December 1

   In 1990 I hiked down to the Bright Angel Campground to spend two nights.  This was my second day and I day hiked up to Utah Flats and around to the Cheops-Isis saddle where I climbed part way up Cheops.  It got spooky for me and I turned back.  I didn't take many pictures, but here is one from the morning at my camp site when this turkey was scrounging around for food.  Note the big tent - back then I would often bring my 3 person tent on solo hikes just because I liked having all that space!
   In 1994 I hiked down the Nankoweap Trail to spend four days in the canyon.  This was my second day and the first day of day hikes from my base camp where the trail meets the creek.  One of my objectives was to find this petroglyph rock which is nearby a multi-room ruin on a terrace in the middle of this area.  I continued up towards Mystic Falls but turned back just past the junction with the Marion-Seiber arm.  Very little water in the bed and mostly frozen!
   In 2012 I did a day hike down to Phantom with a visiting speaker to the college, Russ Wermers, and my colleague Pin Ng.  It was a pretty nice day, but we did have to use our headlamps as we returned to the rim on the South Kaibab Trail.  This photo is from the lower section of the trail as we descended, showing some river users, the bridge we cross over on and the Bright Angel Campground area.
   In 1983 I did a three day hike down to Phantom Ranch with Karen Herrera.  This was supposed to be the end of my 30 day trek from Tuckup, which I had abandoned after ten days earlier in November.  [No photos for this day.]

December 2

   In 1983 I did a three day hike down to Phantom Ranch with Karen Herrera.  This was supposed to be the end of my 30 day trek from Tuckup, which I had abandoned after ten days earlier in November.  This was our second day and we just hiked a bit around the ranch area.  This view of Bright Angel Canyon, with clouds swirling around Johnson Pt. was taken from the bench area on the Clear Creek Trail.
   In 1990 I hiked down to the Bright Angel Campground to spend two nights.  This was my last day and I hiked back up the South Kaibab Trail.  Along the way I snapped this photo of Sumner Butte, on the other side of the river from me.
   In 1994 I hiked down the Nankoweap Trail to spend four days in the canyon.  This was my third day and I day hiked down to the river to get some early morning shots of the famous granary ruins there with some sunlight on them.  I was there before the sun rose on this area and stayed until after all was in shadow and it is a very narrow window of opportunity.
   In 1995 I made my first foray out to the South Bass area to check out the Pt. Huitzil route from the rim.  At the Havasupai gate (which was then down at the bottom of the ravine) I followed an old road along the fence line until it gave out.  Then my dog Peppyr and I hiked along it until we came to the park boundary fence, luckily at a gate, where I took this photo.  We got to the rim and I scouted out the route for about an hour, coming up empty, before returning.  More on this story here.
   In 2004 I did a day hike down to Phantom and back on the South Kaibab Trail.  There was a camp set up on the Tonto a bit east of the restroom.  Since there was lots of work being done on the trail, I presume this was a temporary camp for the trail crew.

December 3

   In 1994 I hiked down the Nankoweap Trail to spend four days in the canyon.  This was my last day and I had been camped at a little flat spot at the bottom of the Redwall that I call "Camp-on-a-Ledge."  I have camped here far too many times!  The photo shows that I'm all packed up and ready to hike out.
   In 1983 I did a three day hike down to Phantom Ranch with Karen Herrera.  This was supposed to be the end of my 30 day trek from Tuckup, which I had abandoned after ten days earlier in November.  This was our last day and we hiked out.  [No photos.]

December 4

December 5

December 6

December 7

December 8

December 9

December 10

   In 1997 John Eastwood and I returned to the Point Huitzil route to see how far we could get into Royal Arch on a day hike.  It had been almost two years since we had been able to piece together this route down to the bottom of the Coconino.  It was a cold day, but not bitterly so.  There were potholes of frozen water in the bed and flowing icicles that made it a rather unique little hike.  We got as far as the main junction via this narrow ledge in the Supai.  I think today that hikers stay on the other side of this side canyon to bypass these.  I only took pictures of our hike back up through them, but have placed them into this collage in their correct order when going down into the canyon.

December 11

December 12

December 13

December 14

   In 1981 I had finished my year working on the South Rim and preparing to return to Hawaii, where I was in graduate school.  I planned to do one final long hike - across the canyon on the Kaibab Trail, across the North Rim to the Nankoweap Trail and then down into the canyon and back around to Phantom Ranch and out.  Alas it was not to be.  This was my first day and with a heavy pack I got to Cottonwood where I camped for my first night.  [No photos.]

December 15

   In 1981 I had finished my year working on the South Rim and preparing to return to Hawaii, where I was in graduate school.  I planned to do one final long hike - across the canyon on the Kaibab Trail, across the North Rim to the Nankoweap Trail and then down into the canyon and back around to Phantom Ranch and out.  Alas it was not to be.  This was my second day and I was only able to hike from Cottonwood to somewhere in the Supai along the Old Kaibab Trail.  I had never been on this old trail and have a very vivid memory of crossing the icy creek with the water up to my knees.  Here's the one photo I took this day of the Aiken residence as I passed by on the east side of Bright Angel Creek.

December 16

   In 1981 I had finished my year working on the South Rim and preparing to return to Hawaii, where I was in graduate school.  I planned to do one final long hike - across the canyon on the Kaibab Trail, across the North Rim to the Nankoweap Trail and then down into the canyon and back around to Phantom Ranch and out.  Alas it was not to be.  This was my third day and from my camp along the Old Kaibab in the Supai I got to the rim and then angled cross-country toward the Pt. Imperial/Cape Royal Road.  There was quite a bit of snow on the rim and it was a slog, not to mention the difficulty of crossing the rim off trail with trees down everywhere.  I camped somewhere short of the road where there is a pull-off and picnic table (Fuller hill?).  It was a very cold night and I remember that the fire I made would shoot embers out and burn small holes in my sleeping bag.  [No photos.]

December 17

   In 2005 I did a day hike to Plateau Pt. but have no photos of this hike.
   In 1981 I had finished my year working on the South Rim and preparing to return to Hawaii, where I was in graduate school.  I planned to do one final long hike - across the canyon on the Kaibab Trail, across the North Rim to the Nankoweap Trail and then down into the canyon and back around to Phantom Ranch and out.  Alas it was not to be.  This was my fourth day and I slogged across the rim to the Pt. Imperial/Cape Royal Road and then followed it to the Pt. Imperial junction.  I thought it would be easy, but there was wet slushy snow on the road and my boots were soaked.  From here I headed back into the woods thinking I could make a beeline for the Nankoweap trailhead.  It was sometime in the early afternoon that I reassess my plans and decided to turn around.  Not only was I already two days behind schedule, I had never been on the Nankoweap Trail and I wondered if I would be able to even find it!  I returned to the picnic table and camped nearby.  [No photos.]

December 18

   In 1996 I returned to the Tuckup Trail to look again for Shaman's Gallery.  This was my first day and I spent most of it driving around to the the North Rim, finally reaching the trailhead at about 3 p.m. only to see the snow-capped San Francisco Peaks on the horizon, from where I had started (shown in the photo).  I got down to the Esplanade before dark and used the light of the moon all the way to my objective of Cottonwood Spring.
   In 1981 I had finished my year working on the South Rim and preparing to return to Hawaii, where I was in graduate school.  I planned to do one final long hike - across the canyon on the Kaibab Trail, across the North Rim to the Nankoweap Trail and then down into the canyon and back around to Phantom Ranch and out.  Alas it was not to be.  This was my fifth day and I was able to retrace my track back to the Old BA and head back into the canyon.  I camped somewhere along the trail.  [No photos.]

December 19

   In 1996 I returned to the Tuckup Trail to look again for Shaman's Gallery.  This was my second day and I mostly stayed close to my camp at Cottonwood Spring, although I did move to a spot that would get earlier sun in the morning.  On my forays around the area I visited this old copper mining site with the steel skeletal remains of a bucket (I presume that the rest was wooden) and a big chunk of copper.
   In 2008 Cara Lynn and I did a hike down to Phantom Ranch for a couple of days of camping at Bright Angel.  There had been a big snowstorm in the days prior and the mules were kept off the trail for six days (I think).  So, little traffic on the trail, and we wore our traction devices all the way to Indian Garden!  Here is Cara Lynn near the top of the Bright Angel Trail, which was the featured photo that was used in the local paper when they ran my story about this hike a little later.
   In 1981 I had finished my year working on the South Rim and preparing to return to Hawaii, where I was in graduate school.  I planned to do one final long hike - across the canyon on the Kaibab Trail, across the North Rim to the Nankoweap Trail and then down into the canyon and back around to Phantom Ranch and out.  Alas it was not to be.  This was my sixth day and I hiked from the Old BA to the Bright Angel Campground.  I checked in with a ranger there and told him of my aborted hike.  Lots of space in the campground and I camped there.  [No photos.]

December 20

   In 1981 I had finished my year working on the South Rim and preparing to return to Hawaii, where I was in graduate school.  I planned to do one final long hike - across the canyon on the Kaibab Trail, across the North Rim to the Nankoweap Trail and then down into the canyon and back around to Phantom Ranch and out.  Alas it was not to be.  This was my seventh (and final) day.  I hiked back up the Bright Angel to the South Rim.  Before leaving the campground I got my second (and final) picture, of the sunrise from the campground.
   In 1996 I returned to the Tuckup Trail to look again for Shaman's Gallery.  This was my third day and I was able to find this pictograph site in the main bed by a bit past noon.  Across the bed I saw a relatively easy exit back up to the Esplanade which I used to more quickly return to my camp.
   In 2008 Cara Lynn and I did a hike down to Phantom Ranch for a couple of days of camping at Bright Angel.  This was our second day and we took it easy, hanging out at the canteen (all decorated for the holidays) and an afternoon hike up the Clear Creek trail to the stone bench.

December 21

   In 2008 Cara Lynn and I did a hike down to Phantom Ranch for a couple of days of camping at Bright Angel.  This was our last day and we took the "Old Miner's Trail" up to the Tonto Plateau and then met up with the South Kaibab for the rest of the hike.  I took this photo as Cara Lynn was crossing a little saddle on the way to the switchbacks up through the Tapeats.  We put our traction footwear back on at Skeleton Point!
   In 1996 I returned to the Tuckup Trail to look again for Shaman's Gallery.  This was my last day although that hadn't been my intent.  But the previous night I was wracked with stomach cramps that kept me up most of the night.  Instead of staying for another day of local hiking, I packed up and hiked out.  What took me about three hours coming down took about eight going back out and up, as the cramping continued all day and on the long drive back home.  [No photos.]

December 22

   In 1999 I did a quick evening hike down the South Kaibab for the solstice super moon.  I drove up late in the afternoon and got started down the trail at about dusk.  There was a guy laying in his sleeping bag at Ooh Ahh Point but three people were just coming up the trail they were going to look after him.  I didn't see anyone else the rest of the evening.  [The guy in the sleeping bag was gone when I returned.]  Hiking in the canyon under a full moon is quite special and to do this on the solstice was even better.  I brought my Pentax K1000 and a tripod, but no additional film and I was only able to take two pictures and neither turned out very well.  This one is looking away from the moon and towards O'Neill Butte and has some light exposure over half the frame.  I did go down as far as Skeleton Point.  Once down on the so-called Mormon Flats I hiked up to the small hill west of the trail and followed it to the end, descending back to the trail near the point.  I had never done that before and yet there are excellent views of Phantom from that hill.  I was back to the rim by 11 p.m. for a late night drive back home.

December 23

December 24

December 25

   In 1999 I drove up to the North Rim to do some car camping by the Big Saddle Trail near Crazy Jug Point.  I got to my favorite camping spot on the rim by noon and then took my dogs, Peppyr and Rocket, down the trail to the spring in the main bed on the Esplanade level, near where this photo was taken.

December 26

   In 1987 I traveled to AZ during my winter break and thought to do an ambitious hike - across to the North Rim, over to Pt. Sublime, down to the Tonto, back to Phantom and out to the South Rim.  Too ambitious as it turned out.  This was my first day and I hiked down the Bright Angel and stayed in the Phantom Ranch dorm.  Lots of snow in the canyon as this photo looking down on Indian Garden can attest.
   In 1999 I drove up to the North Rim to do some car camping by the Big Saddle Trail near Crazy Jug Point.  This was my second day and it had snowed a bit overnight and so in the morning, with my dogs Peppyr and Rocket, I got a fire started.  In the background is Muav Saddle with Powell Plateau to the right and the North Rim to the left.  We spent most of the day clearing the trail segment that goes into a ravine on the western side of the canyon and into a bed that is dominated by a large breccia pinnacle.

December 27

   In 1987 I traveled to AZ during my winter break and thought to do an ambitious hike - across to the North Rim, over to Pt. Sublime, down to the Tonto, back to Phantom and out to the South Rim.  Too ambitious as it turned out.  This was my second day and I hiked from Phantom to Cottonwood campground, where there was plenty of snow on the ground.  I picked a spot that was mostly in the sun.  Note the snowshoes on my pack - I was planning on using them to hike to Pt. Sublime.
   In 1989 I did a hike down the Hermit/Boucher to visit at Slate Creek.  This was my first day and I got this nice picture of the Dripping Spring Canyon from the Hermit Trail.
   In 1999 I drove up to the North Rim to do some car camping by the Big Saddle Trail near Crazy Jug Point.  This was my third day and with my two dogs, Peppyr and Rocket, we hiked down to what I call "Lower Crazy Jug Spring," which is below the upper part of the Supai.  Part of the old Big Saddle Trail goes here and you can still see some signs of switchbacks in the Supai and alongside the trail some leftover barbed wire.
   In 2001 Erik Drake and I did a day hike down the South Kaibab to Phantom Ranch and then back up the Bright Angel.  We were accompanied by a retired geologist who would tell us the most interesting stories about the rocks all the way down.  Over the last few miles at the top of the BA it was bitterly cold and the hiking was quite a grind.  Here we are on the black bridge at the bottom of the South Kaibab Trail.
   In 2008 Bill Ferris and I did a multi-day hike in the Kanab Creek area.  I had a permit to do a hike around Fishtail Mesa, but there was too much snow on roads for us to get to Indian Hollow.  So, we went down Hack Canyon and did a hike mostly in the wilderness area.  This was our first day and here is Bill getting ready to start our trek down the canyon to camp at the junction with Kanab Canyon.

December 28

   In 1987 I traveled to AZ during my winter break and thought to do an ambitious hike - across to the North Rim, over to Pt. Sublime, down to the Tonto, back to Phantom and out to the South Rim.  Too ambitious as it turned out.  This was my third day and I day-hiked from my camp at Cottonwood campground up the North Kaibab Trail to about where I took this picture of the snow-covered Redwall Bridge.  It was so cold that I brought along my stove so that I could fix a hot lunch before returning to my camp.
   In 1989 I did a hike down the Hermit/Boucher to visit at Slate Creek.  This was my second day and I hiked from a campsite by White Butte to Boucher Creek where I set up this camp.  Back in those days I would often carry my roomy three-man tent on my solo hikes.
   In 1999 I drove up to the North Rim to do some car camping by the Big Saddle Trail near Crazy Jug Point.  This was my last day and mostly we just packed up and headed home.  But, I drove to Crazy Jug Point to take some photos that show the general route of the Big Saddle Trail.  In this photo I've indicated where the trail is located.  On the right hand side is the main, Crazy Jug, spring.  But you can find another piece of trail from a nearby saddle that goes to the left and then descends below the upper Supai to another spring.
   In 2008 Bill Ferris and I did a multi-day hike in the Kanab Creek area.  On our second day we hiked from our camp at the Hack-Kanab junction up to the Esplanade on the east side of Kanab and then hiked along it until we camped up above Jumpup Canyon.  Along the way I got this nice view of the Esplanade (and we did get water from pockets like those in the photo) with the very red Racetrack Knoll and snowy Fishtail Mesa in the background.

December 29

   In 1987 I traveled to AZ during my winter break and thought to do an ambitious hike - across to the North Rim, over to Pt. Sublime, down to the Tonto, back to Phantom and out to the South Rim.  Too ambitious as it turned out.  This was my fourth day and I hiked back to the Bright Angel Campground from my camp at Cottonwood campground.  Along the way I got a picture of the so-called "Phantom" namesake of the ranch (with "brush stroke" stylization).
   In 1989 I did a hike down the Hermit/Boucher to visit at Slate Creek.  This was my third day and I hiked from my campsite at Boucher Creek to Slate Canyon.  While contouring along the Tonto I had many great views of the river.
   In 2007 Cara Lynn and I did a quick overnight trip to Hermit Creek.  This was our first day and this photo is taken from the top of the descent through the Redwall, referred to as the "Cathedral Stairs."
   In 2008 Bill Ferris and I did a multi-day hike in the Kanab Creek area.  On our third day we hiked from our camp on the Esplanade above Jumpup Canyon down into Jumpup and camped below where Indian Hollow comes in.  To get down into Jumpup one must trust this crude ladder atop a rock pile!

December 30

   In 1987 I traveled to AZ during my winter break and thought to do an ambitious hike - across to the North Rim, over to Pt. Sublime, down to the Tonto, back to Phantom and out to the South Rim.  Too ambitious as it turned out.  This was my fifth, and final, day as I hiked back up to the South Rim via the Bright Angel Trail from the Bright Angel Campground.  Cold and still lots of snow down relatively low in the canyon as this view of Indian Garden attests.
   In 1989 I did a hike down the Hermit/Boucher to visit at Slate Creek.  This was my fourth day and I had the opportunity to do some day-hiking from my campsite on the Tonto in Slate Canyon.  I backtracked down the trail to a spot where I could descend to the bed of Slate and easily follow it to the river.  Here is Crystal Rapids, one of the biggest in the canyon, and the approach to it down the narrow bed was quite awesome.
   In 2007 Cara Lynn and I did a quick overnight trip to Hermit Creek.  This was our second day and time to return to the rim back up the Hermit Trail.  I remember that it was a very cold and very long night in the tent.  Still I got this nice shot in the early morning of the tent with the moon up above it.
   In 2008 Bill Ferris and I did a multi-day hike in the Kanab Creek area.  On our fourth and final day we hiked from our camp in Jumpup Canyon down to Kanab Canyon, where we practically bumped into three bighorns.  Then up the canyon, with its many ice-covered pools to Hack Canyon and back to the trailhead.  Here is a view looking up a little stretch of Kanab where the walking was pretty easy.

December 31

   In 1989 I did a hike down the Hermit/Boucher to visit at Slate Creek.  This was my fifth day and I packed up and moved my camp from Slate back to Boucher.  Along the way I looked for an alternate descent down to the bed of Slate (on the east side) that Harvey Butchart wrote about and which I spied out the previous day.  No problem.  I was able to easily get down right where there was a big cairn in the bed and I took this picture looking up at this route.
   In 2011 I did a day hike down the Bright Angel to do a more thorough visit of the ruins that lie above the original trail, which went up onto the Tonto after coming through Indian Garden and then down a ravine that leads to Pipe Creek.  The old trail follows some old telephone lines which are readily visible and the trail is in remarkably good shape and easy to follow.  But, before the trail crosses this ravine a fainter trail continues to these ruins at the base of the Tapeats.  It passes two major groups of ruins before going around a corner and meeting up with the (new) Bright Angel Trail.  I took this panorama after climbing back up out of this ravine on an easy slope to the east.  A fuller account of this hike (with photos) is here.