After about 4 hours on the road, we turned East to get to the Canyon. We took a longer route there as our guide, Rainbow Bright, was concerned that with the recent rains and the fires, the van would get stuck in the mud (it had happened once before).
One thing I always forget about the Grand Canyon is that the Rim is almost 7,000-8,000 ft/2130-2430 m above sea level - so to go down, one first has to go up.
Evidence of the fire. Sadly, like the burns we saw in the Sierras going to Mt. Whitney in 2022, these will not regrow in my lifetime.
Eventually we left the burn zone and heading into what the area had looked like before the fire.
First view of the Canyon!
The Bill Hall Trailhead. Leaving a little after noon, we start down
As a note, we had refilled our water at a stop midway in the mountains; we will not be able to refill our water until mid-day tomorrow when we arrive at Thunder Falls.
How much water do you typically carry when you expect to be 24 hours away from the next refill?
ReplyDeleteAnon, "standard" carry is two liters for me (in one liter water bottles you can get at any store because they fit easily on the pockets on the side of the backpack. Recommendation here was two to three liters person person (some people used bladders that are in the backpack). We also had four 1 gallon Arizona Ice Tea Containers (two for dirty water, two for clean water) that were distributed between us. That lasted us until the next day pretty easily going down, less so going back up.
DeleteDuring my boating trip, I did lots of hiking and on a short hike, I carried two liters of water which was never enough. On longer hikes, I tanked up ahead of time, carried my two liters and just arrived back in camp dehydrated. When hiking anywhere else, two liters would get me through most days.
ReplyDeleteEd, we carry two to three liters and refill during the course of the day. And like you, where we were at water sources, we would tank up prior to going as well.
DeleteHonestly, I found it easier to drink when I am somewhere like the Grand Canyon than when I am somewhere like the Sierra Nevadas, where heat is not quite such a reminder.
So 2 liters = just over 4 pounds....aha. What was your weight load TB? Asking for a friend.......nice to see those photos with those colors since here it's all gray & white, sky and ground.
ReplyDeleteNylon12 (Assuming that is you) - We did not weigh the packs at departure, but assuming somewhere between 40 and 45 lbs. That includes our personal gear (tent, pad, sleeping bag, personal items) and shared gear include water containers (filled or not), bear cans of food, cooking items, etc. The weight drops a bit of course as you continue as you are eating the food.
DeleteThe pictures cheer me too - right now, we are various shades of grey.
i have hiked to Thunder River a half a dozen times. The first was when I was a junior in high school in 1970. We went over the Easter Break. We only got as far as Big Saddle with our vehicles and had to break trail through the snow to what is now the parking lot for the Bill Hall Trail. At that time the trail did not exist and we went down the slide due south of the parking lot, crossed over the saddle north of Monument Point and then hooked up with the trail coming from Indian Hollow.
ReplyDeleteOur usual policy was to hand carry a gallon of water on the way down and stash it on the esplanade somewhere before the descent into Surprise Valley where it would be available for the trip back up.
i hope you brought your fishing pole. There's some nice pan-size trout in Tapeats Creek, both below and above its confluence with Thunder River.
Anon - Wow! Having been there, I can picture where you went down and over Monument Point! That would have been a very different hike than what we did this time.
DeleteThe gallon of water on the Esplanade makes sense - we cached our dinner and breakfast for the last night/morning there for the same reason. As it turns out, we had enough water on the last night/morning (it was a bit of an adventure though; we will get there).
I do not fish now; the Outdoorsman is the fisherman and debated bringing his pole along (he did not this trip). But more than one person had suggested it to him.
When I was a kid, we took a family camping and hiking with my parents' friends to Canyonlands, Utah. I think I was in junior high at the time. Several strong impressions have stayed with me over the years, one of them being how dry the air was. I remember being continually thirsty. We were encouraged to drink a lot at camp and rationed our water on our hikes, but for some reason I've not forgotten that.
ReplyDeleteLeigh, how interesting you still hold those memories.
DeleteThe air is still pretty dry, certainly a change from the humidity I have been in for the decade and a half or so. What hiking there really reinforces for me is how dependent such places are on the water sources that exist and how - in well watered places - we take such things for granted.