Grand Canyon- Hermit Trail

Scott, Paul and Paul, Jessie, Josh (later called the JJ's), John and I headed down the Hermit trail on Thursday morning, March 15, 2012.   The Hermit trail was built in the early 1900's by horse thieves and later developed for the luxury Hermit camp.  The hermit camp thrived because the Bright Angel trail charged a toll and people being people, chose the free trail and Grand Canyon experience.  The stone work on the trail is remarkable showing the effort and care put into making this trail. 

Brickwork on steep areas of Hermit trail

A rocking bench at Santa Maria Springs. 2.5 miles down the Hermit trail

Trail sign

The men determining the names of each peak

About 6 hours and 9.3 miles later, we arrived at Monument Creek.  Scott, being the ever eager, speedy hiker, had zoomed ahead securing the group site sitting above the camp ground.  The views of the Monument were spectacular and the weather was so incredibly warm and comfortable. Besides my toes throbbing from the hike down with my toes being forced into the shoe, I slept well using my sleeping bag liner and my sleeping bag was completely open and unzipped because the temperature was so perfect.

Our camp with the monument in the background

In the Grand Canyon, there are some designated campgrounds and at this location, there was a toilet.  Three of them to be exact.  Three, side by side,open air,  filled with wood chips and a small wall separating them.  Unless you were very friendly with someone, you wouldn't want to walk up to the toilets while someone was there.  I really wish I had a picture to show you just how unusual and awkward these are.

Day two we hiked 1.5 miles down to Granite Rapids where we watched two shows of rafters and kayakers going through the rapids.  While we were at the rapids, little mice were chewing their way through Paul's backpack and filling up on a Clifbar.

When we arrived at camp I said their were mosquito's and no one believed me.  There's no standing water I was told and there aren't mosquito's in the Canyon.  That night the frogs were singing happily because of all the mosquitoes they were eating.  Two days later the entire group agreed with me there indeed were mosquitoes.

Day three we hiked the three'ish miles from Monument to Hermit campground. Along the way we strayed off the path to see the old Hermits camp. During it's time it was a luxury camp with a tram where they even dismantled a Model T and brought it down the cables and put it back together on the Tonto.  They couldn't have driven the car very far but it must have been good entertainment. When the park service took over the Bright Angel trail and the toll ceased, Phantom Ranch became an overnight success and Hermit camp was tore down but the footprints of the building remain along with the cable pulleys.

 When we arrived at Hermit at 11am, Scott, Jessie and Josh were staring up at us from a group site and Scott's tent wasn't set up yet. What I thought was Scott wasn't sure if he liked that site or was waiting for someone else to leave so we could get a better site.  The real reason Scott hadn't set up yet is because EVERYONE in the campground had left due to the impending storm. The storm was to bring rain and 2 feet of snow at the top. If we were to hike out then, we needed to get moving for our 5-6 hour hike. Luckily we decided to stay and see what happened.  It makes for a better story anyways.

Paul, John and I set up our tent under a ledge 1/2 mile down the river and Scott and the JJ's set up under another ledge.  The other Paul set up in a different campsite, open to the elements.

After camp was set up we headed down to Hermits rapid which was running fast and seemed bigger than Granite Rapids from the day before. While we were down at the rapids the little mice were filling up on something super tasty in Jessie's backpack (although there was nothing in there).

John and I at Hermit Rapids

The rain started at 7:30pm and we climbed into the safety of our tent. What we didn't realize was the clothes at the edge and bottom of the tent would become drenched from the rain pouring down throughout the night. The morning weather was cold  but my toes were freezing when I squished my feet into the cold and sopping wet boots.  My feet warmed up along with the rest of my body as we stared hiking out just before 7am in the very light rain.

The snow up on the peaks was beautiful

As we climbed higher the bushes gathered snow on the branches on the side of the trail. After Santa Maria springs the dirt on the trail was replaced with snow. The last mile the snow was a foot deep and I followed the footsteps of Paul and Scott who had left earlier leading the way out.

Above Santa Maria Springs before the snow covered the ground. This is the same Dripping Springs sign as above

It was snowing again at the top and we climbed into Scott's car where Scott and Paul were waiting, to warm up. I grabbed my dry socks stored carefully in a zip lock bag and waited for Paul and the JJ's. On the way home the snow continued to fall and our adventure continued when we got snowed in and spent the night in a hotel on the side of the road.

Each trip into the Grand Canyon I think "this is my favorite".  Three days down the Hermit trail in monument Creek and Hermit Creek succeeded in being another awesome trail and experience into the Grand Canyon.

Grand Canyon - Day 4- The Hike Out

Our last day. 6 miles up and out of the canyon. It was hard. We climbed for awhile and I wanted John to pass me but he wouldn't. My legs burned and I was pooped.  Eventually we got to the esplanade where it was flat and very scenic.

Dang! This is hard work and I call myself a runner?

This is one of my favorite pictures. Someone lined the trail with the rocks.

Through the first incline. Now on the esplanade with just one more push up to get out.

After the esplanade we began climbing again. In the canyon there are a lot of false tops. You think you're almost there but you're not.

A cool rock formation almost at the top

It took 3.5 hours to go the 6 miles. Pretty good considering all the times during the trip we averaged 1/2 mile per hour. Up at the top John found Scott's knife that he had lost before the hike even began. Paul had a cooler full of candy, soda and more homemade toffee.  Great job everyone for another awesome trip and adventure. Now we all need a meal and a bath.

Grand Canyon -Royal Arch - Day 3

In comparison of our trip with Scott and John's the year before, our 2nd night camped along the Colorado river was their first night.  While the trail they took on the first day was technical and hard, it was more direct. They also made their trip early October when there was more daylight each day. Their 2nd day (our 3rd day) they ran out of water because of the heat and they each thought they had enough water to make the 12 mile trek across the Tonto. Luckily our weather in November was cooler but we still had the 12 miles to go with the fear there may not be water at the camp site.

In the morning we had a leisurely start at 8:30am. Paul wrapped Michele's purple bruised ankle and we started out. Again it became obvious we would be racing the sun. Michele and Scott fell behind due to Michele's ankle and John, Paul and I hiked onward. Paul and I frequently got in trouble with John who thought we were lallygagging because we were talking while hiking. This is now know as jabberwalking. The fact was we were hustling and I often saw Paul practically jogging to keep up.  The look of determination on his face reminded me of my dad. As compared to the first days 12 mile hike, we took more frequent rest breaks, about 7 minutes of rest which helped immensely but I was still ready to pull a Jim at the end of the day and just stop and not go a step more.

 Eventually we saw the canyon we were stopping in but it was way below us and deep in; I couldn't  imagine hiking my way down that far. We continued into the canyon descending slowly and the floor of the canyon rose up to meet us so there were no huge drop offs. It was dusk at 5:30pm when we arrived at some nice camp spots but no water.  John and Paul went to find water and left me at the site. I would have made hot tea but I was worried the guys wouldn't find water and couldn't have the luxury of heating water until after I knew if they found water. After setting up our tent I sat on a rock with a headlamp and wrote in this my journal.

It's 6:15pm and pitch black. John and Paul went to find water in the dark. Michele and Scott are still hiking. Michele turned her ankle many times and has a mild sprain. Perhaps its more than mild after today. There's no water close to camp and  John and Paul may have to go as far as 1.5 miles to get water. They left more than 1/2 hour ago and I haven't heard them. It is completely silent. The wind has started and the tent is rustling. There are crickets and what sounds like the whizzing of cars, although its just the wind and maybe the bass rapids I'm hearing.

An hour later John and Paul came back successful with water but the pump was plugged. Shortly after that we saw the headlamps of Scott and Michele walking the side of the canyon.  John left and met them taking Michele's pack the rest of the way to the site. We had dinner and crawled into our tents without singing any campfire songs (you can't have a fire in the GC and besides John singing its a small world, we weren't a bunch of singers anyways)

One water hole

Another long day complete with beautiful scenery and lots of good conversation while jabberwalking.

Grand Canyon -Royal Arch Loop - Day 2

I woke to the light around 7am. I hadn't slept real well but felt refreshed. I expected to wake up and see the Royal Arch staring me in the face. No luck.  I looked back to where we had come from and saw the huge boulders we had climbed over to get to our campsite.

The area we climbed down to get to our camp site.

It was still quite a walk to the arch with a lot of climbing. I was very thankful we didn't have our packs on to go to the arch and had stopped where we had the night before.

Going down to the spring and eventually Royal Arch

I envisioned a giant free standing arch, like Rainbow arch, what I saw was a giant hole in the rock. Initially I was a tad disappointed. It was however very grand in size and we are dwarfed in the pictures.

A quick group photo and a little bit of exploring we were on our way back to camp to get our packs and head  over to the river. Today was an easy day.  3 miles to the river and 3 miles round trip to Elves Chasm waterfall. We heaved on our packs at 9:30am and started back towards the steep trail out of the canyon we were in. It was amazing to see the boulders we maneuvered around in the dark. I had rumpaged so much the day before that I had split my pants and Paul had torn a hole in his pants too.  Somewhere there is a blackmail picture of our butts with the holes in our pants. Along the way John found Scott's hat that he had lost the night before. Scott recap - lost knife, camera, whistle, sunglasses, grey hat, blue hat. Still missing knife and camera.

Today's "easy day" included taking on/off the packs a gazillion times in order to negotiate down a drop off.  It also included rappelling down the side of the cliff. I really wish I had a chance to go back and try it again.

5 hours later we traversed the 3 miles and arrived at the river.  Again we were worried about the darkness catching us.  We dropped our packs without setting up camp and headed to Elves Chasm. The waterfall is super pretty and would be a great swimming hole if it was warmer.

We had 1.5 hours to get back the 1.5 miles before darkness set on us again. We made it back at dusk and set up our tents in the dark again. While John was pumping water I sewed up my split pants and Paul wrapped up Michele's ankle that she had rolled a couple times on the hike.  After our Chili Mac dinner (not the best) Paul pulled out homemade toffee.  What an excellent treat for the end of the day.

Grand Canyon - Royal Arch Loop - Day 1

It's taken me two weeks to get my Grand Canyon posts up.  Better late than never. We hiked the Royal Arch Loop over 3 nights/3 days.  Here's my trip report.

The sun shown brightly showing no indication of the storm 12 hours prior. The falling snow greatly slowed our progress driving from Flagstaff to Tusyan the night before and left the ground white at the trailhead. Looking back, the snow delayed our progress so we'd arrive at the hotel later than anticipated.  The late nights was a pattern we were yet to discover.

We started just before 9 am at the South Bass Trail head and followed the gradual trail from the top to the esplanade.  At one point I thought this was a perfect trail to take Johann when he comes to the states one day and hikes the Grand Canyon.  The views were fantastic and the trail was pretty easy. At 11:40am we had a quick discussion to stop lunch then or continue hiking till noon and then stop.  "Let's make is a good 10 minutes" replied John.

A little bit of history about the hike...John and Scott hiked the Royal Arch loop last October in a brutal 2 night/3 day hike. They started down at a different point than we had so the trail we were currently on was new to them.  Our trail was chosen for this trip because it would be easier than their original route.  Here's how it works.  For a mens only trip, Scott picks the route and length of time for the trip. Scott leads the unsuspecting men in a death march testing the physical limits of mankind.  Unknowingly he's like the 6 fingered man in Princess Bride. ' I have just sucked one year of life from you.  I could go as high as 10 but I don't know what that would do to you. For prosperity, tell me, how do you feel? ' At this point Wesley cries.  I believe the men on Scott's death march felt the same way otherwise Jim wouldn't have sat down and refused to go a single step further and see the Royal Arch or Elves Chasm, one of the most beautiful waterfall in the canyon.  Jim would become a talking point many times during our trip.  True, even the National Park Service says this hike is the most challenging hike at the south rim but after the death march Scott revises the trip making it easier by adding a night and in this case, revising the starting point and then the women are then invited.

Holes in the rocks where indians stored food

On our hikes we have come up with our own definitions of activities

Being a Jim - sitting and refusing to go another step further

Jabberwalking -talking and walking while slowing the cadence down from 180 steps to minute to 150

Rumpaging- scooting the butt along the rocks

Pulling a Scott- losing something and finding it again

Doing a full Maggie- curling up underneath a rock and crying

Shortly after the decision to keep hiking for lunch we encountered our first obstacle. Giant boulders required climbing, rumpaging and lots of effort. We made very little progress in the next hour.  So much for a good 20 minutes. Even though we were still following the cairns, I think there must have been an easier trail and we missed it. An hour later we stopped in the boulders for lunch.  During our lunch break Scott lost his camera.  This was the 2nd item of the day Scott lost and there would be more things to lose and find again.

Scott's camera can be seen in his shadow. This is the last time it was seen.

I kept asking John if we were to the point where they had joined the trail in their prior trip.  John knew we had a long ways to go and kept trying to keep us moving. We knew we were short on time and didn't have much daylight.  We kept pushing forward and took no breaks.

Me squeezing underneath a rock

At 4:30pm, with about 2 miles to go, I grabbed a Halloween candy bar to offset the fatigue as we kept trudging ahead over a very rough and rocky terrain.  At 5pm Scott was waiting for me, Michele and Paul to catch up and Michele said we're making progress and Scott replied but we have to make faster progress.  We were racing against the sun and it would be dark soon.  Just before 6pm we put on our headlamps and continued over the boulders in the dark. Once it became dark the urgency of time decreased.  We were no longer trying to race the sun.  What we were trying to avoid was already there...it was dark.

In the daylight its much easier to see feasible routes.  In the dark, with only the couple foot illumination from the headlamp, you see directly in front of you and try and make good choices but the fact is there is no choice. In many occasions if the drop off was too steep, we would backtrack a little and search for a better way.  But most of the time we just managed and helped each other.  John became frustrated with me many times as he needed me to trust him that my foot would have a place holder a couple inches down or that it was OK that I had nothing to hold onto.

Scott was somewhere in front of me, Michele, John and Paul were behind me when I heard Michele cry out.  I turned and saw Michele hitting the ground.  I called up to Scott and turned back. Michele had bounced off the side of boulders, like a ping pong ball, to land splat on her face. Her nose was bleeding and she had a large scratch across the bridge of her nose. Luckily Paul is a doctor, cleaner her up and we were on our way again.

We were all tired; I considered pulling a full Maggie so we could stop.  Who cares about getting to the perfect camp spot by the Royal Arch by water.  It took 4 hours to travel 2 miles until we found water and we were fortunate there were flat spots for camping too. 12 miles in 12 hours; I was so tired and not even hungry that I considered not eating and just going to bed. Looking back we were calorie deficient that day. We stopped around 1pm for lunch and didn't take a break until Michele face planted 7 hours later. Had we stopped, taken a couple breaks and eaten we could have made better progress although we still would have been hiking in the dark.

Is John doing a full Maggie?

I did have a small mishap that evening. while trying to put on my headlamp over my knit hat, either I accidently let go of the elastic head strap or the headlamp came off.  Regardless, the headlamp sling-shotted back to me, hit me in the nose, turned off, bounced off my face onto the ground in the darkness.  I felt bad Michele had fallen and sub-consciously needed a matching sympathy cut on my nose.

Grand Canyon in 27 Pictures

On Sunday morning I climbed out of the Grand Canyon on the South Bass Trail.  It was a tough trip and we set up camp in the dark all three nights.  I'll tell you the stories about the trip but for now I have to get ready for Ragnar in Central Florida this weekend and need time to pack and put together the blog for the 4 day Grand Canyon trip.

In the meantime, I leave you with a 27 picture collage.  Why ONLY 27 pictures you ask?  I almost didn't have a camera and bought a disposable camera and guffed at having ONLY 27 pictures.  It is inconceivable to limit myself to 27 pictures over 4 days.  It became one of the running jokes (or is that hiking jokes?).  As it turned out, Scott lost his camera (just one of many things lost along the trip) and needed the mere 27 exposure camera.  I on the other hand took well over 200 pictures but have narrowed it down to just 27 pictures.  Next week I'll post a trip report for out latest Grand Canyon trip where we hiked 3 hours in the dark, fretted over a possible broken nose and sprained ankle (not mine thank goodness (that puts a huge damper in running)), rappelled 20 feet and had to pump water from a green sludge puddle.

Grand Canyon - Day 4- The Hike Out

We expected our last night to be pretty cold since we were at 5300 feet but it was surprisingly nice. There were storms earlier in the week but our weather was absolutely perfect.  I wore my knit hat in the evenings (because I love wearing it camping) but never had to pull out my gloves.  We set the alarm for 6am so we could be hiking by 7am.  We only had about 2000 feet to gain to climb out of the canyon and we accomplished it in about 2.5 hours.

John takes a welcome break on a fallen tree. The cliff on the right is where we're going.

Michele and Scott eyeballing our tree for a rest

One last picture. over on the left is where we camped the night before

Hot diggity.  We all made it out and are ready for a meal and a bath.