Bright Angel to the Hermit

April 16-19 2001

Editors Note: As with all trips, I ask participants if they would like to write an account of the trip. While some oblige with short, usually snide snippets about what a taskmaster I am along the way, no one has ever written an entire account. That is until now. Here I present unedited, our trip from the Bright Angel Trail west to the Hermit Trail along the Tonto Plateau, as seen through the eyes of Linda Furlani, sister in law extraordinaire. The only things I have supplied are the images, which I inserted where I thought appropriate.

The Hikers

The first omen that it was going to be a good trip was a sighting of a rare California condor as we were in the parking lot doing some last minute packing. Graceful and majestic with its huge wingspan, it was pointed out to us by a park ranger. We were on our way to spending three nights and four days in the Canyon.

It was a warm, sunny morning as we made are way down the Bright Angel Trail with its many switchbacks and broad vistas. An occasional horse train, with the obligatory "Marlboro Man" leading a group of travelers back up to the rim, passed us by on this well traveled, popular trail. A few hours walk brought us to the cool and refreshing Indian Gardens. There we relaxed under the shade of the large cottonwoods and drank the cool water piped in from the North Rim. This was to be our last sure water source for a day and a half, so we filled all our water containers to capacity and headed out.

Indian Gardens

The Tonto Plateau trail branched off to the west shortly after and for the first time we were on the narrow semi-maintained trails that make up the bulk of the trails in the park. A pleasant, not to hilly walk of three to four hours brought us to our first nights campsite, about an hour before sunset. The site was on the open plateau just a short walk to the edge that overlooked the Colorado River thousands of feet below. A most enjoyable evening was spent with good food, good company and a little bit of red wine. That night we slept out under a blanket of stars, watching shooting stars, satellites and tracking the Big Dipper as it made its nightly trip around the North Star.

Images on the Plateau

The next morning we all left at slightly different times and because of this, Linda the lone female among three men, was alone when she came upon a rattler. The way she tells it, three or four more steps and she would have stepped on it as it was making its way across the trail in front of her. Upon sensing her presence it stopped right in the middle of the trail and remained there motionless. She stopped dead in her tracks, frozen with fright unable to move. It was shortly after that that her heroic husband came along to save the day. He scared the snake off to the side of the trail, its rattler rattling away but they still could not continue on the trail without fear of an attack. They decided to go up and around the spot. He suggested ten feet, she ten miles. He prevailed, she was bit, he sucked the venom out, she lived (just kidding about the last part!).

The rest of the day was spent hiking along the plateau and many trips in and out of slot canyons. Along the way we saw the remains of a now defunct uranium mine on the South Rim and the many signs warning us not to drink the water.

The day had grown quite hot by late afternoon when we trudged into Monument Creek campground. We got the best site there-a large flat area nestled on top of an over hanging ledge with a beautiful view of the Monument and the North Rim beyond. (Editors of Backpacking Magazine take note-a great spot for your next cover shoot.)

Monument Creek

The next day we hiked about two miles down to the Colorado, to Granite Rapids! What a great, relaxing day. We slept a little on the riverbank and did some exploring, climbing up and down the Vishnu Schist! Other highlights included a couple rafts shooting the rapids in front of us and the lowlights were Tom baring all for a dip in the Colorado and a naked senior citizen hiker(or was that actually Tom too??!) On the way back up to our campsite we also saw a handful of rock climbers in the middle of their ascent up the Monument. It was incredible to watch as they scaled the sheer rock with their ropes.

At the Colorado

The next day was to be our last in the Canyon. We got an early start, knowing we wanted to avoid the heat of the day, and also knowing it would be the hardest hiking day yet. After a series of rolling slopes and a stunning view of the river below, our ascent started as we left the plateau and headed up towards the rim on the Hermit trail. At that point, looking up at all the different layers of rock that we needed to pass before reaching the Kaibab Formation, it seemed that we would never make it!!! It was a long way up but well worth all the effort. It was an incredible, inspiring four days that we had spent in the Canyon, a memorable experience!

Hiking out