I don't know what I was thinking since it took about 7 hours to get back to the Nankoweap Trail on the last trip. I know I made a wrong turn in the Muav on that trip, totally missed the Muav Steps, and ended up doing a long scramble up a steep, scree slope instead, but I couldn't have possibly have thought not making that wrong turn was going to save me 3 hours. In the end that wrong turn although more difficult was probably quicker than the correct way.

We actually did fine right up to and over the Muav Steps getting through them by just a little after 9 and stating into the Redwall. That was already 3 hours though and even though we had already covered most of the mileage the hardest part was still ahead of us. Once we were out of the Muav I was in completely new territory since I had been higher up and on the other side of the canyon last time. Now we were in the bed of the drainage with several large pour-offs in front of us that needed to be bypassed. I didn't see any cairns marking a route around so I just started climbing, heading for the base of the Redwall cliff.

We got up close to the base of the Redwall but it was impossible to travel along it because of numerous, deep side drainages that created obstacles. We searched around in vain for some sign of passage by someone else and could not find anything and it seemed the only thing to do was to head back down the next side drainage further up. I knew if we had to keep doing this it was going to take a long time to get through this stuff but we really didn't have a choice. As luck would have it we did find a cairn just a short way down this drainage and then another, and another... so we were on the route. These cairns eventually led us back down into the main bed and we were above the pour-offs.

Sadly I was too consumed with route finding for the next three hours that I did not take any photos at all but it took us about 3 hours to go from the top of the Muav to the start of the Redwall gorge. We lost lots of time in that section and it was almost 1pm before we finally got into the gorge. 3 hours to go about a half of a mile!

About an hour later we were well into the gorge and not doing too bad but we really should have been out by then and that was disturbing. About a half of an hour later we were closing in on the top of the Redwall and looking for the way out. I knew I was looking for a large log close to the rim that marked the exit and we found a few all in the same area the fit the bill. It was right around 230 when we topped out above the Redwall and now all that remained was getting through the Supai cliffs and back to the Nankoweap Trail.

All. That. Remained. It seemed so easy last time but this time the pieces just didn't fit. It looked like we were on a trail of sorts at times but then it disappeared. We looked around in vain for something else and couldn't find anything. Finally I just dumped my pack and took the GPS and started scrambling through the brush towards the waypoint. By the time I got halfway there I was back on some sort of route again and ended up managing to follow that right to the Nankoweap Trail. Cool, so the waypoint in the GPS was right on the mark for this.

I backtracked along the route that I had come up and followed it past where I had met it and then I was only a short distance away from the rest of the group. We loaded up and headed back the way I had come and... Nothing. We found the route and followed it as far as we could... but no Nankoweap Trail!

The GPS was telling me it was 200 feet to the west but I could never get any closer to it. I would go one way and the distance would go down and then start going up again... and no Nankoweap Trail. I had several WTF moments and it seemed like the GPS had just gone bonkers at that point and was not going to be any help at all. We had to be right on top of the Nankoweap Trail but we just could not see it. Gordy finally did find it and we were right on top of it but it was not where the GPS was telling me it was... not this time. I recognized the same cairn that I had found only an hour or so earlier but according to the GPS it was not in the same place as it had been.

I was never so happy to be back on real trail again but after all of the climbing, scrambling and searching I was utterly exhausted and the uphill climb to the top of the Nankoweap Trail was no fun at all.

We took a long rest when we finally got there. Our water caches were still in place which was good since we were all very low on water at this point. It was closing in on 6pm already and we still had 3 more miles to cover to the FS 57 trailhead. Luckily that was mostly downhill.

We made pretty good time on it until we got to that short uphill section on the other side of Saddle Mountain. That short section of uphill just killed me and took forever. I picked up speed again on the final downhill section but then the Supermoon started to rise behind Saddle Mountain and I had to stop for a while to take some photos.

It was right around 8pm and getting dark fast when we finally got back to the parking area. It had taken just under 14 hours from camp to here. Last time it took 10 hours. I don't know what I was thinking when I thought we could do it in 6.

Rob was anxious to get started out as he still had to get back to Las Vegas today so we said our good-byes with him and then started out ourselves. By the time we got back to real pavement on US-89A and then to the Vermillion Cliffs Cafe it was just after 9pm. And they stopped serving dinner at 9pm. Luckily these gracious people could probably tell how desperate we were and they offered to make us some sandwiches. That was probably one of the best pastrami sandwiches I have ever had and the Alaskan Amber that I had with it was probably one of the best beers.

About 3 hours later we were back at the house in Flagstaff. I think it was around 2am before I finally had things sorted out and packed away, and took a shower, and then finally crawled into bed. I wanted to get up at 3:30 and be out of the house by 4. We all had flights leaving right around 9am out of Phoenix and I wanted to be there by 7am. Luckily I was out like a light as soon as I hit the bed and dud manage to get that 1½ hours of sleep.