Grand Canyon hike, day 2

 December 11, 2020

The goal for today was to hike the 7+ miles up the North Kaibab trail from Bright Angel Campground to Cottonwood Campground. The farthest I had ever been up the NK was to the junction with the Clear Creek Trail where I had hiked up to the Phantom Ranch overlook a few years ago. 

This hike took me thru the section of the canyon called The Box. This is the narrow canyon carved out by Bright Angel Creek, and in summer it's quite dangerous. The dark rocks and close walls trap the heat and will bake hikers during the midday when the sun is beaming down. Because it was winter there wasn't any direct sunlight until the middle of the day, and it was actually quite comfortable. In summer the NPS tells hikers only to enter this portion of the trail in early morning and late afternoon.



Once out of The Box the trail passes thru some interesting areas, including a few areas of heavy vegetation. All the way to Cottonwood the trail never ventures very far from the creek.





Not far below the campground you meet the trail to Ribbon Falls. As you can see, the bridge is most definitely out, but there is another route that takes you across the creek. My plan was to make this side trip on the way back to Bright Angel. More on that later...


Eventually I arrived at Cottonwood Campground, my home for the next two nights.


Click here for day 3


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