South Canyon - Grand Canyon

[Sombeech]

It's about time we got some wet t shirt photos up here.

[tanya]

Just a shiny shirt.. totally dry and with one of those flattening sports bras beneath. Sorry

[Win]

Awesome!! That looks like a beautiful place. Bet you're glad you went Saturday!

Win

[tanya]

Yes, the weather was magnificent! We could not have asked for anything better! I think the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon is my favorite place. It was hard to leave!

[Felicia]

Great pictures!

[oldno7]

Great trip you guys, what about Bob?

[tanya]

Thanks Felicia.....

I figured you were wondering Kurt...

He laughed about your out of the frying pan and into the fire statement a couple of times on the hike down into the canyon.

Bob had a rough time on the hike down. His legs starting shaking after we hit the Esplanade. He made it down to South Canyon and rested there for a couple of hours until Bo and I made it back from the river. We picked up a Doctor though.... so Bob had lots of attention on the hike out from Both Doc John and Bo. He was thrilled with what he was able to do even though he did not make it to the river. He was great company and a joy to be around!

On the other trip.. It's good Bob did not choose that one. Courtney tells me his was near epic but seems to be withholding details until we get together.. maybe this Sunday. You should come with us!

Here is the updated trail report....

I am going to try and get the photo album done. There is an old album back from when I use to post the photos small, but I am redoing it.

http://www.zionnational-park.com/sou...and-canyon.htm

[oldno7]

your stormfront picture is INCREDIBLE

[sparker1]

Love the pix, Tanya. The one of the storm is magnificent.

[tanya]

Thanks guys! It was so cool looking! I did not really want to get out and shoot it but since Bob did... I did too. Glad I did!

[stefan]

hey tanya & bo

i very much enjoyed the report and the photos.

it made me reflect on a trip i did with nat and our friend pieter about 4 years ago. we came down south canyon via the std route. we then hiked along the redwall limestone ledge most of the way to nankoweap, the final bit along the river. then out the nankoweap trail.

if i have this correct, the arrow points to the ledges we walked along on river right

and the vantage point here in your photo looks spendid! lucky you!!

[tanya]

hey tanya & bo

i very much enjoyed the report and the photos.

it made me reflect on a trip i did with nat and our friend pieter about 4 years ago. we came down south canyon via the std route. we then hiked along the redwall limestone ledge most of the way to nankoweap, the final bit along the river. then out the nankoweap trail.

if i have this correct, the arrow points to the ledges we walked along on river right

and the vantage point here in your photo looks spendid! lucky you!!

Do you ever get down to the river on that route? Where did you go up and out of South Canyon?

[stefan]

Do you ever get down to the river on that route?

we took about 3 long days of hiking before the first (non-technical, though intense) route down to the river (lovely). water was also a serious concern (even with a midway water cache). then it's a part day trip along the river itself to nankoweap.

Where did you go up and out of South Canyon?

from our camp on the river, we hiked back up to the rim of the redwall limestone, contoured around the lower slot of south canyon at that level, and continued down marble canyon. contouring around the sidecanyons dropping into marble was a regular theme, adding many extra miles to the river miles.

[tanya]

Do you ever get down to the river on that route?

we took about 3 long days of hiking before the first (non-technical, though intense) route down to the river (lovely). water was also a serious concern (even with a midway water cache). then it's a part day trip along the river itself to nankoweap.

Where did you go up and out of South Canyon?

from our camp on the river, we hiked back up to the rim of the redwall limestone, contoured around the lower slot of south canyon at that level, and continued down marble canyon. contouring around the sidecanyons dropping into marble was a regular theme, adding many extra miles to the river miles.

What did you think of the route? Is it written up somewhere or where you just exploring? Have photos?

[Bo_Beck]

it made me reflect on a trip i did with nat and our friend pieter about 4 years ago. we came down south canyon via the std route. we then hiked along the redwall limestone ledge most of the way to nankoweap, the final bit along the river. then out the nankoweap trail.

That must've been an AMAZING trip! What? Like 50 miles total?

if i have this correct, the arrow points to the ledges we walked along on river right

Thats correct

and the vantage point here in your photo looks spendid! lucky you!

The vantage from the top of the UPS Trail all the way down is great. By far the most scenic 1 mile hike to get to South Canyon

[stefan]

What did you think of the route? Is it written up somewhere or where you just exploring? Have photos?

it was a hard hike, amplified by very warm march weather. it was amazing to be able to follow that bench (which widens considerably over the distance towards nankoweap). the grand canyon is an incredible place. the beach we finally landed at, after the "goat trail" route down to the river, was simply sublime. walking along the river was lovely, though quite challenging trying to push our packs through the thicket. the nankoweap trail was great.

Steck's two books Grand Canyon Loop Hike I & II have been our source for GC stuff. these are out of print (still can be found used). falcon, however, has released a book with the same title. i have not looked at it, so i don't know whether or not it contains all of I&II.

harvey butchard's book is another good source for the gc backcountry.

photos ... yes, however, they are slides, and i have been SUPER lazy about scanning them

That must've been an AMAZING trip! What? Like 50 miles total?

yes it was pretty amazing. will get back to you on the length.

The vantage from the top of the UPS Trail all the way down is great. By far the most scenic 1 mile hike to get to South Canyon

i'll have to get down there sometime. thanks for posting.

[stefan]

What? Like 50 miles total?

yeah, maybe 50 miles (assuming 9 hiking-miles to 6 river-miles along the redwall). i am not sure, but it could be more. one could estimate the additional miles more accurately with the maps.

water is very scarce along this route. we only found water in a couple of potholes in the redwall in a couple of the sidecanyons, which helped to augment our midway water cache.

[tanya]

Sounds like a great trip Stefan! It's so pretty down there I can wanting to stick around. Water would help though.

[stefan]

so, bo, yeah. i have to admit the trip was pretty incredible. i think one (of many) way(s) it was incredible is that it is but one piece ... one glimpse of what it would be like to hike the entire length of the grand canyon. one approach which has been done, e.g., steck, is to place caches along the way to do the entire length of the canyon in one contiguous push. nat's following a course, doing a series of loop hikes over many years, ultimately seeing the whole canyon with sections of the river as pieces of loops. it's neat to have a glimpse of this wonderful goal

[tanya]

I have our photo album done for South Canyon to Vasey's ...

http://www.zionnational-park.com/ima...m2/index61.htm


Couple from the album of Bo and I