Grand Canyon (Utah Flats/Phantom Canyon): March 2016

Utah Flats is an area to the north of Phantom Ranch and about 1,500 feet above it.  The landscape of rolling red slickrock is a delightful and refreshing change from the steep cliffs and deep chasms commonly associated with Grand Canyon.  It's also the gateway to the beautiful and secluded Upper Phantom Canyon.  Martha, Tom, and I spent five days in mid-March 2016 backpacking in this area.

Day 1 [March 14].  The last time I hiked this route, back in 2012, we'd spent the first and last nights at Bright Angel Campground; this time, though, the campground was full the first night, so the plan was to hike up to Utah Flats and camp there (South Kaibab Trail down to Bright Angel Campground: 6.5 miles, 4,800 vertical feet; then up Piano Alley and over onto Utah Flats: 1.5 miles, 1,500 feet).  This promised a long day of hiking and we wanted to get on the trail early, so we headed out from Tom's cabin right around dawn and headed for the shuttle stop outside the GCNP Backcountry Office to catch the "Hikers' Express" shuttle out to the trailhead.

There were already a few people waiting when we got to the shuttle stop, with more trickling in steadily.  By the time the shuttle arrived and everyone piled in with all their gear, it was a pretty full ride.  The people were impressively motley bunch: youthful excited college-age hikers, families trying to corral young kids, middle-aged fogies like us, and even one little old lady who must have been well into her seventies!  (Yay to the parents introducing their children to hiking the outdoors so early—you rock! Yay to the little old lady—I hope I can still hike into GC when I'm your age!)

Once we got on the trail, of course, we unclumped rapidly.  Tom, Martha, and I were not in a big hurry, and we stopped every so often to enjoy the views and take photos.  Most of the other hikers were moving faster than us, and quite soon we had our section of the trail more or less to ourselves.  And although we'd bunch up every so often at the viewpoints—Ooh-aah Point, Cedar Ridge, Skeleton Point—the trail never really felt crowded.  And I don't think we ran into any mule trains until we were quite far down the trail.  Although we weren't hurrying, we made faster time than we had expected, reaching the river around 12:30-ish.  We stopped briefly at Bright Angel Campground to rest a little and take on some water, then continued on towards Piano Alley.

Views from along South Kaibab Trail

Piano Alley gets its name from the grand-piano-sized boulders that are strewn about the hillside.  The (unmarked) trail starts out just outside Bright Angel Campground, levitates up a steep hillside covered with loose rocks, and then keeps levitating.  It's hideously steep and loose initially (a description I use affectionately); on the bright side, one benefit of "hideously steep and rocky and loose" is that you're too busy watching your footing to worry about the descent on the way back.  After a while the trail moderates to merely "ordinary steep", and just when you're lulled into complacence it dissolves into a tangled mess of monster boulders that makes you nostalgic for "hideously steep".   (In fairness, it couldn't have been all that bad, because we were able to hike both the ascent and the descent without having to take off our packs, and emerged, as far as I'm able to tell, without any residual psychological trauma.)

Tom powering up the "hideously steep" portion of the trail

Vishnu schist cliffs on the other side of the Colorado

Catching our breath

Negotiating the boulders at the top of Piano Alley

Although we could feel the effects of the rim-to-river hike by the time we started up Piano Alley, the hike seemed to go easier than I had expected, and we reached Utah Flats some time after 3:30 pm.  To make sure we camped  above 3,600 feet, as required by our permit, we pushed ahead into Utah Flats for a while and made camp around 4 pm.

Utah Flats

It was pretty windy on Utah Flats.  This made putting up our tents somewhat tricky: anything that was big and light and sail-like was liable to be blown away.  A related problem was that we were camped on solid rock, making it impossible to stake our tents down.  I stabilized my tent the best I could by putting big rocks inside in the corners.  This seemed to work, but a little later, as we were eating dinner, a particularly fierce gust of wind tilted my tent over on to its side and began dragging it along the ground... it took some scrambling to get it back under control.  The wind intensified as the evening went on, and by the time I went to bed it was blowing so hard that my tent poles were getting bent into worrisome angles.  But my tent held together, and eventually the wind died down, and by the time morning came around the weather was quietly perfect.

Day 2.  This was a nice relaxed day: about 2½ miles to Phantom Creek, pretty much just contouring along towards the Isis-Cheops saddle and then dropping steeply down into Phantom Canyon; and then another ¾ miles or so upstream along Phantom Creek to the campsite.

Hiking out of Utah Flats
Cheops Pyramid (L) and Isis Temple (R)
Approaching Phantom Canyon
The hike to Phantom Canyon

We set up camp at the Overhang, the same place that we camped at back in 2012.  This is a little piece of flat sandy ground, sheltered from the sun by a big overhang, maybe a hundred feet from Phantom Creek; across the way on the other side of the creek rose the sheer concave face of Schellbach Butte and, a little ways upstream, The Colonnade.  After the usual chores of camp setup, we just relaxed and took it easy.  The weather was perfect for goofing off, and it was lovely to be lazy.

The descent into Phantom Canyon

The Colonnade

Schellbach Butte

Day 3.  Another relaxed low-key day.  We hiked up Phantom Canyon to Hippie Camp (2.4 miles each way), crossing back and forth and back and forth across Phantom Creek.  The day was clear and sunny, the temperature was perfect, and the lush green cottonwoods growing along Phantom Creek glowed in their new spring foliage (in some spots the vegetation was a little too lush and we had to struggle to get through).  Hippie Camp was much as I remembered it, though sadly, the Antler Man was gone---a victim of storms or vandalism.  We sat and relaxed at Hippie Camp for a little bit, then Tom and I went exploring a short distance up Outlet Canon.  We headed back towards camp a little after 12:30.

There were a lot more frogs active in Phantom Creek on the hike back than we had seen on the hike up in the morning.  The only sounds we had heard on the way up were those of water and wind; on the way down, we'd hear a chorus of frogs as we approached each pool in the creek, and once we got close there'd be a succession of plops as the frogs jumped off the rocks on which they'd been sunning themselves to hide in the water.  It must've been their high mating season because their raucous lusty calls were so loud that night they drowned out the sound of the creek.  I guess adolescent frogs have their version of rock concerts too!

Views heading upstream on Phantom Canyon

Day 4. We had a spot at Bright Angel Campground, so our hike this day was a mellow 4.6 miles, most of it fairly flat except for the initial climb out of Phantom Canyon and the final descent down Piano Alley.  It was a relaxed hike, with many stops to photograph the flora and fauna we encountered. We reached the campground in the mid-afternoon.  I missed the tranquility of Phantom Canyon.

Day 5. Up early and on the trail back to the rim.  We took Bright Angel Trail up—a little longer than South Kaibab Trail (about 9.5 miles from the campground to the rim) but also not quite as steep.  It was a very pleasant hike: we saw many redbuds in bloom around Indian Gardens, the bright purple of their blossoms a lovely splash of color among the green vegetation.  Also near Indian Garden we detoured off the trail to look at some prehistoric Indian ruins, not too far from the trail, that Tom knew about.  The rest of the hike was uneventful, but the closer we got to the top the denser the crowds became and the more I missed the serenity and solitude of the off-trail Canyon.  We reached the rim some time in the mid-afternoon.

Western redbud

Grand Canyon (Powell Plateau): July 2016

Powell Plateau is a "land island" that hangs off the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.  Its elevation of about 7,500 feet puts it roughly a vertical mile above—and correspondingly cooler than—the bottom of the Canyon.  The top of the plateau slopes gently from NE to SW with a lot of oak and pine forests.  If you like the Grand Canyon (who doesn't?) and want to escape the blistering summer heat of Southern Arizona (who doesn't?), it seems like the perfect getaway.  And so Tom and I decided to get away from Tucson for a few days in the middle of July for a five-day hike on Powell Plateau.

There was only one catch: there's no water on Powell Plateau.  Which meant we'd have to haul in all of our water for the entirety of our trip.  Tom figured we'd need about 28 quarts per person (six quarts per day, a little less for the last day), which works out to 56 lbs; add another 30 lbs or so for food and gear, and we're looking at a total weight of 85+ lbs, which is pretty intimidating. Tom explained that we'd be "double-tripping", at least initially: i.e., carrying part of the load over, then coming back to retrieve the rest.  Up until now I had just implicitly assumed that all I could take on a backpacking trip was what I could haul along on my back; the idea of double-tripping came as a revelation that opened up all sorts of interesting possibilities.

Day 0 [July 13]. We set out from Tucson just after 5am and managed to mostly miss the Phoenix rush hour.  The drive up was uneventful, though as we crossed the Colorado and headed north on Rte 89A we saw a large smudge of smoke from a wildfire in the distance.  It was some distance from where we were going, and it looked like we'd be fine as long as the wind didn't change direction and blow the smoke our way.

We got to the trailhead at Swamp Point around 3:30pm.  This gave us about 4-5 hours of daylight, enough time to haul some of our water across Muav Canyon over to Powell Plateau (down 800 feet to Muav Saddle, then up 900 feet to the Plateau).  I started out with about 50 lbs on my back; Tom's pack was a few pounds heavier.  Between the 7000+ feet elevation, strong sun and midsummer heat, and the poundage accumulated since our last Grand Canyon hike, we found ourselves huffing and puffing a bit more than we had expected.  Hmm.  We took it slow and got back to the trailhead a little after dark (there was plenty of moonlight so we didn't need our headlamps).

Swamp Point	Muav Canyon

Day 1. Up early, around 4:30; on the trail by 6:30.  The forecast was for hot dry weather with no rain, so I decided to save some weight by leaving my tent and rain-jacket behind (I'd come to regret this on the last night of the trip).  This time my pack came in at around 56 lbs.  After a delightful hike across Muav Canyon in the early-morning cool, we pushed on about 1½ miles beyond our water stash from the previous evening.  We were not in a rush, and by the time (after sitting around for a bit) we retrieved the rest of our water from the previous day, the sun was pretty high in the sky and it was warm!  I was still having issues with the heat, so we decided to stay where we were and not go any further.   Overall we had hiked about 6.5 miles.  The rest of the day was spent lying around in the shade of tall pine trees; our most intense activity was scooting over every so often as the shade moved with the sun.

Day 2.  Up and out early.  The plan was to move the camp a couple of miles further down towards the center of the Plateau and visit Dutton Point.  To reduce the total travel distance a little we took a roughly triangular route: Camp 1 to Camp 2 (first installment of gear); Camp 2 to Dutton Point; Dutton Point to Camp 1; and Camp 1 to Camp 2 (second installment of gear).

The day started out delightfully cool but warmed up quickly.  The terrain was mostly very-gently-sloping pine forest split by the occasional brush-choked ravine.  The hiking was pleasant except for some seriously heavy bushwhacking, through thick stands of manzanita, young oak trees, and locust bush, when getting across Dutton Canyon.  The view at Dutton Point was breathtaking: the huge panorama of Grand Canyon stretched out before us with the tongue of Dutton Point sticking out into it, high steep cliffs to our right, and the Colorado a dim little ribbon far below.  But it was almost noon and the sun was blazing down on us, so after a quick lunch in the shade of a nearby pine tree, we continued towards Camp 1. This portion of the hike was during the hottest part of the day, and was it hot!  We took cover in the shade as soon as we got to Camp 1, and sat around until it cooled off a little before loading up and heading back to Camp 2.  Altogether we hiked about ten miles this day.

Dutton Point

Dutton Point

Bed with a view

Estivating

Day 3.  A wasted day.  I woke up feeling sluggish and tired, had trouble pushing breakfast down, blamed it all on the heat and—not wanting to run into problems hours into a hike—suggested to Tom that I take a rest day at camp.  Tom decided to hike out to Wheeler Point.  About ten minutes after he left I realized that I wasn't feeling all that bad after all, and was kicking myself for staying back.  Ah well.  I spent part of the morning on a short hike to the edge of the Plateau, then basically took cover in the shade.  Tom returned in the early afternoon and we spent the rest of the day lying around like lazy lizards.

While the days were hot, the evenings were lovely.  The sun set around 7:30-ish, and I typically went to bed around 8 as the pine trees slowly turned into silhouettes and gradually blended into the darkening sky.  A few bats might dart about, and occasionally a nighthawk swooshed by.  At some point the moon would rise, a big bright spotlight shining through the treetops.  Later, after moonset, the inky sky would be covered with a billion glittering stars.  The view was the loveliest in the world.

Day 4.   Up at 4, on the trail by 5:40. We hiked a counterclockwise loop hitting the "Points" along the western rim of Powell Plateau: Newberry, Thompson, Beale, and Ives (see map above).  The terrain sloped very gently NE-to-SW, and when we come to the occasional ravine Tom almost always managed to find a way across without frontal combat with the vegetation. (By contrast, I—either due to impatience or insecurity—would tend to plunge in headfirst no matter what, then spend a whole bunch of energy flailing and thrashing among the brush.)

The views were, to understate considerably, stunning.  The vistas opened up as we moved south, until at Beale and Ives it felt as though we were suspended above the Canyon.  Grand Canyon looks very different from here: the near side of the Canyon is dominated by vast sweeping terraces on the Esplanade with unfamiliar Conquistador names: Tobar, Alarcon, Garces.  The Colorado river seems an afterthought, a tiny ribbon in the distance.

Vista: Newberry Point

Vista: Thompson Point

Vista: Beale Point

Vista: Ives Point

On the trek back to the campsite, we came across numerous prehistoric ruins scattered across the landscape—at one point stumbling across them every ten or fifteen minutes without even looking too hard!  They date from around 800-1000 years ago, and after all these centuries there isn't a lot left except for the outlines of buildings and some scattered pieces of pottery.  But it's still pretty amazing to imagine the busy lives that bubbled here a long time ago.

Prehistoric ruins

Prehistoric ruins

Potsherd

Potsherd

We got back to camp a little after 5 pm, having covered about 15 miles in a little over 11 hours: as Tom put it, "Not bad for a couple of old farts."  We celebrated a good day of hiking with Drambuie.

Some dark threatening-looking clouds had rolled in during the day, and although some of them were streaming sheets of virga, we didn't get any real rain.  The shade they gave was a huge help.  The clouds eventually dissipated towards eveing, but later in the night I awoke to the gentle touch of a light on-again-off-again drizzle.  My tent, of course, was back in the truck at the trailhead! I learned this night that "Raindrops keep falling on my head" is not conducive to sleep; and also that Grand Canyon weather shouldn't be taken for granted no matter what the forecasts say, especially during the monsoon season.

Day 5.  The usual up-and-hiking-early routine, but heading out this time: extra water dumped, packs much lighter than when we came in.  An intermittent drizzle accelerated our early-morning routine and we were on the trail by 5:30.  Mercifully the weather held, and the overcast actually made for a delightful hike.  We were back at the trailhead around 10:30ish.

As we drove out, we saw a lot of wildfire-related activity related to the smoke we saw on the way in ("the Fuller fire"): crew camps, Park Service vehicles, people clearing brush, parked helicopters.  We got pounded by some very heavy rain on the drive back.  I was glad that the rain would help the firefighters, and also very glad that we got out before the rain hit.

Some pictures from this hike are available here.


Critters
We didn't see a whole lot of critters: a few lizards and jackrabbits, and bats and various birds.  Not all that surprising considering the lack of available water.  Oh, and one very pissed-off rattler.  Three different kinds of ants (S, M, L).  Beale and Ives Points each had a little stone tower decorated with deer antlers, and we saw some deer droppings and deer bones.  Interestingly, there were also plenty of signs that the place is visited by bison (aka "buffalo"): piles of droppings, hoofprints in dried mud (much too big for cows), and coarse hair that Tom spotted snagged on the side of a tree where the animal may have stopped to scratch itself.  It's possible that the bison wander up the trail in the springtime, when melting snow provides water and there's plenty of new growth to munch
on.


This and That
The soil on Powell Plateau is rocky and hard! At the end of our five days there, I found the tip of my toilet-digging utensil bent from the struggle.  Tom found a creative way to get a head start on this: he enlarged a buffalo-hoof-print.  I wish I'd thought of that!