Grand Canyon - December 2002

*Disclaimer: I have recent been reading and viewing way too much Tolkein; thus, this trip report will be our Epic Adventure to the Grand Canyon, Tolkien style.

Day 1: The Journey East

Before the day had dawned on Saturday the 14th of December the travelers were on the road. At 6:30 am we met in the parking structure near Mudd Chemistry and pack our gear into three cars. Nine we were that morning, Patience, Alby, Ben, Hannah, Lauren, Mark, Neil and trip leaders Dave and Maddie. Michael and Daniel had gone before us to scout a safe path and claim a camping spot.

It was a long road, first south down the 101, crossing over the 152, battling stopped traffic and garlic stench we were forced to turn back and find another road, finally making it to the 5 South. From there we crossed the southern reaches of the Sierra Nevada, went through the Mojave Desert and across the Colorado River to Arizona. We finally arrived at the Canyon just after nightfall, around 8:30 pm Arizona time. Our total travel time including two long meal breaks, just under 13 hours.

We found the campground deserted, pick the nearest campsite and after setting up tents went for a moonlit walk and our first view of the Canyon. We marveled at the large black hole in the ground that we could not see much of, and then we went back to sleep. Luckily it was a warm night because of the cloud cover and we slept well. We were only awakened once by the coming of our last car, Hannah and Lauren, who had had battery troubles in the town of Needles.

Day 2: The Treacherous Descent

Again we awoke with the sun and gathered our belongings. We picked up some maps at the general store, discussed our plans and the weather report (which was looking threatening) with the ranger. We had made the following plan:

Sunday: Grandview (7,400 ft) to Grapevine Spring (3,800) ft, distance: 10 miles.
Monday: Grapevine Spring to Lonetree Canyon, distance: 9.3 miles.
Tuesday: Lonetree Canyon to Bright Angel Campground (2,546 ft), distance: 8.5 miles
Wednesday: Dayhiking and frolicking at Bright Angel Campground
Thursday: Bright Angel Campground (2,546 ft) to the Rim (6,860 ft) via the Bright Angel Trail, distance: 9.6 miles.

We left one car at the Bright Angel trailhead and crammed all 11 of us plus gear into the remaining three cars for the drive to Grandview Trailhead. Here we took lots of pictures and did lots of stretching before starting our descent into the canyon.

The trail was steep, and the switchbacks were many. The top still had patches of ice. Down and down we went on shaky legs towards the Horseshoe Mesa. Then fate struck as one after the other member of the group had their falls. None ended in more than a scratched knee, and we continued on, going ever downward.

We reached Horseshoe Mesa around 2 pm and broke for lunch. Delicious and heavy fare such as summer sausage, turkey, cheese, and cranberry jam was had. After lunch we reached the most treacherous part of the descent: a set of switchbacks dropping 1,200 ft feet over one mile. We scrambled on, calling "rock" as our uncertain footing sent small rocks tumbling to those already below. Finally, we reached the valley floor and joined the Tonto trail on which we would stay for the next three days. This was not yet floor of the Canyon itself, still about 3,800 ft. above sea level.

After reaching Cottonwood Creek at around 3 pm and finding no water we decided to press on to our originally planned camp area of Grapevine. The trail wove along the edge of the mid-canyon floor giving us spectacular views of the Colorado River and also the Canyon floor more than a thousand feet below us. As we walked in the coming dusk we mused on why the trail makers had to have the trail run right along the edge of the ravine instead of being at a pleasant distance away from the edge. With the dusk growing heavy about us we finally came around the bend to find a small oasis in the desert. Instead of gray shrubs and cacti we saw real green trees and bushes. We had found water and a place for the night.

Some of us busied with finding flat ground of the tents while others prepared water for the cooking. We were forced to set up tents at two different sites because of the lack of a good common flat space. Dinner and rest were well deserved and well appreciated that night. Our group cooked burritos with chicken, beans, tomatoes, onions, red peppers, cheese, and salsa. The other cook groups cooked less elaborate, but faster prepared meals. We packed our good smelling food into Ursacks and took the rest into our tents (not something to try in bear country! But here we were only afraid of small rodents). We took scant notice of the wind howling in the night as we all passed out to sleep. We were so tired from the past days traveling that we did not rouse until 8:30 am, well after the sunrise.

Day 3: A Long March

We cooked a breakfast of non other than oatmeal. Though our well-seasoned trip leader Dave had brought sticks of butter, and we melted some of this into our oatmeal (and into the rest of the food we made on the trip for that matter) and it was good.

We were slow in getting camp together and departed around 11 am. At this point we were less than halfway into the Grapevine Canyon. And the trail proved no less treacherous than the night before (that is when we found the trail at around 11:30 am). We wound our way slowly and cautiously into this side canyon and then back around the other side, finally finding ourselves directly across from where we had camped the night before, after a few hours of hiking.

From here Neil led the hike at a brisk pace not allowing dallying for fear of the coming nightfall and storm. We ate lunch out in the main part of the canyon, with a grand view to the West and the East, and then we hurried on. Luckily the trail strayed away from the Canyon edge and we were much happier in our afternoon march. Practically galloping through Boulder Canyon, we reached our night's destination of Lone Tree Canyon just after 4 pm.

We quickly set up tents and started preparing dinner as we saw storm clouds gathering in the North. On the menu for tonight were pasta shells with squashed tomatoes (that's what happens when you sit on your pack), mushrooms, onions, dry pasta sauce, and cheese. The appetizer: hunks of summer sausage and gummy bears. As the first drops of rain started to fall we quickly packed up our food and stoves, hid them under a convenient out cropping of the rock and retired to our tents.

Camp activities that night included: playing spades, reading from the Two Towers, and telling stories of past Redwood trips where a trip leader and tent had been blown of a mountain (just to scare the newbies a little). That night the wind howled and the rain beat down. And I must apologize to those that my stories did scare. No tents were blown off the canyon edge (which we were happily far away from), though we did have part of one tent fly away from us as we were packing up the next morning.

Day 4: Return to Civilization

Disgusted by our laziness and slowness the previous morning we were up at 7:30 this morning rejoicing to see some clear blue sky far off to the south. As the wind buffeted us, we quickly had our instant oatmeal, packed up our tents, and set off, leaving camp at a record time of 9:30 am. A time we would not beat until the last day of our journey.

Our day was marked by small sprinklings of rain from time to time, but as the winds blew towards the north they pushed the clouds past us and we were rewarded with a little morning sunshine. Forward we went, still along the Tonto trail, up a thousand feet from the canyon floor. As we passed through various side canyons, the largest of which was Cremation, we found ourselves going constantly up and down by a few hundred feet. Ever sliding downward towards a dry creek bed and marching back up on the other side.

At our prelunch break two rare and different sights rewarded us: first, we were again at the rim of the Canyon and high enough to see clearly both to the East and West. Second, we saw people for the first time in almost three days. As we looked up towards the Canyon Rim we saw the thin line of the South Kaibab trail cutting across the rock, and on it, small dark specs moving ever downwards. Within a half an hour we found ourselves at The Tipoff, where the Tonto Trail meets the South Kaibab trail. Here such luxuries as a chemical toilet and a solar powered emergency phone where found.

As we lunched we were happened upon by the same people we had seen coming down the South Kaibab trail away up in the distance. They proposed to cross the miles we had just crossed, but in the opposite direction and maybe even further. They brought us tidings from the world above. Snowfall and harsh weather they warned of, with temperatures in the low twenties. We believed them noting their down North Face parkas and wool hats.

From here our path changed from a thin, often unmarked, single-track trail, to the civilized, bordered South Kaibab, almost a road to our eyes. The Canyon once again opened before us and we gazed in wonder (and took lots of pictures) at the rocks, cliffs, and river below.

Hannah and Lauren, being expert geologists, told us about how in the metamorphic rock veins of different minerals form, because as the rock is subject to great heat and pressure, the individual minerals types migrate towards each other and can only crystallize with each other making solid bands of one color and type of crystal. Down and down we sprung eagerly, and made it to the black bridge by 3 pm. To cross the bridge we were first force to pass through a lightless thought not very long, stone tunnel.

On the other side we saw for the second time an oasis of cottonwood trees, green grasses, and the beautifully clear and bubbling Bright Angel Stream. On we marched the long way around to a bridge that led to the other side of the stream, and all the way back to the campsites. Half our group was a little more quick-witted, or a little more devious and crossed at an earlier, closer place, and got a talking-to from the ranger who caught them.

Just as we were reaching camp, the weather turned threatening again. Luckily the camp had large three sided, roofed shelters where we could pitch out gear and pitch ourselves after longs days of walking in the wild. We cooled our feet in the Bright Angel Creek and then dined on butter-fried salmon (from a can of course) and multi-flavored couscous.

During dinner and throughout the night a very friendly guest visited us. It was a ringtail. A ringtail is an animal that weights only 3 pounds, but looks like a small cat because of a huge amount of black and white fur. As the name suggests it has black and white bands on its tail.

That night we took advantage of the built shelters, and also of the fact that we did not have to get up early the next morning, and played several rounds of Mafia. This involved lots of good and lots of very bad logic, as you can guess if you have ever played Mafia, and always involved the trip leaders, Dave and I, getting killed near the beginning. Come on guys! We didn't plan such a bad trip did we?

Day 5: Exploring the Canyon Base

After a lunch of sausage and cheese quesadillas, the group took a trip up Phantom Canyon. This was the canyon cut out by a tributary of the Bright Angel Creek, with lots of boulders, a pretty waterfall, and even a dry cave behind the waterfall. We scrambled up the creek for a while, and Michael and Neil even did some fairly impressive traverses along a wet rock wall. But the canyon seemed to go up endlessly, and the sprinkling of rain turned to a pretty heavy shower, so we turned back. On our way back, we even got a bit of hail. The hailstones made quite a sight lying upon cacti by our route, especially once the clouds cleared and the sun glistened on the fallen hail.

The group was not to be discouraged; after coming back, Neil suggested a swim. After all, there was no ice in the water, so how cold could it really be in the middle of winter? First, the brave five jogged down to the banks of the Colorado River where we chanced to exchange words with the valiant boatmen of the Colorado unloading their cargo. They deemed that it was safe for us to swim in the eddies by the beach, as there was not much current there.

So, led boldly, by trip leader Maddie, Neil, Michael, Daniel, and Alby crashed into the water. As I later learned, to many cheers from the river men, for it appears that it is not often that they see bare maidens swimming in the winter river waters (no pictures please!). After making a brief stint to pose for a post-swimming picture, our party traveled back to the crisp flowing Bright Angel Stream to cleanse ourselves of the murky Colorado River water. To our delight, the Bright Angel was even colder than the Colorado, since its sources lie high in the North Rim. Here it was the time of the other ranger to chuckle at our juvenile enthusiasm and remind us that this was a "family campground" (oh well).

Upon emerging clean and refreshed from the waters of the Bright Angel we happened upon fellow Stanford Travelers. A band of seven comprising of Stanford and UCLA students we met upon the banks. Some very know to us through Redwood gear rental rituals and the social dances. They invited us to partake in an evening of bridge playing at the local cantina.

While we went cold and tired many a night, I can say that we never went hungry, and this night was no exception. The meal of the evening was soup, of various types and flavors. We improved upon bean soup by adding canned chicken and cheese and it turned out as a hardy meal that warmed our souls. To this we added mashed potatoes, and of course, sausage.

After clearing dinner, and setting a watch (for fear the dreading ring tail would attempt another sneak attack by night), four of us headed to the cantina. There we were met by many jolly fellows drinking pints and singing songs. Upon our arrival they were singing Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here, in tune with a fellow guitarist.

We're just two lost souls
swimming in a fish bowl
year after year
wish you were here.
Running over the same old ground,
What have we found
The same old fears,
Wish you were here.

As the night progressed and the innkeeper poured more ale, the singing became more and more lively until the songs were quite off key and unrecognizable, but still entertaining. Here we finally had a chance to send word to those not in our party. Our tiding went out on postcard, delivered by mule, from the bottom of the canyon. And then the games began. We played bridge of course, as any self-respecting Stanford student would.

Day 6: Out of the Canyon

The last day proved the earliest start, waking at 6:30 am before the sun. We gathered up camp, said our last farewells, and began the killer ascent at 8:30 am. To our dismay, we saw several groups of people leave before us that morning. However, we caught up with, and passed all of them on the trail. Along the Colorado and then up the Bright Angel Trail, criss-crossing the … stream until we reached the first set of switchbacks: the Devil's Corkscrew. Here we pushed the pace so hard that we were down to pants and a t-shirt in the middle of winter, no less!

We were planning on having lunch at Indian Gardens (the half way point in terms of miles, approx. 5 miles, but only one third of the total elevation gain). However, we breezed through Indian Gardens at around 11 am and only stopped for a quick snack and to feel sorry for the cold and miserable people on mule-back.

After this point we split into two groups, one going at a full trot up to Canyon, scouting the territory ahead, while the other went at a slower pace, watching the rear and getting great views of the Canyon at its different levels. As we reached the upper switchbacks the weather started getting positively frigid, and at ever water or snack break we donned more layers.

The first group made it out of the canyon in time to have lunch in the restaurant at the top, making a record time of 1:15 pm. Those of us bring up the rear, had a very frosty lunch at about one and a half miles from the top. We barely stopped from 15 minutes before we had to start dancing disco and hip-hop (as talents lay) to keep ourselves from freezing into people-cicles.

On our way up we ran into a man that needed help, and between helping him and waiting for the paramedics, we did not reach the top until nearly 4 pm. Another of the many, many "medicals" that happens all the time in the canyon. A warning to us all to always come well prepared and not attempt journeys beyond our technical know-how or physical endurance.

From here we quickly car shuttled while the others waited inside the lodge (always a good idea to have a warm place to wait!), and then we ate dinner at the lodge. Only two more adventures were to befall us that night. We decided to drive until about midnight and find a motel for the night. During the drive, a herd of elk suddenly jumped in front of my car during at 65 mph stretch of highway. Luckily, slamming on the brakes, I managed to swerve and stop in time to not hit them, but it sure woke up everyone in my car. Lastly, we found a nice motel in Needles, and stayed college style (5 to a room). The best part was that they had a Jacuzzi and a pool. We switched between soaking in the Jacuzzi and jumping in and out of the frigid pool. I guess we are just sadist when it comes to cold water!

Day 7: The Journey Home

The rest of the journey home was mostly uneventful. We drove, drove and drove some more. We finished listening to The Hobbit on CD, and moved on the discussing philosophy and bioethics. Braving rain and darkness we made it to the bay area around 7 pm. And so ends our adventures!

See you on the trail!

Maddie and Dave