A couple of miles into the hike we witnessed the damage from the Kaibab Fire a few years ago. The snowy Saddle Mountain in the distance is where the trail "starts".
Up the hill to the trail head.
Setting up camp for night #1.
Sunrise from Marion Point, our first night camp spot.
View from Marion Point
Cool morning at Marion Point.
Fun section with level trails and beautiful views.
The trail as we start out the next morning.
The white line represents the trail.
Where's the trail???
Just beautiful. Probably a few miles after leaving camp that morning.
This is a close up of what a good portion of the trail from Marion Point to Tilted Mesa looks like.
Taking a break on the way down at Tilted Mesa. The farthest creek in view below is Nankoweap Creek, and the destination for camp that night. Elevation descent is 6,800' here to 3,400' at the creek.
Nankoweap Creek, up close.
Setting up for night #2.
Night two at Nankoweap Creek. We heard what we thought were desert bighorn sheep braying late into the night. Eerie and weird. Even though we searched for them the next day, we never saw any.
Relaxing at the creek camp.
The next morning we decided to make a quick three mile trek down to the Colorado River to see the sites and test the fishing. It rained on and off almost the entire morning that day.
Dang rocks!
Nankoweap Creek. About 3,000' in elevation.
Down near the river we found several fish coming upstream to spawn. We took video of a few of them.
Sun tried to peek through from time to time at the Colorado.
...but it rained much of the time.
Tying the perfect knot.
Wayne fishing in the Colorado. With all the rain the river gets a little muddy. We were not successful with the fishing.
What the water against the rocks has done over the last millions of years.
Really hard rocks shaped by water flow.
Cloudy, rainy
Perfect conditions for exploring and hiking.
See Wayne in the distance on the trail? This is the start of the 3,400' climb back up to Tilted Mesa.
Between the creek and Tilted Mesa. Probably about half way.
We arrived at camp using flashlights for the last hour or so of our hike that night. This is what we woke up to... a beautiful day for hiking out.
Happy 64th birthday to me at this beautiful location.
Setting up camp the night before in the cold, wind, and dark was difficult. We both slept well and woke up to this incredible view. These experiences give one perspective and awe.
Some time in it's life this old survivor of a tree caught a tumbling boulder cast down from above and is still holding on to it.
In the distance is Marion Point again...our campsite from the first night.
This was Tuesday returning. We're almost back to Marion Point, where we had a nice lunch break, and collected a little water from the seeps dripping out of the rocks.
Survival! ;-)
Disappearing from view on the way back up to Saddle Mountain.
Taking a rest below Saddle Mountain. Ready for the last big push to gain elevation.
Here we are at the top of Saddle Mountain, where the Nankoweap trail begins, and for us that day, ended. It's still another few miles and 2,000' below to the car. This spot is 8,800' in elevation. See the snow behind us?
"One last kick in the butt" is an accurate description of this last few miles out to the car. After coming down off the hill from Saddle Mountain (up where the snow is in the distance) with a gradual slope most of the way to here, we now must climb out of this little canyon.
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