March 25 - April 4, 2025
Approximately 70 miles total
This route I dreamed up is a one-way, point-to-point route. That meant leaving our car at the hike exit (Grand Canyon Backcountry Information Center-BIC) and getting a ride to the start (the Salt Trail on Navajo lands).
In my planning, I saw that a Navajo company, Grand Canyon Native Trails, was offering tours of their land and their piece of the Grand Canyon rim. An idea occurred that maybe we could take a tour with them but, have them pick us up at the BIC and drop us at the Salt trailhead after. Through a couple back and forths, we scheduled a full day tour and secured our drop off.
Day 0 - March 24, 2025
After being picked up at 7am by Alicia and Jalen, we made the two-hour drive to the home of their "auntie" Gloria. Gloria lives on the reservation in a modest but charming home, full of family mementos.
Gloria had made breakfast for us. A lovely spread of fry bread, scrambled eggs, ham, bacon, cheese, juices and coffee.
We delighted in the stories of her life on the reservation, herding sheep and cattle on foot. The same as her mother had done many years ago. Her mother had recently passed away at 102!
We were then joined by Franklin (Alicia's father) and his wife Anna, and Alicia's daughter Mackenzie. They all told us about how the family lineage worked. It's a matriarchal society where although women take the man's name in marriage, it's the women's clan name that gets passed down for generations.
*click on any of the grid images to see the full size
The reservations we've given the Native Americans are on land so desolate. With no water or other resources, they weren't worth anything to the white man at the time (and probably not even now). You'll notice that Gloria has solar panels--actually, hydropanels. They aren't for electricity but are supposed to get water from the air.
A hydropanel is like a solar photovoltaic panel, but instead of creating electricity, it instead makes clean, safe drinking water without electric hookups or infrastructure, nearly anywhere in the world. Unfortunately, they currently aren't working so her husband makes the weekly 4-hour trip to get a tank of water for their home.
We hopped in Franklin and Anna's SUV and they took us out on the lands. Along the way, they stopped and talked about their experiences on the land.
Then they drove us the final miles to the rim--a place that you cannot access without them. The views were stunning as we looked down on Point Hansbrough named after Peter Hansbrough who drowned nearby in 1889. Read the short/sad story about how it happened here.
Next, we said goodbye to Franklin and Anna and drove further down the canyon and hiked along the rim with Alicia and Jalen. Along the hike, we were treated to many great sights and interesting finds. We were able to look across at Nankoweap and Kwagunt canyons where we had backpacked just 18 months prior.
Knowing we were going to hike the Salt trail to the Little Colorado river, our guides told us what they believe about the area. The Salt trail is what the Native Americans used to make annual pilgrimages to gather the salt that is leached out of the rocks and to visit the Sipapu where they believe their lives originated from. They also believe that the Little Colorado is female and the big Colorado is male. When they meet at the confluence, they overlap and meld together. Very cool.
In the evening, we were treated to a wonderful fry bread taco dinner, beautifully set up too. Then, we were whisked off to our trailhead, 45 minutes away, arriving after dark.
I highly recommend a tour with Grand Canyon Native Trails. It's a very personal tour. One where you get to spend the day with the whole family.
Day 1 - March 25, 2025
2.9 miles/3,332 elevation loss
After a cold night, we were up early, ate, got packed, and hit the trail. The 11-day forecast called for mid to high 80's for the first couple days, then 70s after that, with no precipitation. Perfect! It was just shy of a half mile before we reached the actual canyon. Just 2.5 more miles to the bottom. How hard can it be? We were about to find out!
The Salt "trail" drops over 3,300 feet in those 2.5 miles. We reached the edge and stared straight down. Yikes! We're doing this when our packs are the heaviest, with 11 days worth of food and two days of water (which weighs 12lbs on its own).
We finally made it down the first steep section to the next, relatively flat section. We took a break here and marveled that we all made it down that treacherous cliff. Now we can enjoy some easier hiking for a bit.
But, that was short-lived. The trail climbed back up, went along the edge of the cliff, scrambled down and around a large rockslide and back up, only to scramble down steeply the rest of the way to the Little Colorado river. Lenny was kind enough to take my pack on this last steep scramble then go back up, get his, and climb all the way back down again. He's the best!
Finally, we reached the river. The campsite was just ahead to the left. It's actually a researchers' campsite where they are researching the health of some endangered fishes. But, they let us hikers use it too.
Day 2 - March 26, 2025
7 miles/638ft elevation gain
Happy Birthday Lenny!
After an ibuprofen PM-infused night of sleep, we woke to a beautiful morning. The waters of the Little Colorado were as blue as can be! The water is carrying calcium carbonate. This is the same mineral is found in chalk, antacids, eggshells, dark green vegetables, rocks, and more. It also creates a type of limestone called travertine--round, white ledges you see in the river. We packed up and followed the path down river.
After just about a quarter mile, the nice trail died out and went into the brush. We looked around but could only guess we needed to work our way through it. Eventually, we popped out above the brush, along the rocky hillside. We continued down river in a series of up and down scrambles before finally hitting the beach.
Halfway along the 7-mile trail we came upon the Sipapu. The Native Americans believe that all life came through the portal that is the Sipapu.
As we hiked along the river, we headed towards the confluence of the Little Colorado and the big Colorado. The trail climbs up above the Little Colorado but, is not difficult in any way.
I came around the corner and Lenny asked us to take a break at the overlook of the confluence. The confluence is where the Little Colorado meets the big Colorado. Watching the aqua blue waters converge with the dark green waters, the female river with the male river, was so beautiful!
At this point, Lenny began talking about how I had planned this special trip. And, how the Native Americans have such a special regard for this very spot--where the male and female join as one. He then got down on one knee and proposed to me! Of course I said yes, among happy tears of joy!
Wow....ok! Now back to hiking and getting to camp! Just a few more minutes downriver and down to the small beach, we set up camp.
Day 3 - March 27, 2025
5.25 miles/~1,700 ft elevation gain
We hit the Beamer trail on this gorgeous morning and strolled along the high cliffs above the Colorado river. The Beamer has a reputation for exposure (something that bothers people with a fear of heights, like me) but, I didn't find it too bad at all. It was pretty flat, relatively smooth, and wide enough for both feet.
We worked our way along the Beamer, down to Palisades beach where we set up camp under the shade of the Mesquite trees. It was a pretty hot day but nice to cool off in the river.
Day 4 - March 28, 2025
6.26 miles/824 ft elevation gain
It was a relatively uneventful day with a surprising amount of climbing and descending to Tanner beach and in between Tanner beach and Cardenas beach. Regardless, we got to camp in the early afternoon and had lots of time to rinse out clothes, soak our feet, and generally relax. Most every day, except day one, we were in camp in the early to mid-afternoon. A nice change from our other trips!
At Cardenas beach, again we camped under the trees.
We had LOTS of time to relax, attend to our blisters, read a book, and even rinse off some of our clothes
Day 5 - March 29, 2025
7.09 miles/2,661 ft elevation gain
Camping at Cardenas beach was nice but, it's time to move on. Today would be 7 miles and 2700 feet of elevation gain. This is a part of the Escalante route I really knew little about.
The trail rises quite quickly from the river initially until you have a beautiful view of the Colorado river. We sat and had breakfast while our other two hiking buddies packed and hiked up to meet us. We continued on what I think was one of the most beautiful sections of the route. Smooth and fast, the red sandstone trail was really fun!
Suddenly, the trail was not long and smooth anymore, but climbed the sidehill along the ridge. It was a bit rocky/chunky and the exposure was steep but, the trail was easily followed. Once at the nose of the ridge, I thought the worst was over.
We got to the nose of the ridge and took a break. Then realized the trail went across a very steep slope for quite a ways with exposure FAR greater than the previous side of the ridge! No pictures of this section since we were all in "focus" mode.
Once we were across this section though, the trail rapidly but smoothly went back downhill. It almost had me running. It was fast, easy, and fun.
In fact, the trail dropped all the way to the river at Escalante beach. We took a break and soaked our feet. I think we all had one or more blisters!
Although the break was nice, this was not our destination. We still needed to climb up, over, and down into 75-mile canyon. Unfortunately, the trail often cannot just follow the river bank. Cliffs to the river prohibit that and you must climb back up and then down just to get to the next canyon.
Once at the bottom, we walked down a beautiful slot, all the way to 75-mile canyon.
Day 6 - March 30, 2025
1.7 miles/1,001 ft elevation gain
Today will be a very short day. Only 1.7 miles and 1,000 ft of elevation gain. However...two of the most toughest challenges await us. The first is something called the Papago Wall. It's a 30 ft climb up a cliff. In itself it is not necessarily difficult. But, add a backpack and the exposure and, it makes it much more of a risk.
The second challenge, even more risky and frightening, is the Papago Slide. A steep, nearly vertical gully full of slippery rocks and dirt. In fact. the backcountry information center sent us an email suggesting a change in itinerary due to a rockslide there a few months back that has made it even more difficult.
But first, we needed to go the one mile trek across the cliffside to get to these challenges.
And within about a minute or two, the Slide...
Stepping out onto the slide with my pack made me feel dizzy. I made it across the slope but then Lenny offered to take my pack and he would go back up and get his pack and come back down again. Even doing that, going down, one cautious step at a time, was terrifying! Somehow, we all made it down safely.
That was really the last challenge of the whole hike. Now we just had about a half mile to the beach. We arrived before lunch and had the whole afternoon to relax and enjoy our last day on the river.
Day 7 - March 31, 2025
5.85 miles/2,000 ft elevation gain
We left the river for the last time and headed inland. This meant a hefty initial climb up to the Tonto level. This transitioned us from the Escalante route to the East Tonto trail. As was usual, Lenny and I packed and hiked up to find a breakfast spot while PK and Angela stayed behind to have breakfast at camp. This seemed to work well. By the time we were done eating, they were coming around the corner.
The trail continued to climb up to the Tonto level where it flattened out and allowed for smooth sailing to Hance Creek canyon. There is one exception. As you turn in to Hance canyon, you have about a quarter mile of sheer exposure, walking on a one-boot wide, down-sloping path. No pics from anyone here as we were all in "focus" mode again.
We arrived at Hance Creek where the water was flowing quite nicely. We set up our camp on what would also be the last warm afternoon for the rest of the trip!
Day 8 - April 1, 2025
10.1 miles/~1,900 ft elevation gain
We said goodbye to Hance creek canyon and worked our way back out to the main river canyon, having breakfast with a view along the way.
Today is a long day (over 10 miles to Grapevine) and we could see the weather coming in. However, we were still treated to periods of sunshine.
We experienced sunshine, rain, and even snow/sleet on our easy 10-mile hike to Grapevine canyon. The views were really spectacular!
Because the trail was fast and flat, we still arrived in Grapevine canyon in the mid-afternoon. Some water was flowing, as we expected, so that was nice!
We hiked about a quarter of a mile up the canyon and found some great campsites on an island in the middle of the wash, thanks to another hiker named Paula. Paula was doing a solo trip-brave girl!
Day 9 - April 2, 2025
8.75 miles/~1,600 ft elevation gain
We left Grapevine on what was a beautiful, sunny morning! As we moved out of the canyon, more and more clouds appeared and soon it was raining and sleeting again, including gusts of wind. The trail was easy, flat, and smooth, but the weather was not super fun.
But, the views were pretty and there were always interesting things to look at, including the ghostly cliffs in the background.
It seemed like in no time we were at our campsite in Lonetree canyon. It had been a pretty easy, but chilling, day.
We set up camp in between rain storms. Sleet and snow had briefly turned the ground white but melted quickly. PK had a record going that he did not want to break. He has slept every night without a tent, typically finding a small ledge to sleep under. After some slight landscaping, moving gravel around, he indeed created another tentless bed!
Paula came and joined us for some conversation. It turns our her wife Sue was climbing near Boulder at Eldorado Canyon many years ago with her climbing partner Coral. Coral had an accident and it was Lenny that took Coral to the hospital. Lenny also recognized Sue's name as it turned out he had bought one of Sue's jackets from the second-hand store also many years ago. Small, very small, world!
Day 10 - April 3, 2025
9.67 miles/1,889 ft elevation gain
We woke up to a quiet, dry, and, cold morning. But, that didn't last very long. Just after breakfast we were back to the usual cold showers.
This was a long-lasting cold front, in fact lasting until the day after we finished, five days in total not counting the couple of gusty days ahead of time. But we soldiered on. The Tonto trail continued to be smooth, flat, and fast. When trail designers had a chance to cut corners by going straight down or straight up, they chose instead to go longer and deeper into side canyons in order to keep the trail very level.
That is until we reached the west side of Cremation canyon. There were two large arms where the trail designers routed the trail straight down and straight back up again. I could deal with the elevation loss and gain, but the sheer steepness got a little treacherous at times. My guess is the guy who did this section had to have been fired after that as none of the rest of the trail was anything like it. They could have easily routed the trail back into these arms and out again with minimal loss and gain.
Thankfully, we got past it and never encountered anything like that on the rest of the Tonto. Soon, the South Kaibab trail came into view. This is one of the super highways in the canyon, as is the Bright Angel trail. There was some kind of comfort in knowing we were sort of back in civilization, so to speak. We took a break at Tipoff point but, the wind was howling and we were getting chilled. So, we pushed on the final 4.5 miles to our destination on Bright Angel, the Havasupai Gardens campground.
As we pushed on those 4.5 miles, the squalls came more frequently. And, so did the people. Because the Bright Angel trail was closed from the campground to the river, many people changed their day trips to go down Bright Angel and cross over the Tonto to the South Kaibab or vice versa.
There are a couple beautiful springs along the way. The cottonwoods were just leafing out with bright, lime-green leaves and the red bud trees were blooming with their purple buds.
And, as the last image shows, it finally came into view! Our destination for our very last night's camp - Havasupai Gardens!
(insert the sound of brakes screeching to a halt)
At the trail junction, the trail was closed going up to the campground. There was a detour. A horrible, one mile extra detour! One that went back down the canyon, then up a terribly steep dirt hill, up some stairs, then up a steeper hill that they had tried to carve switchbacks into, then a long walk back to the campground.
OK, we sucked it up, did the detour and got to the Havasupai Gardens campground. We walked through and pretty much had our pick of sites. Appears the weather scared off the other campers.
The sites all have shelter, a picnic table, a cooler (to keep your food from being stolen by critters), and a large, flat camp area. We got things set up just before it began pouring rain!
That night was the coldest night of the trip. In fact, the shelter roof had frozen water over it's top. I was wearing every bit of clothing I brought plus some of Lenny's and managed to survive the night.
Day 11 - April 4, 2025
4.65 miles/~3,000 ft elevation gain
We all ate our breakfast and packed up for the huge hike out. All we could think about was ice cream. We'd talked about it almost every day. Even wondered aloud how we could create a solar ice cream maker for backpacking!
And then we reached the snowline.
We topped out at the rim and, just like that, our adventure was over.
Of course we had to get ice cream even though it was near freezing!
THE END
#dosomethingepic
#goplayoutside