I am up early and leave camp around 7:30 carrying only a daypack, two quarts of Gatorade, and snacks.  A few hundred yards down into this drainage I come to a fence with a gate.  I guess the Park Service put the fence here to limit access from the road on the reservation.  However, one entire section of the fence has been cut away.  So much for the attempt to limit access.  I walk only a short distance down the reservation road and then turn uphill to go through the second gate and back onto Park property.

Fence and gate 10-9-2007 @ 7:34	Fence with cut section 10-9-2007 @ 7:35	Second gate 10-9-2007 @ 7:40

     This entire area is substantially flat and it is very easy walking down the abandoned road.  However, there are plenty of fresh tire tracks on the road.  I have been playing with my GPS and am averaging about three miles per hour so far.

Abandoned road 10-9-2007 @ 7:43	Abandoned road 10-9-2007 @ 7:44

     I soon reach two parallel roads, one on the park side of the fence and one on the reservation side of the fence.  There is a gate between the two roads.  Somehow I was expecting the gate to be locked, but it is not.  There are just some simple loops at the top to lift off to reach the other side.

Parallel roads 10-9-2007 @ 8:11	Gate 10-9-2007 @ 8:12

     About an hour into my hike, I come to the only significant drainage on the hike today.  The far side is much steeper than these pictures make it seem.  I am surprised that vehicles could get up that incline.

First big drainage 10-9-2007 @ 8:22	First big drainage 10-9-2007 @ 8:22	Steep side of drainage 10-9-2007 @ 8:32

     While the walking is easy, it is a long ways there.  Just before reaching Cape Solitude I find some animal bones at the side of the trail.  I assume these belonged to a larger animal, possibly an elk or a deer.

Animal bones 10-9-2007 @ 10:08	Animal bones 10-9-2007 @ 10:08	Animal bones 10-9-2007 @ 10:08

     I arrive at Cape Solitude a little after 10:00.  The views are awesome.  I scramble down to a lower ledge to have a better view.  The Colorado River is running a bright green color.  The Little Colorado River appears to be about half-way between a muddy, brown color and a color free of silt.  After some snacks, it's time to take a few pictures.  I climb to the top again and move a little ways to get an unobstructed view of the actual confluence.  I set up two five-picture photo-galleries of the area in case some people's browsers do not support larger galleries.

	Click either picture to see all five pictures in this photo-gallery of the confluence of the Colorado River and Little Colorado River
Cape Solitude 10-9-2007 @ 10:12		Confluence area 10-9-2007 @ 10:27

	Click either picture to see all five pictures in this photo-gallery of the confluence of the Colorado River and Little Colorado River
Little Colorado River 10-9-2007 @ 10:31		Confluence 10-9-2007 @ 10:31

     I look for a brass U.S. Geological Survey marker, but do not find one.  I leave Cape Solitude and start back.  Just a few hundred yards down the road I come to another area with fabulous views across and downstream in the Colorado River.  Tanner Rapids is at the far end and Palisades Creek is at the mid-point.  Temple Butte is directly across the river from me.

Colorado River 10-9-2007 @ 10:37	Temple Butte 10-9-2007 @ 10:37	Colorado River 10-9-2007 @ 10:38

     About two hours later as I approach the gate by the parallel roads, I notice what I first thought were some Geological Survey markers.  There is one by each side of the gate.  Upon further inspection, the wording on the devices seems to imply that these are part of some photographic system.  I wonder if this is how the National Park Service attempts to control access through this gate.

1st Forest Service device 10-9-2007 @ 12:49	Gate by parallel roads 10-9-2007 @ 12:49	2nd Forest Service device 10-9-2007 @ 12:49

     I later come across some interesting blue lichen on these rocks.  I have seen plenty of lichen in various colors in the Canyon, but never a blue color like this.  These pictures do not accurately reflect the darkness of the blue.

Blue lichen 10-9-2007 @ 1:15	Blue lichen 10-9-2007 @ 1:15

     I am approaching the first fence and gate I encountered early this morning.  Gold Hill is quite near and the view of it, unlike at camp, is unobstructed here.  Instead of going down the road and through the gate, I am going to walk directly toward camp and try to save a little time.  I arrive in camp shortly and probably cut five minutes or so off my time by taking this more direct route.

Gold Hill 10-9-2007 @ 1:20	Camp in the distance 10-9-2007 @ 1:22	Camp 10-9-2007 @ 1:29

     I lounge around camp the rest of the afternoon.  Like last night, there aren't many clouds so this is about all the sunset there is.

Second night sunset 10-9-2007 @ 5:59	Second night sunset 10-9-2007 @ 6:03

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