I'd never been to The Maze area of Canyonlands, in fact everything between Hwy 24 and the Green River in that area was totally uncharted to me. The weather looked awesome, but it hadn't been warm enough to melt & dry out the Flint Trail, or the road out to Hite for my 2WD truck to make it down and out (there's no way my truck would ever get up the Flint Trail). So instead of starting at the top of the Golden Stairs I started out 4 miles further away at the top of the Flint Trail bringing the total mileage to around 37.5 miles in 2.5 days. I didn't think it was that much until I got home and plotted the whole thing out on Google Earth - the gps is still in the shop :(
The Flint Trail was uneventful. Towards the Maze Overlook trail I was passed by two trucks. Those were the last people I'd see till my way back. The Golden Stairs weren't that great to go through. It's a rough, primitive, cairned route that heads really far in one direction, drops a little, then heads just as far back in the other, and drops to the area below where the Doll House Road is. From there to the entrance to the top of South Fork Canyon, there's not much to say other than, the sun was high, there were no clouds in the sky, it was in the 80's and the sun wouldn't move, it was mid-day for forever and then some.
The South Fork route is just a nice string of cairns down to the canyon floor. The path is pretty straight forward, and easy. There are a few places where the less agile would want to lower their packs, and some definite exposure, and some steep slopes at the end, but I enjoyed it. There was plenty of water in a couple pools at the bottom fed by a small trickling spring where I filled up.
South Fork was great to get into after the non-stop sun exposure. I was following one set of footprints in the moist sand down canyon for a while, but there was the same set headed in the opposite direction as well. There were lots of deer tracks and one small mammal probably the size of a small dog.
Water was everywhere down there from what looked like spring after spring. The source had a rust colored look to the water which dissipated further downstream. The sand was moist half the time making it easy to walk on which was great. Last July a 200 year storm came through the area and caused flash floods in The Maze changing the terrain, and disturbing the water sources. The NPS said they didn't know for sure what was going on since they hadn't gone down yet to check everything out this year. All I know is most of the water sources aren't quite right. They have a soft water taste to it, and the rust discoloration at the spring sources made me feel pretty uneasy about even drinking it, but when in the desert, it's life or death, or eventual death if the water is contaminated with enough bad stuff.
I headed down canyon making it more than half way before I was too hungry to go on and set up camp in a high spot. I wasn't keeping track of where I was, but I saw Elaterite Butte at a specific angle through a side canyon so I thought I was close to the Maze Overlook Trail. As warm as it was during the day it got pretty cold at night, hovering around freezing.
The next morning I found ice just below my camp in the river, and the air was much, much colder coming out of a side canyon. It took a couple hours of meandering but I made it to where the Maze Overlook Trail joins up in South Canyon. When I finally made it to the heart of the Maze I was amazed at just how wide of an area was open there, and how many canyons just join up in that area. There was supposed to be a spring a little further up from the canyon that leads up to the Harvest Scene, and that threw me way off because the spring had moved quite a ways North of where it should've been. It had that same rust colored tint at the source so I looked for where it should've been, and kept heading up and not finding anything. I was almost out of water by then, so I headed back to the nasty water to fill up and have some lunch.
After several hours of lingering in the shade of a ledge near the water I went up to check out the Harvest Scene. That canyon was pretty wide, and didn't offer any shade. I didn't stick around too long to check out the petroglyphs cause it was really hot.
The next major point of interest is the exit from The Plug, it's a foolhardy route with steep scrambles up slickrock chutes and along huge cliffs. It was a lot of fun to go up, but I wouldn't want to go down. The ranger I talked to after I made it back to the Ranger Station said they had re-cairned that route to be a safer route, but they think someone went back and put the old route back up after what I described. It's totally possible that the new route is still up, but I didn't hit it.
When I got back to the Doll House Road the sun was low in the sky, and the air was much cooler making for some awesome colors, and the view was the best I've ever seen in Canyonlands.
I kept going through the dark until I was at the base of the Golden Stairs to make my next day significantly shorter.
Climbing the Golden Stairs was so much better in the morning. It heated up really quickly, but was nice when I made it to the top. From there it was a matter of walking the road. After 2.5 days of not seeing a soul a truck came up the road and we talked for a little bit ending my long period of solace.
View photos from this trip
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Grand Canyon - Hermit Trail to Tonto Trail to Bright Angel Trail
The Tonto Trail has started interesting me lately, so I picked the obvious choice for an introductory hike and that was the section between the Hermit Trail and the Bright Angel Trail. The weather forecast was sketchy, but it was going to be warmer in the canyon than it was at home, and that's enough to get me going.
I picked up a North Face ultralight solo tent on the cheap in SLC and kept heading South to Page, AZ for the night. It always amazes me just how long it takes to get anywhere after leaving I-15 for either Rim, or Lake Powell. After 7 hours I think to myself, I could've driven past Vegas and been in California by now, but I'm still in Utah. Since I hadn't had any caffeine, guarana, or any other stimulant, and no high fructose corn syrup, or trans-fats in any significant quantities, the energy drinks and road trip food just made me sick to my stomach, and I was too wired to get any sleep, so I left Page before the sun was even close to coming up over the horizon and headed back towards the Grand Canyon.
There was plenty of snow on top, but none on the trail. The Hermits Trail starts out gradually dropping into the canyon, and then kind of levels off as you approach Lookout Point where you're standing directly above the Hermit Creek Campground, even though you can't see it from your vantage point on the trail. From Lookout Point you get a nice view of where the trail goes around to Breezy Point, and after that it disappears into the Cathedral Staircase area, and re-emerges as it switchbacks to the Tonto Platform and joins up with the Tonto Trail.
After doing the Thunder River-Deer Creek Loop, the Hermit Trail seemed to be in awesome condition. Trail washouts, route finding, steep descents - it's all just another hike in the park now. After getting down to the Tonto Trail, just looking back up through the entire area you went through seems unreal because it's some pretty gnarly looking terrain.
From there it's a mile to Hermit Creek (in the opposite direction we're headed the next day) and it's an easy mile, slightly downhill, on a decidedly better trail than Hermit. One of the first things you see as the campground by the creek comes into view is the overhead view of the dehydrating toilet. I just figured privacy isn't a concern out here, or they just don't expect heavy enough traffic for it to matter.
The campground does have some poles to hang your packs on, but there's some friendly graffiti beta on the wall of the toilet that says the squirrels can easily climb the poles. I didn't see that till the next day, but I only saw two squirrels, and they left us alone. There are a few trees spread throughout the site, and a nice cliff overhang for shade. My guide book said the pool below the campsites washed out after a monsoonal flood, but there was a nice pool down there, with a not so picturesque cascading waterfall flowing into it, so I guess it's back!
Since the river was about a mile away and no trip into the Grand Canyon would be complete without a trip to the Colorado, the hike was on. Going down seemed much worse than going back up. We were focused on finding a trail to lead through much of it because it was all cairned out and there was a well worn trail down there, but doing that was a waste of time.
Hermit Rapids look awesome! They're supposed to be some of the best ones in the canyon at a class 8 (out of 10 on the GC scale). They really make me want to do a river trip through there now. It takes some really big water to get my adrenaline up.
Heading back up the creek we stayed with the creek until we got to the short narrows section and then followed the trail from there back up to the campsites.
The tent I got although it was lightweight, wasn't breathable enough even with the mesh perimeter, so it was hot and humid except when a gust of wind rushed through and made it really cold for a little bit.
Next day we had 14-15 miles to cover on the Tonto to get to Indian Gardens. I was expecting a slightly more level trail since the Tonto basically follows a contour line for the most part, but in reality it does a lot of undulating, especially at Monument Creek where you do some serious dropping down and climbing out. It's a lot of walking. The trail was in good condition and offered some incredible views. Incredible views which I couldn't capture myself because even though I brought my camera, the memory card wasn't in it, which was a big bummer, but there will be photos because Brittany is letting me use hers!
There were light sprinkles, brief moments of sunshine, and two torrential downpours. The first one came after the lunch stop and I was freezing since I hadn't been moving to keep my core temp up, and the second one came ten minutes before I got into Indian Gardens where we were greeted with covered picnic tables.
The nighttime lows were supposed to be pretty good, but with the rainstorms pushing the cold air from the rim down through that campground, it was cold. The poor breathability of the tent created it's own little storm inside the tent with rainshowers anytime I touched the wall. Basically most everything got soaked, and the prospect of facing a cold, wet exit to chilly morning air was a really hard thing to face.
The climb out of the canyon was the best ever! I made it out in 2:20. Since I don't have any other starts from Indian Gardens to compare it to, I'll just say that was pretty good. 4:45 was my best time out from Bright Angel Campground, so I think it's pretty good.
At the top when I set my pack down and took off my fleece I noticed that my pack had some wicked steam rising off of it, so I looked at my shirt, and it had some wicked steam rising off of it as well, it was really cool.
View photos from this trip
I picked up a North Face ultralight solo tent on the cheap in SLC and kept heading South to Page, AZ for the night. It always amazes me just how long it takes to get anywhere after leaving I-15 for either Rim, or Lake Powell. After 7 hours I think to myself, I could've driven past Vegas and been in California by now, but I'm still in Utah. Since I hadn't had any caffeine, guarana, or any other stimulant, and no high fructose corn syrup, or trans-fats in any significant quantities, the energy drinks and road trip food just made me sick to my stomach, and I was too wired to get any sleep, so I left Page before the sun was even close to coming up over the horizon and headed back towards the Grand Canyon.
There was plenty of snow on top, but none on the trail. The Hermits Trail starts out gradually dropping into the canyon, and then kind of levels off as you approach Lookout Point where you're standing directly above the Hermit Creek Campground, even though you can't see it from your vantage point on the trail. From Lookout Point you get a nice view of where the trail goes around to Breezy Point, and after that it disappears into the Cathedral Staircase area, and re-emerges as it switchbacks to the Tonto Platform and joins up with the Tonto Trail.
After doing the Thunder River-Deer Creek Loop, the Hermit Trail seemed to be in awesome condition. Trail washouts, route finding, steep descents - it's all just another hike in the park now. After getting down to the Tonto Trail, just looking back up through the entire area you went through seems unreal because it's some pretty gnarly looking terrain.
From there it's a mile to Hermit Creek (in the opposite direction we're headed the next day) and it's an easy mile, slightly downhill, on a decidedly better trail than Hermit. One of the first things you see as the campground by the creek comes into view is the overhead view of the dehydrating toilet. I just figured privacy isn't a concern out here, or they just don't expect heavy enough traffic for it to matter.
The campground does have some poles to hang your packs on, but there's some friendly graffiti beta on the wall of the toilet that says the squirrels can easily climb the poles. I didn't see that till the next day, but I only saw two squirrels, and they left us alone. There are a few trees spread throughout the site, and a nice cliff overhang for shade. My guide book said the pool below the campsites washed out after a monsoonal flood, but there was a nice pool down there, with a not so picturesque cascading waterfall flowing into it, so I guess it's back!
Since the river was about a mile away and no trip into the Grand Canyon would be complete without a trip to the Colorado, the hike was on. Going down seemed much worse than going back up. We were focused on finding a trail to lead through much of it because it was all cairned out and there was a well worn trail down there, but doing that was a waste of time.
Hermit Rapids look awesome! They're supposed to be some of the best ones in the canyon at a class 8 (out of 10 on the GC scale). They really make me want to do a river trip through there now. It takes some really big water to get my adrenaline up.
Heading back up the creek we stayed with the creek until we got to the short narrows section and then followed the trail from there back up to the campsites.
The tent I got although it was lightweight, wasn't breathable enough even with the mesh perimeter, so it was hot and humid except when a gust of wind rushed through and made it really cold for a little bit.
Next day we had 14-15 miles to cover on the Tonto to get to Indian Gardens. I was expecting a slightly more level trail since the Tonto basically follows a contour line for the most part, but in reality it does a lot of undulating, especially at Monument Creek where you do some serious dropping down and climbing out. It's a lot of walking. The trail was in good condition and offered some incredible views. Incredible views which I couldn't capture myself because even though I brought my camera, the memory card wasn't in it, which was a big bummer, but there will be photos because Brittany is letting me use hers!
There were light sprinkles, brief moments of sunshine, and two torrential downpours. The first one came after the lunch stop and I was freezing since I hadn't been moving to keep my core temp up, and the second one came ten minutes before I got into Indian Gardens where we were greeted with covered picnic tables.
The nighttime lows were supposed to be pretty good, but with the rainstorms pushing the cold air from the rim down through that campground, it was cold. The poor breathability of the tent created it's own little storm inside the tent with rainshowers anytime I touched the wall. Basically most everything got soaked, and the prospect of facing a cold, wet exit to chilly morning air was a really hard thing to face.
The climb out of the canyon was the best ever! I made it out in 2:20. Since I don't have any other starts from Indian Gardens to compare it to, I'll just say that was pretty good. 4:45 was my best time out from Bright Angel Campground, so I think it's pretty good.
At the top when I set my pack down and took off my fleece I noticed that my pack had some wicked steam rising off of it, so I looked at my shirt, and it had some wicked steam rising off of it as well, it was really cool.
View photos from this trip
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Baja Roadtrip - Ensenada and San Felipe Mexico
I've wanted to check out the upper part of Baja California for a long time now, and finally pulled myself away from the cold winter for a little sun and warmth. I left Thursday after work, drove to Mesquite, then the next day drove down to the K58 campground just off the highway to Ensenada. The trip was pretty uneventful. The weather was great, and I pulled into camp just as the sun was setting.
The Tijuana border crossing was a zoo. I'm glad I learned some driving skills in France cause they came in handy for changing lanes in crazy traffic. It smelled, and I'm just glad I didn't get lost, and that it was still light out. I don't ever want to go through there again, and I don't think I need to worry about wanting to.
I had high hopes for Ensenada, and I've heard from other people that it's a great place, but it's just not what I was expecting. The coast is extraordinary, no doubt. I really don't have pics because the sun was rising and would've made just one big sun spot when I was going from camp to Ensenada, so it was pointless to try. Pulling into town you don't realize that theres this massive city on the other side of the hill there. I followed the signs to get to the tourist district and just found some dumpy looking clubs. I drove around for an hour looking for somewhere to eat, but was out of luck, even in the tourist district, fortunately I found a really, really nice Carls Jr, so I went there. It's probably one of the single best buildings in Ensenada, and it's not even in the same league of the American Carls Jr locations because they're all pretty generic and typical suburbia fast food, but the Carls Jr in Ensenada was beautifully designed, and totally out of place with the rundown surroundings, and I think they should all be like that.
I saw signs for a Super Walmart in town so I spent a while looking for that so I could go there to get some prescription meds without a prescription. I love the ability to load up on the meds you need without having to consult anyone. I chose Walmart because I had forgotten my spanish/english dictionary and figured somebody around there would speak English if I needed to ask any questions because nobody there speaks English that I found. The Super Walmart there was nicer than the one I go to here in the US but hardly anybody was shopping there. Across the street is a Costco, and Home Depot, so any gringos living there would feel right at home.
I didn't want to stick around Ensenada, it just wasn't what I was looking for. I found the road to San Felipe and hit the highway. There was a cop on the side of the road outisde of town who turned his lights on when I flew by, but since the road is narrow, and full of sharp curves, with very few places to pull over and I had about 10 cars behind me I guess he figured it wasn't worth it if he wanted to get me. Not surprisingly there were a lot of shrines to people who died along that road. Families had painted boulders to look like shrines. Somebody had some fun painting a rock that looked like an alligator already to really look like an alligator, and if I could've pulled over I totally would've taken a pic of it.
Halfway to San Felipe the landscape changes from lots of curves to flat out open desert with straight roads with mountains jutting up above the landscape a couple miles in each direction. The junction to highway 5 that leads to San Felipe comes up pretty quick. Here you can see the Sea of Cortez straight ahead, through a landscape of white sand and desert foliage.
San Felipe has a completely different vibe. It's much more of a laid back place with a distinct Mexican beach town feel to it, and hardly any traffic. There's a very large American presence there that's only going to grow as people buy up more of the land and build retirement and vacation houses there. It's really a fantastic area. The weather was in the high 60's during the day, and got pretty cold at night, but nothing like it was back home. The beach along the malecon is lined with fishing boats, and the sand is deep and soft, but unfortunately that beach is kind of trashed. It could really use one of those sand groomers they use in the states to clear out trash like needles, broken glass and stuff.
The sea along the coast here is very shallow, and when the low tide comes, the shoreline disappears into the horizon a half mile out, and since it's so shallow the water doesn't look very clear.
After wandering around the mercado I left town to explore one of the beach camps I passed on the way in and settled on Pete's Camp. I pretty much spent the rest of the next two days there with a brief trip into town to buy some stuff. It was just so nice and peaceful there on the beach, and the beach was pretty clean for being a campground. Almost everybody there had RV's and trailers loaded with ATV's and dirt bikes. That area is huge for that kind of stuff. South of San Felipe there are roads to other towns and hot springs, but a lot of people just ride their toys down there. Even into and around town, it's pretty cool.
The people I camped next to took pity on me since I was down there alone, which was cool cause they knew a lot about the area and even bought some property down here so they took me back beyond the security gate to check everything out, and while these are just desert lots surrounded by tall desert plants and you can't see much while on the ground, when you get up onto a rooftop patio, everything opens up and all around you is just a beautiful 360° panorama of mountains and sea just everywhere.
Two days in San Felipe just wasn't enough, and I didn't want to leave. And right now I just want to go back and stay there. It just reminded me of what life was like before it was consumed with high levels of stress and responsibility. Before I used to be able to take off on a trip, be it road, backpacking or mountain biking, and when I came back I'd be ready for months more of dealing with everything, but it's not like that anymore.
On the trip back I got stuck on a near empty tank of gas in a long line of cars trying to get through the border. When I finally got up there I got flagged for a full inspection...again. Third border crossing in a row that's happened. I'm tempted to cross it again just to see if we can make it a fourth or a fifth. Unfortunately, I must confess I have now contributed to the illegal alien population in the US. You see, while they were preoccupied with determining if I was a drug smuggler or a nice ordinary guy, someone ran through the line of cars, past all the checkpoints and guards and into the US, and if they weren't busy with such a suspicious guy like myself, they probably would've stopped the runner. It's unfortunate, I know, but for some reason I continue to be a very suspicious individual to the border patrol. Since I'm definitely going back, I'm going to find out if three times in a row is a coincidence or not. I'm guessing the ratio of cars inspected is about 1:500 at that border crossing while I was there. The other time I would say it was about 1:80, and the first time about 1:35. I'm horrible at statistics, but looking at the odds, and having it happen three times in a row shouldn't happen, and the only commonality between any of those crossings was myself. Different cars, different crossings, and circumstances.
View photos from this trip
The Tijuana border crossing was a zoo. I'm glad I learned some driving skills in France cause they came in handy for changing lanes in crazy traffic. It smelled, and I'm just glad I didn't get lost, and that it was still light out. I don't ever want to go through there again, and I don't think I need to worry about wanting to.
I had high hopes for Ensenada, and I've heard from other people that it's a great place, but it's just not what I was expecting. The coast is extraordinary, no doubt. I really don't have pics because the sun was rising and would've made just one big sun spot when I was going from camp to Ensenada, so it was pointless to try. Pulling into town you don't realize that theres this massive city on the other side of the hill there. I followed the signs to get to the tourist district and just found some dumpy looking clubs. I drove around for an hour looking for somewhere to eat, but was out of luck, even in the tourist district, fortunately I found a really, really nice Carls Jr, so I went there. It's probably one of the single best buildings in Ensenada, and it's not even in the same league of the American Carls Jr locations because they're all pretty generic and typical suburbia fast food, but the Carls Jr in Ensenada was beautifully designed, and totally out of place with the rundown surroundings, and I think they should all be like that.
I saw signs for a Super Walmart in town so I spent a while looking for that so I could go there to get some prescription meds without a prescription. I love the ability to load up on the meds you need without having to consult anyone. I chose Walmart because I had forgotten my spanish/english dictionary and figured somebody around there would speak English if I needed to ask any questions because nobody there speaks English that I found. The Super Walmart there was nicer than the one I go to here in the US but hardly anybody was shopping there. Across the street is a Costco, and Home Depot, so any gringos living there would feel right at home.
I didn't want to stick around Ensenada, it just wasn't what I was looking for. I found the road to San Felipe and hit the highway. There was a cop on the side of the road outisde of town who turned his lights on when I flew by, but since the road is narrow, and full of sharp curves, with very few places to pull over and I had about 10 cars behind me I guess he figured it wasn't worth it if he wanted to get me. Not surprisingly there were a lot of shrines to people who died along that road. Families had painted boulders to look like shrines. Somebody had some fun painting a rock that looked like an alligator already to really look like an alligator, and if I could've pulled over I totally would've taken a pic of it.
Halfway to San Felipe the landscape changes from lots of curves to flat out open desert with straight roads with mountains jutting up above the landscape a couple miles in each direction. The junction to highway 5 that leads to San Felipe comes up pretty quick. Here you can see the Sea of Cortez straight ahead, through a landscape of white sand and desert foliage.
San Felipe has a completely different vibe. It's much more of a laid back place with a distinct Mexican beach town feel to it, and hardly any traffic. There's a very large American presence there that's only going to grow as people buy up more of the land and build retirement and vacation houses there. It's really a fantastic area. The weather was in the high 60's during the day, and got pretty cold at night, but nothing like it was back home. The beach along the malecon is lined with fishing boats, and the sand is deep and soft, but unfortunately that beach is kind of trashed. It could really use one of those sand groomers they use in the states to clear out trash like needles, broken glass and stuff.
The sea along the coast here is very shallow, and when the low tide comes, the shoreline disappears into the horizon a half mile out, and since it's so shallow the water doesn't look very clear.
After wandering around the mercado I left town to explore one of the beach camps I passed on the way in and settled on Pete's Camp. I pretty much spent the rest of the next two days there with a brief trip into town to buy some stuff. It was just so nice and peaceful there on the beach, and the beach was pretty clean for being a campground. Almost everybody there had RV's and trailers loaded with ATV's and dirt bikes. That area is huge for that kind of stuff. South of San Felipe there are roads to other towns and hot springs, but a lot of people just ride their toys down there. Even into and around town, it's pretty cool.
The people I camped next to took pity on me since I was down there alone, which was cool cause they knew a lot about the area and even bought some property down here so they took me back beyond the security gate to check everything out, and while these are just desert lots surrounded by tall desert plants and you can't see much while on the ground, when you get up onto a rooftop patio, everything opens up and all around you is just a beautiful 360° panorama of mountains and sea just everywhere.
Two days in San Felipe just wasn't enough, and I didn't want to leave. And right now I just want to go back and stay there. It just reminded me of what life was like before it was consumed with high levels of stress and responsibility. Before I used to be able to take off on a trip, be it road, backpacking or mountain biking, and when I came back I'd be ready for months more of dealing with everything, but it's not like that anymore.
On the trip back I got stuck on a near empty tank of gas in a long line of cars trying to get through the border. When I finally got up there I got flagged for a full inspection...again. Third border crossing in a row that's happened. I'm tempted to cross it again just to see if we can make it a fourth or a fifth. Unfortunately, I must confess I have now contributed to the illegal alien population in the US. You see, while they were preoccupied with determining if I was a drug smuggler or a nice ordinary guy, someone ran through the line of cars, past all the checkpoints and guards and into the US, and if they weren't busy with such a suspicious guy like myself, they probably would've stopped the runner. It's unfortunate, I know, but for some reason I continue to be a very suspicious individual to the border patrol. Since I'm definitely going back, I'm going to find out if three times in a row is a coincidence or not. I'm guessing the ratio of cars inspected is about 1:500 at that border crossing while I was there. The other time I would say it was about 1:80, and the first time about 1:35. I'm horrible at statistics, but looking at the odds, and having it happen three times in a row shouldn't happen, and the only commonality between any of those crossings was myself. Different cars, different crossings, and circumstances.
View photos from this trip
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
The Stair Machine from Hell aka Tapeats Creek to Deer Creek Loop via the Bill Hall Trail
This one wasn't even on my list, but it was on the North Rim, and since the season to do those trails was closing, I figured why not. So it was another midnight run down to Arizona, looking for deer through the Kaibab forest, and sneaking in to Grand Canyon NP by moonlight. Everything was closed down except for the backcountry office so I could get permits. The campground was open, and free, unless all the sites are full. That was cool. Tried to use my hammock, but the trees are just too big for the webbing I've been using, so I need to buy longer webbing. Fortunately I slept in my truck, and brought my 0° sleeping bag cause it got down to 14°.
I didn't exactly get the permits I was looking for, but that's okay because nothing at that point was going to go according to plan. It was something I wanted to do in 3 days, and that is doable, but you've got to be able to move through some pretty gnarly terrain to make it happen. The first problem was getting to the trailhead. The directions were pretty bad, the author of the directions wrote it in paragraph format, and had a couple sections where he's telling you to take one road, and in the next sentence telling you not to take a road. So I ended up at the Jumpup Nail Trail before loading up the GPS to find out just where I was at and where I wanted to be. I wasn't even on the Trails Illustrated Map from National Geographic. So that ate up much needed daylight. Finally getting to the trailhead sometime in the early afternoon I was able to get started.
The weather on top was awesome during the day, and the weather down below was supposed to be even better.
Trip reports I read online and in the guide book I was using made the Bill Hall Trail out to be a pretty bad section of trail, but compared to the rest of the trail I'd be backpacking on this trip, it was certainly on par, so it didn't seem quite as bad. There's plenty of steep angles, slippery footing, and really big rocks to get down, one minor down climb, and then a gazillion switchbacks until it mellows out and meanders through some forest onto the slickrock esplanade.
The Esplanade is one long chain of cairns with a couple well traveled trails through some sandy areas high with old cryptobiotic soil on each side. After a good walk through that you come upon the Red Wall section where you're scrambling down big chunks of rock on the edge of a cliff that was formed after a mega-landslide caused some new terra forming in the area. There are many switchbacks and a couple really good places for shade.
After a seemingly endless trek I got close to the bottom and met the first backpackers I'd see on the trail that day. These guys had little experience backpacking and had done the same loop I was doing. They on the other hand had massive packs on, and were in sad shape at this point. They thought they'd have a great trip if they brought wine, beer, waders, cigars, pounds of cheese, and who knows what else. They were kind of bragging about it too. They were short on water, and were going to have to drink out of the potholes on the Esplanade. I just felt sorry for them. They shouldn't have been out on this trail and hadn't even done a backpacking trip through the corridor where there's drinkable water from spouts left and right, and rangers galore if they got in trouble. They said their packs were well over 60 pounds, and I'd guess even more when they started out.
So I had little time left, and only made it to the rim of Thunder Canyon before the sun was going down. I needed to pick up some water to rehydrate with and cook with and use for the next day, so I ventured down into Thunder Canyon to get some water from the massive spring. I never thought that access to the spring would be halfway down the next section, or that it would be as rough as everything else, but water is needed, so in the fading light I worked my way down who knows how many feet to fetch some water. When I got to the falls, I had huge bats flying straight at my face and swooping away at the last second when they came into the light of my headlamp. Nothing like seeing a bat that close in the wild. The trip back up was pure hell cause I didn't get all the calories I needed that day to function like I wanted to, so there were frequent stops. It was pitch black, and I thought at one point that I had made it out, when in fact I was only a 1/3 of the way up on a section of trail just like the one on top. That was a major bummer. Eventually I made it out, setup camp, ate, and slept to the sound of Thunder Falls in the background.
There were supposed to be a ton of tarantulas on this trip, and there were certainly a ton of tarantula web floating around in the air that had detached from the bushes, and plenty of web on the bushes, but I didn't see a single one. I heard them yipping the last night when I wasn't around water to drown out their noise, but I'm disappointed I didn't get to see any.
Next day was very interesting. After dropping back down past Thunder Falls and into Tapeats Canyon, which was shown to be fairly flat and gradually drop down to the Colorado River, it actually undulates up over bands of cliff along the creek and back down, crossing steep areas with cliff exposure on narrow trails. It wasn't too bad, but it wasn't great either. The last section has you climbing up a gradual slope until you're high above the Colorado River, and then you go over and drop down into a steep gully to switchback your way all the way back down.
I had got some Aquamira for this trip, but the night before when I was treating the water I came to find out that one of the two bottles needed to make the solution work was basically empty, so from here on out it was drinking untreated water. I'm not too worried about it. There's a high turnover rate for the water, and it has a short distance to travel before getting to the Colorado with minimal animal contact, so I guess we'll see if I'm completely miserably sick next week, or just fine.
After that, it's a rough section on the banks of the Colorado. These aren't really beaches here, just boulder fields, with a climb up and over a cliff band, and a semi-technical drop back to river level. Then it's a steep climb way up above the river, maybe 400 feet, and then the trail flattens out and curves with the terrain in and out of small drainages until there's a short, steep climb up and over a pass into Deer Creek Canyon. The guys we met at the Red Wall with the wine said it took them 9 hours to do the traverse section, when it only took around 3 hours with plenty of breaks along the way.
Night was falling as I got into the Deer Creek camp sites, so I ended up staying with some guys I met at the trailhead the previous day who were doing the loop in the opposite direction, and taking 5 days to do it. That night was spent right next to Deer Creek, and the ground was pretty damp. The cold picked up and the temps dropped close to freezing - and this was at the lowest elevation of the trip! It should've only got down to 55, but I think the proximity to the water, and the large area of cold air that the Deer Creek Canyons drain, must've done something.
Next day it was up to the Deer Creek Spring, and back into Surprise Valley. I was expecting that section of trail to gradually slope upwards, but I should've realized it wouldn't be that easy since this whole trip had been one slow, technical section of trail after another. It's pretty much like everything else. Stair stepping up huge rocks, at times close to two feet high, usually around 16" though, and along narrow trails etched into steep slopes above cliffs.
The Red Wall section went surprisingly fast. I don't know why. It being day 3 and having just climbed up from Deer Creek, and doing another big climb under clear blue and overly sunny skies I should've probably been more tired, but all I could do was just keep trudging along. It was certainly much easier going up this stuff than down.
After doing a short stretch on the Esplanade I camped and spread everything out to dry a bit for about 30 minutes before the sun set. Off in the East a fire was eating up a mountain sending tons of smoke up into the horizon. As the sky darkened the light from the flames took over that ridgeline, and were simply massive. I think these were the mountains that divide Arizona and Nevada along the Colorado River over there. The flames must've been several hundred feet high to see them all the way from where I was at.
Last day was the Bill Hall Trail. It went pretty quickly as well. I was tired, but not exhausted when I reached the top. Then the clouds that had come in that morning started to drizzle, and I was out of there. This time I got home around 9:30, which is one of my better re-entry times to civilization.
If there were just a little more daylight, and an earlier start on the first day, this would've easily been a 3 day trip.
View photos from this trip
I didn't exactly get the permits I was looking for, but that's okay because nothing at that point was going to go according to plan. It was something I wanted to do in 3 days, and that is doable, but you've got to be able to move through some pretty gnarly terrain to make it happen. The first problem was getting to the trailhead. The directions were pretty bad, the author of the directions wrote it in paragraph format, and had a couple sections where he's telling you to take one road, and in the next sentence telling you not to take a road. So I ended up at the Jumpup Nail Trail before loading up the GPS to find out just where I was at and where I wanted to be. I wasn't even on the Trails Illustrated Map from National Geographic. So that ate up much needed daylight. Finally getting to the trailhead sometime in the early afternoon I was able to get started.
The weather on top was awesome during the day, and the weather down below was supposed to be even better.
Trip reports I read online and in the guide book I was using made the Bill Hall Trail out to be a pretty bad section of trail, but compared to the rest of the trail I'd be backpacking on this trip, it was certainly on par, so it didn't seem quite as bad. There's plenty of steep angles, slippery footing, and really big rocks to get down, one minor down climb, and then a gazillion switchbacks until it mellows out and meanders through some forest onto the slickrock esplanade.
The Esplanade is one long chain of cairns with a couple well traveled trails through some sandy areas high with old cryptobiotic soil on each side. After a good walk through that you come upon the Red Wall section where you're scrambling down big chunks of rock on the edge of a cliff that was formed after a mega-landslide caused some new terra forming in the area. There are many switchbacks and a couple really good places for shade.
After a seemingly endless trek I got close to the bottom and met the first backpackers I'd see on the trail that day. These guys had little experience backpacking and had done the same loop I was doing. They on the other hand had massive packs on, and were in sad shape at this point. They thought they'd have a great trip if they brought wine, beer, waders, cigars, pounds of cheese, and who knows what else. They were kind of bragging about it too. They were short on water, and were going to have to drink out of the potholes on the Esplanade. I just felt sorry for them. They shouldn't have been out on this trail and hadn't even done a backpacking trip through the corridor where there's drinkable water from spouts left and right, and rangers galore if they got in trouble. They said their packs were well over 60 pounds, and I'd guess even more when they started out.
So I had little time left, and only made it to the rim of Thunder Canyon before the sun was going down. I needed to pick up some water to rehydrate with and cook with and use for the next day, so I ventured down into Thunder Canyon to get some water from the massive spring. I never thought that access to the spring would be halfway down the next section, or that it would be as rough as everything else, but water is needed, so in the fading light I worked my way down who knows how many feet to fetch some water. When I got to the falls, I had huge bats flying straight at my face and swooping away at the last second when they came into the light of my headlamp. Nothing like seeing a bat that close in the wild. The trip back up was pure hell cause I didn't get all the calories I needed that day to function like I wanted to, so there were frequent stops. It was pitch black, and I thought at one point that I had made it out, when in fact I was only a 1/3 of the way up on a section of trail just like the one on top. That was a major bummer. Eventually I made it out, setup camp, ate, and slept to the sound of Thunder Falls in the background.
There were supposed to be a ton of tarantulas on this trip, and there were certainly a ton of tarantula web floating around in the air that had detached from the bushes, and plenty of web on the bushes, but I didn't see a single one. I heard them yipping the last night when I wasn't around water to drown out their noise, but I'm disappointed I didn't get to see any.
Next day was very interesting. After dropping back down past Thunder Falls and into Tapeats Canyon, which was shown to be fairly flat and gradually drop down to the Colorado River, it actually undulates up over bands of cliff along the creek and back down, crossing steep areas with cliff exposure on narrow trails. It wasn't too bad, but it wasn't great either. The last section has you climbing up a gradual slope until you're high above the Colorado River, and then you go over and drop down into a steep gully to switchback your way all the way back down.
I had got some Aquamira for this trip, but the night before when I was treating the water I came to find out that one of the two bottles needed to make the solution work was basically empty, so from here on out it was drinking untreated water. I'm not too worried about it. There's a high turnover rate for the water, and it has a short distance to travel before getting to the Colorado with minimal animal contact, so I guess we'll see if I'm completely miserably sick next week, or just fine.
After that, it's a rough section on the banks of the Colorado. These aren't really beaches here, just boulder fields, with a climb up and over a cliff band, and a semi-technical drop back to river level. Then it's a steep climb way up above the river, maybe 400 feet, and then the trail flattens out and curves with the terrain in and out of small drainages until there's a short, steep climb up and over a pass into Deer Creek Canyon. The guys we met at the Red Wall with the wine said it took them 9 hours to do the traverse section, when it only took around 3 hours with plenty of breaks along the way.
Night was falling as I got into the Deer Creek camp sites, so I ended up staying with some guys I met at the trailhead the previous day who were doing the loop in the opposite direction, and taking 5 days to do it. That night was spent right next to Deer Creek, and the ground was pretty damp. The cold picked up and the temps dropped close to freezing - and this was at the lowest elevation of the trip! It should've only got down to 55, but I think the proximity to the water, and the large area of cold air that the Deer Creek Canyons drain, must've done something.
Next day it was up to the Deer Creek Spring, and back into Surprise Valley. I was expecting that section of trail to gradually slope upwards, but I should've realized it wouldn't be that easy since this whole trip had been one slow, technical section of trail after another. It's pretty much like everything else. Stair stepping up huge rocks, at times close to two feet high, usually around 16" though, and along narrow trails etched into steep slopes above cliffs.
The Red Wall section went surprisingly fast. I don't know why. It being day 3 and having just climbed up from Deer Creek, and doing another big climb under clear blue and overly sunny skies I should've probably been more tired, but all I could do was just keep trudging along. It was certainly much easier going up this stuff than down.
After doing a short stretch on the Esplanade I camped and spread everything out to dry a bit for about 30 minutes before the sun set. Off in the East a fire was eating up a mountain sending tons of smoke up into the horizon. As the sky darkened the light from the flames took over that ridgeline, and were simply massive. I think these were the mountains that divide Arizona and Nevada along the Colorado River over there. The flames must've been several hundred feet high to see them all the way from where I was at.
Last day was the Bill Hall Trail. It went pretty quickly as well. I was tired, but not exhausted when I reached the top. Then the clouds that had come in that morning started to drizzle, and I was out of there. This time I got home around 9:30, which is one of my better re-entry times to civilization.
If there were just a little more daylight, and an earlier start on the first day, this would've easily been a 3 day trip.
View photos from this trip
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
So Many Trails...So Little Time
I recently sat down and made a list of all the trails I want to do. It turned out, there were a whole lot more than I thought there were. So now if I ever want to get out, all I have to do is check the list and pick one out. So here in it's entirety (as of right now) is that great list.
- Escalante River - From City of Escalante to Lake Powell - In Sections
- Boulder Mail Trail
- Coyote Gulch
- Zion Narrows
- East Rim - Zion National Park
- Kanarra Creek
- Kings Peak
- Grandaddy Basin
- Naturalist Basin
- Mt Timanogos (yup, again - it's awesome)
- Little Wildhorse & Bell Canyon
- Upper & Lower Black Box - San Rafael Swell
- The Maze - Canyonlands National Park - Chimney Rock -> Pictograph Fork Loop
- Dark Canyon
- Owl & Fish Creek Canyon
- Hackberry Canyon
- Under the Rim Trail - Bryce National Park - the whole thing
- North Bass Trail - Grand Canyon National Park
- South Bass -> Tonto Route Loop - Grand Canyon National Park
- Kanab Creek Canyon - Grand Canyon National Park
- Hermit Trail - Boucher Loop - Grand Canyon National Park
- Old Bright Angel -> North Kaibab Loop - Side trip to the mystic Upper, Upper Ribbon Falls - Grand Canyon National Park
- Cascade Canyon -> Paintbrush Canyon Loop - Grand Tetons National Park
- Death Canyon -> Alaska Basin Loop - Grand Tetons National Park
- Open Canyon -> Granite Canyon Loop - Grand Tetons National Park
- Cascade Canyon -> Teton Crest -> Valley Trail Loop - Grand Tetons National Park
- Dogshead Trail -> Shoshone -> North Shoshone -> Delacey Loop - Yellowstone National Park
- Fairy Creek Loop - Yellowstone National Park
- Mallard Loop - Yellowstone National Park
- Heart Lake Loop - Yellowstone National Park
- Black Canyon & Rescue Creek Loop - Yellowstone National Park
- Bechler River Trail - Yellowstone National Park
- Telescope Peak - From lowest point in continental US to the summit - Death Valley National Park
- Cottonwood -> Marble Loop - Death Valley National Park
- Napali Coastline - Kauai, Hawaii
Tuesday, September 5, 2006
The Grand Canyon Curse Lives On
Ever since I first visited the Grand Canyon, I've had at least one bad thing happen every time. It all started with the Havasu Falls trip that lives on as the first entry in this blog. That included a speeding ticket in Big Water, driving lost through the Arizona desert half the night, barely escaping with a couple drops of gas to spare, and having to backpack through the hottest part of the day with boots I had before my mission that I should've tried on before I left. The second trip, I hit a deer on the North Rim. The third trip, my cell phone fell out of my truck in the Bright Angel Trailhead parking lot and was gnawed on by possibly a hungry squirrel that definitely left its mark, but at least I got it back. I couldn't help but wonder what the fourth trip would bring. It was ripe for problems given the last minute, same day planning.
At 5:00 pm, after work I was off to pick up a friend and head to the Kaibab National Forest to spend the night. We should've arrived around 11, but since it was Friday night of Labor Day weekend, and I-15 was choked with construction, rush hour traffic, and the mysterious Utah driver, there were plenty of delays, and we pulled into our campsite close to 1:00 am.
At 8800 ft our campsite had clear air with great views of the stars. No fewer than a dozen meteors burned through the sky while I laid watching the night sky from the bed of my truck. As sleep started to take me away a lone wolf cried out with it's smooth long-strung voice, but before long another joined in, and then as if they were cued, the rest of the pack joined in for the chorus to make harmonious music for the next couple minutes. Early in the morning they provided an encore performance which woke me up, but they sounded incredible, so I wasn't bothered.
Officially, there are no wolves in the Grand Canyon, and wolf advocates even spent the summer at the park advocating the re-introduction of wolves to the area. Maybe they succeeded. Maybe I got to be one of the first to hear wolves back in the park, or maybe they've been there all along, or come back on their own. Some might say I mistook a pack of coyotes for wolves, but if you listen to the sound bytes from each you can tell there's no mistaking one for the other.
We woke up right before the sun came up. It was cold and there was frost everywhere, and the meadows were shrouded in wisps of fog. The only thing I wanted to do was turn my truck on and get it warm. We packed up and headed over to the backcountry office to see if we could get the permits we wanted for an ideal rim to rim (R2) trip. We thought it was 6:30, so we had an hour and half to wait for the North Rim Backcountry Office (a temporary trailer on blocks for the moment) to open. We wanted to be there early to get in line before the hordes of Labor Day park goers who didn't get permits for their last minute trips showed up. The office opens at 8:00 am every day. 8 am came and went, and about 8:20 I went over to a nearby building to see if they were usually late opening the backcountry office. I found out the hard way, once again, that Arizona's stand on not following the whole daylight savings time routine isn't something to be overlooked before leaving on a trip. So, crank back the clock an hour cause it's really only 7:15 am. I took the opportunity to find out if there's ever a line, and turns out the North Rim Backcountry Office is mellow enough to show up a few minutes before to be first in line. After food, we got back, and were 2nd in line. The guys before us were on the waiting list already, so they had priority anyway. They got the permits they were looking for, and shortly later after a couple minutes of listening to one side of a vague back and forth phone conversation between our ranger and the South Rim Backcountry Office, we got one night at Cottonwood, and another at Bright Angel.
The rest of the trail description is similar to my trip last October except it was 102 at Cottonwood and Bright Angel.
Just past Roaring springs at the pumphouse I stopped for lemonade, a chance to dip my shirt in the nice cold creek, and a chance to talk to the ranger there for a bit in the shade. That place wouldn't be too bad to live in, especially since the house is on the grid, has a freezer, a swamp cooler, and all the good stuff that comes along with electricity (that includes otter pops, but those aren't for regular handing out).
Cottonwood was just a short walk away. The trail seemed a lot shorter this time around.
This time at Cottonwood I stayed in the creek a lot longer, at times soaking up to my neck. I was travelling super light with a waterless weight of 22 lbs for my pack - including food. I wish I would've thrown on another pound for sandals to walk through the creek a bit easier, but it was a necessity I could live without.
The bats this time of year were out just after the sun dropped behind the cliffs, and stayed well past dark, and were out early in the morning as well until the sun rose above the cliffs. Overall I think they were out for about 5-6 hours. It's a good thing too, since most of the bugs went into hiding when the bats made their appearance. That night we had thunderstorms roll through, and that brought some light rain which hit the mesh on my tent and splattered through. The coolness of the rain was welcome since it was pretty warm, but the splattering was annoying.
Next morning we were off to Upper Ribbon Falls for my first trip there. I was under the belief that there was only a faint use trail leading up from around the canyon entrance to Ribbon Falls, and there were indeed signs of people climbing up there, so up we went. It was steep, the scree slippery, and we had a cliff gaining height to one side. With enough of a slip, it could've been bad, but after making it to the top of the cliffs intact I figured I wasn't cursed around that canyon after all. The next part was great - that's when I saw this incredibly obvious trail down below leading straight from the bridge we crossed just after leaving the North Kaibab Trail. The entrance to the trail was covered with enough debris to cover it up so it wasn't obvious, and the desert brush keeps it well hidden even though it's a great trail to follow. With a short ascent up the hill we were on the trail. Upper Ribbon Falls is about 15-20 minutes from the bridge. There are froggies and flowers, and a couple trees. It's quite pleasant up there. I wanted to get a picture standing on a ledge the waterfall cascades onto before dropping 4 more feet into a pool. I took my shoes off and looked for the best hand and footholds to get up. Standing knee deep in the water the ledge was about level with the top of my head. I managed to climb out of the water, but when I went to make my second move, my right foot slipped, and my big toe, nearly had the toenail ripped right off then and there, and I knew before even looking at it that it was going to make the rest of the trip hell.
I left a bloody pebbles wherever I stepped. It was definitely a bleeder. For something so miniscule as a toenail, with only damage to the surface of the skin under the nail and in the nailbed, it was a lot of blood. The toenail was holding on, but only at the nailbed, and the last third of the nail on the sides. Everything under the nail that I could see was detached. So, I grabbed a photo of the damage, and got my shoes and socks back on so I could get to my first aid kit, which was in my pack, which was hidden by the mouth of the canyon entrance to Ribbon Falls. The Curse lives on.
Six fun filled miles, and countless reminders of my injury later I was cooling off in Bright Angel Creek again, at the Bright Angel Campground. The water here was much, much warmer than it was several miles North. The toe looked much better and had stopped bleeding, but I could tell it was well on it's way to coming completely off. I think all the hiking only helped speed up the process. Still something like that will take several more days to come completely off.
That night we were visited by Ringtails. Lots of them. They're pretty cool looking with a bushy tail as long and thick as their body and the head of a shrunken cat. Like everything around Phantom Ranch, they were used to humans around them enough to not really be bothered too much by our presence.
I wanted an early start out to avoid any heat the next day, and possibly a chance to beat my previous time of 4:50 to get out of the canyon. I wasn't sure exactly when I was going to start, but I knew I wouldn't sleep well that night knowing I could easily miss a good window since we didn't have watches to set alarms to. I slept for an hour at a time until 3:00 am (2:00 am MST for me) and I decided I might as well just go now. So I packed up as silently as I could and got ready, and made it on the trail at 3:43.
Everything at that time of morning is eery when all you have is a headlamp and a pack, and you're walking through pure blackness at the bottom of one of the biggest holes in the world with nobody for miles around you. I could hear the Colorado roaring to my right as I followed it to Pipe Creek. I looked off the side of the trail, down the cliff looking for the source of the sound, but saw nothing. Even during the middle of the night, it was still warmer than I preferred. My GPS said it was 86 degrees, but it reads temps 9 degrees higher than it really is, so it was about 77. I stopped to dip my shirt in Pipe Creek and put it back on. It felt odd doing something like that when the sun wasn't even out to overheat me, but it felt good anyway. Near Indian Gardens I spied two eyes reflecting back at me from within the grass about thirty feet away. I couldn't tell exactly what it was, but the spacing between the eyes, and their size told me it was probably a deer, or a mountain lion. It wouldn't look away so I could see the profile of its head, and the grass hid any features that would make it obvious what it was. So I decided to force it to make a move and tossed a rock in it's vicinity. It got up and bounded away, so I guess it was a deer. Shortly after the sky changed from solid black to a lighter hue as I passed Indian Gardens campground. Headlights were bouncing in every direction as the campers got ready to move onto the next leg of their journeys. I had arrived just in time to make the final climb over the next 4 miles with the first campers to leave Indian Gardens. The sun kept coming up further and further as I climbed the switchbacks, and the sun line on the opposing cliffs dropped lower and lower. I thought the sun would have been on me by 3 mile resthouse, but it wasn't, so I guessed maybe at 1.5 mile resthouse, but again, it just wasn't there. It was only after the final switchback around the second tunnel that the sun hit me on the trail, and it was very short lived. I topped out at 5:05. It was very close to beating 5:00 which is a very worthy time, but 15 minutes shy of my record, so I was kind of bummed about that, but I had made it out, and I had some time to enjoy the relatively uncrowded South Rim before the shuttle picked us up to take us back to the North Rim that afternoon.
We were on the road by 6:30, in Kanab by 8, Nephi by 12, SLC by 1:30 am, and I was home at 2:20. I spent the last who knows how many hours drinking 4 liters of caffeinated soda, and was pretty buzzed the whole way. Other drivers on the road however were all over the place. Some got some courtesy wake up honks, while I couldn't get far enough ahead of some of the others.
View photos from this trip
At 5:00 pm, after work I was off to pick up a friend and head to the Kaibab National Forest to spend the night. We should've arrived around 11, but since it was Friday night of Labor Day weekend, and I-15 was choked with construction, rush hour traffic, and the mysterious Utah driver, there were plenty of delays, and we pulled into our campsite close to 1:00 am.
At 8800 ft our campsite had clear air with great views of the stars. No fewer than a dozen meteors burned through the sky while I laid watching the night sky from the bed of my truck. As sleep started to take me away a lone wolf cried out with it's smooth long-strung voice, but before long another joined in, and then as if they were cued, the rest of the pack joined in for the chorus to make harmonious music for the next couple minutes. Early in the morning they provided an encore performance which woke me up, but they sounded incredible, so I wasn't bothered.
Officially, there are no wolves in the Grand Canyon, and wolf advocates even spent the summer at the park advocating the re-introduction of wolves to the area. Maybe they succeeded. Maybe I got to be one of the first to hear wolves back in the park, or maybe they've been there all along, or come back on their own. Some might say I mistook a pack of coyotes for wolves, but if you listen to the sound bytes from each you can tell there's no mistaking one for the other.
We woke up right before the sun came up. It was cold and there was frost everywhere, and the meadows were shrouded in wisps of fog. The only thing I wanted to do was turn my truck on and get it warm. We packed up and headed over to the backcountry office to see if we could get the permits we wanted for an ideal rim to rim (R2) trip. We thought it was 6:30, so we had an hour and half to wait for the North Rim Backcountry Office (a temporary trailer on blocks for the moment) to open. We wanted to be there early to get in line before the hordes of Labor Day park goers who didn't get permits for their last minute trips showed up. The office opens at 8:00 am every day. 8 am came and went, and about 8:20 I went over to a nearby building to see if they were usually late opening the backcountry office. I found out the hard way, once again, that Arizona's stand on not following the whole daylight savings time routine isn't something to be overlooked before leaving on a trip. So, crank back the clock an hour cause it's really only 7:15 am. I took the opportunity to find out if there's ever a line, and turns out the North Rim Backcountry Office is mellow enough to show up a few minutes before to be first in line. After food, we got back, and were 2nd in line. The guys before us were on the waiting list already, so they had priority anyway. They got the permits they were looking for, and shortly later after a couple minutes of listening to one side of a vague back and forth phone conversation between our ranger and the South Rim Backcountry Office, we got one night at Cottonwood, and another at Bright Angel.
The rest of the trail description is similar to my trip last October except it was 102 at Cottonwood and Bright Angel.
Just past Roaring springs at the pumphouse I stopped for lemonade, a chance to dip my shirt in the nice cold creek, and a chance to talk to the ranger there for a bit in the shade. That place wouldn't be too bad to live in, especially since the house is on the grid, has a freezer, a swamp cooler, and all the good stuff that comes along with electricity (that includes otter pops, but those aren't for regular handing out).
Cottonwood was just a short walk away. The trail seemed a lot shorter this time around.
This time at Cottonwood I stayed in the creek a lot longer, at times soaking up to my neck. I was travelling super light with a waterless weight of 22 lbs for my pack - including food. I wish I would've thrown on another pound for sandals to walk through the creek a bit easier, but it was a necessity I could live without.
The bats this time of year were out just after the sun dropped behind the cliffs, and stayed well past dark, and were out early in the morning as well until the sun rose above the cliffs. Overall I think they were out for about 5-6 hours. It's a good thing too, since most of the bugs went into hiding when the bats made their appearance. That night we had thunderstorms roll through, and that brought some light rain which hit the mesh on my tent and splattered through. The coolness of the rain was welcome since it was pretty warm, but the splattering was annoying.
Next morning we were off to Upper Ribbon Falls for my first trip there. I was under the belief that there was only a faint use trail leading up from around the canyon entrance to Ribbon Falls, and there were indeed signs of people climbing up there, so up we went. It was steep, the scree slippery, and we had a cliff gaining height to one side. With enough of a slip, it could've been bad, but after making it to the top of the cliffs intact I figured I wasn't cursed around that canyon after all. The next part was great - that's when I saw this incredibly obvious trail down below leading straight from the bridge we crossed just after leaving the North Kaibab Trail. The entrance to the trail was covered with enough debris to cover it up so it wasn't obvious, and the desert brush keeps it well hidden even though it's a great trail to follow. With a short ascent up the hill we were on the trail. Upper Ribbon Falls is about 15-20 minutes from the bridge. There are froggies and flowers, and a couple trees. It's quite pleasant up there. I wanted to get a picture standing on a ledge the waterfall cascades onto before dropping 4 more feet into a pool. I took my shoes off and looked for the best hand and footholds to get up. Standing knee deep in the water the ledge was about level with the top of my head. I managed to climb out of the water, but when I went to make my second move, my right foot slipped, and my big toe, nearly had the toenail ripped right off then and there, and I knew before even looking at it that it was going to make the rest of the trip hell.
I left a bloody pebbles wherever I stepped. It was definitely a bleeder. For something so miniscule as a toenail, with only damage to the surface of the skin under the nail and in the nailbed, it was a lot of blood. The toenail was holding on, but only at the nailbed, and the last third of the nail on the sides. Everything under the nail that I could see was detached. So, I grabbed a photo of the damage, and got my shoes and socks back on so I could get to my first aid kit, which was in my pack, which was hidden by the mouth of the canyon entrance to Ribbon Falls. The Curse lives on.
Six fun filled miles, and countless reminders of my injury later I was cooling off in Bright Angel Creek again, at the Bright Angel Campground. The water here was much, much warmer than it was several miles North. The toe looked much better and had stopped bleeding, but I could tell it was well on it's way to coming completely off. I think all the hiking only helped speed up the process. Still something like that will take several more days to come completely off.
That night we were visited by Ringtails. Lots of them. They're pretty cool looking with a bushy tail as long and thick as their body and the head of a shrunken cat. Like everything around Phantom Ranch, they were used to humans around them enough to not really be bothered too much by our presence.
I wanted an early start out to avoid any heat the next day, and possibly a chance to beat my previous time of 4:50 to get out of the canyon. I wasn't sure exactly when I was going to start, but I knew I wouldn't sleep well that night knowing I could easily miss a good window since we didn't have watches to set alarms to. I slept for an hour at a time until 3:00 am (2:00 am MST for me) and I decided I might as well just go now. So I packed up as silently as I could and got ready, and made it on the trail at 3:43.
Everything at that time of morning is eery when all you have is a headlamp and a pack, and you're walking through pure blackness at the bottom of one of the biggest holes in the world with nobody for miles around you. I could hear the Colorado roaring to my right as I followed it to Pipe Creek. I looked off the side of the trail, down the cliff looking for the source of the sound, but saw nothing. Even during the middle of the night, it was still warmer than I preferred. My GPS said it was 86 degrees, but it reads temps 9 degrees higher than it really is, so it was about 77. I stopped to dip my shirt in Pipe Creek and put it back on. It felt odd doing something like that when the sun wasn't even out to overheat me, but it felt good anyway. Near Indian Gardens I spied two eyes reflecting back at me from within the grass about thirty feet away. I couldn't tell exactly what it was, but the spacing between the eyes, and their size told me it was probably a deer, or a mountain lion. It wouldn't look away so I could see the profile of its head, and the grass hid any features that would make it obvious what it was. So I decided to force it to make a move and tossed a rock in it's vicinity. It got up and bounded away, so I guess it was a deer. Shortly after the sky changed from solid black to a lighter hue as I passed Indian Gardens campground. Headlights were bouncing in every direction as the campers got ready to move onto the next leg of their journeys. I had arrived just in time to make the final climb over the next 4 miles with the first campers to leave Indian Gardens. The sun kept coming up further and further as I climbed the switchbacks, and the sun line on the opposing cliffs dropped lower and lower. I thought the sun would have been on me by 3 mile resthouse, but it wasn't, so I guessed maybe at 1.5 mile resthouse, but again, it just wasn't there. It was only after the final switchback around the second tunnel that the sun hit me on the trail, and it was very short lived. I topped out at 5:05. It was very close to beating 5:00 which is a very worthy time, but 15 minutes shy of my record, so I was kind of bummed about that, but I had made it out, and I had some time to enjoy the relatively uncrowded South Rim before the shuttle picked us up to take us back to the North Rim that afternoon.
We were on the road by 6:30, in Kanab by 8, Nephi by 12, SLC by 1:30 am, and I was home at 2:20. I spent the last who knows how many hours drinking 4 liters of caffeinated soda, and was pretty buzzed the whole way. Other drivers on the road however were all over the place. Some got some courtesy wake up honks, while I couldn't get far enough ahead of some of the others.
View photos from this trip
Monday, August 21, 2006
West Rim Trail - Zions National Park
I was half expecting the West Rim Trail to be nice and mellow more the first 9 miles and then just wind down some cliffs and drop in elevation down to the Virgin River, but it's not so. Sure it starts out all nice and mellow, gradually dropping in elevation with some mellow rises up and over hills. The ponderosa pines mingle with prickly pear cactus and yucca to make for some interesting scenery. Even more dramatic though is the varying stages of destruction and recovery from numerous wildfires over the years. Some pines would be completely consumed while its neighbor was left unscathed. The cactus seemed to be the least affected by fire since they lay so low to the ground.
The first remarkable stop is at the three mile mark where you have a nice overlook of the infamous Subway. Someday I'll get around to doing it. After that stop you drop down some significant elevation in to Potato Hollow where the fires left only skeletons of large trees that once shrouded the trail in a green canopy. Now they reach out, attempting to snare the travellers who pass in their midst. This area is mostly covered in grasses, and some willow type things that cause my skin to itch. There's a spring in that area that I didn't visit, but I heard that it's full of green, slimey goodness.
From Potato Hollow you climb way up over the ridge. And this is when you realize the trail isn't gonna play nice. After several breaks you crest the ridge and get a great view of numerous canyons on the West side of the rim and you drop into Sleepy Hollow. No sooner do you reach the bottom and are awarded with great views, do you subcomb to the drudgery of climbing an even steeper trail to an even higher elevation than the ridge you just crossed.
Once up there the trail splits and most of the campsites in that area are only reachable from the Canyon Rim section. It's up here that you get to see the most dramatic and extensive layout of canyons that the West Rim Trail has to show. This section gradually climbs upward, but very gradually. The landscape to the East was completely obliterated by a wildfire. The designated campsites in this area are in small patches of pines that weren't affected by the fire.
We had campsite #4. It doesn't have any views from the Rim, but they're a short walk away. I set up my hammock in the trees and napped for a while. The mosquitoes hit hard that night, but the bats came out to feast on those blood suckers. There were several meteors that burned up in the sky while I was still awake to see them.
Next morning we saw the very different views that the South side of the West Rim Trail has to offer. After winding around the rim to Cabin Spring, I stopped to get some water to treat. Cabin Spring is nothing more than a very small trickle with a little pool big enough to fill a Nalgene bottle. There are two campsites right there with enviable views of Majestic Mountain, and the canyons to the South and East a short walk away.
It's at this point the trail starts dropping down a trail cut into the sandstone cliff opposite of Majestic Mountain. Eventually you cross over to the Majestic Mountain side, drop some more, and cross a bridge traversing a deep drainage. Unfortunately the trail climbs again, but only for a short while. Once at the top you can look down into the depths of Zion and see the trees surrounding the Virgin River beyond Walter's Wiggles, and Angel's Landing. Then it's a short trip to Scout's Lookout, and the obligatory jaunt up Angel's Landing just because it's right there and it'd be a shame not to do it. The rest of the way is on the paved trail down Walter's Wiggles, through Refrigerator Canyon, down the hot switchbacks, along the edge of the Virgin River, till you get to the bridge which drops you off at the Grotto.
The Virgin River was really, really nice to cool off in and wash off the dirt & stank of the trip.
View photos from this trip
The first remarkable stop is at the three mile mark where you have a nice overlook of the infamous Subway. Someday I'll get around to doing it. After that stop you drop down some significant elevation in to Potato Hollow where the fires left only skeletons of large trees that once shrouded the trail in a green canopy. Now they reach out, attempting to snare the travellers who pass in their midst. This area is mostly covered in grasses, and some willow type things that cause my skin to itch. There's a spring in that area that I didn't visit, but I heard that it's full of green, slimey goodness.
From Potato Hollow you climb way up over the ridge. And this is when you realize the trail isn't gonna play nice. After several breaks you crest the ridge and get a great view of numerous canyons on the West side of the rim and you drop into Sleepy Hollow. No sooner do you reach the bottom and are awarded with great views, do you subcomb to the drudgery of climbing an even steeper trail to an even higher elevation than the ridge you just crossed.
Once up there the trail splits and most of the campsites in that area are only reachable from the Canyon Rim section. It's up here that you get to see the most dramatic and extensive layout of canyons that the West Rim Trail has to show. This section gradually climbs upward, but very gradually. The landscape to the East was completely obliterated by a wildfire. The designated campsites in this area are in small patches of pines that weren't affected by the fire.
We had campsite #4. It doesn't have any views from the Rim, but they're a short walk away. I set up my hammock in the trees and napped for a while. The mosquitoes hit hard that night, but the bats came out to feast on those blood suckers. There were several meteors that burned up in the sky while I was still awake to see them.
Next morning we saw the very different views that the South side of the West Rim Trail has to offer. After winding around the rim to Cabin Spring, I stopped to get some water to treat. Cabin Spring is nothing more than a very small trickle with a little pool big enough to fill a Nalgene bottle. There are two campsites right there with enviable views of Majestic Mountain, and the canyons to the South and East a short walk away.
It's at this point the trail starts dropping down a trail cut into the sandstone cliff opposite of Majestic Mountain. Eventually you cross over to the Majestic Mountain side, drop some more, and cross a bridge traversing a deep drainage. Unfortunately the trail climbs again, but only for a short while. Once at the top you can look down into the depths of Zion and see the trees surrounding the Virgin River beyond Walter's Wiggles, and Angel's Landing. Then it's a short trip to Scout's Lookout, and the obligatory jaunt up Angel's Landing just because it's right there and it'd be a shame not to do it. The rest of the way is on the paved trail down Walter's Wiggles, through Refrigerator Canyon, down the hot switchbacks, along the edge of the Virgin River, till you get to the bridge which drops you off at the Grotto.
The Virgin River was really, really nice to cool off in and wash off the dirt & stank of the trip.
View photos from this trip
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)