Ribbon Falls

It wasn't long before the cool water on my dripping clothes evaporated into the atmosphere. I had already gone through nearly 3 liters of water, a bag of gorp (good ol' raisins and peanuts), several cliff bars (AWESOME!), and my potato breakfast. I can't say I ever felt hungry, by by body would shake and I would grow tired, until i crunched down on some food, an instant re-energizer. As we walked we came upon a fork in the road... I don't remember there being a fork on the trail. Of course it's natural to take the trail going Down Hill. The sign said ribbon falls, which was probably not much more than a drizzle off of a rock. Norman took off ahead, and I found a nice place in the shade of a rock. There was no fork from the North Kaibab trail, but I did find ribbon falls. Despite my urge to play in the water, I wasn't impressed by the idea of a waterfall in the desert, and was ready to head uptrail to find more shade. I looked aroud for Norman... and he was gone!

I wondered over the bridge away from the trail into desert scrub. I stuck my ear out into the desert silence. Nothing. I got a strange feeling, maybe a bit of paranoia, but I felt that going off trail alone to find some guy who I hardly know... might be a bad idea. I sat and waited, looking all around for some sign of Norman. A large group of people passed by, and made their way towards the waterfall. Well, I suppose if he doesn't come back, I'll keep on going and tell the rangers on the other side that he disappeared. Not a moment later, Norman popped his head over the bridge, and was telling me all about the cool side canyon ahead. Another lady followed him saying that it was just 300m over that way, she pointed. So we headed towards the canyon, which seemed to be miles away, but before I knew it, I was back in the cool shade and vegetation of a slot canyon. A small river poured out, and I felt the heat melt away from my head. Pools of tadpoles were all around, frogs were still mating in the pools, and dragonflies buzzed around. It was like a little oasis in the middle of a desert.

Up and around giant sandstone boulders we climbed, and there before us was the most incredible waterfall I've ever seen. More than just a drip, buckets of water poured down a sandstone face onto a mound of minerals, which was covered by hanging gardens. Columbines flowered on the cliff faces, and a maze of greenery led the flow of the waterfall down the mound into a 10 foot wide pool. There were cave entrances amongst the wall of water and greenery, and peep holes along its side. I tossed a hand full of gorp into my mouth to regain strength, and ducked under the drizzling entrance. Inside was full of green growth, and a private underground pool of aqua teal blue. Beams of light shown through in brilliant rays, and light the mysterious wonder.

I climbed out, urging Norman in, and snapped a quick photo of him peeping out one of the holes in his brim leather hat. I splashed around in the pool before heading to the top of the plant covered mineral mound about 15 feet up. From there you could see well into the Grand Canyon beyond and could enjoy its wonder from the cool waterfall oasis. There was another small pool of water on top of the mound where the falls landed before trickling through the vegitation. Lime green mosses and a garden of greenery all around. Norman leaned back into the splash of the falls, and I took a few great photos of the water spewing off of the rim of his hat.