February 17 - 20 February 21 February 22 February 23 February 24 February 25 February 26 February 27 February 28 March 1 March 2 March 3 March 4 March 5 - 7 March 8 - 11	Sunday February 26, 2006 Back to second breakfast - it felt luxurious sleeping in (g). Chatty Cathy and hubby were at the other end of the breakfast table... We watched each of the large groups leave camp. Tonight should be quieter... After breakfast, we decided to really stretch the legs out a bit and took off up the Clear Creek Trail, which starts with a steep section near Phantom Ranch, climbing quickly to the Phantom Overlook, which looks down on the camp. We could easily see our cabin and the shower house from there. The three photos above were taken during the first part of the Clear Creek Trail. The one on the left shows a view back towards Phantom Ranch and the cottonwood trees that surround the ranch from the base of the Clear Creek Trail. The center photo was taken at the Phantom overlook and shows part of the encampment from there. The photo on the right shows the first part of Clear Creek Trail and how steeply it leaves the canyon floor. The two photos above are our tourist poses on the Clear Creek Trail. Needless to say, Carl's on the left and I'm on the right... From the overlook, the trail continues to the edge of the inner canyon, providing some spectacular views of the river and inner canyon. The four photos above were taken at an overlook just off the Clear Creek Trail, looking into the inner canyon towards the Colorado River. The first on the left shows the Colorado River and the South Kaibab Trail descending from the higher plateau towards the river. The second zooms in on a portion of the South Kaibab Trail. The third shows the boat landing that is used by the boats and floats that navigate the Colorado River when they stop for dinner at Phantom Ranch. The rightmost photo shows the Kaibab (or Black) Bridge as it crosses the river. The three photos above were taken at a second overlook we stopped at. The one on the left looks upriver through the narrow inner canyon. The other two photos show a longer view downstream, including the Kaibab Bridge and the Colorado River with both the inner and outer canyon walls looming overhead. The trail winds along the inner canyon edge, then climbs to the top of the Tonto Plateau. We stopped just yards from the breakthrough to the plateau and ate lunch. If we had continued, it would have gotten very windy. The photo to the left is Kokopelli Point, one of the landmarks on the Clear Creek Trail. We had walked about three miles before turning around and heading back. It was a very sunny day and I managed to burn the backs of my hands... Note to self: remember to bring along the sunscreen that you left on the rim... Back to the camp for our daily lemonades and to watch the day’s arrivals, which included Chatty Cathy’s father. He had hiked back down to join them for the hike out. The photo on the right was taken on the steps of the dining hall at Phantom Ranch. Yes, Chatty Cathy and family was at our table for dinner, but they were fairly quiet. The couple across from us was visiting from Germany, so the six of us at our end of the table talked about Germany, effectively shutting Chatty Cathy out of the conversation. The other couple at our end had been to Germany a couple of years ago and so had I. It was a nice conversation. However, even with the smaller crowd, we still stuck with the cribbage board in our cabin for the evening, after packing up the duffle and the backpacks for our hike out the next day. At the end of the evening, our cribbage tournament is effectively tied (I’m 2 games ahead out of over 60 games). Next...