We had an awesome day and made great time getting out of the Canyon. I was going to wait until 5:30 to get people up but I got up at 5:00 myself and by 5:15 Max and John were already awake and ready to start the day so I went over to where Pam and Alysia were camped and let them know it was time to start breaking down and packing up camp.

We really were not that rushed and had a pretty relaxing breakfast. I cooked up the two freeze-dried egg dishes that Pam had left for our breakfast. The first one, the Denver omelet, was pretty good but the other, the huevos rancheros, wasn't t he greatest. The beans did not re-hydrate very well and were sort of crunchy and odd tasting. Pam did not even finish her portion and I managed to eat all of mine. It was edible if just barely.

We were out of camp around 645 and had a nice easy walk along the Thunder River Trail to its junction with the Bill Hall. We stopped there briefly for a group photo and then started up towards the Coconino switchbacks.

John had counted the switchbacks on the way down and came up with 46. Max and I re-counted them on the way up---in French---and verified that number. Good job John!

We got to the little cliff in the Coconino around 8:15 and took a short break there, our first of the morning. We had a little sun on the Thunder River Trail but it was mostly in shade still and all of the Coconino switchbacks were also in shade.

After our break we climbed the little cliff and everyone managed it with packs on. There were still a few more switchbacks above and then we started the long traverse along the Toroweap to the final climb up through the Kaibab.

The traverse was also mostly in shade with just a few spots where the sun was peeking above the cliffs. We had a final rest in some soft shade just below the final climb.

The final climb was steep and lose in many places as I remembered but it didn't seem to take that long. This was really the only place we were in direct sun all morning and everyone seemed to do very well going up. I think we crested the rim around 9:30 and did not linger there long. We took some photos and then headed for the parking lot.

Back at the parking lot we unloaded and I also changed into the clothes I had with me from the day before the hike. It felt good to have clean clothes on again. We left the parking area around 10:15 and went back through a shorter route than the way in, directly to Jacob Lake.

We stopped there for a while to freshen up and also to buy drinks, snacks... and cookies! Alysia also bought a big bottle of Starry Night Stout, from the Grand Canyon Brewing Company, and shared that with us. It was very tasty.

After Jacob Lake we headed for lunch at the Vermillion Cliffs Cafe in Marble Canyon and we got there just a little before 1:00. I had been looking forward to having the trout dinner but that was not on the lunch menu so I ended up getting beer battered fish and chips instead, and an Alaskan Amber beer to wash it down. Everyone enjoyed getting some non-backpacking food into their systems again.

We made a few more stops on the way back to Flagstaff: a pit stop at the Cameron Trading Post, then to return the satellite phone, and finally to gas up the SUV for the morning drive down to Phoenix.

Back at the house everyone sorted through gear and repacked everything for the trip home. We also showered and I did some laundry. John decided to start his drive home to Los Angeles so we said our goodbyes to him. I loaded up Pam's and Alysia's photos from the trip onto my laptop and we looked at Pam's while waiting for my first load of laundry to finish. After I threw that into the dryer and the used towels into the washer we went out to Subway and picked up subs for dinner. We ate those back at the house while watching Alysia's photo slide show.

I just finished packing up all of my gear for the trip home and I hope I have it all right. We have to get out of the house by 3:00 tomorrow morning to start the drive down to Phoenix and I am planning to get up at 2:30. Gah! Hopefully I will sleep well tonight and get at least 5 hours.