Grand Canyon Trip Report #9 As I headed back down the trail, about a half mile in I came across Ray. He was looking better, matter of fact, a lot better! Two other day-hikers I passed on the way down were able to grab the rest of his gear and carry it so he could walk out without the burden of his pack! At this point, I was going downhill so I tried to run sections that were runnable and fast hike the rest. I had 14 miles to get back to Phantom Ranch where I hoped I might catch up with Rod and Megan who hiked down the Bright angel trail to meet us and be a friendly face for us to make the hike back out. It was getting warm but wasnt horrible. I made a quick stop at Roaring Springs pump house and topped off my water bottles and headed down the trail. Just a few minutes before Cottonwood Campground I ran into Rays friend and let him know Ray was good and got out. By this time water was off at Cottonwood Campground so I was going to have to make it to Phantom Ranch with just my two bottles which were still pretty full. Just before Ribbon Falls I came upon Gordon. He was not moving very fast and looked to be stumbling a bit(little did I know, I would feel like Gordon in the last few miles). I walked with him a while and tried to make conversation. He was doing his second r2r2r(first one 5 years earlier) and not fairing as well as his first outing! He said he would be fine and had water and food, so I moved along and went into the box for the last few miles before Phantom Ranch. By now I knew we were running a lot later than anticipated and hoped Rod and Megan had met and were heading up to Indian Garden where I hoped to catch them. I arrived Phantom Ranch a little after 5 where I met 4 hikers that had talked to Rod and Megan. They had the let a Park Ranger know I was coming through and were kind enough to check to see how I was doing and give me details of their chat with Rod. Rick
Posted on: Fri, 31 Oct 2014 14:42:49 +0000
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