715am - Back at the ramada near The Tipoff

Today is my sister's birthday so "Happy Birthday Marita!". I sent out a birthday card from Flagstaff before the hike.

I had a very good night's sleep but woke up several times. I just lay there gazing at the stars in their magnificent splendor before eventually drifting off back to sleep. It was a beautiful night and I started seeing part of the Milky Way between 1 and 2am. I saw a few shooting stars as well.

I got up at 430 and had most of my gear packed up by 5. It sure is a lot quicker without having to deal with a tent. I had myself a bagel and cream cheese and a couple of mochas for breakfast.

I was out of camp at 610am and met the others just as I hit the Tonto Trail. We spent several hours chatting last night after our respective dinners and it was nice to have someone to hike with this morning.

945am - Phantom Ranch

I left The Tipoff a little before 8am, so spent just a little under an hour there. I said goodbye to my temporary hiking companions for last night and this morning. They are very nice people and we ended up having quite a bit in common. I got an invitation to visit them I India if I ever get over there. They started hiking up the South Kaibab Trail and I started down.

I am going to hang out here for several hours and eat and drink as much as possible. I already had another bagel and cream cheese for second breakfast, I will probably get some chips and lemonade to have with my veggie jerky for lunch. Then possibly a beer and some pretzels. I am thinking of leaving here at 2pm to start the hike up to Utah Flats. It is quite beautiful down here right now and I am enjoying relaxing under the shade of the Cottonwoods.

345pm - River Resthouse

The afternoon did not go as planned at all and I bailed out on the hike up to Utah Flats. As the temperature started to climb I began to get nervous about doing the hike and when I finally got to the start of the route the thermometer at the campground was reading 105F. Another thermometer on the side of the notice board had 90F in the shade but I knew there was not going to be any shade going up this route. I started picking my way up the lower portion of the route but I did not go very far before I decided it was going to be dangerous. It was very hot and I was sweating a lot and was not sure I had enough water to do it. Fear and anxiety got the better of me and I panicked.

I tried going over to the Phantom Ranch station a few times during the late morning and early afternoon to see about possibly staying at Bright Angel Campground tonight and then doing the Utah Flats climb early tomorrow morning. There was a sign on the door saying "We're open, come on it." but the door was locked. I knocked but there was no answer. I knocked on the residence door as well but there didn't seem to be anyone around. I even walked down and through Bright Angel Campground once to see if perhaps the ranger was down there but no sign of any ranger.

I just used my InReach GPS to send a message to Robin to update her on the change in plans. The hike along the River Trail was not too bad as there is a nice breeze blowing along the river and there were a few pockets of shade. It feels nice to be in the shade here. I am a little nervous about the Devil's Corkscrew but hoping some shade will move in over there later in the afternoon. I am also hoping I will be able to stay at Havasupai Garden tonight. If not I will at least have dinner there and hang out for a couple more hours before starting the final hike back to the rim.

600pm - Havasupai Garden

I headed immediately for the day use shelter to make myself some dinner before it got dark. There is some construction going on here and areas near the shelter are fenced off so I was glad it was available. While I was making dinner a ranger came by to check on me. She asked if I was the person who was having a hip problem and I told her "not his time". I explained my situation and she said I could spend the night here, to just go find an unoccupied site. She mentioned that the group site was free. I was planning to stop by the ranger station after eating dinner to ask, since it would have been on the way back to the rim anyway, but now I don't have to.

800pm - Havasupai Garden

Garmin has screwed up royally. I just texted my wife using my phone because I was able to get a minuscule cell signal from up near the ranger station and she asked me what was going on with the SOS? "What SOS?" I asked. She said that Garmin had called her and also another friend, who is my secondary contact, and said that I had initiated a SOS from the River Resthouse. They were asking her for info about me and she did not know what they were talking about. She said she got a text from me saying that I had changed plans and was heading for a different camping location for the night. That's all, she didn't know anything about any problems. Apparently when I sent that message using my inReach GPS it somehow caused the SOS from last October, for my dislocated hip, to be reactivated. I never initiated a SOS today! No one at Garmin checks the dates on these things? Now I know why the ranger was asking me if I was the guy with the hip problem. I went up to the ranger station and told them there was no SOS. She said she would take care of it. What a mess.

There are a number of free sites here right now and I did not take the group site. It's possible that some others could be coming down the trail later on but probably unlikely.