Day 1 North Rim to Cottonwood

Our first day was in some respects the most difficult physically. We hiked over 7 miles with a drop of 4080 feet. The steep descent was tough on the knees. About halfway through the day John Pankratz’s knee became quite sore. With some tensor ibuprofen and tensor bandages he managed to make it.

Heavy rains had washed out a short section of the trail leaving us with a ledge of less than a foot to cross. That was not an easy feat with 30 - 40 lb. backpacks. John Unger, our most experienced hiker braved it first and then helped the rest of us. Repairs were being made but they would not help us.

As Bill Martens had promised, we had one “Wow! Amazing” moment after another. The views were simple gorgeous and pictures cannot fully tell the story.

  

 We arrived at Cottonwood around 4:00, set up our camp and had our supper. It was dark early, we were exhausted and there was little to do so we went to bed well before 8:00.