As scheduled, our resupply team arrived at the bottom of Cathedral Stairs in the early morning of October 8th and we proceeded together to Monument Creek. My wife, Nancy; sons Robert and Scott; and a friend of Robert's, Bucky Kelley, brought in some real food. We had made them promise not to bring any freeze-dried food down the Hermit Trail. After four weeks, we were ready for bread, cheese, meats, and even canned foods that didn't have to be reconstituted. They succeeded admirably in meeting our expectations although at a high cost to themselves as the food they brought down was both bulky and heavy.

Accompanied by them, we continued on to Indian Gardens Campground along the circuitous Tonto Trail. We were definitely at civilization when we reached the Bright Angel Trail. Picnic tables were a luxury to which we were unaccustomed and people seemed to mill around everywhere. After an evening of people viewing, Bob and I were ready to continue on alone to our next resupply point on Horseshoe Mesa. Since the aluminum hip suspension on my pack had failed beyond repair, my eldest son agreed to switch packs with me. My seemingly indestructible, new-at-the-start boots with the thickest sole made were also wearing through so my family promised to bring in another pair when they resupplied us a couple of days later. Traveling considerably lighter, Bob and I rapidly covered the fifteen miles to the Grandview Trail resupply point. We'd sent our clothes out to be washed and had only one day's food so our packs seemed light even with the mandatory gallon of water. We camped at Grapevine Canyon and while hunting upstream for water I had what turned out to be our last rattlesnake encounter. We had seen seven previous to this one and all of these contacts resulted in rapid withdrawals by a badly frightened snake and human. None had ever attempted to strike at us even though I had stepped over a Mojave Rattlesnake along the river. A first for me had been seeing six of the unique pink Grand Canyon Rattlesnakes, mostly along the river.

The weather changed abruptly when we next met our resupply party atop Horseshoe Mesa. Until now the fall had been unseasonably warm, but the advent of a two day rainstorm created weather conditions that were instantly 20° F cooler. Again our resuppliers had brought in a smorgasbord of delights. So much food in fact that we decided to stay over a day after they left to consume some of the excess weight and take in the mesa-top sights. Horseshoe Mesa features numerous mining claims from the early 1900's and a large limestone solution cavern, the Cave of the Dome, which we visited one afternoon. Continuing on the next day, our short term objective was to complete the Tonto Trail at Hance Rapid and return for a time to walking the banks of the Colorado River . The weather was now cold and fortunately we would be able to eliminate some weight by carrying less water.

Updated on Thursday, November 3, 2011 @ 4:30 MST © 1995-2011 by Robert R. Marley