Colter’s Rest refers to a section of an old jeep trail that leads to Comanche Point and Cape Solitude. It lies about 1.5 miles north of the Jeep Trailhead (see photo below). The purpose of this Grand Canyon hike was for my wife Hedy and I to scatter the remains of my beloved dog Colter, hence the name Colter’s Rest. Colter was my close companion for 16 years and we had hiked to Cape Solitude in April, 2017. It was a great hike…my favorite hike in the Grand Canyon. I miss him dearly.
My daughter Sophi and her husband Tommy joined us for this hike to participate in scattering the ashes and also to introduce Tommy to the Grand Canyon, his first time to visit.
Saturday, October 8
We left our motel in Tusayan early in the morning and arrived to the East Entrance parking area. I had been here in 2017 but in five years things had changed a bit. We began to search for a road leading to the trailhead. We picked up the road near the residential area in the Grand Canyon that houses the employees, southeast side of the huge East Entrance parking area. The trailhead is 2.7 miles from the parking area and we hoped the road would be good enough to get to it. But, within 0.1 miles we came to a large, muddy puddle and were forced to park and begin our hike from that point.
We then followed a dirt road that led to switchbacks and to a rocky road and in about 2 miles we arrived at the trailhead. There are no signs indicating that this is the trail to Cape Solitude, just a sign letting us know the road is closed to vehicles.
So we began our hike. My plan was that we would get to a junction in the trail in about 2 miles. The trail forks to the west for Comanche Point and to the east for Cape Solitude. I was hoping we would find a suitable place for Colter near this junction, perhaps in the direction of Comanche Point.
As it turned out the trail was exceedingly difficult, which really surprised me. I did not have any recollection of it being difficult when I hiked it with Colter in 2017. It is marked E for easy on the Sky Terrain Trail Map but it was quite a slog. It was mostly hilly and I had given the group the impression that it was basically flat. Wrong.
We arrived at a spot about 1.5 miles from the trailhead that appeared to be a good place to scatter Colter’s Ashes. There was a pour over that would make it easy to locate and also trees and greenery.
I gave the group some background information about Colter. This is what I shared with them— he was abandoned in a ditch somewhere in western New Mexico, December 2007. Somehow he was taken to Bridging the Worlds Animal Sanctuary in Santa Fe. Bridging the Worlds was founded by my brother Bob Hayes and his wife Beverly Antaeus. On December 19, 2007, Colter was taken to the Santa Fe Animal Shelter for Rabies Vaccination and Spay/Neuter treatment. On his Spay/Neuter Certificate he was listed at 22.50 lbs, Australian Cattle Dog Mix Tri-Color and his birthday was given as 6/19/2007. He was then a permanent resident of the Bridging the Worlds Animal Sanctuary.
I was told that Colter attached himself to my brother Bob. My brother became very ill with pancreatic cancer and Colter would lay by his bedside.
My brother was eventually taken to hospice. I got leave from my work and headed out to Santa Fe from San Antonio to be with him. When I reached Pecos, Texas (February 6, 2008) I received word that my brother died.
I was in Santa Fe for a few days and adopted Colter as a way of honoring my brother and his work. I loaded Colter in my Jeep and we headed home to San Antonio. On the road back, about an 18 hour drive, Colter and I listened to a music piece by Explosions in the Sky, a west Texas band. I played First Breath After Coma which is about 9 minutes. Just before it would end I would hit repeat. Over and over and over we listened to First Breath After Coma on our way home to San Antonio. And so I played First Breath After Coma while we scattered Colter’s ashes. I really miss him.
On the return up the switchbacks we encountered rainbows. This was a special day.
Sunday, October 9 and Monday, October 10
Monday was a great day. By incredible luck, Sophi and Tommy were able to get reservations for Phantom Ranch and so took off in the early morning hours. Being Tommy’s first visit to the Grand Canyon and being able to hike into the Canyon and stay at Phantom Ranch was huge.
While Sophi and Tommy were hiking down the Bright Angel Trail and next day returning via the South Kaibab Trail, Hedy and I spent our time at the different view points along the Rim Trail. The selected photos I’ve linked below will show Sophi and Tommy’s hike intermingled with photos Hedy and I took from the South Rim. The next morning, Oct 11, Sophi and Tommy headed for Phoenix while Hedy and I started the long drive home to San Antonio.
