The section of trail from Indian Garden down to Phantom Ranch was like walking in an oven, especially the middle portion, through the Devil's Corkscrew, where the trail descends from the Tapeats cliffs, through the Vishnu Schist to river level. Later in the day I heard the temperature in the Devil's Corkscrew that had been estimated at 130°F.

The hike along Pipe Creek from the bottom on the Corkscrew was also pretty hot but now I was getting extremely anxious, as very shortly I would actually be at the Colorado River. The hike seemed to go on forever, around bend after bend in the creek, me hoping that each one would finally bring me out to the river. I heard it long before I could see it, the distant roar of rapids, and then all of a sudden I was there, standing at the river rest house gazing down at the Colorado River. I left the main trail and went down to the little beach at the mouth of Pipe Creek for a closer look. This was another major achievement for my Grand Canyon hiking career and one that I was sure would live with me forever.

I did not stay long at Pipe Creek as the trail was calling to me and I still had a couple of more miles to cover before I would reach Phantom Ranch. The hike along the river was a little cooler and there was even the occasional breeze blowing down river. This breeze was by no means cool... it was just less hot than the surrounding air. When I reached Phantom Ranch, just after noon, the thermometer there was reading just slightly below 120°F. Ouch!

The first order of business was to stop in at the cantina to check in, get my dorm assignment and suck down a nice cold beer... or two. Then, after dropping off my gear in the dorm, and changing into my bathing suit I headed down to the Colorado River to cool off. The Park Service frowns on swimming or even wading in the Colorado because the currents can be so dangerous but when the air temperature is 120° and the water temperature is 45° it is very hard to resist. It is also sort of fun to dunk yourself into water that cold and then watch as it just steams away from your body. While I was standing there in the water a park ranger actually joined me for a while and we had a good time for a while talking about the Canyon.

After a while the ranger left and I got tired of standing in the Colorado so I walked over to Bright Angel Creek and just sat down in that for a while and soaked. That was still cold but also a lot warmer than the Colorado and not nearly as much of a shock to the body as the Colorado. It was possible to just sit in it without worrying about hypothermia setting in. It was quite refreshing.

After spending an hour or perhaps a little longer at the river and creek I headed back up towards the ranch and the cantina. I went into the dorm for a little while and lay down and took a short nap and then I spent the rest of the afternoon there reading, talking to people and drinking beer. When the cantina closed to get ready for dinner I hung out beneath the cottonwoods.

I also was fortunate to get to see the second annual Phantom Ranch, 3rd of July parade. What a hoot that was, all 5 minutes of it. Most of the employees participated and there was a guy dressed up like Uncle Sam, some others hauling the reeled up fire hose and some others pulling a small wagon, covered in straw in which the parade queen was sitting drinking beer. The parade queen was in actuality a bearded guy dressed in this lovely, pink chiffon dress. I know that not many people get to see a display like this and I considered myself blessed.

I had the second meal, the stew dinner, which was not served until 6 or 6:30, but was well worth the wait. I was having a great time just hanging out and talking to people and having the Phantom Ranch experience. Dinner was pretty much the same as the meal is served family style on the huge tables in the cantina and everybody at the table is pretty much talking to everybody else. It was a great deal of fun. I also hung out at the cantina again from 8 to 10, during the beer hall hours and then went back to the dorm and crashed at 10.