February Escape

I was walking on base in mid January when this long haired, unshaven dude pulls up to me in his hot black Toyota Corrola and asks if I want a ride.  Its Mr. J.  As we talk, we discover that we're both anxious to get to the outdoors again.  Mr. J and I worked in the same office for several years and discovered that we both have the same dislikes - sitting in the office all day long.

It doesn't help matters that we each had screen savers on our computers of our hike down the Grand Canyon in Oct 2008.  What are doing on President's Day weekend?  Uh - I don't know - what are you doing?  Uh - I don't know.  Say - do you think we can get permits for the Grand Canyon?

With a little bit of hustling and negotiation with the GC Park Service, we got our permits.  We'll leave Ogden at 3:30 a.m on Feb 11, drive to Grandview Point, and hike down to Cottonwood Mesa.  On Feb 15, we'll hike out on the Kaibab Trail, figure out a way to get back to our car and then drive home. 

Day 1:   Things worked out pretty much as planned.  We left on time and got to the East Entrance at noon.  After a quick lunch and packing up some things, we drove on to the Grandview Trailhead where we made the final adjustments and started down.  The trail was snow covered, but someone had been up the trail within the past 24 hours, so route finding was not a problem.  By the time we dropped 2000 feet, the snow was pretty well gone.

We spent a windy night at Horseshoe Mesa.  The temps were in the 20's and 30's.  Last October when we camped here, the temps were in the 70's and 80s.

Day 2:  It got a bit cold last night, my water valve had froze and there was ice in our pot.  Breakfast this a.m. consisted of oatmeal, raisens, and apple slices.  did I mention how much I hate oatmeal.  I was raised on the stuff.  The only time I eat it now is when I'm on these backpacking trips.  The raisens and apple slices make it tolerable. We were on the trail by 9:00 a.m. and made a quick trip down to Cottonwood Creek where we replenished our water supplies.

Today's hike will take us from Horseshoe Mesa to Lone Tree in the Cremation use area.  It will be about a 15 mile hike.  I don't recommend it in the summer time due to the heat.  In fact, this is one of the items I had to discuss with the park service.  They wanted assurance that I knew what I was doing.  However, I picked out this segment of the Tonto trail for a February hike because I knew the temps would be reasonable.  The days are actually pretty short, the hike is moderately long, but fairly flat and 15 miles with out the heat factor is reasonable.  This time of year means that water is also available.  During the summer heat, some of the streams will be dried up.

Grapevine lived up to its description.  It took us 3 hours to traverse it with a 20 minute stop for lunch and several short stops for pictures.  There was a little bit of water in one of the fingers of the drainage, but I suspect it doesn't exist during the hotter months.

We arrived at our Lone Tree campsite just before 6:00 p.m.   By 7 p.m. dinner was done, the camp was a set up and it was time to enjoy the evening.  The stars were totally amazing.  You don't get this type of night time view in the Salt Lake valley.  There was no wind and the temps were comfortable - probably 40 - 45 degrees.  We saw a few head of deer today, but  no hikers.

Day 3:  We left our campsite this morning at 9:30.  Our hike is about 7.5 miles as we continue West on the Tonto trail until we hit the tipoff, which is the junction of the Kiabab and Tonto trails.  Just prior to the tipoff, we caught our first glimpse of other hikers, a small group coming down the Kiabab.  They were the first people we've seen since leaving the Grandview parking lot 2 days ago. 

However, just 10 minutes below the Tipoff, we passed another group headed down.  This was a group of 20 or more kids and adults that were going down to Phantom Ranch.  We arrived at Bright Angel Campground at 2:15 and after setting up camp we did some exploring.  I've been to Bright Angel several times in the past.  My first visit was in Jan 1980 and again in Dec 1980 for 2 nights each time.  I then spent another night in Sept of 1982 on a Rim to Rim hike with Glendale Community College.  In December 1991, my boys and a good friend drove over from Los Angeles and I spent another night at Bright Angel as part of a 3 day Rim to Rim to Rim hike.

Ah - the Silver Bridge.  On the Dec 1991 Rim to Rim to Rim hike, my twin boys were 12 years old.  They knew we had to cross the river, but didn't know the details.  We came down the Bright Angel trail and when they first saw the river, the bridge was still out of sight and they were a bit surprised by its size.  "Dad, how do we get across?"  I proceeded to explain the intricate details required to cross the river upside down, hanging from a 2 inch cable stretched across the river.  "Just make sure you loosen up the straps and undo your waist belt and sternum strap just in case you fall into the river."  Talk about some big eyes!  "Dad - you told mom that this was safe!"  It is I said, "I've been across the river several times."  There was a big sigh of relief when they finally saw the big silver bridge.

Day 4:  After breakfast of more oatmeal, apple slices and raisens, we headed out.  Did I mention that I don't like oatmeal?  Mr. J and I both left Bright Angel Campground at 9:02 and took pictures at the black bridge.  Then the hikester took off and I didn't see him again until I was 20 feet below the top of the rim.  Mr. J is a real animal.  He did the 7 mile South Kiabab trail in under 3 hours.  I, on the other hand, took a leisurely 4 hours and 23 minutes to make the ascent, arriving at 1:27 p.m.  Hey I'm not as young as I used to be!

The  first half of the trail was in excellent condition, but a mile or so past the tipoff, things got a bit sloppy.  There was a lot of foot traffic which turned the snow into a slushy, muddy mess.  But the weather was great and the views were excellent.  About a mile from the top, the trail became a solid snowpacked trail and the mud and slush disappeared.  About 20 minutes from the top Mr. J called me on the radio wanting an update on my progress.  "Hey kid, I'm almost there."  After meeting Mr. J at the top, we caught the bus to the Pipe Creek Vista and he hitched a ride back to Grandview to pickup the car.  He was only gone a few minutes because he was back with the car at 2:04 and after grabbing some snacks and changing clothes we were back on the road.


Mr. J is about 20 years younger than I am.  In fact my oldest two are almost as old as he is.  As I mentioned before, he's a lot like me.  Always wanting to be doing something.  Now that my boys have moved so far away, its nice to have someone close by with the same interests and doesn't mind waiting for the old man to catch up.