The sign was innocent enough. But I was all alone, rain coming down sideways, and now I was getting pelted with hail. Earlier I’d found a place on the trail that wasn’t as wet as everywhere else, where I stopped to put my camera, cell phone, and GPS inside the pack before they got any wetter. Maybe I can wait out the storm, I thought to myself as two young hikers with the same idea stood under a nearby tree. “10% chance of rain,” I reminded them.

The rain let up a bit. Now or never, I figured, The storm must be blowing over. So I continued walking west on the Rim Trail.

Then it really poured! Rain coming down in sheets, sideways, with hail, winds that blew my hat off, and lightning that was much too close. No place to duck, so I hurried on as the thunder quacked quaked. Finally I arrived at the deserted Pima Point shuttle bus stop. There’s no shelter at the bus stop, and I dare not move away from it lest I miss the bus. So I stood there in the rain, as if I weren’t soaked enough already.

A horrible thought crossed my mind: I seem to recall reading in the bus schedule “Service may be suspended during inclement weather.” Well if this isn’t inclement weather, I don’t know what is! What if the bus never comes? Suddenly the rain and hail seemed even colder and wetter. But for better or worse, I stood my ground.

Although I must have been a tempting target, standing out in the storm with no protection whatsoever, the lightning spared me this time.

Then I heard the bus coming. I’d kept my head down to keep the rain and hail from blowing in my face, but the sound was unmistakable. The driver honked.

“Have you got room for one wet hiker?” I asked the bus driver. He hadn’t, but let me on anyway. There were no seats left and no standing room left, but the other soaked hikers standing in the aisle packed themselves even more tightly so I could squeeze in and join them.

As we went down the road we saw Michael Humphrey and let him get on, too. Poor Michael. He was the last sardine in the can. The windshield was all fogged up, but the bus driver wiped it with a cloth so he could see to drive us back to Grand Canyon Village.

After riding the Village Route shuttle east to the transfer station I drove back to my hotel room, took a hot shower, and started drying my boots and backpack on the hotel room’s heater.

Trailblazers arrived at the Grand Canyon at different times on Friday, October 1^st, so everybody sort of did their own thing. I walked around Mather Point for a while, then hopped the Kaibab shuttle for a ride to Yaki Point to take pictures of the sunset. The sky was mostly cloudy, but I saw two rainbows.

After taking a few pictures of the sunset I was about to leave, but just then, a fellow came by with a great big camera and a great big tripod. “He knows more than me,” I figured.

So I stayed and took a few more sunset pictures with my digital compact camera and tabletop tripod. So there.

On Saturday everyone met by the Information Center on a gorgeous fall morning. After a group picture we rode the Village Route shuttle west to the transfer station. Introductions followed, then we started walking west on the Rim Trail toward Hermits Rest.

The group soon became separated. But it’s O.K. on this trail, because you can’t get lost and you can get on the shuttle any place it stops. “Take it at your own pace,” I advised them, “and take lots of pictures.”

The sky was fascinating. Very attractive cloud formations were followed by a haze over on the other side of the Colorado River. It had to be rain.

We were walking by the Abyss as my companions Wendy, Debbie, Sheila, Bill and Linda decided to get on the shuttle bus. “I’ll be fine,” I assured them as I kept walking west on the Rim Trail. The bus was just out of sight when I felt the first, scattered raindrops. “They’ll settle the dust and make the air smell good,” I mused as I walked on, unconcerned. Then the lightning flashed.

A 50% chance of rain on Sunday didn’t dampen our spirits! The sun was shining brightly as we gathered at the transfer station to ride the Kaibab Shuttle to South Kaibab Trailhead to begin our hike. There were eight of us — the others decided to do their own thing, which was quite all right.

Although the map shows the Rim Trail ending at Pipe Creek Vista, it has been extended and paved all the way to South Kaibab Trailhead. So we got off the bus, skipped the formalities, and started walking west toward Grand Canyon Village, each at their own pace.

“There are three bail-out points,” I advised them, “You can hop the shuttle at Pipe Creek Vista, Mather Point, or Yavapai Point.” That golden advice proved unnecessary, as the rain held off until we were all the way through our Rim Trail hike.

O’Neill Butte is a favorite sight along the first half of our hike. It features prominently in Chuck’s epic story, Dark Side of the Grand Canyon. We also enjoyed distant views of Wotan’s Throne and the never-ending controversy over who climbed it first. Even from this distance we could tell it’s one tough, rocky, off-trail climb.

West of Yavapai Point the scenery changes. Now we are looking down, down, down at Indian Garden and the Bright Angel Trail. Both Chuck and Ted have climbed that trail in hot weather. We can see the notorious Jacob’s Ladder, a series of steep switchbacks coming up from Indian Garden. Neither of us remembers singing “We Are Climbing Jacob’s Ladder” on the way up, or singing anything, for that matter.

The hike ends too soon as we round a bend and find ourselves in Grand Canyon Village. There are throngs of tourists, everywhere, toting cameras and kids and enjoying snacks. Some of the Trailblazers stop for ice cream before bidding farewell to the Grand Canyon and rolling home under cloudy skies.