Grand Canyon: Grapevine Galleria, Redux!
Grandview to BA: / Visiting Hance Creek / Circum-ambulation of Horseshoe Mesa / Cottonwood Creek / Grapevine / Lonetree/ Bright Angel Campground / Indian Garden
52.3 miles; ERM = 89
 
October 3rd to 9th, 2016
Text © copyright by Rob; and Photos © copyright by Rob

Sunset on Angels Gate, Day 1
Sunset on Angels Gate, Day 1
(Click the image for the full-size image)
View into Bright Angel from the South Kaibab, Day 5
View into Bright Angel from the South Kaibab, Day 5
(Click the image for the full-size image)

Sacred Datura or Moon Flower, Day 5
Sacred Datura or Moon Flower, Day 5
(Click the image for the full-size image)
Pictos, Day 7
Pictos, Day 7
(Click the image for the full-size image)

Movie 1:  from the nose of Horseshoe Mesa, 17mb, day 2
Movie 1: from the nose of Horseshoe Mesa, 17mb, day 2
(Click the image to see the short video)

Map - Grandview to BA
Map - Grandview to BA
(Click the image to see the map)

panorama from nose of Horseshoe Mesa, day 2
panorama from nose of Horseshoe Mesa, day 2
(Click the image and scroll L-R to see it all, 4414 pixels wide)

52.3 miles; ERM = 89

Co-Adventurers: Solo hike

camera: Panasonic DMC-ZS19

Summary: This trip report describes a Tontour, starting at Grandview Point and dropping down to Horseshoe Mesa and the Tonto Trail before proceeding West to Cottonwood Creek, Grapevine Creek, Lonetree Creek; then down the South Kaibab to Bright Angel CG before completing the hike via Indian Garden and the Bright Angel Trail. Along the way, I hiked all three trails from the Tonto to Horseshoe Mesa.

     ERM = Energy Required Miles. A mile is added for every 500' elevation gain or loss. It's a very serviceable method of estimating energy required miles. ERM was initially used in Trails of the Tetons (long out of print) by Paul Petzold, founder of NOLS. It's a wonderfully useful concept and application. Add one mile for each 500' up AND down to distance = ERM. I use ERMs to calculate what the actual day is like. It's a very serviceable method of estimating energy required miles. Remember, however, that the ERMs are estimates because they depend on GPS satellite coverage and math functions.
     Using ERMs does not account for the 'texture' of the route or trail - that is, rocky, boulders, no trail, slimy mud, etc., yet does help approximate the route.

     Day 1: Pondering Page. To Hance Creek on the Tonto Platform: 5.2 miles. ERM = 12. Camp @ 3700'.
     Tim Wilson meets me at the BIC (Backcountry Information Center) and shuttles me to the Grandview TH (@ 7400'). The wind is stiff, making for a very cool pack check before setting off for Horseshoe Mesa and then Hance Creek via Page/Miner Spring.
     John of Australia and I talk along the trail as we drop through layers of rocks made by time. John selected the Grandview trail for his one day hike in The Canyon because he thought it would be fairly quiet. And, it is. We encounter a half dozen hikers on the way to Horseshoe Mesa. On Horseshoe, we hide from the wind in the lee of the long abandoned miner cookhouse walls and enjoy a brief lunch before poking around a bit, then dropping down to Page/Miner Spring on a precipitous and rarely maintained narrow trail through the Redwall Limestone. The trail twists past historic mining explorations, one sporting an old pump.
     Meeting the side trail to Page/Miner Spring, I drop my pack and John and I stroll to the spring. Gorgeous clear and crisp water tinkles though Maidenhair Ferns clinging to the spring recess, where the water is squeezed out at the juxtaposition between Redwall and Muav Limestone. Classic, many of the Canyon springs are prompted by the Muav.
     For John, it's time to climb back to the rim and drive to the Hopi Cultural Center for the evening. I continue down to meet the Tonto Trail, then East to Hance Creek, where I find good water and noisy neighbors, who have sprawled their one party across several camp areas. trumpish.
     Because the wind is still vigorous, I find a sheltered small site above the Tonto, nestled in the mesquite, Rabbitbrush, Cliffrose, and other wind cutting brush.
     Sadly, Angel's Gate, which is directly across the Canyon, is bounded by a gray cloud backdrop, limiting photographic possibilities.
     The clouds race by overhead and the ground level wind swirls about, urging me to make an early appointment with the tent. Striving for an early tent time, I am reminded how far into Fall I am as it gets seriously dark before 7 p.m.
     And, more Canyon Time is exquisite and fine, I muse. Counting this and the upcoming VIP (Volunteer In Park) trip (click here for this VIP report) I will have backpacked 27 days this year in The Canyon. Then, there are the day trips on the South Kaibab - Tonto -BA loop, the Hermit Trail, day hikes off the North Rim to Roaring Springs, Widforss, etc. and there are a host of luscious Canyon miles about which to muse.
     How long will we have access to wild public lands? With the rise of selfish trumpmania, which is just another reincarnation of corporate and 1% welfare, the republicans' plans tirelessly include privatizing public land. This meets the mantra of republican lies to their followers, who unerringly vote against their own best interests. Socialize the loss and privatize the gain! Of course, there are far too many corporate democrats too. Hillary is one of these ilk. Yet, the basic social fabric will remain with Hillary, while with the donald all will be sacrificed to an amoral/immoral corporate cabal of socio- and psychopaths while the middle class get the shaft. Note historical data - republican administrations shift the cost to the middle class and poor while creating huge public debts to enhance the 1% and corporations. It's corporations that are cruel, inhuman, and by nature amoral and immoral (their quest is only money, more and more), yet rank and file republicans blame the government while the tax cuts go to the rich and corporations. Amazing and difficult to understand how people forget bushco, reaganomics, and how republicans shifted the wealth, draining the middle class and forcing many of them into poverty (with the tacit or active assistance of a few corporate democrats, sigh). A corporation took my job, stole my health care, took the social security/medicare I paid into -- blame the government! What!? OK, enough of this, it drains the color from the kaleidoscope Canyon.

Day 1 Photos - Grapevine Galleria 2016

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wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day1-1  Horseshoe Legacy.jpg (379957 bytes)

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day1-1 Horseshoe Legacy.jpg

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day1-2  Off the Page Sp Arm.jpg (364738 bytes)

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day1-2 Off the Page Sp Arm.jpg

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day1-3  John of Australia.jpg (486712 bytes)

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day1-3 John of Australia.jpg

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day1-4  Page or Miner Spring.jpg (476433 bytes)

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day1-4 Page or Miner Spring.jpg

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day1-5  John at Page Sp.jpg (494814 bytes)

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day1-5 John at Page Sp.jpg

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day1-6  Looking up from Tonto.jpg (454429 bytes)

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day1-6 Looking up from Tonto.jpg

     Day 2: Cottonwood Caper. Contour on the Tontour: to Cottonwood Creek (5.2 miles; ERM = 7); and circumnavigate Horseshoe Mesa (5.5 miles; ERM = 11); total miles of 10.7; total ERM = 18). Camp @ 3560'.
     The morning glow touches Angel's Gate, then slowly spreads to the Western Redwall. Delightful.
     I'm lounging in my slickrock Coconino Sandstone bucket seat and watching the early rays play across my truncated view of The Canyon.
     Then, it's contouring on the Tontour. Yes, the Tonto Trail strives to stay on the contour (or level line on terrain or a map), thus the moniker, Tontour. Of course, this is also a tour on the Tonto, so a double meaning here.
     I realize it's 9 a.m. when I hear the distant, yet intrusive, thundering rumble of the air tour terrorists. Horrid! The selfish and self-serving chambers of commerce intrude into the land set aside because of its soundscape. What!
     It's a Tontour on the contour around Horseshoe Mesa and into Cottonwood Creek.
     No creek. Where is Cottonwood Creek? Oh, oh. I go in search of water, finally finding a solitary pool about 1,000' above where the Tonto Trail crosses the drainage.
     Bob of Maine arrives and he tells me about water at Grapevine and in Lonetree.
     I drag a bucket of water back to camp and filter all of it before returning for another bucket full, which I intend to warm in the sun (bath time later).
     After setting up camp, I load the pack as a day pack and backtrack to the old trail that climbs to the fin of Redwall North of Horseshoe Mesa (the horseshoe-shaped crest of the mesa). This is the middle route to Horseshoe Mesa from the Tonto. It's about 1.5 miles to the base of the old trail, then a direct route up to the mesa, the trail showing signs of long ago construction. After the 1,000' climb, now atop the Redwall, I turn North and walk to the tip of the fin, where there are panorama opportunities.
     Then, hiking the fin South, I'm back to the old cook house location, near the junction of the trail down into Cottonwood Creek, passing the route to Cave of the Domes along the way. Tempting, and I have my headlight, yet there's just not enough time.
     The trail off the mesa into Cottonwood Creek is steep and filled with rolly pebbles. Slow going.
     After the trail levels some, I pass the arm coming in from the West and containing a spring. Crossing though this arm of the canyon, I see a dribble of water, then two campers, then Bob of Maine. The water disappears just below Bob's camp.
     Bob and I chat more, then I'm getting chilled and light is fading, so off to camp I go with my flattening feet.
     I start dinner soaking while bathing in the last light, and eat dinner accompanied by billions and billions of stars. Ursa Major (The Great Bear), the Big Dipper, lounges on the Tonto Platform across The Canyon and points the way to the North Star.

Day 2 Photos - Grapevine Galleria 2016

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wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day2-1  Morning Gate.jpg (147372 bytes)

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day2-1 Morning Gate.jpg

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day2-2  Onto Tonto.jpg (177656 bytes)

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day2-2 Onto Tonto.jpg

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day2-3  Around Hance.jpg (380465 bytes)

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day2-3 Around Hance.jpg

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day2-4  Tontour.jpg (445637 bytes)

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day2-4 Tontour.jpg

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day2-5  Tontour.jpg (435694 bytes)

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day2-5 Tontour.jpg

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day2-6  Cottonwood drainage.jpg (364571 bytes)

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day2-6 Cottonwood drainage.jpg

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day2-7  Horseshoe North.jpg (298365 bytes)

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day2-7 Horseshoe North.jpg

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day2-8  dusk in Cottonwood.jpg (134828 bytes)

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day2-8 dusk in Cottonwood.jpg

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day2-9  Bob of Maine.jpg (209331 bytes)

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day2-9 Bob of Maine.jpg

     Day 3: Grapevine Galleria. To Grapevine Canyon: 5.5 miles. ERM = 8. Camp @ 3612'.
     It's so peaceful and quiet under my trio of junipers and so lovely watching the golden sunlight slide down the Redwall above and across The Canyon, that I find it difficult to do anything but enjoy the morning. Yet, it will be heating on the Tontour. Not just yet, I muse. I pause to allow the tent bottom to dry while contemplating the day and The Canyon. Delightful, and no air tour terrorists, at least not yet, wholly sponsored by your chamber of commerce. Unfettered growth, the ideology of the cancer cells. Scourge.
     Back on the Tontour, I contour around to the West arm Cottonwood spring. Dry. Continuing, I can hear the rustle of wind rippling through the wings of the swifts flying acrobatically, barrel rolling over the Tapeats Sandstone ledge, showing off with gusto. I can hear the rumble of The River careening through Grapevine Rapids, interrupted by the intrusive jet overflights and the distant drone of dollar decibel terrorist helicopters that have been declared soundless by the commerce chamber's lackies mccain and reed. Selling a treasure to money changers. Fools and minions. Representing money and more money and little else. Corporations are amoral and immoral. And guess how these "people" might vote?
     Dropping down part way through the Tapeats on the route which may go to The River produces a good view of the milk chocolate River fidgeting through the constricting walls of dark chocolate nougat basement rocks. Humm, I consider stopping for a tortilla lavishly slathered with yummy hazelnut spread. I wait for the first Grapevine spring to do so.
     Now, about 1:30p., I'm lounging in the shifting shade of a juniper at the Tontour crossing of Grapevine, the East arm. It's lunch #2. I walk up canyon looking for water, which trickles near some tent sites 800' above the trail. These camps are probably better protected from a rising wind, which is propelling fluffy cumulus clouds from the West, I consider. And perhaps they are recipients of early shade because the canyon walls are more narrow up here?
     Exploring down Grapevine, it's a bit sketchy initially getting off the ledge and into the canyon proper; this involving a short down climb. Then it's a pleasant walk through small slickrock bowls and past an overhanging spring dripping through Maidenhair Ferns. Spectacular. A stream of clear water begins. As the canyon widens it is chocked with bowling ball rocks, becoming less interesting. So I return to the camp area where this canyon forks, to gather water and set up camp. The wind continues to pulse and shriek, yet this camp offers decent, albeit not complete, protection.
     As the bursts of wind buffet my laundry and The Canyon colors dull in the descending dusk, I realize that I've seen no one today. Except for the swifts, dragonflies, song sparrows, tadpoles, tiny red frogs, bats, pinyon jays, lizards, et al. What wonderful company for a Canyon quest.

Day 3 Photos - Grapevine Galleria 2016

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wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day3-1  Cottonwood sunrise.jpg (106920 bytes)

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day3-1 Cottonwood sunrise.jpg

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day3-2  Tontour.jpg (300655 bytes)

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day3-2 Tontour.jpg

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day3-3  Cocoa River.jpg (349510 bytes)

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day3-3 Cocoa River.jpg

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day3-4  Cocoa River.jpg (330137 bytes)

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day3-4 Cocoa River.jpg

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day3-5  Basement Rocks.jpg (449092 bytes)

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day3-5 Basement Rocks.jpg

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day3-6  Looking West.jpg (228789 bytes)

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day3-6 Looking West.jpg

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day3-7  Maidenhair.jpg (599717 bytes)

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day3-7 Maidenhair.jpg

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day3-8  Grapevine.jpg (272716 bytes)

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day3-8 Grapevine.jpg

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day3-9  Grapevine Camp.jpg (218781 bytes)

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day3-9 Grapevine Camp.jpg

     Day 4: Lone to Lonetree. To Lonetree Canyon: 9 miles. ERM = 12. Camp @ 3580'.
     I unfurl the umbrella not long after sweeping around the first corner of the Tontour out of Grapevine Creek. It feels much warmer than yesterday.
     I meet a woman going toward Grapevine and she's toting an umbrella. Not very talkative or engaging, she tells me info that is a trumpish of the truth (totally false), such as there is water 300' up canyon in Boulder. Not helpful.
     I trundle along the Tontour, hoping to see some Bighorn Sheep. Just scat, and a few days ago too. I meet Larry (of the UK) and Liliana (of Poland) who are visiting The Canyon for the first time. Yikes, they have lugged water from the South Kaibab TH and still have a gallon, after camping at Cremation and at Lonetree. Their spirits are good but their feet flat and other parts aching, and a view of Grapevine Rapids is what they need, along with a break. We talk about water and camps at Grapevine and Cottonwood, which they will visit before exiting The Canyon via the Grandview Trail.
     I'm definitely ready for a break myself, my feet exclaim, when I've hiked about 6 miles to Boulder. I pull up a rock under a helpful Singleleaf Ash and enjoy lunch #1. Delightfully deluxe. It's very decent in the shade and the views are close Redwall and good.
     I've moved on, hiking the Tontour, and now I'm sheltered in the lee of the sun next to a cheese grater limestone boulder, enjoying a foot break with one more push to Lonetree. The looming hulks of Zoroaster and Brahma Temples fill more and more of the view. Lunch #2, and more excellent hazelnut creamy spread on a fat tortilla. Excellent indeed.
     Rolling into Lonetree, I see few spots to camp and some red mud puddles. Not good. Dropping the pack, I take my bucket and all the empty bottles (they're all empty now) and start down canyon in search of decent water. It's discouraging. Then, a lone Cottonwood (the lone tree?) and a brief trickle of good water, now over 20 minutes of hiking below the Tontour crossing. Yippee. Filtering full all bladders, I slog back to camp and start dinner. While dinner soaks, I partake of a bucket bath and set up the rest of camp. Crimson slips off Zoroaster as I put on the evening clothes for dinner. It appears that I am the only person in Lonetree tonight. Lone to Lonetree.

Day 4 Photos - Grapevine Galleria 2016

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wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day4-1  Grapevine morn.jpg (232072 bytes)

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day4-1 Grapevine morn.jpg

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day4-2  Tontour.jpg (345521 bytes)

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day4-2 Tontour.jpg

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day4-3  Grapevine.jpg (317840 bytes)

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day4-3 Grapevine.jpg

     Day 5: Tontour to BA. To Bright Angel Campground: 8.9 miles. ERM = 15. Camp @ 2480'.
     The rustling, fidgeting burble of Bright Angel (BA) Creek soothes me and perhaps calms the hyperactive pace of R2 (rim to rim ruffians)? Nah, the R2 focus on the "me, Me, ME!", yet mostly don't experience The Canyon, except as a personal race track, making a good study of their shoelaces. Anyway, there's too many of them, and there's too few hiking ethics in this R2 hoard.
     Still, the BA Creek rolls on, nearly to The River in Bright Angel CG and here producing an oasis of luxuriant vegetation, thanks to the careful ministrations of Sjors, the BA permanent volunteer, supplemented by the annual work of VIPs (Volunteers In Park) of the GCHBA (Grand Canyon Hikers and Backpackers Association). We of the GCHBA are again hiking in to BA in a bit over two weeks. Here's the report of this volunteer service project, Finding Phantom. Link.
     The day starts with more Tontouring from Lonetree to Cremation to the scenic toilet at the Tipoff. The trail gets lost in the fractured rocks as it undulates through the branches of Cremation, and it plunges through canyons here rather than contouring. Not Tonto-esque at all.
     From the Tipoff, it's three miles of downhill to BA. And, it's quiet. Amazing. Perhaps I'm ahead of the crowd? Ranger Betsy later tells me that I was fortunate to hike in the lull, between the frenetic early and late R2. Super serendipity.
     I have my choice of campsites and drop the pack for lunch #2. Then to the cantina of Phantom Ranch to write a few postcards, to the sewage treatment facility to check the number of buckets we left for storing food (left only 7) for the upcoming VIP (Volunteer In Park) trip (click here for this VIP report) volunteer service project. And to attempt a video of the milk chocolate sludge that is currently The River. Thunderstorms in the long tributaries of the Little Colorado are pumping tons of silt and mud into The River.
     Feeling tired, I return to camp to watch rocks made by time and am lulled into a near stupor by the sound of tumbling BA Creek water. After dinner, the meditational bliss is superb on the bench above Bright Angel Creek.

     For rocks made by time, the mnemonic goes like this (read down, use first letter of starting word as a reminder - from the rim, down):

    Know - Kaibab Limestone
    The - Toroweap Formation
    Canyon's - Coconino SS
    History - Hermit Shale
    Study - Supai Group (including the Esplanade)
    Rocks - Redwall Limestone
    Made - Mauv Limestone
    By - Bright Angel Shale
    Time - Tapeats SS

    Know The Canyon's History, Study Rocks Made By Time.

Day 5 Photos - Grapevine Galleria 2016

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wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day5-1  near Cremation.jpg (337206 bytes)

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day5-1 near Cremation.jpg

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day5-2  Tontour.jpg (259109 bytes)

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day5-2 Tontour.jpg

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day5-3  BA Delta.jpg (388121 bytes)

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day5-3 BA Delta.jpg

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day5-4  Black Bridge.jpg (486473 bytes)

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day5-4 Black Bridge.jpg

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day5-5  Black Bridge.jpg (491516 bytes)

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day5-5 Black Bridge.jpg

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day5-6  Cocoa River.jpg (255020 bytes)

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day5-6 Cocoa River.jpg

Movie: The River from the Silver Bridge, 19mb, day 5
Movie: The River from the Silver Bridge, 19mb, day 5
(Click the image to see the short video)

     Day 6: Indian Garden: 4.9 miles. ERM = 8. And to Plateau Point. 3 miles. ERM = 4. Total miles 7.9. Total ERM = 12. Camp @ 3850'.
     The breeze ruffles the fig and pomegranate and Cottonwood leaves while the outline of puffy clouds appears overhead. It's morning in BA Camp, and a delightful one too. I can see the headlights bobbing and hear the R2 loudly rehearsing their scripts for the False Bravado (AKA face book) over the natural quiet of Bright Angel Creek. Praise bushco, most of the R2 are on the trail across the creek. And, hey, I'm writing notes for my own version of false bravado, and hope it's more entertainment and information than bravado.
     Now, back to the real world.
     Up through rocks made by time; basement rocks, then layer upon layer, younger and younger. But today I'm going to Indian Garden, so it's basement rocks, the Tapeats Sandstone, and part of the Bright Angel Shale.
     For lunch it's free range hazelnut spread, peanuts, oreos, pretzels, stuff like that. Yummy.
     Plateau Point beckons, and I agree. The clouds close in and the vistas are compromised, yet it's still grand.
     Just back from the Point, lightning, thunder loud enough to prompt me to cover my ears, and a pattering of rain interrupts lunch #2, and it's good to be under the IG ramada.
     The rain bursts forth intermittently and I'm happy to have organized almost everything into the rocket boxes and brought the empty pack under cover too. It's cool enough for a jacket.
     Ranger Meghan stops by during her campground tour and points out where two lightning strikes have brush smoldering. It drizzles a bit more and the humidity is high, so there seems little likelihood of a big fire.
     It's a dark and cloudy evening in IG Camp.

Day 6 Photos - Grapevine Galleria 2016

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wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day6-1  mud morning.jpg (256655 bytes)

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day6-1 mud morning.jpg

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day6-2  up the BA.jpg (292744 bytes)

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day6-2 up the BA.jpg

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day6-3  Devils Corkscrew.jpg (350536 bytes)

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day6-3 Devils Corkscrew.jpg

     Day 7: Rim Time. To BA TH: 5.1 miles. ERM = 12.
     The pink glow slides down the Redwall escarpment backing IG camp. Other hikers seem to be in a big hurry to leave this splendid place. I doubt that the temperature warrants that urgency.
     Rising to the South Rim, I find the trail in good condition because the fine youngsters of the American Conservation Corp are actively working on it. It's a lovely hike, but for the rim-to-rim runners who unethically and discourteously yell "I'm coming through!" and bump into and off anyone on the trail; treating people as bowling pins, inanimate objects. Typical; trumpentine. Bullying and aggressive behavior have been normalized by the people of trumpville. Of course, rim-to-rim runners are incompatible with the Park mission of preservation of the natural and enjoyment by all but the selfish R2.
     The crowds thicken above the 1.5 mile rest area and soon I'm strolling the rim back to the BIC for the drive home, reminiscing about another worthwhile Grand Canyon adventure.

Day 7 Photos - Grapevine Galleria 2016

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wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day7-1  Redwall at IG.jpg (154977 bytes)

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day7-1 Redwall at IG.jpg

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day7-2  back at Plateau Point.jpg (121916 bytes)

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day7-2 back at Plateau Point.jpg

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day7-3  Pictos near rim.jpg (257892 bytes)

wGC-Grandview-to-BA 2016 day7-3 Pictos near rim.jpg

Movie:  from Plateau Point, 15mb, day 7
Movie: from Plateau Point, 15mb, day 7
(Click the image to see the short video)

Links:

Junior the NPS Mule urges you to read this article about GCHBA volunteer trips (Grand Canyon
News, December 1, 2015; pdf; 2 mb)
Junior the NPS Mule urges you to read this article about GCHBA volunteer trips (Grand Canyon News, December 1, 2015; pdf; 2 mb)
Click the image to go to the article

Other WV reports about the Grand Canyon:

Click here or on the Looking Lizard to go to all WV reports about The Grand Canyon

All Wilderness Vagabond trip reports about the Grand Canyon
Looking for All Wilderness Vagabond trip reports about the Grand Canyon?
Click the image to go to All WV reports about The Grand Canyon

Map:

Map - Grandview to BA
Map - Grandview to BA
(Click the image to see the map)

Related Links:

The first Grapevine Galleria trip report (2009)

Scenic Toilets of Inner Earth

the geology of the Grand Canyon by the NPS

Eaarth - Living on a fundamentally altered planet by Bill McKibben

More Truth Than Joke:

all dams are ugly
all dams are ugly
(Click the image for the full-size image)

a psychopath lies, surprise
a psychopath lies, surprise
(Click the image for the full-size image)

profits over life
profits over life
(Click the image for the full-size image)

war breaks out
war breaks out
(Click the image for the full-size image)

silly you, clean air is for the rich
silly you, clean air is for the rich
(Click the image for the full-size image)

trickle down economics, again
trickle down economics, again
(Click the image for the full-size image)

militants
militants
(Click the image for the full-size image)


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