Discussion Topic |
|
This thread has been locked |
Festus
Social climber
Enron by the Sea
|
|
Bravecowboy,
You have to carry beers down to the river, it's below 50 degrees so swimming isn't a huge consumer of time. Dump some food if you have to, ' cuz a cold beer on a secluded beach in GC that you earned, well, it's one of life's greatest pleasures. I've actually carried over half a case in my younger days, but always at least a couple now. The killer was I punctured a can of Old Chub Scotch Ale (which was inside my pack and soaked the bottom of it) two days before we got to the refrigerator. That hurt!
|
|
Festus
Social climber
Enron by the Sea
|
|
|
|
Festus
Social climber
Enron by the Sea
|
|
Bravecowboy,
My favorite, if I had to pick one, is the Butte Fault (a.k.a. Horsethief) route, down the Nankoweap, then west (or southwest) along the fault, then across the river, and out. There is no trail along the fault, but it's mind-bending geology there, even by Grand Canyon standards. We hauled an inflatable raft the whole way, for the crossing (at Lava Creek, not to be confused with Lava Falls) to the south side, about five miles upriver from Tanner, then we hiked out the Tanner.
|
|
wilbeer
Mountain climber
honeoye falls,ny.greeneck alleghenys
|
|
Dan,that looks like a lot of Hair in the ditch,great pics.Festus as well.
|
|
mcd
Trad climber
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - May 7, 2014 - 07:07pm PT
|
yes wilbeer, always an eye opener. festus thanks so much for all the great beta and terrific pics. have any more?
|
|
Festus
Social climber
Enron by the Sea
|
|
Dan, you really shouldn't encourage me, but...
The first two pics are of Scylla Butte, which you hike around as you travel upriver on the Tonto. First shot is from the west side, second one from the east side (just east of Slate Canyon). Has anyone ever climbed this? It's sheer on all sides but looks a little, er, crumbly. It would be an awesome inner canyon plateau to be sitting atop though.
EDIT: Dan, your photos are great as well...especially for someone who has never done the river trip through the canyon (on my list and then some, when my kids are old enough). Funny thing is that hiking to the river and back from the rim and running the river through the entire canyon are two totally different experiences. One gives you a cross section (north to south or vice versa) view/experience of the canyon, and the other takes you all the way down/through the spine or central nervous system of the place, on the creator itself (the river). I can't imagine doing one without the other, so I've clearly got a river trip to do, though the pay-off they have in common is those incredible days and nights on a hard-earned, indescribably unique and often hauntingly beautiful beach.
The pic below is actually from a trip two and half years ago to Boucher Beach, where we camped upstream from the creek. It looks the same now, but downstream from the creek (where we camped this time) another 50 or so yards of prime beach has been added to what was there last time. But as you river runners know better than I, beaches can change a lot down there. First time I was on Boucher Beach there really wasn't one, just some little, level sand platforms in the rocks about ten feet above river level. They were great campsites but it looked nothing like it does now. Another benefit, seems to me, of hiking and river trips, it's never exactly the same beaches, rapids or inner-canyon shoreline from one trip to the next.
|
|
Festus
Social climber
Enron by the Sea
|
|
Okay, okay, I'm done! Honest! (for this trip anyway)
Steve
|
|
Festus
Social climber
Enron by the Sea
|
|
That's funny!! Hey, it looks like the gondola to the confluence is dead? I'm on the "Save the Confluence" email list thanks to you. I knew nothing about that possibility until the thread here on ST. Sounds to me like nobody came up with any real money hence no bribes, er, consultation fees, for tribe brass.
|
|
the albatross
Gym climber
Flagstaff
|
|
Haven't seen much in the news lately, Steve, hopefully that idea is done.
Albert
|
|
Festus
Social climber
Enron by the Sea
|
|
Albert, I'm hoping too. I don't know why they don't just give the tribes an acre or two next to Tusayan and let 'em build a goddam casino there. Tusayan is already a complete sh#thole but it's miles back from the rim and, honestly, there isn't anything you could do to make it less of a sh#thole save the nuclear option. So what the hell, bring me a free cocktail and I'll drop a twenty on some rigged, quasi-version of blackjack on my way home. Heck, it cost me twenty just to cross 37 yards of Hualapai land on my way to the South Bass trailhead, with no cocktail.
|
|
mcd
Trad climber
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - May 8, 2014 - 10:08pm PT
|
festus, you really know your way around the canyon, thanks for all the excellent beta. how many hiking trips have you done down there? when i first went down with friends i met at the rim i think we were on the tonto for a bit and went to a place called cave of the domes, ever been there?. crazy fun spelunking. heres a shot of the traditional mudbath at the confluence of the little colorado
|
|
Festus
Social climber
Enron by the Sea
|
|
Tradman, is that the overlook at Toroweap? What a shot!
Dan,
I've done over 40 rim to river backpack trips but that's over a period of 31 years (where the hell did the time go?!). Haven't been in Cave of Domes (caves kind of freak me out), but I once ("once" being the key word) walked about 100 yards into the mining tunnel near there (the one you hit as you drop off the neck of Horseshoe Mesa on the east side). We got to a T intersection and it was so dark I couldn't see my hand an inch from my nose with the flashlight off. Turned the light back on in a hurry and got the heck out of there. Except for North Bass, and the Bright Angel/Kaibab central corridor stuff (too crowded if solitude is part of what you're after) I've done all the rim-to-river trails the backcountry office lists as non-maintained, along with Royal Arch route, Escalante, Beamer to the confluence, and the aforementioned Horsethief route, but that still leaves a lifetime of possibilities--especially at our current one trip a year pace. Plus there's hundreds and hundreds of miles of stuff that's way beyond my pay grade down there. Much as I love reading George Steck's Canyon Loop Hikes books (highly recommended) most of those routes, at least in their entirety, are far harder than anything I've done.
Since I'm a backpacker but not much (if any) of a climber, I love quoting Allen Steck's forward (George is his brother) from those Loop Hikes books to my climbing brother. Can't remember the exact quote, but the gist of it is that doing a canyon loop hike with his brother is the hardest thing he's ever done.
|
|
Beatrix Kiddo
Mountain climber
ColoRADo
|
|
I didn't run rim to rim to rim but I did pass some ultra runners on the uphill. Our total hiking time was about 22 hours. We stopped and took long naps, which are not factored into the time. I really don't have any advice. We went light and fast and expected to be uncomfortable. Make sure you have enough food for the way out. Keep a positive attitude and have really strong legs. :-)
|
|
tradmanclimbs
Ice climber
Pomfert VT
|
|
Yup. Made it all the way back there in a rental car:)
|
|
wilbeer
Mountain climber
honeoye falls,ny.greeneck alleghenys
|
|
That is a great shot,tradman.+++
|
|
tradmanclimbs
Ice climber
Pomfert VT
|
|
Thanks, it was a special place on a special trip.
|
|
thebravecowboy
climber
The Good Places
|
|
|
Feb 23, 2018 - 11:10am PT
|
2019 permit winnah!!!! ahhhhh!!!! shit!!!! hooray!??
|
|
|
SuperTopo on the Web
|
Let us know!