South Kaibab Trail  near Yaki Point.  Grand Canyon National Park           October 29, 2007 

An early morning start at 6:30 am got us far enough down the trail to enjoy the canyon views  in the low light of the sunrise.   This trail is unique because it follows a ridgeline instead of a canyon or ravine, allowing a variety of expansive views.   The trail descends to the bottom of the rim cliffs to access Cedar Ridge where views open up to 360 degees.   The ridges then drops steadily to O'Neill Butte which is circled to the right.  The trail drops behind (northward) the Butte to Skeleton Point.

Above:  Smoke from a prescibed burn at North Rim.  The South Kaibab Trail  can be seen in lower left as a switchback below the left edge of O'Neill Butte.  Then it descend laterally,  to the lower central part of the frame.   It disappears behind  O'Neill onto a flat plateau behind and right of O'Neill and onto Skeleton Point.   Switchbacks can be seen emerging from the saddle(left photo) as the trail again circles a butte and proceeds across the Tonto Plateau to The Tipoff.   Here starts the drop into the Inner Gorge.

 Above:                                                                                                          A ledge walk below Skeleton Point but above the switchbacks pictured previously.

Left:   Beyond the hitching post for the mule train are the Utah Flats and the Phantom Creek Canyon far off in the distance.   (click on any photo to enlarge)

Below:  Sumner Butte is prominent on the left side of the photo, as Zoroaster Temple and Brahma Temple tower high in the northeast.   In the lower part of the image, the trail arcs beautifully across red Hakatai shale.   The horizontal rock layers in the center of the photo mark the rim of the Inner Gorge.

Above:      A bird's-eye view of the Bright Angel campground  and the silver bridge.  The river flows right to left toward the west.   The campground lies below the cottonwood trees.   The trail is visible passing the circular corral area.   There are ruins near the river of an Ancestral Puebloan living area.   Additionally, the campground was the site in the 1930's of a Civilian Conservation Corp encampment.   The Corp did much work in the canyon during the course of its existence.    

Left:    The tunnel and the Black Bridge.   Solid wood planking allows mules to cross the narrow suspension bridge.   Built in 1928, the eight 550 foot cables that hold up the bridge weigh more than a ton each and were carried to the site on the shoulders of Havasupai laborers via the South Kaibab trail!