Pam had already decided the night before that she would not be going on this day hike. She was still recovering from the past three days and wanted a rest day. She had not changed her mind in the morning and I knew her well enough by now to not to try to change it. We had a nice campsite with plenty of shade and access to water and it would be a good place to relax and re-energize for a day.

Rob, Gordy and I headed out a little before 6:30 and started up the creek in the direction of the bridge. The hiking was very easy going right along the creek at first and we passed a some small waterfalls with wonderful pools of water below them that would be ideal for soaking in. A little further up we encountered a spring that was feeding the creek and the southern bank of the creek was covered with yellow columbines and wild roses. It was beautiful and Rob said that seeing that alone had already made his day.

Just above the spring the canyon split and we took the northern branch towards the bridge. We encountered a lot more brush along this section and I remembered it from the previous trips up this way. After a while we got through the brushy section and the creek bed become dry and the walking became easier. We also had our first view of the Kolb Bridge and after going a little further started getting some really nice views of Mount Hayden. Unfortunately it was right around this time that my stomach and gut started acting up again. I forced myself to keep going, hoping the feeling would pass, but I was really starting to feel pretty bad again.

We made it into the upper reaches of the side canyon and according to the GPS we were getting pretty close to the big pour-off in the Tapeats so I started looking for the scree slope on the south side that I used to get above the Tapeats on the prior trip. Of course I could not find it. I could see a break on the south side that looked climbable but there was so much brush along that side of the creek that it was impossible to get to, and I really didn't see a scree slope. We headed up the canyon a little way thinking it was further up but soon the cliffs closed in and there was no way up on either side. We headed back down the canyon and also discovered a break on the north side which was probably the one we used when we made this attempt in 2005. There was a cairn in the creek bed right there too so it seemed like the right place for something. I knew that route on the north side was passable but I also remembered it being a lot more difficult than the route on the south side. But we couldn't find and access from the south side so we decided to go for it.

We started up a little drainage coming down from the north and then up and out of that bed to start climbing up. I grabbed onto a large slab of limestone at the top of the bank to pull myself up and the rock promptly gave way, came out of the bank and tumbled past me. Luckily Rob and Gordy managed to get out of its way as it tumbled down to the creek bed. It was a very large rock and only the smallest portion of it has been imbedded in the bank. It scraped the top layer of skin off of my left forearm as it tumbled past but it was only the top layer and although it looked bad there wasn't any bleeding involved. We continued up a little further but we came a shady spot and I really needed a rest.

The stomach problem was not going away and I was continuously fighting the urge to throw up by now. My gut was also in distress and I could feel strange things happening inside. I really had no desire to go on any further at this point and just wanted to stay put for a while and then start back to camp. I asked Rob and Gordy to try to get to the bridge without me and I would just rest up here and wait for them to get back. It was a brushy route to the top of the pour-off but it was not that far away and once there it was just a matter of following the creek bed up to the bridge for another half of a mile or so. Luckily they agreed to give it a try and since Rob was also carrying a Nikon DSLR I gave him my wide-angle lens so that he could get some good shots of the bridge.

Gordy had some Tums and also some Pepto Bismol tablets with him and I took some of both hoping it would settle things down while I rested. They took off up the north side of the canyon and I found a comfortable spot to rest. After a half hour or so the urge to throw up finally went away but my insides were still in turmoil. A turkey vulture flew over and must have spotted me laying there in the shade because it turned around and came back for a closer look. It flew back down the canyon but then came back up again and made another pass probably trying to decide if I was a meal. I got the camera out to take some photos and maybe it saw the motion because it soared off again and did not return.

I moved myself a couple of times to keep myself in shade as the sun climbed higher but it was cool and comfortable in the shade and I was getting a good rest. My stomach/gut did finally settle down and I even started to feel hungry so I munched on some almonds and cashews I had with me.

After only about two hours I could hear Gordy and Rob returning and I knew that was not a good sign. There was no way they could have made it up to the bridge and back in only two hours from where I was. I was expecting them to be gone for at least three and more likely four hours. So, yeah, they didn't make it. They did not even manage to make it to the pour-off. We sat and talked while they rested and tried to decide what to do. We could see the scree slope that I had been looking for on the other side of the canyon but it was a lot higher up than I remembered... and there still did not look like any way to get to it. I could see a large boulder on the other side just above the bank and it looked like if we could get past that we might be able to get up. I was feeling better and we checked it out on our way back down. I could get up to the front side of the boulder but the brush on both sides was impassable and it looked like too much work. We really did not have time for this now anyway unless we wanted to get back to camp very late. If we were not back before dark we were pretty sure Pam would start to freak out... and she had the satellite phone. So we started back to camp.

A short way down the creek bed we startled a rattlesnake and it was not happy at all. I heard the rattling sound, stopped dead and discovered it just ahead sitting right in the middle of the bed. There was a lizard on a rock very close by and I was wondering if maybe that was an intended meal for the snake that we had interrupted. We were stopped but the snake continued to rattle as it tried to move away. It never took its eyes off of us as it moved onto a large flat rock a little further down and got into a striking posture. We detoured around the side of the bed to get past it and it turned to follow us as we did not. We took photos from where we were and did not get very close at all. When we finally left it did not stop rattling until we were well away. I have encountered many rattlesnakes in the Canyon but this was only the second time I had ever heard one rattle and take up a striking posture. Creepy!

We stopped again briefly at the columbines and one of the larger pools on the way back but we did not waste a lot of time. It was probably close to 6pm by the time we did get back to camp. Pam said that she had a nice day relaxing in the shade and doing some reading and writing. I was very glad that she had not come along with us since we never made it to the bridge and it would have been a complete disappointment. She likely would not have gone on with Gordy and Rob and would have ended up waiting with me. I told her about the continued stomach problems and she made me some more chicken soup.

The chicken soup really hit the spot and we also had some pasta primavera for the second time on trip and that was pretty good as well. I was still hungry after dinner and I ended up munching on some more peanut M&Ms for dessert.