Our GCHBA work party left for work a little after 7:00 and headed over to Pipe Creek on the Tonto Trail. It took about an hour to hike over there and we only worked for a couple of hours fixing problems with the trail: trimming brush, using brush and rocks to obscure erroneous portions of the trail and lining the correct portion of the trail with rocks. It looked really nice when we were done. We then just hung out in the shade there and waited for Chuck to come and check things out.

I took lots of photos while I was over there. Many of them were of the work project but I also had a nice time exploring up and down Pipe Creek. I could not go down very far before coming to an impassable waterfall but there was a very well worn trail going up along the creek and that seemed to go on forever. I never went to the end. There were also some very frisky Collared Lizards hanging around in the area we were working and I got some nice pictures of them. It was mating season and the male was putting on quite the show.

After Chuck showed up checked out our work we left for a day hike... continuing east along the Tonto Trail and looking for the descent route for the old Miners Trail to the river. We missed it and Chuck ended up calling us back... a couple of times... until we finally found the correct route. I still have no idea where the actual route comes off of the Tonto but it is not very far west of The Tipoff on the South Kaibab Trail... maybe 5 minutes.

The descent on the Miners Trail was steep in some places and also loose and rocky for most of its length. This is not a route for the inexperienced, the squeamish or anyone with a fear of heights. It would like to try it going up from the river someday as it seems it would be easier that way. It took us probably a little more than an hour to complete the route and then we just hung out under a rock at the river and had our lunch.

We then visited a couple of rangers down at the river: Ivan, at the river ranger station; and Peggy at the Phantom Ranger station. Chuck told Peggy to give us Junior Ranger badges and patches and she swore us in as Junior Rangers. :) I've always wanted to be a Junior Ranger!

After that we headed over to Phantom Ranch for lemonade, snacks and souvenirs. I sent Vicky her Phantom Ranch postcard and also picked up a T-shirt for her. We left Phantom around 3:30 and headed back to Indian Garden on the River and Bright Angel Trails.

Chuck made us an awesome chuck roast for dinner... with salad and potatoes and carrots. It was an awesome meal and I expect nothing less of Chuck these days. That guy can cook! After dinner I spent several hours uploading some of the photos that I took during the day to the net. I also tried to straighten out some of the problems I encountered the night before but to no avail.