News and Views From my kids accomplishments, to my heretical perspective of the world

Dale and I took Donna out for her first backpacking trip this past weekend.

We went out in the desert near Superior, Arizona (about 50 miles south-east of Phoenix). We started around 2300 feet elevation, hiked about 8 miles, and camped at 3100 feet. This is high desert, where saguaros are rare, and century plants start to become common. The desert was lush, with lots of acacia, mesquite, prickly pear and jojoba.

The scenery was quite nice too, as we circled rugged Picketpost Mountain, and then wound through valleys and canyons, and over ridges.

I generally prefer hiking and camping in forests, but this time of year it would be too cold. Even at this elevation, we all got chilled as the night time temperature dropped into the 20’s. After a dinner of freeze-dried lasagna and chicken a-la-king, we huddled around the mesquite campfire until about 10, and then crawled into our sleeping bags. Dale and Donna each had a tent, but I slept under the stars. The half moon rose about midnight, and I watched it move across the sky as I slept fitfully, trying to stay warm. Around 4, the wind began to pick up, but fortunately clouds also moved in and the temperature rose. By the time we got up at dawn (around 7:00), the temperature was around 40, which seemed relatively toasty.

After a breakfast of instant oatmeal, we started back. We got rained on and hailed on during the hike out, but it wasn’t heavy and didn’t last long, and was actually pleasant.

I think Donna enjoyed her first backpacking trip, but she needs to try it again some time when she can hike through pine forests in warmer weather. Still, it was one of the better desert hikes I’ve been on.

Dale and I made our hike into and out of the Grand Canyon. It was spectacular. It’s a different experience at each level as you drop down. It cannot be captured on film, any more than any aspect of the Canyon can. You have to experience it first-hand to understand.

We started down on the South Kaibab trail on Sunday morning. We returned on the Bright Angel trail on Monday.

The South Kaibab trail is definitely the more scenic. You descend down ridges much of the way, with amazing changing panoramic scenery all the way. As you drop down below the rim, you not only have the beautiful spires and rock walls below, you also have the huge, varied cliff faces above.

By contrast, the Bright Angel trail by which we returned is much more closed in. You follow valleys and ravines most of the way, and though there are lots of places to see the scenery below, the view is much more constrained. However, hiking through the cottonwood and willow groves is pleasant, and shade and the presence of water makes the Bright Angel trail a better summer hike.

We camped at the river, at the Bright Angel campground, next to Phantom Ranch Lodge. It’s nothing like I expected.

I didn’t feel like I was at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. You can’t see the rim anywhere, just rock walls rising a few hundred feet on all sides, so it’s more like being in a small canyon oasis in the desert. Cottonwoods and willows line the banks of Bright Angel Creek and the campground, while most of nearby desert is prickly pear, acacia and brittle bush.

We drank lemonade at the Phantom Ranch Lodge canteen on Sunday afternoon. The Lodge isn’t what I expected either. It’s quite rustic, and most of the guest rooms seem to be separate rock cabins. Ranger talks about the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corp) and Bats Sunday afternoon and evening were interesting diversions, as our feet were too tired to do much exploring.

The hike out up the Bright Angel trail was a grueling 9-mile, 4500-foot climb. We were walking pretty slowly by the last mile, but at its worst it was nothing like the Sierra hike we took last month. This was a stroll in the park in comparison.

They only allow a maximum of 90 campers and 90 Lodge guests on any night, so there are never more than 180 overnight visitors. We met lots of hikers on the trail with light day packs — these were people who had reservations at the Lodge and so only had to carry clothes and toiletries. We met a few people just carrying water — these were the day hikers who had ventured down from the rim and would be returning within the same day. We met several other backpackers, of course. And we met two strings of mules; one carrying supplies for the lodge, and the other carrying tourists, taking the easy way down.

I want to go again some day. Maybe I’ll make the year-out reservations for the lodge and ride the mules down next time. It looked like a lot of fun.

If you get the chance to go, whether backpacking, hiking to the lodge, or riding mules, do it. It is amazing.

Dale just called me from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. There were two backcountry passes available for this weekend. I told him to grab them.

Sunday we are hiking down from the South Rim to the river, where we will camp for the night. Monday it’s the long climb back up.

I’m excited! I have always wanted to hike down into the canyon, but it seemed almost impossible to get permits. They usually have to be reserved months ahead.

On Monday we will climb from around 2000 feet up to 7000 feet — a 5000 foot climb. That’s more than we did on any day on our recent hike in the Sierra, but two things will make this easier. The elevation will be much lower than it was there, and we will only be carrying 1-day’s rations instead of 4 or 5. Having to carry extra water may offset that advantage, though.