Colorado

First off, this was my first attempt with the iPhone application. Not very impressive. Somehow the track got a bit messed up. and I had to manually create it. The pictures came across pretty good though. Nice day for a hike. In between storms. There was about three inches of fresh powder on the ground which made the initial climb from the parking lot doable despite the warnings to use the Mill Creek trail to avid the ice. Saw a bunch of animal tracks and no others human tracks. Had the park to ourselves. A bit cloudy but overall a nice hike. Opted to try the Mill Creek Trail on the return for something different.

Continue Reading Arthur’s Rock

Tags: across-pretty, animal-tracks, first-attempt, iPhone, KML File, KMZ file, manually-create, others-human, parking, pictures-came, Topo Maps, Topographic Map, tracks, warnings

Gayle Brooks and her husband Stan are avid skiers, hikers and outdoor people who love nothing more than spending a day in the mountains. Of course a day in the mountains would include the canine members of their family. You have never seen hiking dogs as happy as Gayle’s since she is the President of PeakWaggers, [...]

Continue Reading An Outdoor Interview with Gayle Brooks the President of Peakwaggers and a tale of extreme hiking backpacking from around the world

Tags: altitude sickness, backpacker, backpacking, Dehydrated Dog Food, Dog Meal, dog-food, extreme, Hiking with Dogs, Indian Peaks Wilderness, mountain-range, mt-everest, Mt. Kilimanjaro, pets, San Juan, trekkers

As I hold back the tears welling up behind my eyes, I reflect on the warmth of a fathers arms and being sheltered from the danger as he is with you through life’s various trails and trials. Kristin Eagle’s interview will take you on a journey through America’s natural wonders and when you are at [...]

Continue Reading Cryptobiotic Soil to Great Sand Dunes and conquering Rheumatoid Heart and Lung Disease as US Park’s Kristin Eagle hikes the Delicate Arch Trail one more time

Tags: adventure, backpacking, Camping, Hiking, hiking trail, national park, Trail, Trekking

Tanner, Escalante, Grand View 1991 Note: Following is a log written during our 1991 trip. This was our first backpacking trip. We do not recommend this route for a first trip. You will see that we were not sufficiently conditioned for this route. We learned that lesson and have trained rigorously for all subsequent trips. You may still learn from our mistakes. It always looks so much easier on the map. We descended the Tanner trail, went over to the Little Colorado on the Beamer Trail and climbed out on the New Hance trail on two other occasions. You can find one of those logs in this Blog. This is the only trip that used the Grand View Trail for the climb out. Arriving at the Canyon We stopped for Jerry’s first look at the canyon. His reaction, like Norm’s, 27 years earlier, was awe; the colors, the size, the formations. We got our camp site, and drove up the west rim drive. When they reopened, we got our permits from the Back Country ranger. She readily approved our plan to have Johnny and Matt meet us. We then bought and sent post cards and visited Babbits to pick up one last something. We drove the east rim drive to see where we could leave the car at Grand View, and find the trail heads of Tanner and New Hance. When we returned to camp it was getting dark quickly. We set up Jerry’s brand new tent only to find it was about 5 by 5 not the necessary 6 by 6 for grown men. Jerry fixed macaroni and cheese with which he was not very pleased, but it filled the empty spot. We then attempted to go to sleep with out knees bent inside the mini-tent. After about an hour Norm woke up and feeling a bit claustrophobic, sat up. He decided that sleeping outside would be better than sleeping doubled up. Jerry suggested that we just open the door and put our feet out. This solved the short term problem and Jerry agreed we would go back to Babbits to get an adult tent for the canyon. Tanner Trail We awoke with the sun rise as we would do on almost each succeeding day. As Jerry warmed water for coffee he saw a mule deer. It eventually came within about 8 feet when offered some cheese and crackers (which we later wished we had below the rim). We packed and went to the cafeteria for breakfast, then to Babbits to rent a better tent. Norm dropped Jerry off at the Tanner trail head and parked the car at Grand View on the rim drive. Norm displayed his Lipan Point sign and was picked up by the first or second vehicle. It was a small camper pickup truck with a retired couple from Key West Florida . They lived on a sail boat and liked to have a land vacation now and then. Norm arrived at the Tanner trail head at about 10. Jerry had assembled a collection of potential hiking sticks. Norm did not like any of them, too short or too thick. Jerry had already selected one to which he became quite attached almost immediately and which he kept through the trip and took home to Michigan . Just as we put on our packs we were passed by a group of about 6 young ladies. Norm commented that there would probably be little trouble allowing them to stay ahead of us. Strangely we never saw them again. The trail constantly switch backed down through the lime stone, sandstone, and the Supai group. We quickly learned to look for the rock cairns , at least three rocks in a stack. Jerry experienced for the first time in his life rubber band legs and we soon defined the “2 Seconder” (a rest lasting from 30 to 120 seconds). Norm spent a great deal of the first hours trying to reconcile the trail to the map which he had gone over in his sleep dozens of time. It seems that the trail went into the wash but the map said it was over the saddle. As our snap shots show we were constantly looking back to the boulders near the trail head to monitor our progress. By mid afternoon we couldn’t even distinguish them. As we descended the rocks and the vegetation changed. At different elevations we would see different flowers, until we finally got to the cactus which was in awesome bloom. We finished the first portion of the decent at about noon in two hours. The Sierra Club trail guide said it should only have taken us one hour. This was indicative of its optimism or understatement. We were definitely in the wash at that point. We had our last civilized lunch, sandwiches packed by Babbits. This lunch stop was our first Out of Pack Experience. What a relief. After lunch we met our first person, a young woman packing alone. She had camped at the river the previous night. We now know she must have started very early to be at that point at noon . The trail soon climbed out of the wash up onto the saddle as the map had shown. We had our first spectacular Kodak moment. Over the side of the saddle, we could see most of the length of Seventy Five Mile creek and Escalante Butte, as well as most of the Canyon we would cross. In a few days we would experience the other end of 75 Mile Creek as we walked down inside the ravine near the river. We could also see Desert View tower. It is so situated that we saw it from almost every point we hiked, except right down on the river. After the saddle, we began our transversal of Escalante and Cardenas buttes. We saw a section which seemed to have been burned some time ago. This section was relatively flat but was unshaded and hot, and seemed to go on forever. The trail skirts washes to avoid descending and climbing. Reality down in the canyon is much larger than the map or even how things look from the rim. A lesson we would need later. We met our second person, a young lady with a day pack. She said she had only been to the red wall. Somewhere in this stretch we learned the futility of trying to help someone see things in the Grand Canyon . The conversations often sound like this. ”Hey do you see that big crack in the rock?” “Where, I don’t see any crack.” “Sure, it’s next to the second grey bolder.” I don’t see any crack.” “Well are you looking at the second grey boulder.” ”Which grey boulder?” ”The one just over the butte.” “Oh, forget it.” We arrived at the red wall break at about 2:30 . The trail was loose and steep. Our legs were still rubbery from the morning descent. The frequency of ”2 Seconders” increased and the two seconds got longer as the afternoon wore on. It was a bit shady though. Jerry used his stick to keep his balance and ease the down steps. Norm just leaned toward the rocky side of the trail. After descending into the shale, Norm needed a serious break. We stopped at a flat spot in the Tapeats sandstone, in clear view of the transition to the Dox sandstone. Jerry suggested we go on but Norm asked to stay a little longer. After proceeding only about another 100 feet Norm knew that the rest had not been enough to allow him to keep going that day. Up ahead was only steep trail with no flat spots in sight, so Norm stopped right on the trail and asked how Jerry would feel about camping on the flat spot above for the night. Unfortunately, Jerry was stopped on a particularly narrow piece of path and he was none too comfortable with the height. He asked to go on a little so he could turn around. Norm refused to go any further. Shortly we were back up on the flat spot setting up the tent, (discovered the rental tent only came with stupid aluminum tent pins not real stakes). Jerry cooked freeze dried Burgundy Beef. The meat was a little chewy but it tasted fine and was easier to cook than the macaroni and cheese. Based on the pain in our thighs we decided to use the next day as a rest day and to forget about the hike up to the Little Colorado. About that time we noticed a much better tent site about 40 feet up the trail, but oh well. We saw the lights from Desert View and went to bed about dusk. Rest Day on the Colorado We ate our first breakfast of instant oatmeal. It tasted fine but wore off in about an hour. The ”going down” muscles in our thighs were still quite sore even after a night’s rest. We were more sure than ever we needed a rest day. We walked like Tim Conway’s little old man with very short steps. The trail quickly met the Dox Sandstone, which was broken into dark brown fine gravel. It was a little loose but gave pretty good footing. It did not lend itself to very wide trails though. We soon met a fellow coming up from the river. He recommended a fine camp site with an overhang and situated to keep us out of the wind. He confirmed that the trip up to the Little Colorado should not be taken lightly. A few minutes later his companion met us. He told us about the difficulty of the New Hance trail, really being just a series of rocks to climb down rather than a trail. We wondered how Johnny and Matt would fair and wished they would have a rest day like we planned. The Dox hill side was covered with blooming flowers and beaver tail cactus. We laughed at the Sierra Club Guide which said we would feel like we were flying down the Dox. We felt more like we were crawling. We finally arrived at the beach area and quickly found the recommended camp site. We dropped our packs and went to find some beach to take a dip and clean up. The river was quite cold, in fact even the wet sand was cold. Brave Jerry dipped twice, once to lather and once to rinse. Norm could only bring himself to splash locally. We felt and smelled a little better. Very near the bath site we found a nice tent site in some shade, very near the water so we brought the packs back down there. Norm had his eye out for a stick like Jerry’s and found one. He grew equally attached and eventually brought this stick home too. He had to improve it a little with his knife and some local sandstone. We set up the tent and filtered our first batch of river water. It tasted and looked fine. We then took a long nap. For lunch we ate our first cans of Chicken/Tuna which seemed like filet minor. We also made some instant iced tea. We tried to cool it in the river but the greenhouse effect on the top of the bottle seemed to overpower the cooling effect of the river on the bottom of the bottle so we gave up on that. The site we selected for our camp had many previous residents: many lizards and at least one squirrel. The lizards minded their own business but liked the branch we hung our canteen on. They had an interesting trait of doing a few push ups every time they moved to a new position. After lunch we started a walk up river in the Little Colorado direction. The Dox Sandstone climb quickly sapped any enthusiasm we had for that idea. We walked a little way in the sand dunes over the ground we would cover the next day. Norm thought about the old ”mad dogs and Englishmen” in the heat of the day saying. After the walk we spread out the tarp in the shade by the river and talked for a while. It was probably during this time that Norm asked why he was carrying this gigantic tarp anyway. The entire trip was to leave this question unanswered. We saw one of the powered gigantic rafts go through Tanner rapids. Jerry said with rafts like that this would be a great family raft trip. Norm suggested that the big rapids were further down river. We later saw some oar powered rafts. The wind started to come up and distribute fine sand throughout everything. That other camp site looked good after all, but we stayed. To recover from this by the river we took another nap. Supper was chicken noodle something. It was the best dinner we had. After dinner we sat on the beach, and Norm bathed again to get all of the afternoon sand off. We saw lights up the beach but they stayed in one place and were too far away to hail. Meanwhile the local squirrel gnawed a hole in Jerry’s brand new pack to get at some of Norm’s Grand Canyon gourmet GORP. Before retiring for the evening, we wrapped both packs up in the tarp to protect them from further attacks. (Perhaps this would be a good use for the tarp?) Tanner Beach to Escalante Creek We awoke at dawn again. Upon unwrapping the packs we found the local squirrel has burrowed under the packs and gnawed a hole in the tarp, but had given up since there were no new holes in the packs. We had our instant Granola and Blue Berries. The Blue Berries were amazingly real. This stayed with us better than the oatmeal had. We were packed and walking by 7. We soon passed the point where we had seen the light. It was occupied by a couple of fellows who barely spoke. They had not seen us approach so we sort of felt like intruders. The trail climbed away from the river up through the Dox for about an hour and a half. While having our first out of pack experience of the day next to a large wash, a party of 7 came walking up it. They were from the state of Colorado and were doing our exact trip in reverse. One of the women asked if the Tanner trail was the one which came out by the ice cream stand. We all laughed but she was serious. We gave her the bad news. (Butcher’s Treks book indicates that the Tanner can be climbed up to Desert View. Perhaps that is what she had done the previous trip?) They said they had had a tough day. We did not ask for details. We said we were going to or through Escalante Creek. The leader said there was water in it. As we walked and rested we drank out of the small canteen which Norm had slung on his arm. As it became empty, Jerry emptied some of the large canteen into Norm’s more convenient one. Somehow after pumping the water through the filter and two days in the desert, the water looked more clear, more precious than it does in Michigan . The trail climbed the heights above Unker Rapids the trail was about 20 feet from the edge. Jerry walked about 200 feet from the edge. The wind increased during this stretch. We tied our hats onto our packs so we wouldn’t have to chase them when (not if) they blew of. Norm found that Jerry was only interested in stopping at points with broad flat spots away from edges with drop offs. This was to remain the pattern for all sections with heights and drop offs on this and every other trip. This may have been the beginning of the sweat stains in Jerry’s pink hat. After the view of Unker Rapids according to the Sierra Club Trail Guide we were supposed to look for a route down the wash and were supposed to be able to follow the beach unless the water was flowing at 30,000 cfs. Norm had checked and the flow was supposed to max out at 14,000 cfs. The beach would have been welcome but a look through the binoculars did not reveal a beach route and a closer look would have involved a long steep decent. We opted to take the high route. It followed the wash up hill until we could cross it. At that flat spot we stopped for a lunch of smoked cheese and sausage. Jerry had been right; it stayed fresh enough to eat. Too bad we didn’t have more crackers. We then noted the rate of GORP consumption versus the store Norm had prepared. It looked like we would take some home unless we could find some one to help eat it. After lunch the trail crossed a long stretch of Dox talus. We were high above the river and the trail was none too wide. The wind picked up as we reached the end of the butte. As we stopped to rest there at the end, Norm looked around the other side and found no cairns . What Now? Jerry eventually spotted one down the tip of the butte. We made our wind-complicated decent (during which the strap on Norm’s canteen broke and had to be repaired). We got down out of the wind and rested in the shade of some boulders and reflected on the last stretch. The trail then followed and eventually descended into it and back into the Escalante Creek wash. We had to climb down a 10 foot polished wall that no doubt was a fine water fall on every rainy day. Norm climbed down without his pack to see what lay further down stream. Jerry lowered the packs and then Norm guided Jerry’s feet in this the first point Jerry couldn’t go down stick first. We repeated the process about 30 yards down the wash. We enjoyed being in the wash, and out of the wind. Soon we saw a trickle of water, which eventually fell down a 2 foot miniature water fall. The trail climbed quickly out of the wash into a sort of deep bowl. The wind was even stronger than before and the trail was narrow and higher than we liked, so we decided to call it a day. At least with backpacks you can declare where ever you happen to be is far enough. We went back into the wash to cook dinner. Jerry placed the big cooking pot under the little water fall and got plenty of water to filter for the canteens and for dinner. We had freeze dried Chili soup that night. We had nothing to actually measure water with, but the directions always gave some number of cups. We were not great at estimating and this time there was too much water, but the soup tasted good and one can’t get too much liquid. We decided not to camp in the wash in case there was rain up above, so we went back up into the bowl. Norm found a tent site which had been previously used but it was too close to the edge for Jerry’s taste. He found one a little higher but definitely on a slant. The wind blew the tent for a few hours but it could not keep us awake. Jerry related a story he had read about two climbers who bivouacked on a big rock face. One woke to find that he was alone. His companion had been blown off the mountain. With this Jerry went to sleep leaving Norm to listen to the wind… Having been across Escalante Butte we now knew why the seven from Colorado had had a hard day. In order to protect the packs from any varmints we had the packs stacked inside the tent. This provided a decent means to sort of hook one’s leg or hip to avoid slipping downhill to the foot of the tent. Escalante Creek to Red Canyon We woke at dawn again happy to find that the wind had died completely. Oat meal again. We were looking forward to the easy day completely along the beach according to the Sierra Club trail guide. We knew we were only a couple river miles from meeting Johnny and Matt. We expected to arrive ahead of them and perhaps go up Red Canyon to meet them. We made our way out of the bowl and down to a beautiful beach in less than an hour. Norm splashed a little to clean up and Jerry read the Sierra Club trail guide. We filtered another gallon of water to carry us through this easy day. To our surprise the trail went up very high immediately. We met a young couple going in the opposite direction. He noted a few difficult points on the day’s route to our disappointment, specifically a talus slope we would have to descend. He suggested that we lower the packs with some rope. They mentioned that they had floated their packs on the river to avoid this slope. He said he had strained his knee on this slope on an earlier trip. The girl was from Livonia and her sister had worked for Unisys at Plymouth . Small world. They were living in Seattle now. We continued to climb until we were on the edge of the 75 Mile creek ravine. The trail followed the ravine back from the river and eventually we went down into the ravine. We then saw cairns going down the ravine and also back up the other side out of the ravine. We chose the down hill route. Walking inside the ravine was great. Erosion on the sides was both interesting and pretty. The walls got higher and higher as we neared the river. Much of the bottom was gravel and was easy soft walking. It was nice, shady and cool. There was no water except a couple of pools in the rock which were full of tadpoles. When we reached the river we used the binoculars to make sure we could stay on the beach the rest of the way. It looked just fine as far as we could see if the trail could get us over a few rock outcroppings just down river. The trail did this nicely and we stayed on beaches or near the river for about another mile. We ate more cheese and sausage on the beach. Sure wish we had had more crackers. We were in great spirits with only a mile of beach left in order to finish off the day. Within 100 yards we crossed the Papago Creek wash and the cairns marked a trail which climbed a steep wall. We hoped that this was required only for high water days and continued down the beach which ended abruptly as the stone wall met the river. The next stretch of beach was just across a little open water and the Red Canyon beach was easily visible down river. We found out later that we had seen Matt and he has seen us. We decided to try the wet approach suggested by the young couple. We wrapped Jerry’s pack in the tarp and floated it on his mattress. Unfortunately, there was an upstream eddy current and we couldn’t push the pack against the current so the water route was abandoned. We then went back to the trail marked by the cairns . After dropping our packs, Norm climbed almost to the top. He was not sure he could climb down the last part if he once went over the top, nor was he sure that Jerry’s discomfort with heights would allow him to make the climb unassisted. There were not enough hand holds to lift the packs up in stages either. Norm climbed back down. Since the water route and climbing route both looked impractical we waited to see if a raft would give us a short ride to the next beach. Norm considered suggesting walking all the way back up 75 Mile Creek to the uphill trail which they had not taken. In retrospect, it is most likely that it would have brought them back to the same location. Jerry meanwhile worked on more elaborate raft designs and different use of the currents. Several drift wood experiments were conducted but they discouraged the use of these new improved ideas. We surely didn’t want to go through Hance rapids on a driftwood raft. For some reason, there were no rafts that afternoon. During the raft design phase Jerry tied together all of the bits rope we had and suggested that perhaps he could climb up the wall first and pull the packs up from the top. This approach worked, and in fact Jerry climbed the wall with his pack on. He claimed his success was due to finding finger holds but he is not sure exactly where they were. Norm couldn’t find them and Jerry had to pull him over the top. The next 200 yards were a steep climb with occasions for hands and knees postures, rock overhangs and the works. Jerry asked if Norm would grade the rock wall he had been inspecting so carefully. At the top of the pitch Norm found himself at a seeming dead end. Looking to his left he saw that they must crawl through a crack in a rock to get to the very top and flat ground. This was a squeeze and then there was a short rest. The cairns lead to the top of a rock slide just as the Sierra Club trail guide predicted. There was considerable hands and knees work on this stretch. The actual trail was not clear and the cairns were invaluable. Jerry kept Norm from descending a dead end with his good eyes. As Norm passed the cairn that Jerry had found, he knocked it over. Jerry advised that we just let it go but Norm said it been important to us and it would be to the next folks too, so he restored it. At the top there was some loose rock, so this must have been the talus slope the young couple had warned us of. Due to the hands and knees activity and the loose of rock, Norm’s patience was thin. He was descending first so he had to manage the walking sticks by dragging them out of Jerry’s way and finding a place for them while he descended the next bit. There were moments when they looked quite expendable. The back country trip planner describes the Tanner to Red Canyon stretch as a ”Route: faint to non-existent footpaths often obliterated by rock slides and brush. Some exposed scrambling and climbing required. Route finding ability essential. How true. Once down the rock slide we had a euphoric stroll down the beach to Red Canyon to meet Johnny and Matt. They were happy and relieved to see us. They had come in a day early and had been resting all day. We knew how valuable that rest would be. They had been down to visit the beach we so desperately wanted to reach and had even been part way up the rock slide. If we had been there at the same time perhaps we could have worked out a ferry across the water route. After dinner Jerry fired up the propane lanterns for the first and only time on the trip. We stayed up until 9, which was quite late for us, playing ”my trail was tougher than yours.” That night Jerry and Norm awakened at the same time and decided to answer a nature call. Unfortunately, the zippers on the tent were stuck. Norm had to take few breaths to overcome some claustrophobia. Jerry managed to force one zipper open enough for Norm to slip out and get his knife. The zippers were caught on the rain lip. Norm cut the rain lip enough to free one zipper. A new rule went into effect: Never zip both zippers below the rain lip again, ever. Red Canyon to Horseshoe Mesa The next morning Norm discovered that he had lost the maps and the permits. Fortunately Johnny had an even better map for the remainder of the trip so it was not a serious problem. Now there were four of us. We soon got into a workable order. At first Matt lead and his youth and strength left us in the dust. Johnny asked him to follow Norm so we returned to the slower ”al1 day” pace punctuated with “2 seconders” and a few out of pack experiences in the shade of enormous boulders. We observed a mine on the face of the cliff across the river, probably Hance’s asbestos mine. A shelf had been cleared to make an access trail and there were some tailings beneath it. The trail climbed immediately for an hour or two until we finally achieved the Tonto platform. As predicted, the Tonto follows the major washes and is quite level. It follows the edges a little too closely for Jerry’s taste. The views into the Hance Creek Vishnu Schist are spectacular and a little unnerving. Matt enjoyed the view close enough to the edge to make Jerry quite nervous. The Tonto seemed to be a series of detours around the arms of the various washes. There is no shade but on the level we covered ground quickly. By about 12:45 we saw running water in the bottom of Hance creek and by 1:00 Johnny led us to a shady oasis in the creek bed. Jerry and Norm enjoyed more chicken and tuna. Ambrosia. We rested in the shade for about an hour. Norm took of his shoes and Matt got his feet wet in the creek. The trail left the creek bed almost immediately and was uphill from there. We had to look carefully for the cut off trail to the left or we would have been on the Tonto trail for an additional 3 miles. During our climb we met a large, strung out party who were going to camp at Hance creek. They were from 20 to 70 years of age and many did not look like they would be great climbers on the return trip. They seemed to be lead by an older gent who sported a Tee shirt which said something like Bob Johnson’s Hiking Tours. I guess he was Bob Johnson. Up the trail from meeting Bob we found an abandoned fully loaded pack. It was probably left by one of Bob’s folks in mutiny? The trail continued steeply up and finally into the trees where we found the fork to Miner’s spring. We took off our packs and got all of our canteens and bottles out. We walked the 50 yards over to the spring. It was a steady dripping from the ceiling of a small cave into a shallow bowl cut out of the rock by the miners. Johnny and Matt had been told by two sources that it could be drunk without treatment so we drank our fill and filled all of the containers. We needed enough to finish the day, cook supper, cook breakfast, and get to the rim the next day. We probably added 8 to 12 pounds to each pack. Doing so in the middle of the day was quite noticeable. Until that time we had just lightened our water load all day by drinking. We shortly began the scramble up the Red Wall. We could see there were trees on the top. It was basically up a rock fall and was the steepest climb between the river and the rim. It was the longest steep climb of the trip, and required hands and knees on 3 or 4 occasions. We wondered as we climbed how Bob Johnson’s folks would do on this stretch. We were happy to know that we would end the day on Horseshoe Mesa and save the rest of the climb to the rim for the next day. Somewhere past half way up the Red Wall, we reached the copper mine. We went in a hundred yards or so. We took a long out of pack experience there to get ready to finish the Red Wall. The climb seemed too steep for the mules which carried the ore up from the mile. From the mine we could see individual trees on the rim. Eventually, we could see individual limbs on the trees and we knew we were almost done. After reaching the top, Johnny found a camp site. We met several packers from other parties. Norm got some admiration for doing the ”Escalante trail”. He also heard about going through the Notch on Cardenas Butte. No Thanks, he thought. The fellow who had done it said he would never do it again. Jerry cooked our last freeze dried entree plus our au gratin potatoes. We gave Johnny and Matt our macaroni and cheese and some potato soup. Jerry would never have cooked them, no matter how long we had been below the rim. We cut up the last sausage and mixed it in with the macaroni and cheese and the potatoes. Matt was the first to experience the only touch of civilization on the Mesa , a solar out house without a door. Even though the seat fell off, if you were careless, it surely beat a trowel and a rough rock. After dinner we discussed the New Hance trail with two guys who planned to climb it. Their guide book mentioned water but Johnny had not seen any on his descent. Jerry invited Johnny into our tent for a chat and promptly fell asleep and even he even snored. Horseshoe Mesa to Grand View (The Rim) Matt and Johnny had to get back to Phoenix by mid afternoon so Matt could star in a play. Jerry and Norm considered a visit to the Cave of the Dome on the Mesa but eventually decided to finish the climb to the rim before the heat of the day. Johnny and Matt waited for them. As we left Horseshoe Mesa we peeked into a couple more early mines. We were passed and we passed people from another party. They had camped on the Mesa too but had come up Cottonwood Creek Canyon . One of these folks serenaded us with harmonica music. We also passed an older couple who were taking their time. They were 60+ years old but were doing fine with frequent stops. After awhile we fell back into the successful Norm and Matt pair and the Jerry and Johnny pair. The climb was certainly steady but not as steep as the Red Wall. The trail had been ”improved” with rounded stones almost paving the trail. They seemed to be laid on their sides by a stone mason, but there was no cement. The Butcher book seems to indicate that this was done in the mine or Grand View Hotel era. The stones caused us to walk on our toes or to place our feet sideways. Either approach worked untrained muscles and introduced new sources of pain. Matt and Norm discussed muscle types and athletic abilities. Matt has strong sprinting muscles, Norm’s are better suited for endurance. Grand View is a popular day tripping trail, down to Horseshoe Mesa and back. We met a steady stream of clean people with combed hair and clean socks. Norm laughed out loud realizing how we looked and how used we had become to unkempt backpackers; red bandanas, uncombed and unwashed hair, a little dirty. People going down always try to be nice to people going up especially when they have packs. We must have answered 100 people we were ”doing just fine, and you?” As we neared the top and could finally see specific limbs on the on specific trees Norm got more interested in finishing than in resting so he and Matt did the finished the final 30 minutes with only a few two seconders (real seconds) of rest here and there. Norm gave the rafter’s yell as he hit the trail head sign with his stick. He and Matt gladly dropped their packs at Johnny’s car. Matt stayed with the packs as Norm went back down the trail to encourage Johnny and Jerry. They were only about 10 minutes behind. Norm kept telling Jerry ”It is achievable.” He gave another yell and hit the trail head sign once for Jerry, too. Johnny broke out the ice cooled OJ, pop, and fruit from the cooler in his car. After enjoying these strange treats and a few group pictures Johnny gave Norm a ride to the other car out on the main road. Jerry and Norm couldn’t bear to leave the sticks behind (even though some one had done so with Jerry’s sticky at the head of Tanner trail). They loaded the sticks and packs into the car, and spent the next couple of hours at the east rim drive overlooks taking pictures of where they had been and marveling at the accomplishments. They had lunch at Desert View at a real table with a real chair. They soon checked in to the Moqui Inn and took the best showers of their lives. In some ways it was OK to be back.

Continue Reading Grand Canyon – Tanner, Escalante, Grand View – 1991

Tags: beach, Colorado, light, night, parties, rock, sister, trees, Walking

North Bass Trail and Merlin’s Abyss May 1996 Flying and driving Jerry and John arrived at Norm’s EARLY. Norm wasn’t prepared for this shock. Trina had coffee for the drive to the airport and muffins for the trip on Southwest Airlines. Southwest couldn’t find Jerry and Norm in the reservation computers so the agent had to make them exceptions and then they boarded. That was the first moment of nail biting for the day. We had one stop and then a second to change planes. As we flew over the Grand Canyon the pilot notified us to look to the left and then mentioned the 3 passengers who would be climbing down into it. As we landed, the stewardess sang a song to the tune of She’ll Be Coming ‘round the Mountain When She Comes.” It’s fun to fly Southwest. As we left the plane the copilot grilled us about where we had hiked and where we were going. He seemed to wish he could go with us. Our bags came off quickly and we picked up the car. Norm was a co-driver this year since he made it a point to bring his driver’s license. We grabbed a McDonalds on the way out of Las Vegas and only stopped in St. George long enough to buy LP gas, water and one bottle of peach water for Jerry at K-Mart. In Fredonia, we bought gas for the car, one more gallon of water, oranges, and a Bic lighter (which seemed to only get used once before it ended up “somewhere in the bottom” of Jerry’s pack.) We were stopped on the highway by the National Forest Service to warn us about the fire danger restrictions. We had to stop at the Forest Service office to get a special permit to drive on their back roads. We had to promise we would not camp in the National Forest. The woman kept asking “Now you’re not going to camp on us?” She insisted that she see our National Park back country permit. She didn’t have her glasses and we didn’t give her too close a look since the permit did not include the current date. This was the final moment of nail biting for the day. (Omit here the long story about how Jerry forgot two of his daughters were graduating from college this spring, and we had to reschedule the trip to dates not covered by our permit.) Norm drove about 30 miles of National Forest dirt roads. Every time we turned onto a different road, it was worse than the last. When we passed through the gate into the National Park on Swamp Point road the tire tracks got very deep and the crown very high. Norm went slowly to assure the middle of the car was not over the crown. Norm even stopped once to verify he could miss a collection of embedded rocks. Jerry ended up behind the wheel and progress picked up. Jerry feels that greater velocity makes it possible to be airborne over the rocks. At Swamp Point there but there was no swamp but were three cars but there were no people. We camped near the car. We had our first MREs of the year to avoid carrying the weight. We arrived well before sunset this year so we got our good view of the Canyon. Top of North Bass Trail We arose, had breakfast and finished packing. John had left many decisions until that morning. Being on the rim about to put the pack on for 7 days helped him decide to leave much in the car. We were on the trail by 7:30. The trail reminded us of the Hermit and the New Hance Trails. Our internet information and George Steck’s friend reported exposure in the Coconino. We found none. Perhaps you find it if you go over to the spring. We had no need since we had bought all the water we could carry, and had used almost none of it. We did find some brief exposure while crossing open slopes of Hermit Shale were the ”trail” was exactly one foot print wide. There was more brush here than we had experienced on any other trails. (We hadn’t seen anything yet.) Norm enjoyed tracking progress by noting the changes in the rock formations. There was water in White Creek even above the Red Wall drop off. At the drop off we left the creek and followed the trail to the right, over three saddles just as the Sierra Club Trail Guide described. The Redwall scree is very sharp, and so were the bushes on these saddles. (We hadn’t seen anything yet.) After the second descent, we stopped for lunch. I think our legs told us it was time for a long break more than our stomachs told us it was time to eat. We all napped. We all tightened up during the long rest, so the next climb which was immediate was even worse. John followed the trail along the base of a cliff and then down endless, loose, steep switch backs down to the valley floor, and to the Muav. John commented that he would never have guessed the trail went across the bottom of the wall. Harvey Butchert calls that part of the trail ”unlikely”. Norm had provided John and Jerry with photocopies of pages from the Sierra Club Trail Guide, George Steck’s Loop Hikes II, Harvey Butchert’s Grand Canyon Treks, some correspondence from the Internet and correspondence directly from George Steck including photographs of the point where we should exit. On this first day we referenced the pages on the North Bass from the SC TG. John had been able to find 7.5 minute topo maps in Phoenix, even though the National Geological Survey Office is out of them. He used his copy dozens of times to make sure we were where we wanted to be. In the valley floor we met a lone hiker, who turned out to be out in front of the other four in his group. We met two of them near and two of them at the Muav pools. There were several pools, of all sizes and shapes. Some just about bath tub size. Jerry said he was looking for the hot bathes. The other guys laughed. It was only about 3 PM but we were about half way to Bass’s camp which was our destination for tomorrow, so we stopped for the day. We waded and washed, and made coffee, and lounged, took our boots off, and made super (mashed potatoes and beef gravy), filtered a couple gallons of water with John’s new filter, and generally enjoyed the beautiful spot. Life was good. Norm wasn’t anxious to sleep on the ledges thinking about what it would be like if there were a flash flood. We moved up to a small sandy spot just big enough for the two tents right next to each other. Jerry slept under the stars (clouds actually). He and Norm slept fitfully. It sprinkled a little and the wind was up and down. They both woke early and went for walks until John awoke. Kolb picture spot, wading, and Bass’s camp. We were on the trail again at 7:30. Jerry wasn’t feeling too well but didn’t complain. We started out going away from the creek to get around water falls in the Muav. There was a little exposure to get Jerry’s juices flowing. Our thighs were plenty sore from the first day, and we were doing a little of the “old man shuffle”. Eventually we rejoined the creek but there was no water. That made for easy walking. We rested where the creek bed descended into a deep chasm in the Tapeats. The trail led to where the chasm opened up below. We dropped the packs and spent about 30 minutes enjoying the beauty, and the coolness of the spot. We took the same picture the Kolbs had taken 80 years before with the bolder stuck in the top of the chasm. It took us two frames to get our picture. Strangely the water seemed to now go around the chasm. It was almost entirely dry but below that spot the creek had plenty of water in it. At some point we missed the fork in the trail. The other route leaves the creek bed. We were happy that we had stayed in the creek bed to reach this spot. From the Tapeats we descended down into the Schist. By early afternoon we reached the Shinumo creek confluence. The joint flow made it much harder to stay dry when crossings and just as last year we finally gave up and just waded. We were so close to our destination, it would have been nice to make it with dry feet. We expected to reach Bass’s camp just after the confluence, but we had to cross the creek 4 or 5 times and we stopped for one more long break. By studying the maps and book pages we understood that we had not missed it but were just not there yet. We crossed once more, went about 100 yards on nice ledges and entered Bass’s camp. People had gathered lots of tools, cook ware, nails, etc and placed them on a few boards for viewing. It was sort of a crude museum. We waded and washed a little in the creek. About a dozen river runners came up to see Bass’s camp. The river guide knew quite a bit about Bass. (Later John bought a pamphlet about the Bass trails which had most of what the guide said and much more, and contradicted the guide a little.) They only stayed about 15 minutes. We had MREs again and coffee. At Bass’s camp and on at least two boulders we saw the following carved. WL Vaughn, Connor Texas, 5-17-1912. We don’t know who WL Vaughn was, but 1912 is about when Bass sold out to the railroad and left the Grand Canyon. It was quite overcast again so we put up the tents. We slept right around Bass’s camp. A Day at the Beach We awoke to find several nibbles at the packs. Jerry had a new hole in his pack. Norm had nibbles in a couple of zip lock bags. As planned, we found a place to hide our packs and just carried snacks and water and a few other necessities down to the beach. Actually it was up and down to the beach. The trail climbs about 600 feet before it descends to the river. This is required. Following the creek leads to a water fall with a very challenging climb. Without the packs it wasn’t too bad. The footing in the quartzite was fine but the trail was almost indistinguishable since the quartzite doesn’t wear down. It was overcast and only occasionally sunny and warm. It rained for a few minutes 3 or 4 times, once for about 10 minutes. A boat pulled in to the beach. We were fearful that we would have to share the beach with a boat party. The oarsman asked if there was a waterfall near by. We waved him on down river. He left with few words and no smile. Jerry had brought sausage, crackers, and cheese dip to share. It hit the spot. Norm climbed around on the Schist for fun. John bathed quickly as one must in the frigid Colorado River . We shared the beach with the finches and squirrels. Norm laid down a cracker crumb trail to bring the boldest one quite close. Norm and John played trivia which put Jerry to sleep. We could see where the recent man-made “flood” had built up additional silt on the beach. The tamarisk at the water’s edge were clearly covered about a foot deep and the water marks were well up the beach on others. We could see silt trapped in the schist several feet above the current water level. About 2 PM Jerry got so bored that he talked Norm and John into returning to camp. He said we would explore the creek route. On the way back to break the monotony, Norm drew the parallels between the series of projects Bass had in the Canyon and the number of Car Washes Jerry has. Norm told the whole Bass story and then some. After having a cup of coffee at our new camp just below the pack hiding spot, we ended up just lounging around. Jerry went off to clean up again but found there was no good way to get down to the creek from this camp. We were about 40 vertical feet above it. Norm updated the journal. Norm and John made a Lemon pie with graham cracker crust. We could see the weather coming across the Canyon, and so we had everything covered and the tarps ready to cover us. It rained for only about 10 minutes. We had Lasagna for dinner. This site was away from the Bass artifacts and seemed more private. Due to the rain we put up the tents one more time. This was the only dessert we ate. We also did not eat any of the soups in the large meals for four. Next time we should probably just get entrees for four. Up Shinumo Creek (Leaving the marked trails) We had more nibbles on our packs and bags. Norm had tied most of his food up in a tree but something had knocked the bag down and gotten into it a little. John sacrificed a package of crackers which were pretty well beaten up into crumbs anyway. Through some unexplained accident we were on the trail by 6:45. John picked up some cactus needles as we passed through Bass’s camp. They were not the last we would pick up. We reached the Shinumo/White confluence in good time without a crossing. By this point the trail was bushy, brushy and bothersome; lots of bushes, bayonet plants, cactus, trees, and dead limbs. We battled the brush and crossed back and forth. Occasionally we’d find a trail to go over a rock outcropping. Once we were off on such a trail, and it kept getting more and more difficult to follow and more steeply uphill. We’d follow it then lose it and then see another cairn and follow it and lose it again. It was steep and loose, and we finally go so high it didn’t look like it was really going anywhere we wanted to go. We took a picture of King Arthur’s castle from a point few people have probably reached. We wondered if the cairns were laid down as someone got lost and then used to get back down? At the creek we crossed and the going was fine but brushy. (We still hadn’t seen anything yet.) We crossed many times getting wet up to our knees. George Steck’s friend said they switched to Tevas but we wanted to keep the protection for our feet. Everyone’s boots held up just fine, even though they were soaked 4 different days. It was pleasant to be near the water, in the shade of the cottonwood trees. We all found our way into cactus at one point or another. Norm had to take his pants off to get some out from inside. Jerry got a needle in his tongue by biting needles out of his hand. We took a long rest on some Schist ledges where there were some gentle water falls and pools. John used one to soak his cactus filled arm. By lunch time we had reached the confluence of the Flint and the Shinumo creeks. George Steck recommended the log on the rope trick to get by the chockstone. On this day the flow was very very heavy and the log would have just floated back over the falls rather than catching on any rocks. The pool below the chock stone was probably chest deep, but we didn’t try it. We lunched and napped in the shade next to the falls and the pool. After lunch we set out to climb the “nose” between the two creeks. We did not spend much time looking for a route. We started up a route on the south side of the nose. After doing it Norm was not so sure it was THE route. He said the climb “pegged his adventure meter”. Some serious fingers and toes were required, and it was belly to the wall. John came back down without his pack to talk Norm up the last few yards. It helped. At the top of the nose we found the real route back down to the creek easily. The rest of the day was brushy, bushy, and bothersome. As we hugged a Tapeats cliff on the left we found an Indian ruin. It was a semicircular structure build right onto the cliff face. What was left was about waist high. We were striving to reach the Tapeats ledges which George Steck had recommended. We were expecting something like Deer Creek. By 6PM we were not there and we were beat and we found the only sort of flat, sort of clear spot we had seen for hours so we stopped. There was definitely no room for a tent so we each found our own flat spot. Our pants, socked and boots were all soaked so we all erected make shift clothes lines from plants, sticks or John’s was a proper one made of line. Jerry cooked stroganoff which tasted great. No one was interested in Blue Berry Cobbler. Too bad; it’s heavy. John did not have a sleeping bag. He had expected our normal hot nights and all he had was a poncho liner. It was cooler than expected but he wrapped up in part of his tent to break the breeze. Jerry and Norm were under a sizeable Tapeats overhang. We never did see any Tapeats ledges worth mentioning. Merlin’s Abyss and on around the elbow We were on the trail by 7:00. Al1 slept just fine, but Norm had a dream about being responsible for some project in New York City politics. Probably a result of too much trivia before bed. About mid morning we found a beautiful 10 foot water fall. Jerry shared an orange. Fruit is a treasure in the canyon. When we passed the Morded Abyss junction we saw a flow of water, but it didn’t seem to make much difference in Shinumo Creek. It was still knee deep. Almost the whole day was again brushy, bushy and bothersome. We began knocking down dead sticks with our walking sticks. It made the walking a bit easier and let us get rid of some aggression on the brush. Norm leaned onto a bayonet plant which really drew blood. His pants were wet so the blood flow really looked bad. A few seconds of direct pressure fixed everything. We tried leaving the creek and going up into the dessert to avoid the brush, but the brush extended well up the sides of the Abyss and the footing was too steep to be enjoyable. Besides it was hot out in the sun. Back to the creek. This mirrored George Steck’s experience. We tried hugging the cliff which had worked yesterday but we ended up going up higher than we needed and then getting pinched out anyway. The best option turned out to be hugging the creek edged and just wading when it became difficult. About mid-afternoon we had reached the Muav and rested on some nice level Muav ledges. We filtered some water because we were running low in our canteens. Jerry only filled Mr. Bucket up half way because he didn’t want to carry any more water weight than we had too. Soon after that we were challenged by a series of huge chockstones. We found ways over and around them, but above them there was no water in the creek. This was a surprise based on what we had read. Without water in the creek we made excellent time. We might have stopped along there somewhere if we had water enough for supper, but… Eventually just about at the junction with the Northwest trending fault we found a trickle of water again. Soon after that while scrambling up a slope of rocks we climbed up into the perfect camping spot under a huge Redwall overhang. Again we were soaked so we found places to hang our clothes and dry our boots. We knew water would be scarcer ahead so we all cleaned up to one degree or another. Norm was bending over to arrange his sleeping pad and bag and his pants split right down the back seam. He didn’t try to mend them assuming the stresses would just break his mending. Jerry remarked that he still had some clean underwear or socks and Norm remarked that he had some washed. John asked if this was a Can You Top This contests so Norm just congratulated Jerry on his fine planning. We had Turkey Supreme. Played Trivia by flash light. Redwall Chockstone, Supai Cliffs On this day we studied George Steck’s notes and those of his friend. We hoped to get all the way up the NW trending fault and to the spring in the Ponderosas by evening. Norm said he hoped there were some markings on this part of the route. He was to be disappointed. The first part was wonderful. No water in the bed; just routine bolder hopping. Eventually we reached the Redwall chockstone described by George Steck. We quickly found the hole between the rocks we had to “chimney” through. The hole was about 8 feet from the ground with poor holds on the wall. Jerry bent over and Norm stepped on his back, twisting his heavily cleated boots into Jerry’s flesh. Norm found his way up quickly and easily with Jerry’s help. John climbed it without assistance, with Jerry only spotting. Jerry tied the packs onto the rope and John and Norm pulled them up. John and Norm then put a loop in the rope and lowered it through the hole to Jerry. He used the rope to get to the Chimney move and came on through. Above the chockstone we found the little waterfall George Steck had mentioned. It was flowing pretty well, and we filtered water to top off our bottles. We rested there for a while. The remainder of the Redwall was uneventful bolder hopping because it was quite a gradual incline. The Supai was quite a different story. We couldn’t tell from George Steck’s narrative or map exactly where we were supposed to leave the water shed. When we saw a few possible exit routes, staying in the water shed always seemed better so we staying in all the way up to the beginning of the Hermit Shale. George had described 10 foot cliffs which were hard. We were finding cliffs which were hard, but they were much more than 10 feet. At the first one, there was no route on the right, but with a boost it looked like a route on the left. We found a dead log and propped it up on the left. Norm went up first and kept going to make sure we could get over the other obstacles above. He was gone a long long time. He had climbed up to the next huge obstacle. He worked his way to the right looking for a route out of the water shed. When that option pinched out, he worked his way back to the left and found himself above the huge obstacle. To see that this would not be the end of the line he went even higher. It looked like the Promised Land with a clear route to the top of the Supai. He went back down to tell John and Jerry. He kept getting cliffed out. He couldn’t figure out how he had gotten up. John and Jerry got the packs up without Norm. They were waiting at the bottom of the huge obstacle for Norm. He explained he couldn’t find his way down so they tried to throw the rope up to him. It was so high they couldn’t get the rope up there. Norm just had to find a way down. Jerry and John could see a way about half way up and Norm could get half way down, so they talked him the rest of the way. It was not the way he had gone up but it worked. Norm lead Jerry back up with the rope. They lifted the packs as John tied them on. It required about 80 of the 100 feet of rope. After all the packs were up, Norm went part way down to lead John up the unobvious route. They were able to climb up the next few levels with the packs on, but eventually came to one more point where the packs had to be lifted. John climbed up to see that it was not a dead end, and after 4 tries Norm threw the rope up, and then climbed up to help lift. John teased Jerry that there was a nice underwear puddle up there where Jerry could soak his last pair of clean shorts just like last year. After this last lift they reached the end of the Supai and left the watershed, and entered the real brush. (Now they encountered real BRUSH. Over your head BRUSH. Sleeping Beauty Do Not Enter BRUSH. Br’er Rabbit Briar Patch BRUSH. It grabs your pack and doesn’t let go BRUSH.) They climbed, crawled, clawed through this for about an hour trying to get to the top of the Hermit’s Shale to find some ledges which could be followed around to a break in the Coconino. They finally reached the ledges but they were not level and were not long enough to follow anywhere. It was getting dark, and the only spot in sight where they could sleep was an exposed saddle in the shale. They beat through more brush to reach the saddle just a little before dark. Jerry amazingly chose to sleep right on the spine of the saddle where rolling the wrong way would take him down a steep 40 foot hill. Norm slept across the spine with his feet a little lower than his head but his waist higher than both, and propped against a rock to keep from slipping down. John found a cozy patch amongst the bushes. We had little water so ate canned meat instead of a freeze dried meal. Norm was not in the mood for trivia even though Jerry thought we should do at least one page. We were not sure we were on or could find George Steck’s route any more. We were not sure we could find the Ponderosa Spring, we had little water, and did not see the breaks in the Coconino or the limestone necessary to get out to the rim. Life did not seem good. The moon was out and we were completely exposed to it. The breeze came and went. We did not sleep very well that night. Ponderosa Spring, Breaks in the Cliffs, Back to the Road In the morning we had a little coffee, one of Norm’s oranges and life looked better. During the night Norm had split the seat of his pants horizontally, so Jerry applied a generous portion of gray tape. We could see a nice stand of Ponderosa about where George Steck had said it would be, so we set off down the hill to get water and then think about how to get out. We wore our gloves today, and wondered what was wrong with us yesterday for leaving them in our packs. It required more bushwhacking but we reached the Ponderosa and the spring was running nicely. We made coffee and had a second breakfast. We cleaned up a little and did a page of Trivia. We got all six on the first try and put the book away. We could refer to George Steck’s narrative. Life looked good once again. We headed toward the place where the Coconino break was supposed to be looking for the Easter Island head George Steck referenced. In the Grand Canyon you can find lots of Easter Island heads if you are looking for one. Eventually we found a likely break complete with a nice Easter Island head, so we climbed toward it. The shale was loose and steep and the BRUSH was as bad as described above, so progress was slow and painful. On one break we applied gray tape to our pants legs to afford further protection. Norm tried to lead again but the brush tied him up so badly his claustrophobia kicked in. Jerry told him to take a break when he was on the verge of hyperventilating. Norm followed the rest of the day. Working our way up and over we crossed two more flows of water. They made it possible for grass to grow on the slopes which looked like excellent climbing, but the water made the brush even looser and more slippery. When we neared the Coconino we were looking forward to a nice break on some horizontal, flat, firm ledges. Norm stopped on one that John and Jerry found too slanted and too narrow for relaxation so we only stayed a few minutes. Unfortunately the Coconino afforded no level spots and so we just scrambled through it and back into the brush in the limestone scree. The footing improved in the limestone and we saw a few hints of tracks. They lead us to a wonderful level, firm spot on top of a limestone cliff, where there was a great view and plenty of shade for lunch and for a good long nap. Then back to the brush. John was referencing George Steck’s notes and maps and was working us toward the east. We saw some nice breaks in the Kaibab cliffs and worked towards them, then John noticed that the sun was shining on a cliff face just above us where it seems unlikely and he used this insight to locate a slot in the Kaibab. This exit worked just fine, and saved us over an hour in the brush. Praise God. Norm said “John you’re my hero.” We reached the rim and were so exhausted; we didn’t take any of the normal “end of the trip” photos or last looks. We just kept walking. The walk back to the road was supposed to be three quarters of a mile but it seemed to take forever. The way was clear because the big pine trees had pretty much shaded out all the brush. When we finally reached the road John volunteered to get the car. Norm worked on the journals and Jerry nursed his blistered feet. We really wanted to get some ”normal” food and clean up so we drove to the North Rim lodge area. We ate in the snack shop just before it closed, and then found an uninhabited camp site in the camp ground. Breakfast, Peggy Sue’s, Showers We awoke before most of the operation was going. The showers required $1.50 in quarters and we didn’t have enough for even one shower. The store wasn’t open yet so we couldn’t get change. We cleaned up a little in the sink, and went to breakfast at the North Rim Lodge. After breakfast we shopped just a little, called home and decided we were clean enough to get on the road. We stopped at the National Forest headquarters store and bought some posters. Then we went to St. George K-Mart to replace our damaged clothes and to Peggy Sue’s for lunch. We arrived in Las Vegas about mid afternoon and enjoyed the shower immensely. Norm lost the coin flip and had to sleep in the hide-a-bed so he got the first shower. After losing a little at Keno, Video Poker and Roulette we had dinner at Denny’s and retired. Postscript This trip beat us up more physically than all others combined. We had scratches all over our arms and legs. The scars on John’s legs led to friends to wonder if he had knee surgery. After this trip Norm made Jerry and John promise that if he ever suggested another trip that was not in the Sierra Club Trail Guide they would “just say no.” George Steck warned us about brush but we totally underestimated what he meant by brush.

Continue Reading Backpacking Grand Canyon – North Bass Trail and Merlin’s Abyss

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Spend a few nights in Yellowstone National Park on this 23.2-mile out-and-back complete with lakeside campsites and spectacular summit views.

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Bag a rugged fourteener on this 20.8-mile lasso loop linking shady evergreens and long sunny scrambles to a beautiful peak high above the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness.

Continue Reading Snowmass Mountain Hike

Tags: above-the-maroon, beautiful-peak, lasso-loop, linking-shady, long-sunny, maroon, rugged-fourteener

For a family camping in Colorado’s backcountry, llamas act as playmates, guards and furry 325-pound porters to lighten the load.

Continue Reading Backpacking with Ilamas in Colorado

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Author: Eric Morris Source: articleage.com Colorado is one of the leading points in the United States for mountain vacationing. Colorado Mountain Vacation Adventure can relax. Many attractions in Colorado, including skiing, shopping, hiking, biking, and enjoy a live performance. Colorado Mountain Vacation travel is good for the whole family. Children can enjoy outdoor activities such as hiking, skiing and rafting. Families can go shopping together and eat at world class restaurants. Tourist attractions such as the Peak missile designed for the whole family. Couples looking for better ways to solve should be checked vacation Colorado Mountain. Lease number is designed for couples and feature romantic room, such as private dinners candlelit tubs hot and breathtaking mountain views. Colorado has six of the top ten North American ski magazine ski resort. Skiing and Snowboarding is a major tourist attraction of the Colorado mountain vacation. Some major ski resorts in Colorado are Vail, Snowmass, steamboat Springs, Breckenridge, beaver Creek, and Telluride. Each. These resorts are a variety of facilities including accommodation to rent ski equipment, food and some good skiing slopes in most continents. Many resorts offer lessons to start, assuring that visitors do not have great skiers to be happy. They range from a ramp from the more difficult. Ski ramp rate of each file it is quite different, but the color code number, most of them. Green circle signifies the start ramp slope for intermediate skiers to experience the next schedule and difficult slopes are marked with black diamonds. Skiers some skill (and brave) enough to try two or three black diamonds. Most difficult ski slopes are marked with a yellow exclamation point. Colorado Mountain Vacation Adventure can relax. In addition to all outdoor activities, amazing visitors can drive in Phase, yosemite view lodge , Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Denver to catch concerts or years Telluride Film Festival. Rest in the budget to find suitable accommodation and activities within their price range too. Mountain stop information detailed information on accommodation, Rocky, Blue Mt Gibson and Great smoky mountains and leisure cycling and mountain rental cabins in Colorado, North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee and, yosemite view lodge , other destinations. Mountain site is information to stop his sister's friend's Ranch Web.

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Author: Rick Chapo Source: articleage.com The Pacific Crest Trail crosses the mountain range that divides the west coast, yosemite view lodge , and the rest of the nation. There are a lot of history tied to the track, and offers hiking trails. Pacific Crest Trail – History of Running from the border with Mexico to the Canadian border, was the Pacific Crest Trail used by settlers in 1800 the search for the good life in California, Oregon and Washington. 2500 miles, this excursion offers a variety of environments, including burning hot deserts and mountains spy stacked one after another. Since most settlers came from the north was the way he has led the field in any case, the variety of mountain. While hikers of today will find a beautiful and challenging track, you can be sure that many of the settlers had other opinions. Ironically, the Pacific Crest Trail is actually a relatively modern name. Before 1993, it was like a general collection of trails running the route with parts of streets as the John Muir Trail was known to contain multiple parts. If you could travel back in time, a settler would be confused when you started on the road. Pacific Crest Trail – from here to there Running from border to border, few hikers have tried everything to hike the entire trail in a time when we often have to do this strange thing called “work”. However, a trip from Mexico to Canada would proceed as follows. Have paid your bills a few months in advance, we will head to the US-Mexico border west of the town of Campo. There are five panels in an inconspicuous place neck indicating the start of the trail established. Looking to the north and the memory of those boots are for walking, you're ready to go. Winding north, you will be in the mountains above Palm Springs, stagger through the Mojave Desert, walk to the top of Kings Canyon, brush on the west side of Lake Tahoe and finally head into Oregon to walk along the Interstate-5. Along the way, you walk through Mt Whitney and through Yosemite National Park. Not bad, eh? If in Oregon, will be cut to the east by Ashford and then north. The next step will be Crater Lake and the mountains three sisters, followed by the old lava fields. He left Oregon by crossing the Hood River near White Salmon, Washington. Voice in the final straight, then just shoot through Washington east of Olympia and Seattle until they hit the Canadian border just, yosemite view lodge , below Manning Park. It 'time to type a long journey and I'm much less tired of walking. The beauty of the Pacific Crest Trail, it is possible to weekend excursions, scenic spend part of his. In California, are stretches of road through Kings Canyon are simply breathtaking and leave you in awe of nature.

Continue Reading Pacific Crest Trail – History and Hiking It

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