HIKE OF THE MONTH

of the month bike Birds May Elude Hikers on a North Canyon Trek in CONDOR COUNTRY at the Grand Canyon's NORTH RIM

APPROACHING THE TRAIL-head for a hike into North Canyon in the Saddle Mountain Wilderness just outside Grand Canyon National Park's North Rim unit, we spotted two large, dark birds circling high overhead. Condors! Was it possible?This is condor country. Since December 1996, endangered California condors have been released into Arizona's wildlands, the first group atop the Vermilion Cliffs, rising above the plain of House Rock Valley, visible in the distance below us. Now nearly 30 of these giant birds with 10-foot wingspans soar for hundreds of miles daily above the Arizona-Utah canyonlands and beyond. One curious female, in fact, traced the Colorado River north more than 300 miles to Flaming Gorge, Wyoming, before returning to her "home" territory. But were those really condors we saw? Or just a pair of buzzards?

We peered through our field glasses, searching for tell-tale white underwing linings. Rising on an updraft, the pair soared too high, out of range. And then they were gone.

We lingered at the trailhead situated on the east rim of the 9,000-foot Kaibab Plateau, known as "the mountain lying down," by the Southern Paiute people. To the north sprawled the radiant red and yellow sandstone escarpment of the Vermilion Cliffs. To the east lay House Rock Valley, spreading to the cleft of Marble Canyon along the Colorado River. Saddle Mountain, A long undulating ridge rose to the south. And beyond House Rock Valley, past the faint line of Echo Cliffs far off to the east, sat the shadowy dome of Navajo Mountain, a sacred place to the Navajo people. Mile upon mile of open country lay before us. What better place for condors to roam the winds?

We were there to hike, so we descended into North Canyon on Trail 7, the East Rim Trail, and soon came to a checkpoint and sign marking the Saddle Mountain Wilderness boundary. Dropping very steeply into the canyon, the trail, though clearly marked, proved quite brushy. The tangled shrubs lashed our bare legs, but we dodged the nettles of New Mexico thistles, which produce a lingering sting.

Portions of the upper trail offered glimpses of House Rock Valley and Marble Canyon, but it soon dropped down into a mixed forest of aspen, ponderosa pine and bigtooth maple trees. During the fall, the aspen leaves turn golden, the maple crimson.

After 1.5 miles, the East Rim Trail intersects Trail 4, the North Canyon Trail. From there the North Canyon Trail, which crisscrosses a perennial creek where native Apache trout lurk, runs east 5.5 miles to the lower trailhead in House Rock Valley. A westward turn goes 1.5 miles to North Canyon Spring.

From this point, a round-trip hike to House Rock Valley is 11 miles; to North Canyon Spring, 3 miles. Take your pick. Keep in mind, though, that you've already dropped 1,000 feet in just 1.5 miles, and, descending to the valley, you lose another 1,500 feet. So, unless you've shuttled a car to the lower trailhead, the hike back up to the rim will be long and steep.

Keeping an eye peeled for condors, we trudged back. At the sight of a solitary soaring bird backlit by the westering sun, our excitement rose. But when the creature turned and caught the light on a rufous band across its upper tail, we saw it was not a condor but a red-tailed hawk, the signature raptor of Arizona's canyon country.