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trips - Grand Canyon Thang Part IITrip Info
DescriptionThis is a follow-up hike to the Crash! Bang! Grand Canyon Thang! Trip of '06.. I have the permit in hand! The permit number is ##-##### good for 6 hikers. We will all be staying at the Maswik on the 2nd. Paige and prosecutor have reserved rooms on their own. Baume66, oldog, Crash! Bang, and I will split two rooms between the four of us. I have reserved a 7 passenger minivan for the group. The cost is $###.## for the 1st through the 9th. It's a "Ford Uplander or similar" whatever "similar" means. Booking is at Alamo and the reservation number is #########. My personal auto insurance covers rental cars so we don't need the optional insurance. Also, if I pay for the van with my REI Visa then I have coverage for the rental this way as well (not that it is good/better coverage but it is what it is...) Friday night dinner: I suggest we eat at the Bright Angel Restaurant. We ate there last year and I thought the food was quite good. They do not take reservations but we didn't need them last year. They do have a waiting list and there is a nice bar outside the restaurant. So I am thinking when we arrive at the Grand Canyon we stop and get on the waitlist (if needed). Then we return for dinner and drinks at our appointed time. This route does NOT require that a shuttle be staged, however we will stage a shuttle as a matter of convenience. We will have the rented minivan and also Paige will be driving to the Grand Canyon. We will stage one vehicle near the Bright Angel trailhead (the backcountry office is an option) for use on our exit from the park. The other vehicle will be used to drive hikers to the Kaibab trailhead on Saturday morning. This is great news (thanks Paige!) since it removes the necessity for an early morning departure to catch the shuttle bus to the Kaibab trailhead. Itinerary for 7 days/6 nights DAY 1 = MARCH 3, 2007 (Saturday) DAY 7 = MARCH 9, 2007 (Friday) * Day 1: South Kaibab Trailhead to Bright Angel Campground, -4260' elevation, ~6.9 miles going DOWN FROM RIM (Picture of Bright Angel Campground) * Day 2: Bright Angel Campground to Clear Creek, +1000' elevation, ~9.4 miles * Day 3: Dayhike downstream along Clear Creek to Colorado River, -1200'/+1200' elevation, ~12 miles round-trip (Picture of Confluence of Clear Creek and the Colorado River) * Day 4: Dayhike upstream along Clear Creek and try to find Cheyava Falls, the highest waterfall in the Grand Canyon. It is located up the northeast arm of Clear Creek just north of Honan Point, +1000'/-1000' elevation, ~10 miles round-trip (Picture of Cheyava Falls) * Day 5: Clear Creek to Bright Angel Campground, -1000' elevation, ~9.4 miles * Day 6: Bright Angel Campground to Indian Garden, +1000' elevation, ~4 miles * Day 7: Indian Garden to Bright Angel Trailhead, +3060' elevation, ~5 miles going UP TO RIM Cheeseburger time! Logistics: I will be arriving on 1-March and spending the night in a Las Vegas hotel. I'll arrange to visit the local REI and pick up anything people might need (stove fuel/etc) to save us time. I'll be departing for the Grand Canyon on the 2nd of March and planning to overnight at the Maswik lodge. Hiking starts the morning of the 3rd after we stage the shuttle vehicle. There is no rush in the morning. We have all day to hike the 7 miles to Bright Angel Campground/Phantom Ranch. Elevations: Rim - 6860' Bright Angel Campground - 2600' (4260' below rim) Clear Creek Campsite - 3600' (1000' above Bright Angel Campground) Colorado River - 2400' (1200' below Clear Creek Campsite) Base of Cheyava Falls - 4600' (1000' above Clear Creek Campsite) Indian Garden Campground - 3800' (200' above Clear Creek Campsite, 3060' below rim) Weather: Day 1 and Day 7: On the South Rim in March, 1.32" of precipitation (rain/ice/snow) is average, high average temp is 50 degrees, low average temp is 22 degrees. Day 2 - Day 6: In the Inner Canyon in March, .79" of precipitation (rain) is average, high average temp is 71 degrees, low average temp is 48 degrees. The guide says 58-38 at night is typical. Message: Be prepared for a wide range of weather! Current Weather in the Grand Canyon Sun and Moon data for March 4th, 2007 (MST): Sun Begin civil twilight 6:31 a.m. Sunrise 6:56 a.m. Sun transit 12:40 p.m. Sunset 6:25 p.m. End civil twilight 6:51 p.m. Moon Moonrise 5:27 p.m. on preceding day Moon transit 12:14 a.m. Moonset 6:52 a.m. Moonrise 6:26 p.m. Moonset 7:14 a.m. on following day Lunar Illumination Day 1: 100% (full) Day 2: 98% Day 3: 95% Day 4: 90% Day 5: 84% Day 6: 76% Day 7: 67% Reference Material: Hiking the Grand Canyon, ISBN 0871565897 - I used this as my reference for the hike last year and I thought it was a pretty good book. Lots of good reading but generally stuff I knew already. The routes were well described but it was a quick read and I never really used the book again. Hiking Grand Canyon National Park, ISBN 0762736577 - This is a great book and describes the trails and scenery in great detail. It's a Falcon Guide book. These all tend to be pretty good. The first 76 pages are really good reading. Then it talks about all the different trails in great detail. A very nice map, ISBN 0966550846 - This is a really great map. I have it and plan to bring it on this trip. It provides great detail but is easy to read. It's clearly made for a hiker. It's printed on plastic paper. It is a true "trail" map. Mindbird Maps & Books also has the above map and many others to choose from. The National Geographic/Trails Illustrated Grand Canyon National Park can be purchased from Mindbird Maps & Books as well as other vendors. I bought this map at the a park gift shop last year however I never needed it. Still, as far as maps go I would rather have one and not need it than need one and not have it. The GRAND CANYON Explorer web site is an excellent reference. You could spend hours here reading about the canyon on trip reports from other hikers. I selected a few key links (below) for the trails we would be hiking on. South Kaibab Trail Bright Angel Campground Clear Creek Trail Bright Angel Trail Indian Garden Campground A good Trip Report on the hike from Clear Creek to the Colorado River A good Trip Report on the hike from Clear Creek to Cheyava Falls Map:  High Resolution Version of Above Map (1.5MB, does NOT open new window) Save this to your desktop and open with Paint, PowerPoint, MS Office Picture Manager, etc. Note: Internet Explorer will shrink the image to fit your browser unless you tell it to expand it to original size. View at 100% full scale to see all the details. Map covers the entire region of the trip in 1:25,000 scale. Cheyava Falls can easily be seen in the top-right portion of the map. Bright Angel Campground, Indian Garden Campground, and Clear Creek Trail can also easily be identified. Images: Some pictures of what the area we will be hiking will look like (from the albums of other hikers).  Current View from Yavapai Point Webcam on the South Rim. Trail Notes: South Kaibab Trail - The trail begins on the South Rim near Yaki Point, and descends to the Colorado River. Elevation change from rim to river is 4620 ft, along a 6 mile trail. There is no water available and little shade on this trail. Most people hike down the Kaibab and up the Bright Angel. River Trail - The trail has little elevation variation and follows the Colorado River for 1.7 miles between the Bright Angel and South Kaibab trails. The Kaibab Suspension Bridge and the Silver Bridge permit access to the north side of the Colorado River, Bright Angel Campground, and Phantom Ranch. Bright Angel Trail - First constructed in 1891, the trail begins on the South Rim just west of Kolb Studio, behind the Bright Angel Lodge and descends to the Colorado River via Indian Garden. Elevation change from rim to river is 4420 ft, along the 9.5 mile trail to Bright Angel Campground at the River. Usually there is water at the 1.5 Mile Rest House and the 3 Mile Rest House. There is a campground and water at Indian Garden. Clear Creek Trail - Clear Creek Trail It is 8.7 miles to Clear Creek from Phantom Ranch. The trail was build by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1933 and is easy to follow. Clear Creek has a good perennial flow. Access down creek is to the Colorado River, and up creek to Cheyava Falls (when flowing in the spring). There is no water between Phantom Ranch and Clear Creek.
 = Yes,  = Maybe
Trip Attendees
Picture Albums grand canyon 07 (1 pics) - baume 66Grand Canyon Thang II (14 pics) - Jimmy sanTrip Photos from Jimmy (173 pics) - Jimmy sanOldogs Grand Canyon Thang 2 (0 pics) - oldogoldogs Grand Canyon Thang 2 (0 pics) - oldogoldogs Grand Canyon Thang 2 (0 pics) - oldog
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