Last night we went back to the Canteen at Phantom Ranch to play some cards and warm up for a bit before heading back to camp for sleep. I slept pretty well last night given the cold sleeping conditions. This morning everyone seemed ready to get moving and head out of camp. After eating a quick breakfast and packing up camp we hit the trail. We would ascend back to the rim on the Bright Angel Trail instead of retracing our steps on the South Kaibab Trail.
At the start of the hike we headed over to the Silver Bridge to cross over the Colorado River.
After crossing the river I had expected to start ascending immediately, but instead the trail meandered along the river on a gently undulating trail for a bit
before starting the real ascent at Pipe Creek.
The trail along the creek was quite enjoyable to hike with lots of pleasant scenery.
Soon we could see the snow that lay waiting for us when we ascended higher.
We also found an old mine along the trail that we just had to check out a little bit.
After following Pipe Creek for a bit the trail meandered over to Garden Creek.
We would follow Garden Creek up to Indian Garden. We stopped at Indian Garden for a snack and then hit the trail again. Shortly after leaving Indian Garden we started to make our way up into the snow again.
The closer to the rim we got, the harsher the conditions. Again, I was glad to have my Microspikes. Just before reaching the rim, conditions got really rough.
It was very cold, snowy and the wind was blowing something fierce. We passed through two small tunnels
and shortly after the second one we were on the rim.
Once we reached the rim it was a short, slippery walk on the paved trail back to the housing at the Albright Center.
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