2007 Grand Canyon Adventure :: Day 6
I do not believe that any of us slept much last night. The wind was relentless throughout the night and sleep only came in brief increments. At the first sign of light we were up and delighted that it was not raining...... giving us an opportunity to break down our camp and make it back into the canyon. At over 8,000 feet, the weather at the North Rim can be significantly different than at the bottom of the canyon. Last year I had experienced freezing temperatures at the North Rim and descended to find the warmth of 80 degree temperatures at the bottom. This year proved to be similar and we descended back into the canyon at a pace that was as fast as we could safely move with the weight of our backpacks.

A very healthy sense of humor has been a part of each days hiking. Much of the humor has been directed at ourselves and situations we have created. Hiking down from the North Rim this morning something very funny happened that it can only be described as a "priceless" moment. Apparently, the rumor that George Clooney is in the canyon is spreading. A mule train carrying tourists to a canyon overlook passed us on the way down. The lead wrangler was a middle aged, weathered looking cowboy. As he was was passing us on the trail he stopped the entire mule train and backed his mule up to a point directly beside where Scott was standing on the side of the trail. With a knowing smile on his face, but without saying a word, he reached over and shook Scott's hand. He then proceeded down the trail shaking his head and smiling at the fact that he had met Mr. George Clooney himself.  A woman tourist, riding one of the mules, very shyly said , "Hi George," as she passed by. Later in the day, a ranger stopped by our camp to check our permit. He mentioned to Scott that he looked a lot like George Clooney. When Scott politely said that he was not, the ranger said, " you know George Clooney is in the canyon this week. He is hiking with three guys wearing orange shirts." I am sure that stories will be told for years to come, by many different people, about the day they saw George Clooney in the Grand Canyon.

We descended the North Rim and arrived back at Cottonwood by mid afternoon. After setting up camp we went fishing and Doug again caught two beautiful rainbow trout. It was very windy and the red dust of the canyon floor blew through the air and filtered into the tents. We could look up toward the North Rim and see dark clouds shrouding the top of  canyon and we were glad that we were no longer there. We ate well that night, cooking rice and mashed potatoes and freeze dried meals. Just before entering my tent I shined my flashlight toward the direction of the creek and caught the reflection of an animals two eyes peering back at me. We could not determine what type of animal it was but the eyes looked cat like.

Day 7