We are a few days removed from the hike and still feeling worn out. We are in Tucson area having moochdocked at our friends place, doing laundry and looking at photos. We moved over to the Tucson Mountain Park to commune with the cactus. Then over to Catalina State park, then over to our friends place in Oro Valley. We have absolutely no ambition to hike despite being in very good shape. No injuries. Just drained. Interesting. It’s like we floated on a sea of grace and hard work to make the hike down and back. And now feel a part of us was left in the canyon.
Tucson Mountain Park
Granted we are really ok just feeling like a couple slugbugs. Still in recovery tho.
Downtown Tucson
We are asked if we would do it again. Being in the canyon is magical. Being on the rim looking down is magical (if you spend some time doing so, not just 30 minutes of selfies).
Checking email
We loved being in the canyon. We loved the hiking. The tent camping not so much anymore.
River crossing at Catalina State Park
We wouldn’t mind staying a few nights (minimum 3) at the Phantom Ranch to savor the area more deeply. However, practically, that presupposes a 1 day hike down and 1 day hike out. Is it doable? With some additional conditioning it would make it a little easier. With some planning, we could arrange for most items to be transported by mule both ways thereby only needing to carry water, essential first aid, and snacks for hike down and back. Will we?
One of our favorite lunch spots in Tucson
The key here is planning and the phantom ranch lottery is chancy. Nevertheless we will take some time to recover and decide later if we wish to make an application for a permit and reservation.
Cheesecake anyone?
In the meantime, we will savor the experience, with gratitude, enjoy the memories and photos, laugh at our foibles and move on to what is next. Like visiting the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum. Desert or Dessert?
Relaxing at Catalina State park
We are doing a little walking and bike riding. Exploring. Running errands. And on to the next day, the next moment, the next adventure.
Out for a ride for a change.
The memories remain fresh. The images still return. Glad I took a bunch of photos. Would we love to return? Yes!. Will we? Um….TBD.
A reflective view from trip makes it hard not to want to.
We begin our last day of 4 with a “hearty” 🙄 breakfast and coffee as we discussed our plans. Temp is about 37 degrees. Temp at the rim is probably 25 but will rise to 45 or so by the time we arrive 5.5 hours later. Be sure to click on the scenic photos below, to expand and enjoy.
Chow timeHearty breakfastFabulous barista
We break camp and pack up trying to get an early start on the 4 mile 3000 ft switchback hike pretty much straight up with snow the last 2.5 miles as you can see from the photo below. It appears daunting but doable.
Here is where we are going today.
A perennial stream, Garden Creek, cuts through Havasupai Gardens, which is great for soaking aching shins. But there’s an even more significant water source here—a pump house. (Photos below from the internet).
Pump houseExposed water pipe by trailShe is happy camperHad a little problem back in 2019 which shut down some the park facilities for a little while. (Photo from internet)
What is truly amazing is that this water travels thru a 16-mile pipeline from a natural spring about 3,500 feet below the North Rim, across the Colorado River and up to Havasupai Gardens. From there, it is pumped to the South Rim, without which there would be no water on the South Rim where a large portion of the 6 million who visited the park in flushed toilets, took showers and filled water bottles.
Looking back north and down toward the Havasupai gardens camp
A little side note: we were told of the 6 million visitors annually, 1 percent or 60,000 walk at least a little ways below the rim. Of that, only 10% or 6,000 hike to the bottom. Wow. Pretty rare company I guess.
Turning around the other way. Looking up to our goalA fellow traveler who paints her backpack
The first mile let us get warmed up for the switchbacks. Then the fun begins as much of the trail is shaded, a but muddy here and there AND, definitely icy. Some parts get sun but not much so we stopped in the one place for sun to take our major break. Glad we did.
Icy trail last 2.5 milesOur snap on crampons or cleatsTaking a break in the sunBreak time
Up the switchbacks we go. Not a lot to tell here. Huff Puff! The photos do the speaking.
Up we goThe longest easiest part of the switchbacksTunnel 2. Still about 2 miles to goAnd on and on.
I stopped several times to look around and take a snapshot of the view of the deep canyons
Looking back norththe trailBright Angel Canyon far away.
Eventually we made it,but didn’t get a photo right at the top of the trailhead right near Kolb Studios. We celebrated, then headed directly to the shuttle bus station, ready for a shower back at the the van….which we hoped survived the cold during our trek and it did so admirably. We had left the electric heater turned on low, the Truma water heater on Eco (42 degrees) and it survived the 25 degree nights with 40 degree days. YAY!
Relief at the shuttle bus stop awaiting our chariot to the shower.
We did it!!! Not bad for a couple old farts approaching mid-70’s who hadn’t backpacked for almost 40 years. About 25 miles total in 4 days. 5000 feet down and 5000 feet up. 3 nights in a very small tent (ask us about it 🤣). We were ready to celebrate with a good meal at El Tovar Lodge with our companions. I will do a postmortem in a day or so for those interested. Suffice it to say we are glad we did it and tent camping is probably not in our future. All in all it was amazing and satisfying. Over a week later, we are still in recovery.
Our group. from the left, Kent, Sraddha, Kendrick, Mandy, Jan, Dave. The Crème Brûlée already disposed of.
We want to thank our guides, Mandy and Kendrick for their patience, understanding, expertise and support along this journey. We couldn’t and wouldn’t have done it without you. Their website is https://www.mandyleaphoto.com/
Today we hike 4.5 miles ascending 1,400 feet up to the Havasupai Gardens (formerly called Indian Gardens) Campground. For the first mile or so, from the Bright Angel Campground to the traverses exposed sand dunes, then across the silver bridge across the Colorado River, and west through more sand dunes to the Pipe Creek/River Resthouse area. The pipe under this bridge carries all the water supporting the south rim.
Hiking to the BridgeSilver Bridge Downriver from the Silver Bridge Which way?
More sand dunes keep us busy for another mile on south side of river with various examples of the Vishnu Schist, the oldest formation in the canyon at 1.8 billion years. Talk about ancient.
Along the riverVishnu SchistWe go that wayAlong the Sandy trail
From the Pipe Creek resthouse, the trail turns south following a creek through a meandering gully of water-sculpted stone and shimmering cottonwood trees.
Pipe creek rest houseLower trail along Pipe CreekView of south rim in distance Several water crossings
From the NPS website: “While the South Kaibab Trail follows a ridge line, the Bright Angel Trail conforms to a fault, keeping to the back of the canyon during the first few miles. Views on the Bright Angel Trail are framed by massive cliffs, and by virtue of being a shadier trail with natural water sources, there is more plant life and animal life along the Bright Angel Trail than on the South Kaibab Trail. The majority of this trail’s elevation change takes place in the upper four miles of trail via a series of switchbacks that can seem endless.”
Up the Pipe creek drainageDevil’s Corkscrew from belowDevil’s Corkscrew from aboveAbove the Corkscrew at “Oh, Jesus!” Point
The trail becomes steep once again where this gully empties into the broad, bowl-shaped Pipe Creek drainage. This section of switchback trail, affectionately referred to as the Devil’s Corkscrew. And we could see why and I wouldn’t exactly say “affectionately” 😉
My view all dayAlong limestone cliffsLooking back towards north RimAlmost to camp
We continue up through some limestone following Garden Creek to the Havasupai Gardens Campground where we spent the night. Traditionally this was a key native American site where families lived and grew all kinds of vegetables and crops with the year round water. It is also the current location of a major NPS water pump station.
Hiking out to Plateau Point, me in the leadGarden Creek falls from Plateau PointProof of lifeLooking east towards Bright Angel trail below
After making camp, we headed out the 3.2 mile round trip “stroll” to Plateau Point, to view the river from a different perspective and eat our meager dinner in the wind. I had a surprisingly decent Phad Thai (as good as it can be when you just add hot water) We saw a California condor fly over. Condors are one of the nations best animal comeback stories. In 1982, there were only 22 California condors left in the world.
South rim. The highest point on left is Yavapai Geology Museum. We go up that canyon tomorrow.
Now there are about 400 Condors within the states. Returning after dusk, using headlamps, we gazed up at the lights of the Yavapai Geology Museum 3,000 above. Time to turn in, and rest for the final day tomorrow of 3,034ft climb in 4.5 miles.
Camp was in the Bright Angel Campground just up from the river and about 10 minutes from Phantom Ranch. On our day off, we rested up after a fairly grueling hike then went exploring. Click on any of the photographs to expand for better viewing.
Our camp at Bright Angel
Our party consisted of 2 couples, and our guides. So we had 3 tents and you can ask us in person about our tent and sleeping experience. 🤣. Suffice it to say we slept fairly well, however there were some comedic moments.
Looking north up towards Phantom Ranch
Our meals were the freeze dried type, supplemented with hot tea, coffee and our own snacks.
Yum? Our mess kitDinner Time
We used a JetBoil to heat the water, pouring it into the bags while stirring with our “Spork”. We then usually put the whole packet inside our down jackets for some warmth while waiting for 7-15 minutes. My fave was the Pad Thai. Oh, and the Crème Brûlée 😋, Tho we didn’t have a butane torch for the final touch, it was still tasty. Almost anything can taste good after a descent into the canyon.
Upper river suspension bridgeLower Bright Angel CanyonBeautiful cacti
We strolled around on our rest day checking out Phantom ranch and hiking a couple miles up the Bright Angel Canyon. My fave part was sitting on a rock being serenaded for 5 minutes by a Canyon Wren. Quite a melodic variety.
Writing postcards which will be delivered by MuleLooking toward South RimWelcome to Phantom Ranch
Phantom Ranch is the famous lodge down in the canyon started in early 1900’s, now is run by Xanterra which runs the lodging and concessions on the rim. Until the early 50’s, most people rode down by mule. Now many hikers visit but permits are needed. Today, it is one of the most difficult hotel destinations to access in the US. Reservations usually are 15-18 months out and via some sort of “lottery” system. The campground is a little easier.
Up the canyonVishnu SchistThe Canyon InspectorTiny little cacti in the canyon. Click to expand
I could share many photos of the canyon, as it was such an amazing place. You could feel the Divine in Nature here very easily. The Vishnu Schist is the lowest geological layer we encountered, rock over 1.8 billion years old. Lots of flora everywhere. Cacti of many flavors, cottonwoods in the lower canyon. The trail follows the water line which brings water from a spring just below the north rim down to Phantom ranch then all the way up to the south rim. More on that later.
Remnants of old telephone system Now used to hang backpacks
Of interest to me, was the telephone line which, in 1935, was added to run from the south r to the ranch and up to the north rim. Remnants remain can be seen along the trail in wires and pipe poles, some of which have been used in the campgrounds on which to hang packs. Maybe we could use some at Anandabell?
We dipped into the Colorado River .Proof of lunacyRiver rafters just pushed off from the beach.
We went down the the beach where river rafters stop and take on fresh water.
Video of our dip in the river
Let me just say, well, we froze while dipping in. 🥶🥶🥶😂. The video is short (13 seconds) from in and out so we didn’t dally around at all. You can watch it above.
A full moon presented us with the opportunity to test our iPhone 14 nighttime capabilities. Not bad from what i can see.
Greetings from the bottom of the Grand Canyon!
We returned the second evening to eat house-made cornbread, veggie chili, salad and dessert at Phantom Ranch Canteen where our guides had made reservations months in advance. Unfortunately I didn’t have any photos. Satiated, we returned to our camp and went to bed. Guess we were tired. (Ya Think?). The next day (3) we head up to Havasupai Gardens.
We spent 4 days hiking into and out of the Grand Canyon with 4 other people. 2 guides, Mandy Lea and Kendrick, and 2 wonderful people, Jan and David, from Minnesota. It was the first time our guides and taken a whole group of folks over 70 years of age! Each day will have its own flavor and blog post.
South Kaibab Trail begins near Yaki point just a mile or so east of the visitors center. We camped at Trailer village with hookups to ensure heat in our van while on the hike, since the south rim temps were forecasted to be from 22-39 F. A big snow storm has blanketed the rim the prior week.
NOTE: this is a long post.At least look at photos. Click on them to expand.
Backcountry info center and trailer village west of Visitor Center.South Kaibab trailhead east of Visitor Center
We took the blue line shuttle from camp at 6 AM to meet our group at the Backcountry Info Center on the west end of village. Grabbing a coffee at nearby Maswik Lodge, we board, at 7AM, the “Hiker Express” shuttle directly to Kaibab trailhead on the east end. See maps above with red circled areas.
Trailhead with series of steep north facing switchbacks. First 2.5 miles ice and snow and mud. We had microspikes
A sense of anticipation was building. We had hiked the first mile or so down to Ooh Aah point last fall and before during dry season, but ice and snow is a different cat on a steep downhill trail. Dangerous and slippery, we tried to stick to the uphill side of the trail.
South Kaibab route map
Knowing there was snow/ice we were using Kahtoola micro-spikes which slip over our boots and provide stability down the series of steep north facing switchbacks to Ooh-Aah point and on down 1.5 miles to Cedar Ridge where we rested. Below this was mud, ice and mud-ice or “mice” in which we slipped a bit. Ask me about it. Needless to say we should left spikes on for another half mile. We continued down a good trail (except for the mud) to Skeleton Point, about 2.7 miles and 2,027 ft below the rim.
MudMud-iceSkeleton point
The next leg was down a very steep, rugged switchback called the “Red & White’s”on a trail blasted out of limestone cliffs, down to the Tonto Plateau. 4.5 miles and 3,200 ft below the rim. It’s called the “Red & Whites” because the limestone is white, however it is tinted red from all the other minerals and rocks around it. It was challenging but we made it down safely.
We are going down there?Red & White’s Switchbacks.NPS daily mule train
The Tonto plateau runs through the park on both sides of the Colorado river about 3000 feet below the rim and about 2000 feet above the river. We stopped for a rest at the “TipOff”. Which is a junction spot for the So. Kaibab and the Tonto Rim trails. A composting toilet Bathroom break helped, and we removed shoes to check the hot spots on feet. We refreshed the moleskin, dried out socks and headed on down.
Around that limestone bluff we just hiked downYep. Still some mud hereThe Tip Off and gorge beyond.
On the trail over 5+ hours now, we “tip off” into the gorge down switchbacks and really fun areas. Trail is in good shape. we snack during the down-hike. Me on clif bars, Gu, peanut M&M’s. Sraddha has Kind bars and Gu. We each have 3 liters of water and electrolytes for the 7.2 mile, 4,872 ft elevation drop. There is no water on the trail. My pack weighs 29 lb. Sraddha’s is 19-20.
Our guides, Mandy Lea and Kendrick have about 30 trips into the canyon. Experience has taught them to take care of the details and one of these details is to send down gear as much gear as possible with the mules, which included our sleeping bags and food etc went down earlier and awaited us at Phantom Ranch. This makes such a large difference Mandy led the other 2 people, Jan and David who are faster while Kendrick stayed with us
Below the Tonto plateauLooking down the switchbacks and the river. You can see the beach and the canyon up which is Phantom Ranch. 2.5 miles to goTunnel just before Kaibab Suspension Bridge
I didn’t take a lot of photos on the last leg as we were tiring. We made it thru the tunnel, across the suspension bridge and more or less trudged along the river, one…step…at…a…time. We were grateful, exhilarated and super glad we made it to the bottom before sunset. About 9 hours, 7.2 miles, 20,000 steps and 4,872 feet below the rim.
Soon to be sunset on Colorado River. The tents are for a conservation corps crew working on the trail. Not a great photo due to sun in distance creating shadows but, well you get the idea.
We camped at the Bright Angel Campground right near the confluence of the Bright Angel creek descending from the north rim and the Colorado river. Phantom Ranch itself is about 1/3 mile up the creek from the river. (so-to-speak). More about that later. We set up camp and ate, grateful we made it safely and more or less sanely.
Campsite at Bright Angel Campground. Dinner, just add hot water, stir and wait and wait and wait. The “Spork”, a combination for fork and spoon. Long version to dip down into and stir dinner
Daytime temp in mid 60’s and night time the low-mid 40’s. Most importantly the whole hike was in dry weather. I can’t stress enough how much this made our trip enjoyable. The previous week’s trip, our guides tell us, was colder, and much wetter. That’s a story for another day. Let’s just say we felt blessed.
Hopefully, i can find the time to make a shorter post about day 2 tomorrow. If you reached this “low point” 🙄. I urge you to subscribe to future posts on my home page and also leave any comments or questions. I will respond. I am not a big social media person, but it helps to know people read this.
We headed down to central coast camping at Morro Bay state park.
The marshes and bay are fertile areas for many bird species
We stayed one night up at the strand north of town then back to MBSP for the most amazing Sunday football games ever
Monday found us heading south to Pismo beach state park
A section of Grover besch is alloyed for drivi g on so we went down there, parked and walked the beach then had lunch watching the surf waves roll in.
In Po BeachLunch
We scored 2 nights in a wonderful spot in the north Pismo state park campground
Our campsite at North Pismo Beach state park
Next door to the campground inside the park is a butterfly grove. Thousands of Monarch butterfly’s hanging out. About 28,000 by last count. According to AP news, over 250,000 counted overwintering here in California. Way up from recent countd.
Monarch Butterfly haven. Last count was 22,000 and climbing.
We hiked down to Oceano campground via the beach then returned thru the dunes.
This was the easy 1/3 mile. The other 3/4 mile was a slog
Time for a nap
Bike route Downtown Grover BeachBackroadsNear Los Osos on Turri roadLooking over to Morro Bay state Park in trees
Next day, after 2 days in Pismo and a long discussion, we elected to head back to Morrow bay state park. I rode my bike up 33 miles on back roads while S drove the van. And I beat her! Haha. We knew, from looking at reservations site,there were dry sites available so when we arrived at the entrance the lady gave me several open sites to review and we rode our bikes around to check.
Our campsite
Decided on one with plenty of sun for solar and general warmth (it’s cool in winter here) then dumped waste tanks and have settled in.
Morning bird watching out on the bay. Morro Rock in the distance.
Early morning we made our coffee, dumped waste and headed home up the 101. Found a spot to wash the van in West Sacramento. IW for a little R&R at home.
$4.99999/gallon. We scored a delightful site at Morro Bay state park
Reserved 3 months in advance and it is a slow time of year. We lucked out in the weather this week with dry daytime temps in upper 60’s and low 70’s.
Morro Bay Harbor and Rock
We did a lot of local riding around the town. I went to liberty twice to use internet. And got a long ride to Avila beach 22 miles south near San Luis Obispo.
Along the harbor the Sea Otters rest and nurse their young.
Avila beach.
Didn’t know there was such a wonderful marsh area across the road. Birds galore. Spouse in heaven. For the first time we saw a California Thrasher. Lotsa shore birds; white pelicans, egrets, amazing wildlife in the area.
Harbor across from campground
Now time to move on. We have reservations for Arizona, however are going to remain on central coast for rest of week then head home. The weather has been amazing.
We are working on Arizona reservations for late January. Currently we are booked down in Morro Bay for my birthday and now working on a couple weeks over in the desert both in Maricopa county parks and in tucson if possible. Need cancellations at this point.
Of the many travel apps, we have come to rely upon a couple. AllStays Camp & RV app has been our go-to app for years in looking for public and private campgrounds in any specific geographic area. It links to directions in both google and Apple Maps along with phone numbers and website links. Details such as elevation and # of campsites are included along with amenities
All Stays Camp & RV app
Campendium website and app is wonderful to see recent reviews and also check strength of cell service. It links to Google map overlay for location and direction information. Also really good for finding dump stations. I get weekly emails from the website offering fun places all over.
The website has lots of good articles about different places and camping etc. Tremendous resource
Campendium App
We are going to use Harvest hosts this year more also since a lot of public campgrounds like national and state parks fill up faster and it sometimes is hard to make all the plans far in advance. It is a subscription app and has added Boondockers Welcome section as well as many golf course who will allow overnight stays. Wonderful places like wineries, museums, farms, private homes even. Reservations are required in advance thru phone or email.
For finding boondocking sites , we like Campendium and iOverlander which is crowd sourced and a favorite of the DIY van crowd. Campers leave comments on every site along with GPS so you can find them.
I OVerlander App
We are going to use Harvest hosts this year more also since a lot of public campgrounds like national and state parks fill up faster and it sometimes is hard to make all the plans far in advance. It is a subscription app and has added Boondockers Welcome section as well as many golf course who will allow overnight stays. Wonderful places like wineries, museums, farms, private homes even. Reservations are required in advance thru phone or email.
Harvest Hosts App
We use a cool website called Wanderinglabs to find last minute cancellations. Put in dates needed and a campground and it will regularly search for available reservations. When sites become available it will text and email me. The bad news is it doesn’t work for Arizona state parks or Maricopa County parks. Then we check each morning around 730-8 to see if anything opens up. It does work for California and Oregon State parks and the recreation.gov sites.
Last minute note as of publication today—We scored 12 nights at one of the Maricopa County parks so will see how it goes, still looking for a couple more days but we may just try some boondocking sites we haven’t tested before. YAY i think….
The end for today. Need to get back to finding sites for Summer and fall.
We have been here so many times and keep returning.
This February has been a bit more chilly than previous years, however with Mighty Wonder Van, we have remained warm and cozy when needed.
In previous RV travels with our bigger Class A rig, we tended to live from the inside out.
Last year out teardrop trailer experience taught is the value of nimble living from the outside in.
Now, we have, what we consider the best of both worlds. We have nimble easy travel yet can tuck in when weather necessitates.
Early Feb saw me riddling icy roads to head over Donner pass to take a shorter route thru western Nevada to Sedona AZ for a model Railroad meetup with some buddies.
PhotoKent's Musings 