The night was chilly but not cold and for the early part of the evening I didn't even have the sleeping bag zipped up. I was up around 7 am, had breakfast and packed up my gear and was ready to go around 8. I was very much looking forward to today's hike and spending all day up on the Tonto Platform. It looked like it was going to be a very nice day... hopefully a carbon copy of yesterday. I knew it was going to be a long day, something like 12 miles, and I needed to keep a good pace. Although I could see some sun downriver, most of the inner canyon was still in shadows and it was a bit on the chilly side. I started to warm up as soon as I began hiking back up Monument Creek to the junction with the Tonto Trail.

Seeing The Monument itself caught me a little off guard. I knew it was there and that it was how Monument Canyon got its name but I just sort of forgot about it. I was more in a hurry to get back up onto the Tonto and was surprised when I looked up and saw it. I guess I missed completely yesterday during the hike down.

After being up on the Tonto for a short time I was finally in the sun and things started to warm up. I got rid of my sweatshirt and was very comfortable with just the T-shirt. It was still a liitle on the cool side if I was in a shadow and not moving but hiking out in the sun was very comfortable. The day was simply gorgeous and the views magnificent.

The wide-openness of the Tonto Platform is truly amazing and except for the few places where the trail crosses a major side canyon it is very easy to follow. Even in those side canyons all you need to do is to remember to look for the cairns on the other side before and during the crossing. Aside from the section of the Tonto between the South Kaibab and Bright Angel trails this section is probably the second most heavily traveled and the trail is quite worn in. It almost feels like a highway at times, except that it is very narrow and there is not another soul to be seen.

I came across a herd of Grand Canyon bighorn sheep and also a herd of mule deer. That was very cool. I wonder if that male bighorn that I spotted yesterday is part of this herd or if he is a solo male.

Well, after being down here for a day and a half I finally spotted some other human beings. I never actually got to meet them, just spotted them hiking ahead of me on the other side of Horn Creek. It didn't look like that had much in the way of gear with them so they were probably just day hiking from Indian Garden.

Indian Garden is getting closer and that's good because my feet are getting tired. Walking around Salt and then Horn Creek drainages took a lot longer than I expected. I sort of lost the trail for a while going across Salt Creek. I ended up heading down the drainage and missed the cairn on the other side leading back up to the Tonto. I didn't go very far because I saw a cairn on the other side before I started down and knew I must have missed something.

I got into camp and had just enough time to find a free campsite, unpack, setup the tent and cook some dinner before it got dark. It had been chilly down at the river the past evening and I knew I could expect it to be downright cold at Indian Garden. I had no time to do any exploring after I finished dinner, as it was already dark. I was really too tired to do much of anything anyway and I did have a couple of blisters that needed tending to. I was looking forward to getting the boots off and lying down. I got ready for bed, crawled into the sleeping bag and got ready for a cold night. I managed to read for a while but as it got later it got too cold to keep my hands outside to hold the book and I gave up.