The primary goal of this trip was an introductory backpacking trip for my nephew, Michael, who caught the travel bug from me at the early age of 11, 13 years ago. At that age he did his first trip to Arizona and the Grand Canyon and did a day hike with his mom (my sister) and I to Cedar Ridge on the South Kaibab Trail. As far as that goal the trip was a success and Michael had a great time and is already thinking about his next Grand Canyon adventure. He did have some problems with his knees on the hike down the South Kaibab Trail but it did not deter him. He did fine on the next days hike over to Clear Creek... until the downhill portion there at the very end. He took a day to rest at Clear Creek but then did a day hike with me to Ariel Falls the following day which caused the problems to resurface. The hike back to Bright Angel Campground was fine until that final descent again at the other end. Luckily there was no descent during the hike out and he did fine on that. He still talks about the next trip so he has apparently caught the bug.

One of the secondary goals of this trip was getting to see Cheyava Falls... which should never be a primary objective since it is so unpredictable. "Cheyava" is a Hopi word meaning "intermittent waters" and the waterfall only flows in the springtime when the snow on the north rim is melting. There is plenty of snow on the north rim this year but unfortunately it has not been warm enough for it to melt yet. The ranger at Phantom said that there really has to be a significant spike in the north rim temperature so that the snow will melt quickly. I was not too concerned about not seeing Cheyava Falls since I know that Ariel Falls is perennial and we did get to see that. Ariel Falls is only about 60-70 feet high compared to 800 feet for Cheyava but it is still nice... and it flows year around.

And then there was getting to hike with cousin John again, which is always a nice time. This was John's fourth Grand Canyon trip with me. His first two trips with me were to Deer Creek and Thunder River in May, 2011 and April, 2013, and the third trip was a Nankoweap/Marion Seiber trip in April, 2017. After Nankoweap/Marion Seiber the hike to Clear Creek would be a walk in the park.

John finally got to bring a friend along on this one. He brought his friend, Rob, who he has known since high school and used to hike and backpack with a lot in their 20s. This was their first trip together again in 30 years. Rob was great addition to the trip and an absolute pleasure to have along.

Apart from some knee problems, a few blisters and a couple hours of wind and rain one night the trip was a major success.

Trip highlights

• First backpacking trip for nephew Michael
• Doing another Grand Canyon backpacking trip with cousin John
• Making a new friend of John's friend Rob
• Nice hiking weather
• Sleeping out under the moon and stars for five nights
• Getting back to Phantom Ranch
• Getting back up to Ariel Falls