The morning after I finished my HDT hike at the South Rim, I had breakfast at the El Tovar Lodge. Prime rib hash with eggs, the same breakfast I had here on the AZT in 2012. What a memory and what a tasty meal! Mrs. Haze got me safely back to Tucson with a refueling stop in Flagstaff. Had the official weigh-in and lost the usual 25 pounds – will try to keep some of it off this time. I…

Daily Miles: 17.8, Total Miles: 656.6 I woke up at 3am and was unable to get back to sleep. Had a rare second cup of coffee. With an early start, I may get to the South Rim today. As it turned out, I was hiking along the same contour almost all the way to the South Kaibab Trail. Relatively flat, except dipping into and out of drainages. Got my last good views of the Colorado River far below and my…

Daily Miles: 16.0, Total Miles: 638.8 Gusty winds last night covered my tent and everything else with fine sand. I was even spitting grit out of my mouth during the night. That’s the payback for sleeping on a dry sandbar. A slow start to the day picking my way alongside the Colorado River including a steep descent to Papago Creek. Then having to solve the puzzle of a near vertical rock face, a Class 3 scramble with just enough handholds….

Daily Miles: 11.9, Total Miles: 622.8 Sleeping next to Lava Rapids was more than white noise – more like a freight train. But I still slept well. I got an early start and continued downriver on the Beamer Trail. The next river access point was Tanner Rapids, where I filtered another liter of water. As I was leaving, I heard my name being called from the middle of the river and people waving from a raft. My new friends and…

Daily Miles: 15.8, Total Miles: 610.9 The ankle is sore, tender and feels even more unstable than usual. What can I do but take ibuprofen, wrap the ankle up tight and just walk carefully? The uneven river bottoms, faint and sloping trails and bushwhacking aren’t helping. I put my head down and tried to find the best path down the mighty Colorado River to near the confluence with the Colorado River. There was a use trail for the first four…

Daily Miles: 12.1, Total Miles: 595.1 Lori picked me up at 9:30am and I was on the trail two hours later. The Saddle Mountain TH is 23 miles off of Highway 89a on FR8910, also called Buffalo Ranch Road. The dirt road was in good shape considering the weather this past week. I climbed about 1,000 ft over 3.5 miles to the top of a saddle and met the Nankoweap Trail. NPS calls the Nankoweap Trail the most difficult trail…

Daily Miles: 0, Total Miles: 583.0 After a day of rain in Kanab on Sunday, my plan was to get up to the North Rim today, get access to the Nankoweap TH and quickly drop into the canyon. Snow is still forecast for the North Rim through Thursday, but just rain at the bottom and at least warmer. So Lori drove me up to the North Rim yesterday afternoon. I didn’t expect to see 6-8 inches of snow already accumulated…

Daily Miles: 0, Total Miles: 583.0 Back in Kanab, a good rest and did my best to refuel, starting with a big sausage and eggs breakfast. I followed that up with Big Al’s for lunch, a cheeseburger and large caramel milkshake. Thought that might do it but got hungry in the evening and went to Vermillion 45, a French restaurant. I enjoyed a scrumptious scallops and risotto dish with as much bread and butter as I could eat. Kind of…