After a mostly-sleepless night in our tent, we showed up for breakfast at Phantom Ranch thinking that we’d perhaps get lucky – we had inquired the night before if any cabin space was available, and they told us it was possible for our second night but they wouldn’t know until morning. So, we were super jazzed when we were told at breakfast we’d have a cabin that night and, oh, would a queen bed be OK? Uh, yeah, that would be fine, and we happily paid another $160 for the privilege – the only catch was that the room wouldn’t be ready until after lunch, so that left us with a handful of choices for what to do with our day. We walked back to the campground to at least pack up our things there, and of course it started to rain just as we did so – just a few sprinkles at this point, but it looked like it could definitely get worse, so we got things ready in a hurry and headed back to Phantom Ranch. Once there, we were told we could stash our stuff in a corner of the dining hall, so we dropped our gear and started discussing where to go on a “short” day hike. We could head east up the Clear Creek Trail for some new views down the river gorge, but a 1,500′ up-and-down over 2.5 one-way miles didn’t sound very appealing – nor did walking back to the river and exploring various use trails there, since we’d be walking out that way tomorrow. That left walking northward up Bright Angel Canyon on the North Kaibab trail, the main route to reach the North Rim some 14 miles away. About six miles upcanyon was the popular destination of Ribbon Falls, one of the few perennial falls in the park, but Chris’ ankles and hips were quite sore from yesterday’s descent, and he didn’t want to walk 12 miles today, even though the hike was described by other guests as “flat”. We were told there was a series of bridges over Bright Angel Creek up that way, and we agreed we’d at least check those out and walk until we felt like heading back – we left under high cloudy skies, Chris knowing in his gut that we’d be walking the full 12 miles today, despite his protests. Immediately north of Phantom Ranch is The Box, a narrow stretch of the canyon that twists and turns, known for its absence of wind and its resulting unbearable heat during the summer. Heat would not be an issue for us today, although it was not too cold that we had to wear jackets – our wool midlayers were fine. The trail was indeed a very mild gradient, and we made good time through The Box and across the first two bridges. About two miles separate the second and third spans, and this stretch of trail was an interesting but repetitive series of cliffs and creek bends, the firm trail winding its way northward never more than a few yards from the creek. Past the third and fourth bridges, the canyon began to widen, offering better views both to the surrounding clifftops and upper terrain features as well as to the North Rim well off in the distance. The high sky also began to give way to rolling cloud cover as the weather indeed took a turn, although the intermittent sprinkles were never constant enough for us to pull out our rain gear. At 5.5 miles out, Chris began to look for the side canyon to the west within which lies Ribbon Falls – the most prominent one held no fall, nor did the one after, and he began to think this would be an even longer outing that he had dreaded. We soon came to a sign indicating that the Ribbon Falls bridge was ahead, but it was also clear that the route to the bridge entailed what looked to be a steep climb up and over a tall shelf extending into the canyon – alternatively, we could see a use trail leading left into the brush, presumably to a bridgeless crossing of Bright Angel Creek. We prudently but reluctantly chose the bridge option – the climb wasn’t bad, but we added at least a mile round trip distance by pushing north, then backtracking south and west over the bridge. At least we could see the fall from the shelf, and we entered the side canyon, picking our way up various use trail threads to the base of the cascades. It was quite the sight – the main fall dropped directly down onto a large rock platform, most of the flow dropping further down the rock face and watering the mossy surface there, while the remainder of the water flowed down the back of the platform and down around the sides into the main pool below. Jane had been told to explore all the way up in back of the fall, so up she went with Chris following – it was very cool, and definitely worth the effort to get here. After some pictures, we made our way out to a rock ledge just southeast of the fall, where we had a full view of the fall from its top to its pool, and ate some lunch that the Ranch had packed for us. The clouds had started to thicken and darken by this time, so we made our way east back into the main canyon, choosing to follow a shortcut use trail that indeed led back to the bridgeless creek crossing we had suspected was there. The creek was more than a little swollen, although it looked possible to get across using some larger rocks – Jane went first, her trekking poles in about 18″ of water as she steadied herself. The crux of her passage came as she had to make two quick and long steps on three successive rocks, which she did in a most precarious fashion – she was saved from a certain dunking when her pole caught up in a tree branch on the far bank, giving her enough stability to fortunately regain her balance. Super lucky. Chris learned a lesson or two from her example on which rocks were more stable, and he was able to get across the rushing water without incident. Now on the east bank, we quickly found the main trail ahead and started the long walk back. The rain got steadily worse over the next 30 minutes, and we ultimately resorted to breaking out the plastic ponchos Jane had insisted on buying when we arrived on the South Rim two days earlier (we both have nice, breathable rain jackets, but we’ve neglected to buy pack covers for our day packs – hence Jane’s decision to get rain gear that would cover both us and our packs). These attractive coverings actually performed quite well, in the cool weather not being stifling at all and blocking out nearly all the water. Still, we’d occasionally find ourselves in the sun while the rain continued as we made our way down the canyon, so we took the ponchos off and then re-donned them several times during the hike back. We retraced our steps without much fanfare, and it was a welcome sight to recognize the south side cliffs of the river as we got back to Phantom Ranch about 4pm. What was even more welcome was getting into our cabin as the rain got even heavier – it would last throughout the night, making us ever more grateful for our permanent shelter. The GPS clocked our day at over 14 miles (less than accurate, we believe), but even the posted 12 was a little much – our gain and loss ended up being about 2,000′, quite deceiving given the mild trail gradient, and our legs were definitely feeling the strain after our return. Our cabin reservation gave us access to hot showers, which were awesome, and we actually got to have a short nap afterward. We had steak for dinner again (it was the only available option when we made our meal reservations), so life was indeed grand on our second night in the Grand Canyon.