Today proved to be an exhausting one. Our route took us back up South Bass Trail to the Tonto Trail, which traverses a major stretch of the Grand Canyon’s length. The Gems Route works its way along the driest portion of this trail, and we didn’t expect to find water for about 20 miles after leaving the river today. Since we planned to go slowly through the canyon, we’d have to dry camp tonight too, so we each carried 7 liters to get through the next two days. Woof! With the 6 days of food we’re carrying, it was by far the heaviest load of the trip.

We worked our way out of the Inner Gorge and met back up with the Tonto Trail before turning east. The views up on the Tonto Platform were striking all day; it really feels like you are suspended on a huge park bench, with towering red walls on one side and the drop to the river off to the other. We made our way past a number of side canyons, each one gorgeous enough to be its own national park and deep enough that the trail has to meander miles just to get into and out of it. We slept at Ruby Canyon, the first “gem” we’d encounter on the trail. Luckily, there were a few small, unexpected potholes of water here, which bodes well for the rest of the route.