Day 1 - Landing in London...

Post date: Feb 18, 2010 5:03:43 AM

This year’s backpacking trip was conceived early on as a big one. In 2009 as Drew, Ray,

Shawn, and I were wrapping up our trip to Glacier, we discussed that the goal for 2010,

when we were all turning 40, would be to get all six participants together and aim for

something expansive. The Grand Canyon won in a landslide during the voting process

and a Fall trip date was chosen to avoid high summer heat and provide ample time for

planning. The goal for 100% participation was a quick failure as it was clear that Brian

would not be around but the remaining five (the four above plus Troy) all expressed a

commitment to the canyon. The permit application process was annoying and potentially

expensive ($100 per application). Three of us (Shawn, Drew, and myself) planned to

submit applications which needed to be faxed to the backcountry office four months

prior to the departure month (October for us so we were ready on June 1). We realized

later that it was a true first-come, first-served method and we should have stopped as

soon as one of us got through, but we were ignorant to that fact at the time. The fax line

was busy most of the morning and emails were sent back and forth about the inability

to connect. Shawn got through first and Drew faxed his in later that day. I was never

able to send mine. We were lucky, though, that I never got through and Drew actually

was denied due to limits on the number of permits passed out. Shawn successfully got

our first choice hike (and we saved about $200 by not getting our other permits). As

the date approached, we were shocked and disappointed to learn that Troy was not able

to come due to an unexpected mandate from work. So our group was trimmed to four

and a repeat of the group from Glacier. This marked the first time that we had the same

combination of people on a second trip in the six years we have been doing this.

We all flew into Phoenix on a Friday morning and within a few hours of each other. We

survived the longest rental car line at Enterprise I’ve ever seen (as well as a very jovial

Julie who showed us the car) and drove into Phoenix to pick up last supplies before

heading north to the Grand Canyon. As we stood in line, Shawn confessed that he had a

suspended license though since he had reserved the car, he needed to be the designated

driver. But to avoid possible troubles Drew ended up driving for the entire trip. With the

information on the website and Ray’s phone, we attempted to go with full technology for

driving navigation and keeping tracks of expenses. Stops included Whole Foods, REI,

and Frye’s to pick up liquor. We decided to have one night of non-freeze dried dinners

this trip which increased the weight a bit but also eliminated a substantial amount of

trash. We also opted for tequila and purchased two bottles: Cabo Wabo and Don Julio.

We hit the road north to the sounds of the Grand Canyon mix and our album selections

for this year. Albums included Mule Variations by Tom Waits (Ray), the Joshua Tree

by U2 (Shawn), Guero by Beck (Drew), and Bossanova by the Pixies (Jim). The Joshua

Tree seemed to be the big winner for this year. We drove several hours up to Sedona

where we planned to stop for dinner. We were there a bit early and had plans to eat at the

Elote Café. So we drove downtown to get a drink and walk around before dinner. We

initially tried to eat at a place called Oaxaca and asked about the possibility of eating with

a view.

Jim: Can we eat upstairs?

Hostess: Noooo. (with a subtext of “No, not for you.”)

We left and chose instead to get very large margaritas at the Cowboy Club (where they

have a six drink maximum! Ridiculous!) and cactus fries. We drove back to Elote and

found there was a 90 minute wait! So we returned to Oaxaca and has decent but overall

mediocre Mexican. The stacked blue corn enchiladas were the hit. We left Sedona in the

dark and hit a lot of rain through a pass heading into Flagstaff (which gave us flashbacks

of driving into Glacier the previous year). We stopped several times on a quest for

decent beef jerky and finally arrived in the canyon village around 9:00. We set up

Shawn’s tarp (our only shelter) in Mather campground and sat on a wet picnic table for

some cards and beer. We were yelled at once after some boisterous hands (“Quiet after

10!”) and were subjected to racist neighbors as we were trying to get to sleep. It rained

and got very cold that night, easily hitting the 30’s.

Day One – Hance Trailhead to Hance Rapids (7.4 miles; 4480 feet descent)

We awoke early and in the dark in order to get as early a start as possible. We first went

into Grand Canyon village for coffee and breakfast. Right outside the cafeteria there was

a herd of elk including a huge 12-point bull. I snapped a few pictures and watched as a

very stupid woman walked within three feet of the bull to get a close-up shot (not the last

stupid person we met). We spent some time organizing at the car (and rocking out a bit

too loudly). We got to the backcountry office when it opened and got some last minute

information (and listened to a dick in front who was complaining that the New Hance had

poor views) and then were off to the trailhead. As our hike was not a loop and instead a

point-to-point hike, we had to set up a taxi. Drew dropped the rest of us off at the trail

and returned to the end point of our hike (Grandview Point) to park the car and meet the

taxi. We finally started our descent at about 11:00 along the top of the Kaibab limestone.

The beginning of the trail immediately dropped off into a series of short and steep

switchbacks along a loose, rocky path. It was initially very slow going as we descended

through the Toroweap formation (sandstone and limestone). Both the Kaibab and

Toroweap were deposited during a period of warm and shallow seas. We had some nice

views at the top but were quickly faced with obstruction on each side of the trail. After

the Toroweap we moved into the Coconino sandstone, a thick and steep portion of light

rock that is the remnant of an ancient sand dune desert that reached from the southwest

up to Montana. It was moving through this portion that I first realized one of the whole

points of hiking in the canyon. It provides a window back in time and helps you realize

how old and everchanging the earth is. Imagine a dune desert on this spot that reached

all the way to the northern part of the US. And that on that same spot there had been

shallow seas, muddy swamps and a ancient mountain range that had been eroded down to

almost nothing. The Coconino is a prominent part of the canyon in every direction and

the time it took to deposit that much sand over 270 million years ago was a bit

overwhelming (and this was the young part of the canyon!). The other interesting change

as we moved from zone to zone was the difference in plant life. The top was full of

ponderosa pines which disappeared as we descended and were replaced with pinon,

juniper, agave, century plants and a variety of cacti. We dropped down through a portion

of Hermit shale (formed during a time when there was a coastal sea and there was a

substantial amount of mud and silt from fresh water rivers). The Hermit shale was more

brittle and created more of a slope. We then came to the Supai group, a steeper portion

of mostly limestone. We stopped for lunch near the bottom of the Supai and above the

Redwall. We found a place with an amazing view and stopped for lunch. We (illegally –

as we discovered later) threw a rock off the cliff and counted a ten second drop before we

heard the sound below. We also heard some of the best echoes of the trip during this

stop. Our lunch was cut a bit short by an unexpected rainfall so we kept moving along

the Supai and toward the top of the Redwall. We had to traverse along the top of the

Redwall as it was quite steep and there are few opportunities to head down. We finally

reached the break and immediately went the wrong way. Up until that point, the well-

documented “trail finding” issues on the New Hance had really not been a problem.

However, we started down a path through a wash and had to climb down a steep drop

(maybe ten feet or so). There were many loose rocks and we had fears of kicking rocks

free and dropping them on the guys already down. After getting down, we looked for

and found the correct the trail fairly quickly. We descended rapidly after that as the

grade mellowed out and we moved through the various layers of the Tonto platform

(which we didn’t truly appreciate until heading back up) until reaching the Great

Unconformity (a gap in the geologic history of anywhere between 250 million and a

billion years). The Great Unconformity also separates the inner canyon from the upper

canyon (at the edge of with Tonto). We stopped at a stream that had carved a beautiful

path through the red rock to fill up on water and soak our heads. This area is called Red

Canyon and brought us the rest of the way to the Colorado. The water from the stream

eventually disappeared underground and we walked along the dry wash as we heard the

roar of the river in the distance increase in loudness. We finally hit the immense

Colorado and dropped our packs on the sand to appreciate our accomplishment. We were

greeted by a smallish and belligerent King snake in the dry riverbed near the river. The

temperature was balmy and we had all stripped down to shorts and t-shirts during the last

couple of miles. The difference in temperature from the rim to the river was over 30

degrees (during the day and night). So we left with temps in the 30’s and arrived with

temps in the 70’s. The river was dyed red due to a substantial amount of silt in the water

from the rains that had occurred in the days preceding our arrival. We didn’t have a long

time to rest, however, as the sun was setting quickly (a result of our October trip was that

we had a much shorter day than we are accustomed to during the height of the summer).

We scouted out the various campsites (we were the only ones there that evening) and

decided to camp up on dunes adjacent to the river rather than in some tight sites along the

river. This gave us the opportunity to spread out over a fairly large area. We set up

Shawn’s tarp in a dip between two dunes and toasted our success with cans of beer. We

brought one 16 oz. Miller High Life (Drew’s pick) and one Yella Pils from Oskar Blues

(which was delicious) each (not to imply that the High Life wasn’t also delicious). Ray

took the difficult task of filling up our 5 gallon collapsible water container with water

from the Colorado. It was so silty that it would clog our water filter quickly and it had to

sit and allow the silt to fall to the bottom for several hours (turns out it needed about 12

hours to become clear). Ray had a mighty struggle getting the full jug up the sandy path

to the dune. None of us were optimistic that the water would be clear by the morning and

we had a plan to hike back up to the stream early in the morning if necessary. For dinner

we enjoyed our fresh food and had smoked salmon, cheese, crackers, cucumbers and

fennel. We also sampled the first of our tequilas (and each popped a perk). The tequila

was incredibly smooth and we all probably had more than our share (we were shocked to

see so much had disappeared when we awoke the next morning). There was a full moon

that night and we didn’t need lights at all. We took a moonlit walk through the dunes and

to the river. We ended our day playing the necessary pitch game and then all passed out.

Shawn reportedly woke up face first in the sand in the middle of the night.

Day Two – Hance Rapids to Hance Creek (5.1 miles; 1120 feet ascent)

Our second day will be forever remembered as the beginning of our fascination with the

Tonto platform and for me, the first (but not the last time) my heart leapt up into my

throat as we walked next to a precipitous drop. I awoke early and before the rest of the

guys. It was still dark and I watched the sky get brighter and the sun’s light gradually

make its way down the canyon walls until it came into view. We were treated to a warm

morning and news of Shawn’s evening activities. This was the second year in a row that

a member of the team had some sort of brain meltdown (hopefully we are not starting a

new trend). We had a lazy morning with coffee and oatmeal for breakfast. We saw

rafters coming down through Hance Rapids (which are reportedly some of the most

difficult in the canyon but were likely not as wild as usual due to the high water). We

explored the dune area that was covered in thorny mesquite and spent some time on the

Colorado. There was a slow and shallow section next to the bank which allowed some

bathing. The water was cold but refreshing (and nice to get the dust and sand off of our

bodies). We tried some initial shots of our “caveman” photos that Ray and I had been

prepping for for some time (hair way past the initial need for a haircut, beards with

several weeks of growth). We finally packed up and left our spot about mid-morning.

Our trail for the day would be the Tonto trail (aptly named as it winds along the length of

the canyon on the Tonto platform. It was steep immediately and we quickly got up high

above the river. We soon reached one of the most interesting spots of the trip, a plateau

that was strewn with extremely large rectangular boulders. We took another quick

couple of pictures there (trying Shawn’s patience, I think) and then kept moving. We

gradually climbed out of the Grand Canyon supergroup in the inner canyon and up onto

the Tonto platform. We passed the first (and probably most) scary part of the hike where

the trail edged along a cliff with a rocky overhang that pushed out over the trail. We had

to stoop or crawl along a loose rocky trail that tilted toward the large drop right next to

us. There was an option to climb up and over this spot but we all pushed forward and did

it the hard way. We finally reached the Tonto which is a beautiful green gentle slope that

is just above the inner canyon. It is visible from the rim but looks so small that it is hard

to appreciate its beauty from so far away. The green is created by a substantial amount

of blackbrush which grows in abundance due to the slope. We again passed the Great

Unconformity and reached the Tonto where we would spend the rest of the day and some

of the next. We stopped and had lunch, finishing the salmon and more of the cheese (our

favorite cheese of the trip was a hard cheese from France called Mimolette that would

last for several days and was delicious). We began a long traverse with the Colorado in

view for much of the day and finally reached Mineral Canyon. We left the river and

headed up the trail along Mineral Canyon. The drop at this point was incredible with

sheer rock walls straight down. The Tonto trail hugged the edge along these scary cliffs

(I remember wondering angrily why they hadn’t decided to build the trail about ten feet

further away from the cliff). The walk along this part of the trail was dizzying for me

and I had to look ahead and down at the trail or else my head would begin to swoon. I

worried I would just tip over and fall off the cliff. We walked along Mineral Canyon as

the cliffs became shorter and finally reached Hance Creek around 5:00. It was amazing

to think that this tiny stream had created the immensity of Mineral Canyon. The site at

Hance Creek had several other hikers and was the most people we had seen since leaving

the day before. We chose a nice site under a huge Cottonwood and next to Hance Creek.

The site itself was not very tarp friendly and we had some difficulty with set up. We had

the Bangers & Mash and black bean and corn for dinner (our first taste of the Packit

Gourmet, our new choice for freeze dried dinners). We enjoyed more of the tequila and

played pitch before heading to bed. We had a full moon that night and Ray and I decided

to sleep out from under the tarp. This proved to be the good choice as we had very high

winds that night blowing down Mineral Canyon and the tarp took a beating. The high

wind and our spot down in the canyon resulted in Hance Creek being one of the creepiest

sites we have ever stayed (and this was confirmed the next morning when we heard

Drew’s story).

Day Three

Hance Creek to Horseshoe Mesa (2 miles; 1280 feet ascent)

We woke up early to see the tarp laying on the ground and two mounds underneath. We

all had a difficult night of sleep due to the wind and tarp troubles. Drew related an

experience that occurred the night before as he was drifting off to sleep. He reportedly

heard a dead girl’s voice in the wind whisper “take me with you”. Drew said that he

nearly cried out for Shawn after he awoke. He did not, however, retreat to the comfort of

Shawn’s arms. The effects of the night were still with us and none of the rest of us gave

Drew a hard time and we quickly packed up and left the creek. We headed back up to the

Tonto for a short period of time (again, right next to the cliff) but then headed away from

the rim to climb up toward Horseshoe Mesa. We experienced a little rain and wind as we

crossed along the greenery of the Tonto platform and started a series of switchbacks up

toward a steep and narrow opening. About 2/3 of the way up we came upon Miner’s

(Page) Spring that was marked by a rusty wheelbarrow. This would be our last chance

for water until we left the next day and we filled up every last bottle and camelbak that

we had. The spring was a small, green pool of water that seemed to be dripping straight

out of the rock. There was a lot of vegetation surrounding the spring, including an

abundance of mint that must have been brought in by someone. I picked a lot of it

thinking that perhaps we could concoct a cocktail later that evening for the remainder of

our tequila. We spent a lot of time at the spring, drinking as much water as we could,

taking pictures, talking to the first (and only) cute girl we met along the trip, and

allowing me time to pull out a bunch of cactus spines that had become lodged in my leg.

After leaving the spring, we had a steep and nerve-wracking climb up the red wall along

a bunch of short switchbacks. It was touted in the book as being “intimidating” but it

was not quite as scary as other portions of the trail (or perhaps we were becoming more

accustomed to the challenge). We stopped to look at several abandoned mines along the

way and saw lots of small green pieces of copper strewn around in piles and outside the

entrance. One of the mines had a gate designed by Minesgate (see minesgate.com to

learn about construction of this particular gate and their bat-friendly products). We

finally climbed to the top of Horseshoe Mesa and were rewarded with spectacular views

of expanses of the Tonto and the inner canyon below and the steep walls surrounding us

to the rim. We seemed about halfway up (or down) and this was an excellent choice for

our last night. It was quite windy when we arrived and we spent some time locating the

campsites. We found an excellent spacious spot (after a lot of deliberation among the

choices). We avoided one as we found a tarantula sitting on a rock in the area where we

would be cooking and hanging out. We had our lunch of salami and cheese and set up

the tarp (a brief argument ensued about the proper tarp hanging method). We set up a

nice looking tarp (though the tarp was never used as we all slept out under the stars that

night). We took a walk out to the end of the west arm of Horseshoe Mesa that afternoon

and saw the very best views of the entire trip. The walk out to the far edge of the mesa

was a bit sketchy but did not thwart us. We spent a long time out there sitting on the

edge of the mesa (a moment that is burned into my memory and ranks high on my list of

specific moments on these annual trips). We stayed out there to watch the sun set over

the rim and then headed back to camp. We ate the remainder of our food (we judged

pretty well and left with fairly empty packs with the exception of some spicy thai nuts).

For dinner we had Tortilla soup and gumbo. I made a mixture of lime and mint to serve

as a chaser for the tequila (was only missing a little simple syrup to be perfect). As the

sky darkened we were treated with an absolutely amazing display of stars. The wind

died down though the temperature dipped drastically and we were all wrapped in our

sleeping bags fairly quickly. We were able to spot shooting stars, satellites, and the

cloudy mass of stars that is the Milky Way. This was another “moment” of the trip and I

was happy to have these great moments on our last night. Then, the full moon rose and

illuminated the sky causing the Milky Way and most of the stars to disappear but also

resulted in a sky so bright we again didn’t need our headlamps as we were wandering

around. We played our last rounds of Pitch and Ray and I were crowned champions of

the trip (we had been keeping track of the winning each night). Shawn introduced a new

game, Pluck, that was interesting and would be a nice replacement to Pitch for future

trips. Ray and I won that as well. We slept out under the bright moon and the

temperature dipped to very low. It was one of the coldest nights I have been out.

Day Four – Horseshoe Mesa – Grandview Point (3.2 miles; 2520 feet ascent)

We awoke to a crystal clear sky and a beautiful view of the sun slowly lighting up the

horizon. We again watched the sun’s light reflect off of the surrounding cliffs and then

come into view. We needed to ration our water supply just a bit as we didn’t want to

return to Miner’s Spring to fill up on water. Luckily, we had thought about this early on

and had plenty of water for coffee and breakfast and to get us up to Grandview point later

that day. We packed up camp but decided we had some time to explore the mesa. In the

middle of the mesa was a short but steep climb to a butte. We started climbing and

Shawn made it to the top and the rest of us climbed 2/3 of the way up and to an excellent

view. Drew, Ray and I had a deep “life” conversation that seems to be typical for our

third or fourth day in (prompting us to think that these trips should be a day or two longer

so we can get to this place in our minds that allows for such discussions). We spent

considerable time there taking in the views and talking before heading back to the site.

We spent some more time exploring the remnants of a stone house (Pete Berry’s) and

found lots of artifacts from the mining years strewn around the ground. There were rusty

cans, tools, and parts of equipment. We set up and took a bunch of pictures that would

become the core of this year’s holiday card (the outtakes are almost as good as the

planned shots). We finally hit the trail heading up, passing another mine and getting on

the Grandview trail. We ascended through the Supai group and other layers of the

canyon, this time having a much deeper understanding of the rocks and where they came

from. We killed the last few miles, getting to the top in about two hours. There was an

interesting part of the Grandview that was covered with cobblestones (also built by Pete

Berry) which helped the mules and wagons go to and from the mine. As we kept

climbing, our route came into view and we were able to locate spots such as Hance

Creek, where Hance Rapids would be, Red Canyon and the New Hance Trail. We

gradually began seeing more and more day hikers coming down and the last mile or so

was quite crowded. We received a heroes’ welcome as we arrived at the top and the

large crowd at Grandview point (it is amazing to think about how many people visit the

Grand Canyon and never step off the rim and see anything else). We were peppered with

questions by various groups and it took us a long time to get to the car. We took the

requisite pictures at the end (taken by a guy from Boston who was “honored” to snap the

shot – we also had to listen to a member of his party drone in an affect-less manner

(“What an accomplishment. This is a moment that you will remember for the rest of

your lives…(along with other blather)). Our beers were cold and still covered with ice,

though the temperature at the rim was quite cold so the beer might have stayed cold

without the use of the cooler. We drank several and blasted the Grand Canyon Mix as

we changed our clothes and got ready to depart. We stopped briefly at the Visitor’s

Center to buy some last minute gifts and souvenirs and then got on the road to Phoenix.

That evening, after a shower, we went out for southwestern fare at the Barrio Cantina

though it was clear we were pretty tired. The other event worthy of mention was the

creation of Drew’s local cable show “LaManna!” where he spouts off and complains

about daily problems in life. Regular lines would include “Are you kidding me?”, “What

were they thinking?”, “Come on!”, and the rare “What the fuck?!”. I crashed early and

three of us, Shawn, Drew, and I woke up at the crack of dawn to make early flights.

Another spectacular trip. These seem to just be getting better as we are choosing

amazing spots, are having successful trips, and our group has become fairly regular. We

are off to the Grand Tetons next year (we made our list while on the trail and voted

several weeks following our return).