​We awoke at 6:20 am as the first rays of sun lightened the sky visible from inside the canyon.  We got up and started making some hot cocoa.  A quick pack and we were ready to go.  We climbed up and out of Havasupai Gardens.  Only about a mile up from there, I turned to my left and saw a massive male bighorn sheep/ram standing next to us.  He quickly turned and raced across the rocky plains/slopes.

Feeling charged from doing the North Rim, we woke up earlier after a noticeably warmer night.  We packed up camp, and started down the shadowed canyon where sun had not yet crept beyond the rim to bring any warmth.  We approached Ribbon Falls which is close to a mile off-route and had a bridge that was out (due to surging water from the creek during a past storm that pummeled it into twisted brokenness).  Two day hikers up from Phantom Ranch greeted us and asked if we were going to go check it out.  It's like their question spurred us for immediately we said "Yes."  We hopped down to the side spur trail.  The creek was full of melt and so dry feet weren't in store.  We did a creek crossing and started up towards the falls just in view.

​We slept in late to beat the cold.  I was absolutely frigid and didn't want to pull myself out of my quilt.  But, after 13 hours of laying down, my bladder could only take so much and I was bursting.  As soon as we exited, any condensation instantly froze and the water we dragged out with us from the Triplex immediately began icing up inside our bottles.  Janna seemed torn between going to the top and just exploring locally.  We decided we would take a leisurely start, poke around, and see how we felt when we got to Manzanita Resthouse.  The morning continued to be freezing - Janna was dressed in every layer she owned and I wore only a shirt and shorts.

​After a night of endless wind, we awoke to a cold that had settled throughout the region, and especially sunk into the canyon.  We got up, immediately starting making some hot water for tea, and then heard someone yell, "Howdy Neighbor!"  I turned around as my neighbor Jesse and his girlfriend Kelli beckoned to us from the site directly next to ours.  We laughed realizing that we had spent the night camped exactly next to each other without realizing it.  We packed up and headed off down the canyon past the numerous deer that fill up Havasupai Gardens.

​Given the surge in COVID cases that really took off mid-November (and were helped along by those traveling and socializing during the holidays), we decided to cancel our months-ago-booked flights to Ohio.  We would keep the holidays local, spending Christmas and New Years at the Canyon.  In the few weeks leading up to Winter Break, I reached out to the Backcountry Office at the Grand Canyon.  We were able to subsequently score 4 nights and 5 days down in.