The full day that we were supposed to spend in Phantom Canyon would turn into a half day so that we could start back to Bright Angel Campground this afternoon. Robin opted to stay at camp rather than to traipse through the unknowns of Phantom and Haunted Canyon with me. She would get to rest some more and I would get to wander off and explore. I took off, heading north up Phantom Creek, at just at just before 9 am. There were several worn paths that may have just been animal trails leading along the west side of the creek. Going north from the campsite, which was on the east side of the creek, I was forced to the west side by a sheer cliff that comes down into the creek. After that the trails seemed to keep to that side.

At 9:20 I was at the big Overhang Camp near the fork of Phantom and Haunted Canyons and at 9:50 I was at the entrance to Haunted Canyon. I wandered up the canyon a short way and climbed up a slope on the east side to take some pictures. I wished I had the full day here to fully explore Haunted Canyon but I knew that I didn't have the time. This spot would have to be beautiful enough for now.

A little after 10:00 I start back to camp and took my time about it, stopping to take photo some more photos (or actually capture some more images) along the way back. I got back a little after 11:00 and we ate an early lunch and lingered near the creek for a while before breaking down camp. We started up the Utah Flats Route a little before 1 PM.

We were not far up the trail when all of a sudden it just went away. Robin was leading and had led us astray. Actually she just missed a mark closing off the section of "trail" that we were on and the real trail went off in another direction. It was a confusing few minutes but that's about all it was. Of course when it happened again about 5 minutes later it wasn't so funny and it took longer to find the real trail/route this time. It was a lot easier to follow coming down. The upper section was definitely a lot easier going up than down, still a pain, but not as much so. At 2 PM we were back at the flat section just below Isis Temple. We rested a while and then headed east for about an hour before finding one of Robin's anticipated campsites. It was the first one that she had spotted on the way in and it was a nice one with a view to die for.

We setup camp and just lounged about until it was time to start dinner. For dinner that night I made a strange concoction of Stove Top stuffing with a small can of corn and one of chicken meat mixed in. It actually tasted very good and was very easy to clean up afterwards. We didn't need to bring a lot of food on this trip because of the many meals at Phantom Ranch so I opted to bring more normal food, which tends to be a little heavier.

After dinner Robin read for a while and I walked out to the canyon rim and watched the sunset over Phantom and Bright Angel Canyons and all of the temples, buttes and mesas that surround them. A Moon that was very close to full rose over first Brahma and then Zoroaster Temples and completed the scene very nicely. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and it went from day to night very quickly. Once the last of the light left the face of the rocks it became dark very rapidly and it was difficult to avoid all of the rocks and plants on the way back to the tent. The floor of Phantom Canyon had been very comfortable the night before but it was a bit on the chilly side up here above the canyon. We slept in our clothes that night and were still a little cold at times. Not too bad though.