good spirits (L-R N, C, K, Luis, EP, Theresa, PJr, Jon, Alex, Pat, Mike)

Down we go . . . I like photos that include views of the "trail ahead".

There is a knot of folks in center of photo - it's Nicole taking a picture of quite a few members
of our hiking party . . . click to enlarge, you might see 'em.  This is a great photo,
including views of the trail ahead of us. 

Nice to have Dave Kollar along again.

Pleasant (shady) rest stop, with superb views, for those awaiting the lolly-gaggers.

Charlie and me.

Three (fine) sons.

Yes, it was a little warm on the way down.  Especially noticeable for the lagging group.
(Though we did get to enjoy extra time on-trail.)

This is a great shot of the Colorado River.  Silver bridge in the distance.

Made it to the Black bridge . . . almost there.

Always nice to see this sign.
(Except it means that the down-hike is over.)

Grand Canyon - Phantom Ranch (May 3-5, 2014)

Approximately 5:40a on May 5.  Group of 20 ready to head up Bright Angel Trail to South Rim.
Back L-R:  Patrick, Chris, Mike, Maeve, Nick, Paul Jr., Charlie, Dave, me, Alex, Theresa
Front L-R:  Marlene, Jim, Carol, Patricia, Nicole, Kerry, Luis, Pat, Jon

Twenty hikers spent two nights at Phantom Ranch (after a night-before stayover at Bright Angel Lodge on South Rim).  Preceded, and followed, by some fun times in Phoenix.

It's been seven years since our last Phantom Ranch adventure (recounted here).  (Among other delaying factors, worldwide competition for large-group reservations is a challenge (one example recounted here).)

I really don't know how the 2014 experience could have been nicer.  Summary of events is included in the email reproduced below.

Among other delightful aspects of the 2014 trip:  a trove of photos, far better than what we've come back with on our prior hikes.  I will separately post a few.

Nope, can't wait for the next time.
______________________________

From: Paul Gales
Sent: Monday, May 12, 2014 9:40 AM
Subject: RE: phantom ranch 2014 - email #6

[Where were we last week at this time?  Even we tail-enders were probably already leaving Indian Gardens by now?]

***

Having stayed at Phantom Ranch in ’97, ’04, ’07, I’ve actually given a fair amount of thought in recent years to teeing up a group outing to a place other than PR – after all, lots of other fine destinations are available.  But every time I mull this over, I keep coming back to the uniqueness of the entire Grand Canyon/Phantom Ranch proposition – reinforced for me again last week.  I do think the general PR differentiators are worth recalling before memories further fade:

·         prosaic but relevant: it’s drivable from Phoenix and overall reasonably priced

·         the opportunity to spend time at the Rim, including a night-before reception-at-the-Rim – and how nice is that evening?  What a spot this year; and PJ, CCG and team did a particularly great job with drinks/snacks.  A closely-related-but-completely-different experience compared to PR itself.

·         the basic up/down hikes are two entirely separate experiences, each entirely wonderful, entirely world-class hikes

o    with enough challenge to be interesting, but not so much as to be daunting

o    and mules(!) to haul our stuff

·         separated by two days of cabin life – a bit rustic, yes; difficult or annoying, generally no; with

o    prepared meals, hot showers, clean sheets (though not necessarily on arrival at cabin 15)

o    among other menu gems:  chocolate cake every dinner since PR opened, and brightly-colored canned peaches at every breakfast!

o    a bar, or “canteen,” that functions like a living room in off hours – drinks, snacks, games, total freedom to move around

·         cut off from the world – no tour bus folk, no national park visitor hordes, no cell phone or TV; facilitates a focus on nature and one another in a way that cannot, and does not, happen otherwise.  (Just compare the feeling you experience as you start encountering lots o’ folks when rising past 1.5 Mile House on the up-hike.)

·         complete flex on our “rest” day to do more outdoor stuff, relax, whatever

·         ranger talks invariably yield a nugget or three

·         4500 feet below the rim – yup, that’s a pretty unique view/vantage point

·         at Mary Colter’s Phantom Ranch!

·         etc., etc.

Not sure if anything quite like this exists elsewhere?  I guess time will tell if we can identify a suitable alternative.  Whatever other destination we might add, I’m sure I’d be perfectly happy returning semi-regularly to PR no matter what.

Beyond the general GC/PR factors:  each trip yields up its own moments; here are a few that I want to remember from last week:

·         seems like there’s somebody like “Gustav” (the enthusiastic Catalan at our first breakfast) on staff at the canteen every trip  – ok, maybe he was a bit over the top, but I think it’s more accurate to say that he really “gets it” in terms of the unique experience for PR’s overnight guests – anyone blasé about this is just missing out

·         illicit dam building in Bright Angel Creek; licit beer can-pyramid building in the canteen

·         mucho Sequence battles royale in the canteen

·         soaking one’s feet in Bright Angel Creek on a hot day; or in the glorious Colorado River itself

·         I learned after the fact that some of our crew saw – and photographed – a couple bighorn sheep at top of South Kaibab trail.  Pretty rare; entirely neat; I’m actually kind of jealous that I missed this. 

·         some of us saw a raptor abduct a squirrel off a high canyon wall, pretty quickly drop the little struggler some 20-30 feet down into Bright Angel Creek, and swoop to a landing spot back up on the canyon wall – all this played out in the course of a few seconds against a perfectly framed backdrop of steep-tight dark cliffs, brilliant sunlight, clear-flowing water – just an amazing visual

·         Ribbon Falls – our first visit after all these years – we learned that this is so fine that we need to better plan how to take advantage of it

·         some of us did a bit of late-night star-gazing while reposed on benches down at the amphitheater – one of my favorite hours of a trip that had many

·         PJ’s cobbler-work on NOC’s splitting shoes

·         the bemused(?) looks on folks’ faces as I went room-to-room at Thunderbird Lodge on Friday night explaining why our South Kaibab hike-down departure time was going to be delayed a bit; the good fortune to find reasonably good replacement hiking shoes reasonably early on Saturday morning

·         surviving the trudge along Bright Angel Creek as the last segment of our down-hike on a 98-degree Saturday afternoon; sweltering through the “Box” on Sunday; enjoying a cool-weather up-hike on Monday

·         those marvelous Kolb Brothers – their adventures initially recounted by via ranger-talk, then skillfully recycled as up-hike entertainment

·         sack-lunch delights (especially that ineffable sausage (accessed for some of us via Nick’s trail-found cutting-rock))

A few things I learned: 

·         how great was it to be unplugged for a few days?  I thought I was doing a pretty good job of managing/limiting my exposure to political/policy news and the like – but clearly need to cut back further.  Way further.

·         how great was it to have a couple birders around (if that’s the word)?  I’m thinking that the time I subtract from following policy debates should go to looking at birds – if you start paying even a little attention to these critters, it ends up being a pretty amazing extension of one’s nature observations.

·         how great to have several actual photographers along on this trip?  Can’t wait to see the results.

And we had a series of fine non-GC/PR adventures (with participation varying based on who was here in Phoenix at the time):

·         Squaw Peak limber-up hikes (Wednesday and Thursday)

·         lunch on Ohso Brewery patio (Thursday)

·         dinner at 11419 featuring Fuego Bistro entrees (Thursday)

·         lunch in downtown Flagstaff at Criollo Latin Kitchen (Friday)

·         NOC’s birthday celebration at PJr/Nedda’s place (Monday)

·         breakfast/recap session at 11419 (Tuesday)

·         pizza lunch downtown at “nationally-renowned” Pizzeria Bianco (Tuesday)

·         dinner, lobby photos, and laughs – with the final hangers-on at Gallo Blanco (Tuesday)

***

So all of this was quite wonderful. 

But we all also observe that the success of the project depends far more than anything else upon the people comprising the group – and setting aside a couple much-regretted absences, I just don’t know that we can ever put together a group quite this fine?  Everything went so smoothly (including previously-daunting tasks such as duffel-coordination).  Consistent patience, good humor, helpfulness, interesting conversation, etc., etc.  Delightful.  Moving in groups-of-20 is definitely not always this consistently easy and fun.

PJ and I had high expectations for this group, and they were exceeded, easily.  We very much appreciated having each and every one of you along. 

And like always, I’m more than a little sorry when it’s over.

Paul & Patricia

p.s #1:  It is my sad duty to report a “tragedy at the mule barn” – my clip-camera was lost in the parking lot there while we were fussing around waiting for duffels to arrive (at least that’s the last time I recall seeing it).  So we shall never know whether this not-quite-ready-for-prime-time technology would have yielded anything interesting.  (And I think I shall not replace it.)

p.s. #2:  for the record, our hiking group included travelers from 10 states (AZ, VA, CA, AK, MN, MA, PA, MD, NJ, OH). 

Paul M. Gales

pgales@phoenixlawgroup.com

From: Paul Gales
Sent: Tuesday, April 29, 2014 3:18 PM
Subject: RE: phantom ranch 2014 - email #5

Final thoughts:

1. Thursday dinner planning here at 11419 is shaping up nicely, and most everyone that’s made it to Phoenix by then will be here.  Entrees being catered from Fuego Bistro – the guys that did such a great job with the food at Nicole-POC wedding back in 2011.  Appetizers, salads, dessert, etc. being taken care of by the usual local pros.  No fixed start time as we figure folks will be drifting in throughout the day.  Will set out the entrees perhaps 7p or so, but that stuff will be good for hours on the warmers.

2. Bad news:  Nedda had to drop out.  But that did open a spot for the highly esteemed Jon Blaha! (Say hi to Jon.)

3. Bring cameras; take lots of photos; and somebody figure out which photo-sharing site to use.  Please share!

4. Wearable tech #1:  anyone going to wear a fitbit (or similar)?  I want to know how many steps this requires.

5. Wearable tech #2:  I’ll be wearing the Narrative Clip (http://getnarrative.com/) – hopefully no one is uncomfortable around this kind of thing these days, and now you’ve been warned.  (Have been testing it out for a couple weeks now with consistently lousy results, but I’m not giving up.  Yet.)

6. The weather forecast is really quite good.  Definitely trending to the high side for this time of year, but should be no issues with precipitation – which is the one factor that can really damage the experience.  Those of you who have been up on Colorado Plateau know it’s typically pretty windy up there, so I am expecting a lot of that throughout the trip.  I’ll take a jacket for Friday night/Sat morning on South Rim, and then leave it in the car . . . space permitting, will send a separate light jacket down on the mule train since it likely will feel a touch cool down at Phantom Ranch at night (at least to we Phoenix folk).  Not planning to carry a jacket in my backpack even though it might feel a bit cool at the very start of the down-hike.  All in all – given that we’re dealing with three overnights across about 5000 feet of elevation change – the forecast is looking about as good as possible, I’m very grateful for that.

7. Reminder that technically we’re supposed to be bringing 10 male and 10 female hikers on this trip.  Likelihood of enforcement problems on this issue seems extremely low.  Still, if you’re a guy-hiker named “Patrick” or “Christopher” – I listed you with the females under a shortened version of your name in my submission to the vendor.  You may wish to dress accordingly just in case.

8. The only recent revelation for me as to packing – the importance of socks!  I tried the REI brand of “light” hiking socks instead of my usual, and they were noticeably thinner – such that I all but gave myself blisters heading down Squaw Peak the other day.  Too much room for the foot to move around inside the shoe.  This reminded me that the blister problem is primarily on the down-hike.  Anyone in doubt whether they have the right shoes-socks combination probably should stick a backup pair of socks – of a different thickness – in their pack on the down-hike.

9. We’re closing in on having sufficient donkey-duffel bags.  We definitely want those bags locked and loaded before we leave Phoenix on Friday.  Will have a staging area in our living room for this – please be prepared with your donkey-stuff – but not too much of it, in view of space limitations.  (Can somebody local bring a bathroom scale to weigh these bags?  We don’t have one.)

10. We’ll sort out Friday departure times, cars, etc. once everyone’s here.  If anyone has a schedule conflict preventing Friday morning departure, it would be helpful to know that right away, however.

We’re looking forward to seeing everyone soon.

Paul M. Gales

pgales@phoenixlawgroup.com