This was a good hike and complimented my hike to Cape Solitude a couple of years ago.  Hiking poles are not needed, so leave yours at home and save the weight.  This is a relatively easy hike and suitable for a long day hike or a one-night hike.  I drove my car down the old road and parked near the sewage disposal ponds.  If you have a high-clearance vehicle, you may be able to get a little farther down the road.  Once the switchbacks begin, the road is pretty rough in places.  Vehicles are authorized all the way to the trail junction at the bottom of the switchbacks.

     Lon at the Backcountry Office suggested I take the left road at the five-mile cairn until reaching the creek bottom and then follow the creek all the way to the saddle.  I took this route going to Comanche Point.  A different Ranger suggested following the ridge-line that is just past the five-mile cairn, and then descending it near the saddle.  I used this route for my return and liked it the best.  The walking on top the ridge is much easier and a lot faster than on the creek bottom.  Climbing or descending the ridge-line near the Comanche Point saddle is mildly challenging due to its steepness.  A GPS with some waypoints set will aid you in knowing where you are. 

     Numerous critters such as mice, ravens, squirrels, and ringtails are a threat to attack your food in the inner Canyon.  For many years, there were two widely used defenses against critter attack: the Ratsack Cache bag, a mesh, stainless steel bag, which came in three sizes, and the Ursack, a bag made with a Spectra material.  I bought both, but preferred the Ratsack because it was larger, cheaper, and had a superior Velcro closure system.  Even though the Ratsack company website is still active and will accept your money, most people now indicate they never received their order, their money was never returned, and they could not get the company to return a phone call.  Due to the widely reported difficulties and lack of response from the Ratsack company, that product is no longer carried by the General Store in Grand Canyon Village.  Two new products have recently come forward to fill the void:  the Outsak and the Foodsack.  Both are similar in design to the Ratsack and utilize a mesh stainless steel bag in different sizes with a Velcro closure system.  The Outsak is a lighter duty version and some people report that animals were able to penetrate it.  The Foodsack is the heavy duty version and appears to be bullet-proof, so it is the product that I recommend.  I have and use the Foodsack.

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