I was unusually lucky in being able to obtain a permit for two nights in the Canyon. Another hiker had obtained the group site at Cottonwood campground, which was only 7 miles from Bright Angel. She invited me to join her and the Backcountry office took pity on this old lady, allowing me the second night. This meant instead of 14 miles up to the north rim, I could break it into two days of about seven miles each. Therefore, I felt relaxed enough in the morning to head back down to the Colorado river before climbing out of the Canyon.

After saying goodbye to the river I picked my pack up at the campground and headed north. Soon after leaving, I met two people who were leading a group into the canyon. Both of these men asked me if I wanted part of their pre-packed lunch. I gladly accepted an apple, which I ate on the spot, and a bagel and some cream cheese which I thought about eating all morning.

As with all the Grand Canyon, there were some spectacular things along the trail this day. There were a bunch of different cactus blooming in a variety of colors. There was what seemed like spring in the middle of the trail. It was huge and the sounds it made reminded me of the geysers in Yellowstone. I have no idea what caused it and wondered if it was broken water pipe under the ground. They’ve been working to replace all the water pipes in the park for this very reason.

Most spectacular of all resulted from a detour I made off trail about half a mile to visit Ribbon Falls. It is a sacred site for the Zuni who say the first beings emerged at Chimik’yana’kya Dey’a as they refer to Ribbon Falls.

To get there I had to cross raging Bright Angel creek. Thee is no longer a bridge so I had to ford it. I walked up and down the creek for a while looking for what felt like a safe place to cross. Finally I found one spot just above a drop off. I could see the bottom there so knew it wouldn’t be too deep. And I hoped the line of rocks at the top of the drop off would provide me some protection if I had trouble, although this was a double edged sword as I also knew I did not want to let a foot get swept down stream and trapped under one of those rocks.

I again took off my socks and removed the insoles from my boots before putting them back on. I secured my phone and other items high up in my pack and I left the hip belt on the pack unbuckled. This way if I fell I would be able to get out of my pack if need be. People have drowned by being pinned in the water by their packs.

I lengthened my poles as long as they would go and secured the straps around my wrists. I hike without the wrist straps on but in the water I always use them. Then with a pounding heart I took my first tentative steps into the quickly moving water deciding if it felt too strong, I would not continue.

Immediately I knew I had been right about this being difficult. The current wanted to push my feet downstream and in order to move my poles ahead I had to lift them one at a time from the water, choose where to plant it next and quickly place it into the water. Thank god those poles held up. I could not imagine doing that crossing without them for support, which goes to show the importance of support in life. Even though the support items and support people don’t often get the glory and stay in the background, they are critical.

I stopped after two steps to get my bearings. The water rushing by me was causing some dizziness and sense of disorientation. But after orienting myself and reminding myself I had done harder crossings, I was able to take a few more steps. At that point I felt confident that I would get across, but at the same time I knew I must not lose my focus. Even though the end felt in reach, I still needed to be every bit as careful and focused for those last steps as I did for the first.

Finally I reached the edge and was able to climb the bank to dry land. My heart was pounding and I found myself shaking a bit. But I smiled and told myself, ” You really are Mary Badass.”

Even though the falls were near and I was eager to reach them, I decided to reward myself with some food while putting my socks back on. I pulled out the bagel had been given earlier. I was so looking forward to eating that bagel along with the cream cheese. I had received two of those mini containers of cream cheese and was only going to eat one with some jelly I was carrying, but just as I had on my two pie day, I decided this was worth both of the cream cheeses. I savored that wonderful meal before packing up to find the falls.