Yeah, I'm pretty sure they were aoudads. I saw some in BBRSP later too. I've seen desert bighorns and they're scrawnier and don't have all that hair.
On with the trip report...
The South Rim saga
I’m loading my pack for 2 nights and mentally preparing myself for the weight of a small horse on my back. About this time I begin to kick myself repeatedly for not bringing my water filter because I figured it would be dry and pointless. The rain of the past 1.5 days mocks my decision, and my body will soon be telling my brain how incredibly stupid it is for not even putting the damn thing in my luggage in case there’s water to be had in the Chisos.
That kind of tells you how the hike up to SW4 went. I tend to like hikes with big views anyway and there weren’t many of those to be had until the Blue Creek overlook, so the hike up wasn’t the most fun I’ve ever had. I praised Jesus when I finally got to the campsite and was quite happy to tell myself that my pack would be about 10 pounds lighter the next time I put it on. After setting up the tent and unloading things, the rain starts up. I’m now 3 for 3 on the rainy days. I crawl into my tent since there’s really no point in walking over to the rim since I can’t see much anyway. I read, I nap, I wake up and wonder if there's any way to stop the rain. I come up with nothing. By now it’s after 7pm and I’m hungry and wondering who’s bright idea it was to backpack to the South Rim with all this rain in the forecast.
Then I hear what sounds like something galloping away, about 6-8 sets of footsteps total. And then a strange noise which I’ve never heard before, over and over, rather close to my tent. Naturally, the one window on my tent is facing the opposite direction, so I’m left wondering what in the world is going on. I’m thinking mountain lion strangling a deer, but since I’ve never heard what that sounds like I’m just guessing. After less than a minute, the sound is no closer so I unzip the tent and peek out. Nothing. So now I crawl out of the tent and grab my camera and look. And look. Still nothing, but the sounds continue. After probably 5 minutes, I’m thinking this is no deer I’m hearing, but the sounds of an angry/frustrated cat after missing its dinner. And as much as I would dearly love to get just a tiny bit closer to see if I can catch a glimpse, probably not a good idea. So I stay put and finally see some movement, a brown animal moving between some logs not even 100 feet from where I’m standing. It’s gone before I can even zoom in and focus the camera. I can only come to the conclusion that I just saw a mountain lion. I realize now why there are so few good photos of them.
After it disappears, my heart slowly gets back to a normal rate and I realize I’m hungry, so I commence to making lots of noise while getting my food ready. This does not seem to matter much to the nearby critter, as I keep hearing that sound off and on for the next 30-40 minutes, slowly moving away. Once dinner is ready, I head off (loudly) to eat on the rim. The rain has finally stopped and the views are sweet. I realize that sunset holds some potential. I head back to the campsite, and despite not wanting to be away from my tent once the sun goes down, I grab my tripod and headlamp and head back to the rim. Sunset is nice (better than my photography skills) and I enjoy my time out there, then make lots of noise on the way back to my tent.
Morning finally comes, and it is absolutely beautiful. I repeat the ‘eating on the rim’ from the previous night, and then hang out taking photos for awhile.
While packing up, I evaluate my water needs, and dump what I don’t think I’ll need. My destination for the night is NE4, and I’m in no hurry since it’s just a couple/three miles away. On the way I run into a father and his 2 kids backpacking at SE1 and talk for a bit, then run into a dayhiker a little bit before the junction with the Boot Canyon trail. I enjoy the views of the South Rim until the floodgates open up and I have to throw on my rain gear. I am now 4 for 4. I briefly stand under a tree to help stay dry, then decide I might as well get a move on and hope the rain stops before I get to NE4. On the way I meet 4 dayhikers who look at me like I’m crazy when I tell them I’m camping out here for 2 nights. I look at them like they’re crazy for dayhiking to see the South Rim when you can’t even see anything because of the rain.
I trudge along the small creek that used to be the trail, and after 30-40 minutes the rain slows to a light mist and then finally just fog. It is kind of surreal walking through this, and I believe this is my favorite picture of the whole trip:
I know it’s not as dramatic as the South Rim, but it was really cool and mysterious walking through that.
By the time I hit NE4 the rain had stopped and the clouds were clearing, so I set up and explore a little. I have my dinner on the rocks almost at the end of the ridge, overlooking Juniper Canyon on one side and everything else on the other side. I also discovered I had cellphone signal way up here which is kind of surprising. The rest of the day is spent hanging out on the rim watching the clouds and fog roll by, then meandering back to my tent when it looked like it would rain, then wandering back to the rim when the fog and clouds moved out again. It was a relatively early night as the sunset is pretty much blocked from view.
Next morning was a lazy one. No clouds in the sky meant I didn’t bother to get up for sunrise, and with nothing on the agenda except the hike out I was in no hurry. I ate breakfast on the rim (this is becoming a nice habit) and packed up. My pack feels like a feather without all that water so I’m almost excited to put it on, although I’d really like to stay another day at this point because the weather looks like it’s clearing up. On the way down I saw a bunch of hummingbirds feeding on the century blooms.
I finally ran into some hikers around the Emory Peak intersection, and from there down kept seeing more and more people. Of course, there are a few raindrops once I get below Toll Mountain. By the time I finished I had decided I was going to spring for a lodge room that night, and then decide my itinerary for the rest of the week.
