Gentlemen,
A couple months ago I met a fascinating girl who is passionate about climbing and backpacking. She possesses the cardiovascular fitness of an Olympic marathoner and climbs with the ease and grace of a Bighorn Sheep even while burdened with a 25+ pound backpack. Her name is Renea and many of you met her at this year’s Barrett-Jackson Ford GT Forum dinner at the El Chorro Lodge. She showed me some cool photographs taken during her eight trips to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and other treks to beautiful locations throughout Colorado and Arizona. While I have rafted from end to end through the Grand Canyon and, back when it was legal, landed my helicopter at the bottom and flew through it countless times in various aircraft, I have never hiked down to the bottom and back out.
I had heard about Phantom Ranch since I was a small child but I don’t know many people who’ve actually been there. While millions of tourists visit the Grand Canyon every year, the vast majority of them only walk to the edge and look down. Fewer than 5% of Grand Canyon visitors actually walk even a few steps down into it and only a fraction of 1% trek all the way to the bottom, either on the back of a mule or on foot. I was somewhat embarrassed that after living here for 56 years, I had yet to join that 1%. So Renea set about organizing a two-person expedition to cure that deficiency and though Phantom Ranch is normally booked up a year in advance, she found 2 cancellations just one week out. Yikes…..while I’m pretty sure I’m fit enough to make it to the bottom, the 5100 foot vertical ascent coming out had me worried. :willy
As my backpack gear is ancient, my first stop was to REI where most of the latest and greatest high-tech, lightweight pack and climbing gear can be found. With Renea guiding my selections, I purchased a super light-weight, internally framed, ventilated Osprey pack that held a lot of gear and distributes weight comfortably between one’s chest, shoulders, and hips. It contained an internal drinking water bladder that held one half-gallon available via a plastic tube attached to my right shoulder strap. Featherweight, carbon fiber, adjustable, “Black Diamond” climbing poles that, when used properly, take a lot of stress off one’s legs during an ascent and equally important, they look trick! :thumbsup Lightweight rubber and chain-link ice cleats that slip over the soles of your boots to prevent one from slipping during the first part of the trip that would be made on moderately steep ice and snow covered trails. Water and wind proof pants, jacket shell, and several lightweight layers of clothing that could be shed during the descent were picked up as well.
There are two trails to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. The more heavily traveled of the two, by both mules and hikers, is the Bright Angel Trail which passes through Indian Gardens and which has drinkable water available at three different points. We would be taking the Kaibab Trail which is steeper, shorter, more scenic, and completely devoid of any source of water. I was excited all week looking forward to this pack trip. We drove up the evening before and stayed in a small cabin not too far from the El Tovar Hotel on the South rim. In the morning we made a final check of gear before driving to a parking lot where we would take a shuttle bus to the Kaibab trail-head. We were the only people on the bus carrying packs, climbing poles, and other gear. The flip-flop and windbreaker shod tourists looked at us as though we were Martians. There was a foot of snow on the ground at the top of the trail-head as we donned our ice cleats and headed over the edge. I expected it to be scenic but still I was stunned by the indescribable beauty in every direction as we headed down that pure white ribbon of snow and ice. For the first mile or so we encountered a number of hikers without packs who would only be walking down to the first scenic overview called Ooh-Aah point.
Within 2 miles we had descended almost 2000 feet and our snow-covered trail had turned to mud. We stood aside as two strings of pack mules passed by us on their way up, one of them carrying tourists and the other carrying compacted trash out of the bottom from Phantom Ranch. The trail is very clearly marked and it would be impossible for one to get lost. From time to time I had to stop and just look around, trying to take it all in. It was like being on another planet as we descended deeper and deeper into the Earth’s crust. Nearly 2 billion years in the making, the canyon descends down through layers of sandstone that were deposited in those locations 1 billion years before life on this planet even existed. About 5 miles down the trail, having descended about 4000 feet in elevation, the Colorado River came into view for the first time. There were very few people on the trail that far down and the majority of the time we were alone in one of the most spectacular places on earth. 6 miles in, my knees had taken a pounding from stepping down off ledge after ledge on a trail engineered more for mules than human beings. I could almost taste the first ice cold beer of the day waiting for me at the bottom. :cheers
It was Valentine’s Day and Renea gave every hiker we came across a cheery greeting and she told me some interesting stories about past trips as well. Rounding the last series of switchbacks we came to a short tunnel leading to a narrow black suspension foot bridge spanning the Colorado River that was built in 1922 by the Fred Harvey Company. That same year they built the tiny log cabins, the main dining lodge, and the mule corrals that are still the only structures at Phantom Ranch today. The suspension cables for that bridge needed to be carried down uncoiled on the backs of long strings of workers as they were too big and heavy for the mules to pack. We were now in a section of the Earth’s crust that had been deposited here over one and a half billion years ago. Walking across the bridge to the north bank of the Colorado River, one of the first things we came across were the remnants of stone dwellings that have been dated back to the year 1100, so this area of the canyon has seen human occupation for at least 1000 years. In 1912 President Theodore Roosevelt made camp here while hunting on the North Rim of the canyon and this area was called Roosevelt Camp from that time until Fred Harvey purchased it in 1922 and renamed it Phantom Ranch.
There has never been a wheeled or tracked vehicle on the ground in this part of the Grand Canyon nor is there any way for one to get there. Everything must come in on the back of a mule and all trash must go out the same way. In addition to about a dozen small cabins, there are four dormitories (two for men and two for women) containing five bunk beds each (10 total beds). A bed for the night goes for about $95. Breakfast, dinner, sack lunches, and cold beer are available for people staying overnight at the ranch. There are a number of mule deer that live in Phantom Canyon among the cabins that are so tame you practically need to shoulder them out of the way when leaving camp.
At dinner our first night the manager told us an interesting story. In 1969, the United States Park Service shut down Phantom Ranch, gave no explanation, and instructed the workers to stay. Nobody had any idea what was going on. A few days later three helicopters arrived and on board were Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin not long after their return from the moon. NASA wanted to take them someplace where they could decompress, contemplate what they had just accomplished, and finish their debriefing in an environment where they would be away from the press and everyone else for a couple days. As one of the most isolated places on earth, Phantom Ranch was perfect. Prior to their missions all but one Apollo astronaut came to the Grand Canyon to study geology and Neil Armstrong had been to Phantom Ranch twice before. I did not know any of this.
On our first morning in the bottom of the canyon we slept in late and did a short day hike along the Colorado River where we had lunch and spent a lazy afternoon before returning to Phantom Ranch for cold beer and a farewell evening dinner. The 25 or so people at the ranch that night were from all over the world. Many of them had been there several times and very few were from Arizona. An interesting bunch to be sure and the people who had hiked down there looked upon the mule riders with a mild level of disdain. The oldest hiker was a 71-year-old woman who had carried her own pack and had been to Phantom Ranch five times before. Women hikers outnumbered the men.
Up at 6:30 AM on our final morning, we disposed of everything possible to lighten our burden on the way up, ate a hearty breakfast, shouldered our packs, and headed back up the Kaibab Trail. The initial ascent is steep and within the first mile we were 1500 feet above the river and amazingly, I felt pretty good. I read on the Park Service website that most hikers are only able to average about 1 mph during the ascent. At that rate the 7.3 mile trip would take over 7 hours. But the further we went, the stronger I seemed to get so I picked up the pace. Those climbing poles made a huge difference for me on the way up as I used my upper body and arms to drive myself forward. We made it out of the canyon in three hours and 45 minutes. I consumed every bit of my water and I still had over 20 pounds on my back (I weighed our packs at the end). Not bad for an old man. Renea, whose pack weighed one pound more than mine, was in good cheer as always and after changing into some dry shirts we drove to the bar at the El Tovar Hotel for celebratory cocktails. I felt like the king of the world.
Hiking to the bottom of the Grand Canyon is not for the infirm, the elderly, or the very young. It doesn't require super-human abilities but one must be in pretty good shape to make that trek. The 5100 foot ascent in 7.3 miles carrying a pack is certainly a gut check. But it’s honestly one of the coolest things I’ve ever done, and I've done a lot of cool things in my life. Would I ever do it again? Hell yes! I can’t wait to do it again. What was the best part of the trip? It was Renea!!! :biggrin
Chip
A couple months ago I met a fascinating girl who is passionate about climbing and backpacking. She possesses the cardiovascular fitness of an Olympic marathoner and climbs with the ease and grace of a Bighorn Sheep even while burdened with a 25+ pound backpack. Her name is Renea and many of you met her at this year’s Barrett-Jackson Ford GT Forum dinner at the El Chorro Lodge. She showed me some cool photographs taken during her eight trips to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and other treks to beautiful locations throughout Colorado and Arizona. While I have rafted from end to end through the Grand Canyon and, back when it was legal, landed my helicopter at the bottom and flew through it countless times in various aircraft, I have never hiked down to the bottom and back out.
I had heard about Phantom Ranch since I was a small child but I don’t know many people who’ve actually been there. While millions of tourists visit the Grand Canyon every year, the vast majority of them only walk to the edge and look down. Fewer than 5% of Grand Canyon visitors actually walk even a few steps down into it and only a fraction of 1% trek all the way to the bottom, either on the back of a mule or on foot. I was somewhat embarrassed that after living here for 56 years, I had yet to join that 1%. So Renea set about organizing a two-person expedition to cure that deficiency and though Phantom Ranch is normally booked up a year in advance, she found 2 cancellations just one week out. Yikes…..while I’m pretty sure I’m fit enough to make it to the bottom, the 5100 foot vertical ascent coming out had me worried. :willy
As my backpack gear is ancient, my first stop was to REI where most of the latest and greatest high-tech, lightweight pack and climbing gear can be found. With Renea guiding my selections, I purchased a super light-weight, internally framed, ventilated Osprey pack that held a lot of gear and distributes weight comfortably between one’s chest, shoulders, and hips. It contained an internal drinking water bladder that held one half-gallon available via a plastic tube attached to my right shoulder strap. Featherweight, carbon fiber, adjustable, “Black Diamond” climbing poles that, when used properly, take a lot of stress off one’s legs during an ascent and equally important, they look trick! :thumbsup Lightweight rubber and chain-link ice cleats that slip over the soles of your boots to prevent one from slipping during the first part of the trip that would be made on moderately steep ice and snow covered trails. Water and wind proof pants, jacket shell, and several lightweight layers of clothing that could be shed during the descent were picked up as well.
There are two trails to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. The more heavily traveled of the two, by both mules and hikers, is the Bright Angel Trail which passes through Indian Gardens and which has drinkable water available at three different points. We would be taking the Kaibab Trail which is steeper, shorter, more scenic, and completely devoid of any source of water. I was excited all week looking forward to this pack trip. We drove up the evening before and stayed in a small cabin not too far from the El Tovar Hotel on the South rim. In the morning we made a final check of gear before driving to a parking lot where we would take a shuttle bus to the Kaibab trail-head. We were the only people on the bus carrying packs, climbing poles, and other gear. The flip-flop and windbreaker shod tourists looked at us as though we were Martians. There was a foot of snow on the ground at the top of the trail-head as we donned our ice cleats and headed over the edge. I expected it to be scenic but still I was stunned by the indescribable beauty in every direction as we headed down that pure white ribbon of snow and ice. For the first mile or so we encountered a number of hikers without packs who would only be walking down to the first scenic overview called Ooh-Aah point.
Within 2 miles we had descended almost 2000 feet and our snow-covered trail had turned to mud. We stood aside as two strings of pack mules passed by us on their way up, one of them carrying tourists and the other carrying compacted trash out of the bottom from Phantom Ranch. The trail is very clearly marked and it would be impossible for one to get lost. From time to time I had to stop and just look around, trying to take it all in. It was like being on another planet as we descended deeper and deeper into the Earth’s crust. Nearly 2 billion years in the making, the canyon descends down through layers of sandstone that were deposited in those locations 1 billion years before life on this planet even existed. About 5 miles down the trail, having descended about 4000 feet in elevation, the Colorado River came into view for the first time. There were very few people on the trail that far down and the majority of the time we were alone in one of the most spectacular places on earth. 6 miles in, my knees had taken a pounding from stepping down off ledge after ledge on a trail engineered more for mules than human beings. I could almost taste the first ice cold beer of the day waiting for me at the bottom. :cheers
It was Valentine’s Day and Renea gave every hiker we came across a cheery greeting and she told me some interesting stories about past trips as well. Rounding the last series of switchbacks we came to a short tunnel leading to a narrow black suspension foot bridge spanning the Colorado River that was built in 1922 by the Fred Harvey Company. That same year they built the tiny log cabins, the main dining lodge, and the mule corrals that are still the only structures at Phantom Ranch today. The suspension cables for that bridge needed to be carried down uncoiled on the backs of long strings of workers as they were too big and heavy for the mules to pack. We were now in a section of the Earth’s crust that had been deposited here over one and a half billion years ago. Walking across the bridge to the north bank of the Colorado River, one of the first things we came across were the remnants of stone dwellings that have been dated back to the year 1100, so this area of the canyon has seen human occupation for at least 1000 years. In 1912 President Theodore Roosevelt made camp here while hunting on the North Rim of the canyon and this area was called Roosevelt Camp from that time until Fred Harvey purchased it in 1922 and renamed it Phantom Ranch.
There has never been a wheeled or tracked vehicle on the ground in this part of the Grand Canyon nor is there any way for one to get there. Everything must come in on the back of a mule and all trash must go out the same way. In addition to about a dozen small cabins, there are four dormitories (two for men and two for women) containing five bunk beds each (10 total beds). A bed for the night goes for about $95. Breakfast, dinner, sack lunches, and cold beer are available for people staying overnight at the ranch. There are a number of mule deer that live in Phantom Canyon among the cabins that are so tame you practically need to shoulder them out of the way when leaving camp.
At dinner our first night the manager told us an interesting story. In 1969, the United States Park Service shut down Phantom Ranch, gave no explanation, and instructed the workers to stay. Nobody had any idea what was going on. A few days later three helicopters arrived and on board were Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin not long after their return from the moon. NASA wanted to take them someplace where they could decompress, contemplate what they had just accomplished, and finish their debriefing in an environment where they would be away from the press and everyone else for a couple days. As one of the most isolated places on earth, Phantom Ranch was perfect. Prior to their missions all but one Apollo astronaut came to the Grand Canyon to study geology and Neil Armstrong had been to Phantom Ranch twice before. I did not know any of this.
On our first morning in the bottom of the canyon we slept in late and did a short day hike along the Colorado River where we had lunch and spent a lazy afternoon before returning to Phantom Ranch for cold beer and a farewell evening dinner. The 25 or so people at the ranch that night were from all over the world. Many of them had been there several times and very few were from Arizona. An interesting bunch to be sure and the people who had hiked down there looked upon the mule riders with a mild level of disdain. The oldest hiker was a 71-year-old woman who had carried her own pack and had been to Phantom Ranch five times before. Women hikers outnumbered the men.
Up at 6:30 AM on our final morning, we disposed of everything possible to lighten our burden on the way up, ate a hearty breakfast, shouldered our packs, and headed back up the Kaibab Trail. The initial ascent is steep and within the first mile we were 1500 feet above the river and amazingly, I felt pretty good. I read on the Park Service website that most hikers are only able to average about 1 mph during the ascent. At that rate the 7.3 mile trip would take over 7 hours. But the further we went, the stronger I seemed to get so I picked up the pace. Those climbing poles made a huge difference for me on the way up as I used my upper body and arms to drive myself forward. We made it out of the canyon in three hours and 45 minutes. I consumed every bit of my water and I still had over 20 pounds on my back (I weighed our packs at the end). Not bad for an old man. Renea, whose pack weighed one pound more than mine, was in good cheer as always and after changing into some dry shirts we drove to the bar at the El Tovar Hotel for celebratory cocktails. I felt like the king of the world.
Hiking to the bottom of the Grand Canyon is not for the infirm, the elderly, or the very young. It doesn't require super-human abilities but one must be in pretty good shape to make that trek. The 5100 foot ascent in 7.3 miles carrying a pack is certainly a gut check. But it’s honestly one of the coolest things I’ve ever done, and I've done a lot of cool things in my life. Would I ever do it again? Hell yes! I can’t wait to do it again. What was the best part of the trip? It was Renea!!! :biggrin
Chip
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