Eclipse

I slept well in my tent, despite the thermarest being a bit thin for the stony ground. I woke for the final time at 05:30, and got up. Still dark, it was a little below zero. After driving over to the Park Centre, I took the packed shuttle bus to the start of the North Kaibab Trail. It's clear that, despite the dire warnings on the National Park website, many people each day do the walk I had in mind.

Indeed the descent of the first hairpins was like the start of a fell race, as the pack broke up. Although it was light when I started, the Canyon was still in shadow, so I experienced the stunning beauty of the first soft rays hitting the landscape. The Kaibab Trail follows a ridge, but eventually it descends sharply to the Colorado River in a seemingly endless sequence of hairpins. The trail immediately crosses the river by the first of two suspension bridges. There is a flat area by the river, so I headed to the sandy "beach" to have some food. A group of young Americans was gradually succumbing to the temptation to swim and, eventually, I had to join in too. It was very refreshing after the exercise, although there was a strong current. As I left, the annual solar eclipse was starting, and three times over the next 30 minutes - thanks to the loan of viewing specs - I got to see the fine solar crescent created by the moon. I missed the 100% annular eclipse by a couple of hundred kilometres, but I'm not complaining! It didn't get dark in any way, but maybe a little cooler - or was that just due to the river water evaporating from my running tights!

For a pleasant 30 minutes, the trail followed the river, crossing back on the newer suspension bridge, but then the climb back began - up the Bright Angel Trail. This follows a side stream, so most of the climb is at the end - when I was feeling tired. However, some chocolate gave me an energy boost, and I pushed on. I eventually saw more and more folk who were not walking far, so I knew I was almost back up. It took me about 6 hours for the 28km and 1800m climb, but the trails are good and it was rarely as hot as I'd feared, since I was often in the shade. 

The walk itself is fantastic, with frequent changes of landscape, rock architecture and vegetation.

Having had an ice cream, a cold drink and a sit down - talking to daughter L - I now feel ready to face the four hour drive back to Phoenix. But I'll stare out over the Grand Canyon one more time before I go.