Backpacking the Grand Canyon 2007

14/04/2008

This Grand Canyon trip we took was in September 2007. This is an old blog but it’s definatively worth posting. For Official park information visit the Grand Canyon National Park Page. For tips on my experience with the Trekking Grand Canyon click here.

The master plan was to take the South Kaibab trail approx. 7.1 miles to the Bright Campground stay there for a night and then hike out via the Bright Angel trail approx. 9.5 miles.

Overall it doesn’t seem like a bad hike… We showed up without permits at the lodge a few hours before they opened. When someone finally got there, we threw our packs on the scale, mine was 45 lbs. + my camera bag… Yohana’s was roughly 35 lbs.

So we got a permit, the rangers were giving us tips about the terrain, flash floods, mountain lions, etc… They were very surprised we were valiantly taking the challenge when temperatures reached 107 F degrees. We thought about that and that is why we decided to make it a night hike…

Since we got there with plenty of time to spare, we drove down to see the challenge. As I stood there, staring down into the Grand Canyon, it hadn’t hit me yet… It didn’t hit me that I would be trekking all the way down there… I used the 70-300mm and I could spot tiny people and mules carrying stuff…

Here’s the view…

Click to view large version..

(photo by Alvaro)

Clouds were awesome that day…

Of course I fired off a few textures…

Just us hanging out…

Me!

Gotta have the important snakcs before the trip (Sodium helps retain water and stimulates thirst)

We hopped on a bus to the South Kaibab Trail…

On schedule with our master plan we started at 5:30pm so we had around 2-3 hours of sunlight. We took a photo at the trailhead ready to embark on a journey that changed the way I see life… I’ve never been challenged both physically and mentally like I did during this trip.

From left to right: Alvaro, Carlos, Claudia, Yohana, Me

and us again on the trailhead… Very early into the trail head I took a few snappers. The South Kaibab trail is FULL of spiraling down switchbacks, very challenging…

A few views before our hike began…

(Photo by Yohana)

(Photo By Alvaro)

Bring on the trails….

(Photo by Yohana)

Whoooo hoo! Rest point….

(photo by Alvaro)

Hiking down was great, we had only about an hour left of sunlight so we started husling down into the canyon….

Continuing down the trail, Alvaro raced about 300 meters away

All of a sudden you hear thunder echoing throughout the canyon…ooops! No turning back now! a few miles in too deep!

I almost deleted this next photo because “It wasn’t cool” Then after the final inspection I realized the reason I took it!!!

Mean switchbacks and fast elevation drops, but fun

Click on this one to make it bigger… In red is the trail, we didn’t reach Devils Corkscrew till it got dark….

So as our sunlight was close to an end I got a few more snaps in when we reached “Skeleton Point”…………Not a real friendly name since the next 2-3 hours would be hiking in the pitch black canyon! WHHHAT! yes, pitch black, scorpions, and tarantulas on the floor….

The night hike was getting to us. We heard sounds of water very close… so close you wish you were there already…. Ankles hurting, back tired, all you wanted to do was be there already! but the sound of the water was so close! the GPS said 1 mile left… NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

At this point. My camera was put away and I was only concentrating on the trails.

Then finally we arrive into different terrain. We weren’t sure if it was good or bad… it was different, it was scary looking…it was pitch black!

WOOOO HOOOOO! It’s a bridge……………………. huh? A bridge? How long is this bridge? Is it safe? OOOH NO! It’s pitch black! All we heard was water rapids rushing down but we couldn’t see where…

Going back is not an option at this point so we head in… (photo by Alvaro)

So we put the cameras away, and made the last push towards the campground…

Yohana and I in 120 degree weather. The point of this photograph is to show the background. If you see the background, that’s where normal people go to visit the Grand Canyon.

If you had super hero vision you would be able to see us from up here….

Weather was dry, sunny, and the temperature…I don’t know……how about 120 DEGREES!!!!

I wanted my apple sauce for mid day snack but it was really hot and yucky. So I tied them to a string and threw them in the cool Colorado creek so they could cool down…

Getting acquainted with the wildlife

Yea thats me…laugh it up! lol….

Sometimes, when i’m in the backcrountry I like to do a little exercise…

like this…. (photo by alvaro)

About 3-6 miles into the hike out Claudia and Carlos couldn’t make it out. We had to make a decision, hike out that night and sleep up top, or set up shop at XXX Campground with no food for the following day.

So Alvaro, Yohana, and I decided to keep going and finish the hike out as planned. From then on it was only us 3.