Arsenic, aggressive ravens, and peeing in the Colorado River: Our Thanksgiving in the Grand Canyon.

Well, that is just a little hyperbolic, but I should’ve paid closer attention to the backpacking trip Steve was planning for us over Thanksgiving. When we got our permit from the Grand Canyon park service it contained warnings about some springs possibly containing amounts of arsenic that exceed the municipal water standards and aggressive ravens that can open your backpack and abscond with food, as well as instructions to pee in the Colorado River. Thankfully we didn't have to rely on arsenic laden springs and while we were prepared for ravens and mice with a steel mesh food bag, they never materialized. I can now check off "peeing in the Colorado River" off my bucket list. :)

We had previously backpacked the corridor trails in the Grand Canyon in 2012, so this time Steve was looking for a trip that would explore a different area of the canyon. He settled on the Escalante Route; a twelve mile route along the Colorado River stretching from Tanner Beach to Hance Rapids. This is called a “route” rather than a trail because it traditionally required route finding skills across rough terrain with some minor obstacles and trail sections with exposure. The route still has these attributes, but we found that it is now basically a trail and we had no problems finding our way (although it is still prudent to familiarize yourself with the route and know what landmarks to look for while hiking).

I think the relatively low mileage of twelve miles for the Escalante Route belies the difficulty of this route. Hiking in the canyon is not straightforward and while the route tries to hew as closely as possible to the Colorado River, we often had to make detours away, up, and around when this wasn’t possible. The Colorado River travels eight miles from Tanner Beach to Hance Rapids while the Escalante Route covers twelve miles on land. The three main detours are the traverse of the “unnamed drainage” just past Cardenas Creek, Seventyfive Mile Canyon, and the infamous Papago Wall. The first two are hiking detours (granted, with some exposure along the way) while the Papago Wall requires a short climb up a 35 foot wall, a short traverse, then a descent down a boulder and talus filled gully (tedious more than difficult).

On the Escalante Route we camped at Tanner Beach for two nights and one night at Escalante Creek. The campsites were wonderful; beautiful and peaceful and especially lovely at night by full moonlight. We enjoyed the variety of the canyon and how it changed from the wide open sections near Tanner Beach (the Supergroup formation is softer and has eroded more) to the narrower, higher cliff walls at Hance Rapids (the harder Vishnu Complex).

We accessed the Escalante Route through the Tanner Trail and the Grandview Trail. We started our backpack at Lipan Point; located on Desert View Drive about twenty miles east of Grand Canyon Village. Lipan Point is the trailhead for the Tanner Trail and it’s roughly nine miles and 4650 feet down to the Colorado River. The trail is not maintained and it has long sections that are very steep, have loose rock (particularly the Redwall), and/or have exposure. It was a bit of a knee pounder, but the scenery and geology were a nice distraction. The descriptions I read of the trail use the different rock formations to describe the trail and it was neat to mark our descent by the various rock layers. This is a handy guide to the Grand Canyon Rock Layers and this image is a nicely labeled picture showing the layers.

Some people use the Hance Trail at the end of the Escalante Route to return to the rim, but we opted to continue on the Tonto Trail and exit via the Grandview Trail. We camped one night at Hance Creek and our last day hiked to Horseshoe Mesa and out to the Grandview Trailhead (about 12 miles east of Grand Canyon Village on Desert View Drive). There are three ways to ascend Horseshoe Mesa and we chose the easternmost trail that ascends via Page Spring. This trail is very steep with a lot of loose rock. It was fine for an ascent, but we were happy to reach the mesa. From here we hiked the Grandview Trail, which is a maintained trail. It was still a grunt climbing to the rim with packs, but it was good to be on a nicely constructed trail. The Grandview trailhead is about 12 miles from Lipan Point, so we still weren’t quite done yet. Luckily we got a ride from a very nice French couple on their honeymoon.

So yes, this trip required more than the usual backpack and it was rugged, but it was truly beautiful and a fantastic experience to be immersed in the canyon. If you are up for the challenge, it is a terrific way to enjoy all the Grand Canyon has to offer.

Our final itinerary (total of 32.5 miles backpacking):

Friday: Arrive Las Vegas, overnight Henderson
Saturday: a stop at the Hoover Dam on our way to the south rim, overnight Yavapai Lodge
Sunday: Lipan Point to Tanner Beach (9 miles)
Monday: bonus day at Tanner Beach, Steve hiked the Beamer Trail
Tuesday: Tanner Beach to Escalante Creek on the Escalante Route (~ 9 miles)
Wednesday: Escalante Creek to Hance Creek (~ 9.5 miles)
Thursday: Hance Creek to Grandview Trailhead (~ 5 miles), overnight Yavapai Lodge
Friday: sunrise and a visit to The Hopi House for souvenirs before driving back to Las Vegas, overnight The Flamingo
Saturday: fly back home

Reference and other practical matters:

Backcountry permit process and forms: Backcounty Permits

National Geographic Grand Canyon Map: Map

The National Park Service’s information sheet about the Tanner Trail: The Tanner Trail

The National Park Service’s information sheet about the Escalante Route: The Escalante Route

The National Park Service’s information sheet about the Grandview Trail: The Grandview Trail

The Ratsack for raven and mouse proof food storage: The Ratsack

Reliance on the Colorado River for water means you need to be prepared for turbid water purification. We purchased a Sea to Summit folding bucket for this trip and it worked out well. When we arrived at camp we would immediately fill the bucket in the river and find a way to stabilize it (we hung it from a branch or used sand and rocks to stabilize it on the ground). We would let the bucket sit overnight to let all the dirt settle to the bottom then filter the water in the morning. This did mean we often carried a lot of water to ensure we had enough to drink while hiking and to use for cooking when we got to camp. We love the Platypus bladders for carrying water.

Weather and trail conditions. Late November is considered late in the season for a backpacking trip and we kept a close eye on the weather before our trip (we did have a backup plan if a winter storm was to change our plans). Luckily the weather cooperated (an anticipated storm near the end of the week did have us alter our plans slightly, but the storm never really materialized beyond some strong winds a few days). It was chilly at the rim (lows ranged from ~15 to the 40s), but very pleasant in the canyon (we were even hot at times in the sun) so easy layers were necessary. With the heat, sun exposure, and scarcity of water sources, I would be reluctant to hike this route most times of the year. As for the trail conditions, there was some snow the week before we arrived and we carried our microspikes just in case. We did encounter some patches of ice and snow at the top of the Tanner and Grandview Trails, but we never actually used our microspikes and the sections with ice/snow weren’t very long. It was obviously more difficult going down the icy sections on the Tanner Trail than up the patches on the Grandview Trail, but we took our time and it was fine ("walk like a penguin"!).