Back in 2015 we backpacked the Escalante Route over Thanksgiving, descending the Tanner Trail and exiting the Grandview Trail. It was an adventure with more challenging Grand Canyon trails and an eight year old, but it was still a terrific trip with beautiful scenery, perfect weather, and fabulous campsites along the Colorado River. Nine years later, Norah was on a rafting trip with GCY, so Steve and I took the opportunity for a last minute permit to hike the Escalante Route. We had a shorter time frame this trip and descended the Tanner Trail and exited the New Hance Trail. This was the mileage and elevation gain/loss for the hike:

Day 1: Tanner Trail; 9 miles, 4650 feet elevation loss
Day 2: Escalante Route; 12 miles, ~2600 feet elevation gain and loss
Day 3: New Hance Trail; 6.5 miles, 4420 feet elevation gain

We camped at Tanner Canyon (BB9) and Red Canyon (BD9) and this was definitely a highlight of the hike - we loved having down time on the beaches and falling asleep to the sound of the rushing Colorado River. Another highlight was the abundance of wildflowers this time of year - half my camera roll from the Tanner Trail was flowers. So many colorful blooms - it was beautiful! The flowers were a plus of hiking in May versus November, but I definitely prefer the weather in November. The forecast was reasonable for this time of year, so we decided to go ahead with the trip and it was manageable, but it was definitely hot at times. The hottest day was hiking the Escalante Route and we started our day at 5:30 am to get a jump on the worst of the heat. Overall it was okay, although the last hour of the hike was pretty hot and we were very happy to arrive at Hance Beach and jump in the Colorado to cool off.

There were parts of the hike I wasn’t looking forward to based on my memory of our previous trip. I’m not a fan of exposure and there were some spots I remember making me take care. To me the worst of these are the traverses along slopes with a narrow path with loose rocks and a long slope to oblivion. Turns out, some of these weren’t as bad as I remembered - I think not having an eight year old with you removes some of the anxiety, lol. But the Papago slide - ugh, this was worse than I remembered - not a fan!

There are the trail descriptions from the NPS:

Tanner Trail

Escalante Route

New Hance Trail

And some of my notes on our hike:

The Tanner Trail:

- The initial descent from the trailhead to the saddle is very steep with a lot of loose rocks. It’s not difficult, but tedious. Stopping at the saddle and looking back at what we descended - it doesn’t look possible there is a trail there!

- The trail from the saddle to the top of the Redwall is nice hiking, especially this time of year with all the flowers. Before turning to the right and descending the steep switchbacks, we walked out to the viewpoint overlooking the Palisades of the Desert. Fantastic viewpoint and this would make a nice turn around point for a day hike.

- From this point on there were some parts of the trail with those narrow traverses with long slopes - most notable a long section through the Dox Sandstone. These were okay, but it was kind of tiring on the legs to keep the pace reasonable and it felt like a lot of mental concentration (for me anyway - Steve doesn’t even notice these sections).

- Overall the Tanner Trail was a decent hike down - not as bad as I remembered. A lot of sun exposure and no water, but we were down before the hottest part of the day. We had a lovely afternoon on Tanner Beach - it was a great campsite.

The Escalante Route:

- This is the real meat of the trip. Both for the gorgeous scenery and views and the trail itself. The day starts off easy with an easy going walk to Cardenas Creek and up to Hilltop Ruin (a short detour from the trail). It was especially nice early in the morning.

- After Hilltop Ruin we had a long section to traverse around an unnamed drainage. I didn’t like this section. There were a few, short spicy sections of the trail where it narrowed down with some exposure and there was a long traverse along the slopes that felt like it never ended. It was manageable, but I didn’t enjoy it. I was happy to finally reach the ridge, which was a perfect spot for a break. It was also where we saw the rattlesnake.

- It was an easy descent to Escalante Creek (dry except for a few puddles) and not a problem to navigate down the wash/canyon to the Colorado River. We stopped here to refill our water and watch a rafting party go through the rapids. We didn’t linger too long though, keeping in mind the day was getting hotter and we still had a few miles to go.

- Seventyfive Mile Canyon was a cool spot. I liked hiking the cliffs above the canyon and seeing it from above before we reached the entry point into the canyon. It was easy to get into the canyon and an easy walk back down to the river.

- The next section had a lot of rocks and ledges and some great views. We climbed up and then back down to Papago Beach and the infamous Papago Wall. There are ledges to climb up and these were okay. It was the Papago slide on the other side that was not fun descending. I remember it last time as being tedious and slow going, but okay. It felt worse this time and I did not like it one bit. I was extremely happy to reach the bottom.

- From here it was a short hike along the bank of the river to Hance Beach/Rapids at the mouth of Red Canyon. It felt pretty hot, but luckily this was the homestretch. The first bit of beach we came to had a perfect swimming hole to get in the river and cool off (and great views). We spent the rest of the afternoon in the shade by the river where it was cooler. This was another fantastic spot for camping and it was a nice afternoon and evening.

The New Hance Trail:

- Although this trail is pretty well cairned, it does require a little more attention to stay on trail. The first part of the hike up canyon is pretty easy. The grade of the trail increased as we climbed and the last bit of the trail is very steep. I had done this trail before, but not with a pack and didn’t remember it that well. It is a rougher trail, but I think it’s still okay - especially going up instead of coming down. It’s a steep climb, so it is tiring, but no parts of the trail like the blasted Papago Slide or that long traverse on the Escalante Route that I didn’t like. The views are fine, although not as nice as other trails in the canyon. We again got an early start and were in shade for the majority of the hike, so the temperatures were reasonable. I think this trail is more about an access point in/out of the canyon and not a trail I would likely do a day hike on.

We haven’t backpacked as much since we moved to the Grand Canyon, so it was nice to get back out there for some backcountry camping. Overall, it was a fun three day trip!