Oh man, it was  brutal. 

So I started down at 6am from the south rim, only took me two and a half hours to get down, I ran a lot of it. Got down there, spent some time with my friend and the rest of the folks down there. Ended up just having a few beers, playing scrabble, listening to records, relaxing. 

I meant to start up for the north rim at 7 am but I ignored my alarm and didn't start till 9. Started walking... and walking... Cottonwood is about 6.5 miles from Phantom and that's when I took my first snack break, only took me 2 hours to get there. It was a really good day too, thank goodness because a storm system had just passed by us, the same one that snowed on Tucson. If it was raining I probably wouldn't have gone because rock slides are extremely common up there after rain, and I don't really feel like dying yet. BUT it wasn't, it was blue skies and sunny. 

There wasn't any snow till after a little past Roaring Springs and it wasn't that bad really at that point. The North Kaibab is an awesome trail though with sheer drops and high canyons on both sides, it was dead quiet up there. There was only one other set of foot prints out there besides mine and that was probably a ranger or something. There were these awesome terraced shallow side canyons that had massive icicles hanging and dripping from them. I came upon one side canyon along the trail and it looked like there had been a small avalanche of some sort because there was a huge mound of snow and ice over the entire trail at a point, I had to carefully climb my way over it. 

It was really good hiking up till the Supai tunnel and that's like 2 miles from the top, it was caved in also. But just after that the snow got pretty deep. I was sinking in about a foot every single step and it took me 2 hours alone to hike that last  part, it was grueling. I was just going so slow and slipping and it was starting to get really cold up there even in the middle of the day. There were multiple points where I was just asking myself why the hell I was doing this and that I should turn back. But I got to the top at around 3pm, hung around for about ten minutes. The places where the snow hadn't been touched all winter long were up to my chest, half the information sign was under snow. 

Then I started back down, and it took me 6 hours to get to the top and it was already 3pm so I ran/jogged most of it. And I was so exhausted and tired. Stopped for a bathroom break at Roaring Springs and that was the only stop I made. The sun set at Cottonwood but the moon came out shortly after and it was pretty bright. Got back to Phantom at 7:30, had some Tecate and Fruit Loops and played Scrabble. 

The day after I started up BA this time because I hadn't touched it since October. I regretted doing that because after the mile and a half point there was nothing but hard packed and slippery snow again. But wow the rest of it felt like a breeze. 

Earlier in the day before I left Phantom I talked to the manager down there about working there and I had already filled out an application but that position had been filled at that point but apparently there's some more people leaving so I've got an interview down there on the 6th and the 7th and I feel like my chances are pretty high for getting this job. It's still relatively menial work, taking care of the rooms, and food and guests, but it's at the bottom of the canyon man. And there's always the sound of running water, which reminds me of Oregon and it's so much quieter and simpler down there. And I'd be making the same wage but they also get tipped quite a bit, especially now that the busy season is starting back up. So I'm really excited for that.