February 2nd, 2017
We got up around 7 am and were on the trail with our new friends by 8:30. They had spoken with the ranger at Manzanita and asked to change the itinerary on their permit so they could hike to Indian Garden with us instead of staying at Bright Angel again and hiking out the way we all came down. So we all headed off to Indian Garden on an overcast morning.
As we were packing up our things at Cottonwood, Greg reached into his bag and gave me another envelope. This one was called “A Road Traveled Before” because most of our route that day would be on the same trail we took on Day 2. In the letter he talked about many of the milestones we have achieved together – it was like a highlight reel of memories, both fun and sad. It made me feel so grateful that we share these memories with each other.
(By the way, we vlogged our hike as well! Click here to watch the video for day 4!)
We made good time all morning because the trail was slightly downhill and we’d already seen the sights so we didn’t need to linger.
The four of us made it to Phantom Ranch around noon and hung out, eating snacks and talking, for about an hour. Greg bought them “Bright Angel IPA”, which can only be procured at Phantom Ranch, and got me a lemonade.
After our nice rest, we set out in the afternoon sun for Indian Garden Campground (about 4.5 miles from Phantom Ranch). Before crossing the Silver Bridge over the Colorado River, we all walked down to the shore and touched the water. The water that formed the Grand Canyon!
The trail beyond the Silver Bridge was very sandy – almost like walking on the beach, but we were walking along a cliff! It is so interesting how many different types of terrain you encounter in the canyon.
We had studied the map the night before and noted we would be hiking through something called “Devil’s Corkscrew”, which appeared as a bunch of short zigzag lines – almost as if you were testing out a new pen on paper. We weren’t sure if the map accurately displayed the number of switchbacks or if it was just a representation to give you an idea that there will be “a lot” of them. We counted 8, and after hiking up it, we think the map was right! Switchbacks honestly aren’t too bad! They help transform an almost impossible vertical climb into a nice ramp! Sure, you have to travel many times the distance in order to get to the top, but it provides you with a nice opportunity to put your head down and just focus on putting one foot in front of the other.
Before we knew it, we were at the top of Devil’s Corkscrew! It was challenging, but nothing compared to walking through deep snow for miles like we did the day before or hiking over boulders when we did the Pemi Loop in New Hampshire. We ate a snack at the top by a waterfall. Yet another of countless picturesque moments.
We continued on through mountains that were horizontally carved out, forming cavernous rooms. There are supposedly some Native American wall markings in that area, but we didn’t see any. One of our friends saw something that might be some lettering, but I couldn’t see it for the life of me!
We arrived at Indian Gardens probably around 5 pm – I forgot to check my watch! The whole campground was in the shade and there were lots of trees. It was very pretty, but chilly! Not only was it cold due to lack of sun, but we were also fairly close to the South Rim again! Indian Garden is 4.8 miles and about 3,000 feet of elevation from the Bright Angel Trailhead on the South Rim.
We set up our tent on the site next to our friends (and also conveniently located next to the privies and water source). We made Chili Mac with Beef from Mountain House (yummy!) and gave our last meal of Lasagna to our friends since we’d already had that one on a previous trip and we didn’t feel like carrying it any further.
While we were boiling our water for dinner, a couple walked by and asked how much further to the river. It was dusk and they were dressed in shorts and t-shirts and carried tiny drawstring backpacks while we were layered up and setting up camp. The river was almost 5 miles away, which would definitely take them several hours even though it was downhill. We weren’t sure if they were joking or not since there seemed to be somewhat of a language barrier, but we told them the distance and that it was probably not a good idea to try reaching it this late. Greg and one of our hiking buddies asked around at camp to see if the couple was part of a group that was staying the night to figure out if they were serious or not. No one knew who they were, so they decided to use the emergency phone to let a ranger know someone was out there on a night hike without proper gear. It was all we could really do and we hope they made it okay!
We talked with our friends for a while about hiking and life and went to bed because it was too chilly out! We filmed a video clip right before we went to sleep and you can tell we have a bit of the “sleepy hahas”. See 18:41 of the vlog. I added captions so you can better tell what we’re saying. It cracked us up watching the clip while I was editing!
Day 4 mile count: 11.9 miles (1,550′ elevation loss and then 1,310′ elevation gain). Departed Cottonwood Campground (4,000′) at 8:30 am, paused at Bright Angel Campground (2,450′) at 12:00pm, and arrived at Indian Garden Campground (3,760′) around 5:00pm.
Thanks for reading!
-Rebecca
P.S. We vlogged our hike as well! Click here to watch the video of day 4!
If you want to read about day 5 of our backpacking trip, click here.
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