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Some of you said you wanted to hear about my 4 day Grand Canyon backpacking adventure.
I did a blog post about it, if you care to read it. Not a whole lot of words- just lots of pictures.
Thanks for all the well-wishes before the trip. It was incredibly amazing!!!
We're already planning on visiting again for another backcountry adventure next year (or the year after). :D
http://carliteliving.blogspot.com/20...adventure.html
Very cool! We're leaving for the Grand Canyon tomorrow. :D
Veronica
Ooooo- have a great time, V!!!! :D
Are you going below the rim?
Probably not - we're planning to do a lot of mountain biking. Next year I want to do a dory trip down the canyon.
Veronica
We wished we'd had the mountain bikes for some great riding. Looks like there are some amazing trails on the North Rim. I would *LOVE* to ride the Colorado all the way through the canyon. It's now on my bucket list! Have a wonderful trip!!!!:)
Veronica- are you doing Rainbow Rim? We were going to go up and do it for 4th of July. Let me know if you make it down to Flagstaff!
Yep, we're going to camp at Locust Point since that's about in the middle.
Veronica
Oh fun! We're planning on doing the same thing, let me know how it is!
And Tri Girl- I love the pictures, especially the falls, the falls make the whole trek worth it don't they? Looks like you guys had a blast.
I did a 5 day backpack trip into the GC last week. It was my first time hiking in the canyon. I went with 5 other people, 2 or 3 of which were experienced canyon hikers. I had a week notice to go on that trip, not much time to hike a lot to get ready. I have moderate experience with long backpack trips.
We did Boucher Trail - Tonto Trail - Hermit Trail. All primitive non-maintained trails, although they are well-trodden.
The Boucher Trail is one trail that I really don't ever need to hike again. Very rough and rocky. Horizontal parts are often on the very edge of a yawning chasm. Vertical parts are straight down on loose rocks for a long long ways. 9 miles to water in Boucher Creek. I made it though. We were all cooked after that day.
My legs were very stiff and sore after that first day. Then 6 miles on the Tonto Trail to Hermit Camp. Next day was 1.5 miles down to the river to stay over. Then 1.5 miles back up to Hermit Camp the next day. It was 106 in the shade that afternoon. Glad Hermit camp has a swimming hole in the creek! Then we got up at 3am to hike out the Hermit Trail, 7 miles, before it got too hot.
27 hard rocky miles, but it was great! My top pack weight with 5L of water was 37lbs. I used a Gregory Deva 60 pack and it was excellent. I wore New Balance 804 trail running shoes and they were excellent, no blisters at all. Just sore leg muscles. Trekking poles are a must. I tried out a new cooking arrangement: an Esbit tablet stove to heat a bit of water for tea and Mountain House meals. It worked out great!
I took a lot of pics, but I haven't posted them online yet.
Cool! We'll be there next week - doing Ride the Rockies this week, then heading to the North Rim with our bikes. Going out to Point Imperial by bike should be a blast! V - how long will you be there, and which rim?
Great write-up, Tri Girl. You know, it kinda made me feel bad that I have only been to the GC once, and that was because we were moving away from AZ and I made myself plan a trip to see it in the dead of winter.
I felt a little nostalgic. There's so much of AZ I haven't seen... mostly the beautiful parts, too. The valley got so ugly, it's unfortunate that is what I remember.
Rainbow Rim is a must do on the mountain bike on the north rim. One of the most scenic and fun rides I have ever done! Especially if you are into diversity of flora.
spoke
Spoke- Ya think it'll be busy 4th of July weekend? We're debating when to leave.