AZT 2019 Day 41: Cottonwood Campground stock site (mile 705.3) to the North Kaibab Trailhead/North Rim Campground (mile 712.4)

7.1 miles

I had a lazy morning for once. I still woke up at first light, but, with the exception of visiting the pit toilets and grabbing my food bag out of the critter-proof box, I stayed in my sleeping bag for at least an hour.

I had left my tent fly off last, with it right at the front of the tent in case it rained. There were only a few clouds during the night, but the rain came down this morning while I was in my sleeping bag, playing on my phone. I had to jump out of my tent and got it covered before everything got wet. I saw Smiley scrambling to cover himself with his tarp that he had already taken down.

I hung out until the majority of the clouds had passed, and there was some sun shining through. As I started packing up my tent, I saw the parade of early morning trail runners going by. They had already reached the bottom of the canyon.

I left Smiley, Honeydew, and Capitan, and started the long ascent back out of the canyon. It was all I had to do today, as I had planned to stay at the campground on the North Rim. The early morning light on the canyon walls was stunning, as always.

Leaving Cottonwood Campground

Looking back at the South Rim.

I was swimming upstream again, just like in Pine when I was walking the opposite direction of the trail race. So many people were coming down, and in a hurry. They also didn't seem to be adhering to the “uphill hikers have the right of way” rule. I kept having to step aside as they came barreling down. They all were surrounded by a cloud of detergent scent.

I had planned to stop for a bathroom and water break at the Manzanita Rest Stop. However, there were Disneyland sized lines for both the bathroom and water spigot. There were a lot of large groups of trail runners moving through the area at the same time. I decided to skip this stop and maybe check out the Roaring Springs Day Use area, which was also supposed to have bathrooms and water, but you had to take side trail to get there.

Trail views.

Approaching Manzanita Rest Area,

I climbed up in elevation and turned the corner to see the waterfall nearing the Roaring Springs junction. I took the side trail, which took me almost parallel to the main trail, which was not where I expected to go. I saw some structures at the bottom of the waterfall and thought that was where I was headed. It turns out it was just a helipad.

Roaring Springs.

The trail turned in and passed 2 other great waterfalls. The trail itself was not in the best condition. It was kind of slanted/a little washed out and there were some small rockslides. The end of the trail didn't look much better. I imagined picnic tables and space to hang out near a waterfall. There was none of that. It ended by crossing a small stream in an area with a broken pit toilet and lots of vegetation.

I went back to the trail and headed up. I was still encountering people heading down the trail, but they seemed to be more familiar or respectful of the hiking right of way. The trail in this section was just a ledge carved into a cliff, sometimes passing under overhangs.

Trail views.

An adventurous section of trail.

Steep dropoff.

When I reached a footbridge that crossed a canyon, I started to become genuinely tired. The trail was no longer the daring, adventurous, cliff walking it had been earlier, but it was switchbacking upwards, and I had already done a lot of climbing.

The last 2-3 miles were a struggle. They took forever. I went past Supai Tunnel (which was tiny), took a rest at Coconino Overlook, and dragged my butt to the top. It was noticeably cooler up there, and the last stretch of trail was forested. I was noticing how cold it was, when it actually started to lightly snow.

Higher up in the canyon.

Supai Tunnel.

Coconino Overlook.

The trail near the top.

North Kaibab Trailhead.

I took the trail to the campground through the falling snow and over small patches of packed snow. I found the campground and saw the showers/laundromat right away. I checked them out and there was another hiker, Fenway, there.

The trail to the campground.

I then went to check in to the hiker/biker campsite but the check in was temporarily closed. I went to the general store instead, and bought a sandwich. I was able to connect to their wifi, but it was slower than even the wifi at El Tovar. I'm glad I uploaded the videos I needed to while on the South Rim network.

After lunch, I officially checked in to the campground, then went to take a very hot shower and do laundry. I was also charging my electronics in the meantime, which were lower than I had thought they would be by the time I got here.

When I was all clean, I went to the general store to snack and eventually buy my resupply and dinner. I struggled with the slow internet the whole time. As I was there, other hikers filtered in. Jump came to my table and asked if I was a thru hiker. She said I looked like one, but I also looked “too clean.” I had just showed and done laundry but I have gotten that assessment before on the trail. It is weird, because I feel filthy.

Bright Angel IPA at the General Store.

Eventually, I went back to the laundromat to charge my electronics, as I wasn't technically supposed to do that in the store. I took Jump's battery pack with me to help her get more charge as well. When she came to retrieve it, she left me her charger, so I could charge my electronics faster.

As the sun was setting, I did one last attempt at internet at the store, then went to the hiker/biker area to set up my tent. I returned Jump's charger to her and she warned me about the bad wind gusts she had last night. I found a set of 3 pine trees that might act as a wind block and set up. I think I did a pretty good job as the wind was roaring loudly and my tent barely felt it.