Backpacking the Grand Canyon
Posted: Tue May 05, 2009 9:21 am
My friend Chris from Colorado Springs and I took our first trip to the Grand Canyon from April 26 to May 1. My food alone weighed 10 pounds and I carried 7 liters of water (two CamelBack bladders and a Nalgene bottle).
We descended the unmaintained Boucher (pronounced Boo-shay) Canyon trail and averaged a pace of less than 1 mile an hour. This was less a trail than general directions over boulders, wash-outs and steep terrain. Experienced Grand Canyon hikers we met all said the same thing: "You came DOWN Boucher?!"
Here's Chris:
and me:
and an example of Boucher:
Red Wall is a descent on Boucher that's more of a rock climb down the face of a cliff. Not much fun with a 50+ pound pack. Obviously, there was no opportunity for pictures of an area like that. But here's some of the gentler terrain and imagery of one of the most stunning places I've ever visited:
We camped just before the last difficult part of Boucher, then in the morning conquered that and headed over to Hermit Creek.
We were serenaded by this little guy and dozens of his friends.
Day 3 was off to Monument Creek, then the river at Granite Rapids.
I had to keep my bivy far from Chris and his snoring that rivaled a Grizzly!
We spent 2 nights at the river, and Chris caught 4 trout each night with a $13 pole from WalMart and lures. They were incredibly good after days of trail mix and freeze dried dinners. I brought some olive oil with garlic and oregano floating around in the bottle. We pan fried them with a jetboil system. Yum.
But on day 5 it was time to leave Granite Rapids behind to head for Hermit trail, our eventual exit point.
This is where we spent our last night, on the saddle of Lookout Point.
It was so windy that neither of us got much sleep. I think I winked out between 3 and 4 am. When I woke at 5:30, I got up and packed so we could just get the hell out of there. Running from my own stench and lack of sleep, we made the 5 miles and 2500 feet of elevation on Hermit Trail in 4 hours!
As tired and stinky as we were, it was a fantastic feeling of accomplishment to reach the rim after 6 days in the Canyon.
We descended the unmaintained Boucher (pronounced Boo-shay) Canyon trail and averaged a pace of less than 1 mile an hour. This was less a trail than general directions over boulders, wash-outs and steep terrain. Experienced Grand Canyon hikers we met all said the same thing: "You came DOWN Boucher?!"
Here's Chris:
and me:
and an example of Boucher:
Red Wall is a descent on Boucher that's more of a rock climb down the face of a cliff. Not much fun with a 50+ pound pack. Obviously, there was no opportunity for pictures of an area like that. But here's some of the gentler terrain and imagery of one of the most stunning places I've ever visited:
We camped just before the last difficult part of Boucher, then in the morning conquered that and headed over to Hermit Creek.
We were serenaded by this little guy and dozens of his friends.
Day 3 was off to Monument Creek, then the river at Granite Rapids.
I had to keep my bivy far from Chris and his snoring that rivaled a Grizzly!
We spent 2 nights at the river, and Chris caught 4 trout each night with a $13 pole from WalMart and lures. They were incredibly good after days of trail mix and freeze dried dinners. I brought some olive oil with garlic and oregano floating around in the bottle. We pan fried them with a jetboil system. Yum.
But on day 5 it was time to leave Granite Rapids behind to head for Hermit trail, our eventual exit point.
This is where we spent our last night, on the saddle of Lookout Point.
It was so windy that neither of us got much sleep. I think I winked out between 3 and 4 am. When I woke at 5:30, I got up and packed so we could just get the hell out of there. Running from my own stench and lack of sleep, we made the 5 miles and 2500 feet of elevation on Hermit Trail in 4 hours!
As tired and stinky as we were, it was a fantastic feeling of accomplishment to reach the rim after 6 days in the Canyon.
.
Makes any water yummy!