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trips - Grand Canyon Thang 2008Trip Info
DescriptionWARNING This is a very difficult and strenuous hike. Do not underestimate the effects of the rough terrain as the Tonto zigs and zags up, down and around drainages and canyons. There is a lot of demanding Class-3 scrambling involved and if you do not know what this means you should not be doing it. Some portions involve significant exposure (you could easily fall a great distance). Also, the run from South Bass to the Boucher Trail is a long potentially dry 30 miles with NO (none, zip, nada) bailout routes to the rim. This trip would probably work well with 2 or 3 days added to it as some of the segments are very physically demanding. As if this was not enough, water sources are ALL seasonal and not guaranteed and most will give you the runs. HIKING IN THE GRAND CANYON CAN BE DANGEROUS: Hiking in the Grand Canyon can be inherently dangerous and the risk of death or serious injury can never be completely eliminated. It is up to each individual to make his or her own choices regarding acceptable risk. By signing up and/or attending this trip or using this trip plan for your own trip you acknowledge that you recognize these risks and are prepared to be responsible for your own safety. THIS TRIP IS FULL. DO NOT SIGN UP UNLESS YOU HAVE BEEN INVITED BY THE TRIP ORGANIZER. THE TRIP IS LIMITED TO 5 HIKERS. IF YOU HAVE NOT BEEN CONFIRMED AS A MEMBER OF THE CREW BY THE TRIP ORGANIZER YOU ARE NOT HIKING ON THE PERMIT. DO NOT SIGN UP FOR THIS TRIP IF YOU HAVE NOT BEEN CONFIRMED BY THE TRIP ORGANIZER. Permit: I have applied for and received a permit for this trip for five (5) hikers. IMPORTANT: You should not purchase airline tickets until I have the permit in hand and confirm you are hiking on this trip. Itinerary for 7 days/6 nights: Arrivals in Phoenix: No later than 2pm on March 8th. Departures from Phoenix: No earlier than March 16th (Sunday). Lodging: March 8th: Plan to stay in the Maswik Lodge in Grand Canyon Village. March 9th-14th: Backpack camping per permit March 15th: Hotel close to airport in Phoenix. Route: DAY 1 = MARCH 9, 2007 (Sunday) DAY 7 = MARCH 15, 2007 (Saturday) WE WILL BE GETTING A VERY EARLY START ON THE FIRST DAY AS WE HAVE TO STAGE A SHUTTLE * Day 1: South Bass Trailhead to Tonto Platform (~6-8 miles) * Day 2: Tonto Platform to Garnet Canyon (the start of the Tonto Trail!) (~8 miles) * Day 3: Dayhike to Elves Chasm (~6 miles out and back, ~3 hours each way) * Day 4: Garnet Canyon to Serpentine Canyon (~12 miles) * Day 5: Serpentine Canyon to Turquoise Canyon(~11 miles) * Day 6: Turquoise Canyon to Boucher Creek (~14 mile) * Day 7: Boucher Creek to Hermits Rest Trailhead via Boucher/Dripping Springs/Hermit Trail (~9.5 miles up and out but much of the gain is at the start and end of the mileage) Note: We will be outside the "No Fly Zone" for pretty much the entire trip so expect to see and hear aircraft during the week esp near the end at Boucher Creek. Camping Zones: Nights 1-3: Zone BR9 (Garnet Zone, Primitive, At Large Camping) Night 4: Zone BP9 (Ruby Zone, Primitive, At Large Camping) Night 5: Zone BO9 (Slate Zone, Primitive, At Large Camping) Night 6: Zone BN9 (Boucher Zone, Primitive, At Large Camping) Primitive: This type of trail is recommended for highly experienced Grand Canyon hikers only. There is a low density of hikers with very limited establishment. There are no structures and all the trails and routes are unmaintained and there is very little water present Cache Strategy: At the intersection of the South Bass Trail and the Tonto Trail we will be setting up a food and water cache. This way we don't have to carry 6 days of food and water out to Garnet Canyon and back. So you will need to have your food broken up into two separate varmit proof packages. Food Bag #1: Food for days 1, 2, 3, 4. Food Bag #2: Food for days 5, 6, 7. Note: Day 7 is the hike out and most people don't have any food other than snacks on day 7. Technically you could split the food for day 4 between Bag #1 and Bag #2 (breakfast in Bag #1 and lunch + dinner in Bag #2) but this is up to you. You will also need a bladder or bottle to hold 4 liters of water. You can carry more if you wish. This is in addition to your normal gear for carrying water. You can either carry the water down the South Bass Trail and deposit it at the cache or you can carry it to Garnet Canyon, fill it up during our time there, and carry it out on day 4. It could take quite a while to hide our food/water cache. We don't want to underestimate how long this will take to stage the cache. I'll have my GPS with me so we can record the cache location but we should also make notes on paper as to how we can find it as a backup. Ratsacks are outstanding and you will need two (2) size medium (1800 ci) bags for this trip. They can be purchased at http://armoredoutdoorgear.com and are $34 each. They do sell these at the Grand Canyon store but we won't have time to stop at this store so PLEASE purchase these in advance for your food. Also, I recommend purchasing Aloksak bags to store your food in. These are an odor barrier. At the very least get a really large one to pack your cache food in. 3 bags sized 12.5" x 20" costs under 13 dollars: Watchful Eye Designs O.P. Sak 12.5 x 20 inch (3 Pack) Aloksak bags are also carried by REI now. They work well at containing food odors. Recommended Gear: * Gloves: Sections of the trail will be made of sharp limestone and use of your hands may be required during some scrambles. * Instep Crampons: It is possible it could snow on the South Rim making the ascent/decent difficult. * Water Containers: Enough for several days. Some for a cache and some to carry. * Rat Sack: Protection for your food. These are highly recommended. Water: We will need to cache water at two points: First in the vehicle at the trailhead for when we hike out. Second at the junction of South Bass Trail and the Tonto Trail. This table is where water will be during the course of the entire day. * Day 1: No water. Establish water cache * Day 2: Probable water in Garnet Canyon or pools just prior to Garnet. * Day 3: Probable water in Garnet Canyon, Water at Elves Chasm (end of dayhike) or pools just before Garnet. * Day 4: Probable water in Garnet Canyon or pools before Garnet, Probable water in Serpentine Canyon * Day 5: Probable water in Serpentine Canyon, Turquoise Canyon * Day 6: Good water at Boucher Creek * Day 7: Good water at Boucher Creek Emergency Water Access: We need to be aware of how to safely get to reliable water in case we run out and/or have an emergency. * Day 1: Colorado River (Bass Rapids) via South Bass Trail * Day 2: Colorado River (Bass Rapids) via Tonto Trail Shortcut * Day 3: Elves Chasm or pools before Garnet * Day 4: Colorado River (Bass Rapids) via South Bass Trail or pools before Garnet * Day 5: Possible Colorado River Access * Day 6: Good water at Boucher Creek * Day 7: Good water at Boucher Creek otherwise no water on hike out. Water Source Notes: The water we find could give you a bad case of the runs, esp the water in Serpentine which we have been warned about. Imodium seems to be a lifesaver but sticking to "good" water sources such as cached water or rainpools is a good idea. We found the water West of Turquoise to be a problem but Turquoise on East was pretty good. Slate Creek: Water at places above the Tonto Trail. One can get down into the lower bed at two places from the east side and walk to the river. Ruby: Rainpools near the Tonto Trail in wet seasons. Serpentine: One can get down to the river through Serpentine or the canyon just to the east, or through both. Bass: Wet season source at Bedrock Tanks. One can reach the river by leaving the bed above the last drop and going to the west. Copper Canyon: Rainpools in the Archean and in the vertical mine shaft at the Bass Copper Mine. This can be reached by a spur trail from the east off the Tonto and also from the west side of the canyon. Garnet: Rainpools West of Garnet, but you can reach the river a little to the southwest of the mouth of Garnet. Trailhead Directions: A local TTer will be driving us the trailhead in our rental truck. They will then return the truck to the parking lot at Hermit's Rest where it will wait for our arrival on the 15th. Trailhead access could be difficult. In good, dry weather it will not be a problem. In wet/snowy conditions it could be a major problem. Pasture Wash Road is basically a deeply rutted two-track. If we can't drive to the trailhead we will hike the 3.6 miles from Pasture Wash Ranger Station (closed) to the South Bass trailhead. It's flat terrain so it should go by pretty quickly. Directions from South Entrance Station: Drive southward on Highways 64/180 approximately 1 mile to Forest Service Road 328. Turn right on 328, which is Rowe Well Road. Follow Rowe Well Road approximately 5.5 miles to an intersection with a road leading southwestward from Bright Angel Wash. Turn left (south) on this road and drive less than one mile to a junction with Forest Road 328. Turn right (west) on this road and drive approximately 17 miles to Forest Road 2515, which is Pasture Wash Road. Turn right on this road and travel four miles to the Pasture Wash Ranger Station, which is closed. Continue past this structure along 2515 four miles to the trailhead. This road is often impassable after summer rain, winter snow or during spring thaw. Check conditions at a South Kaibab Ranger Station before attempting to reach this trailhead. Elevations: Rim - 6860' Colorado River - 2760' Weather: Day 1 and Day 6: On the North 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 5: 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 9th, 2008 (MST): Sun Begin civil twilight 6:32 a.m. Sunrise 6:58 a.m. Sun transit 12:41 p.m. Sunset 6:24 p.m. End civil twilight 6:50 p.m. Moon Moonset 11:27 a.m. on preceding day Moonrise 3:03 a.m. Moon transit 7:41 a.m. Moonset 12:19 p.m. Moonrise 3:52 a.m. on following day Lunar Illumination Day 1: 29% Day 2: 20% Day 3: 13% Day 4: 7% Day 5: 2% Day 6: 0% 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. 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. Map: TBD Trip Report: Here is a great trip report of a trip that is similar to ours. Trail Notes: South Bass Trail Cool Photos  Bass' Overhang Camp  Elves Chasm
 = Yes,  = Maybe
Trip Attendees
Picture Albums Grand Canyon Thang 2008 (161 pics) - Yogisan
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