AJ Paisley

Brothers Grand Canyon, AZ April 2007

One of the things I love is to do be outdoors. However, everyone knows the saying "if you have the time, you don't have the money. If you have the money, you don't have the time". If there was a reference to this saying in the encyclopedia there would be a picture of me next to the caption.

My brothers and I rarely see each other. In fact the last time we were all together was at my brother Rees' wedding in 1997.

Most of us are out west now so I decided to plan the first annual Brother Back Packing Trip to the Grand Canyon. In attendance was yours truly, my brothers Ken and Rees, and Bobbie's son Brock. The third brother Wil could not make the trip.

 

 

We drove to Williams Arizona just three hours from my house in Cave Creek and stayed the night in a hotel.

The next morning we were off. After reaching the park and a brief photo op we started down the South Kaibab Trail to the Colorado River to stay the night at Bright Angel Campground. I used the trip as an excuse to do a considerable amount of training prior to the trip and felt very prepared for the hike. Going down was easy. The terrain was mostly steep trekking much like the training I was doing at Pinnacle Peak and Cave Creek park.

 

However, about half way down the trail the stair section started. The stairs were at least 18 inched high and even with 15 Kg packs the walking was bone jarring. My younger brother Rees ended up twisting his ankle on the way down. We rested for a while but in the end knew we either had to go back up the trail or back down to get him medical attention. Rees was able to continue down the trail after some rest and water.

 

 

There were many great places to get the ever popular group photos such as this rest stop just about two thirds of the way down. Everyone could use the rest especially Rees who did a great job getting down to the camp considering the pain he must have been experiencing.

 

 

Finally, we decided that Ken and I should head down to the campsite ahead of the others as we had the tents. The weather appeared to be getting bad and we thought if the rains came, having both tents functional would be a good idea when Rees and Brock got to camp. There were several things I can attribute to being just whipped on the way back out. One of those was the crazy idea that Ken and I would run down the trail to the bridge crossing the Colorado River. Running down with packs was not the smartest thing we could have done but it was fun. People look at us as if we were going to be the next recipients of the Darwin Awards. The trail was very rocky and there were a few misplaced steps along the way.

The next morning our injured hiker, Rees, was off in a helicopter for the top. It turned out that his ankle was too swollen to make the hike out. He may have ended up with the better end of that deal.

After seeing him off, the rest of us decided that we would take a 12 mile round trip hike to Ribbon Falls. This was the second foolish thing we did that made for a somewhat unpleasant trip up. However, there was great worth to this additional trek in that there were streams and cooling rock overhangs to rest near.

 

Once we made it to ribbon falls it appeared to be nothing more than a trickle or ribbon if you will hence the name. The next morning, as we prepared to leave, none of us were walk that comfortably.

 

 

So the trip out for the unlucky began. We left the camp at about 8 am as Ken, Brock, and I started the 7600 foot accent out of the Grand Canyon. The views on the way out were refreshing as was the view of the Colorado River was as we stood on the bridge and soaked it all in just after leaving camp. Others like the sand traps we had to hike through and the pools of mule urine we had to traverse were not as welcome.

We made it to the half way point at Indian Gardens in record time but that was the easiest part of the hike. All the training that I did in preparation for the hike was for not. The stair step hike seemed to go on forever. If anyone attempts this hike and doesn't think that carrying an extra 10 pounds of food or excess body weight will be a factor think again. I had both.

 

 

Alive but exhausted the three of us made it out. We meet Rees at the top and hit the road for home. To spite the small bit of drama it was a great once in a life time adventure for all of us.

The Next trip:

The Oregon Coast Trail in the summer of 2008!

Equipment and training log for the Grand Canyon

Backpacking in the Grand Canyon was fun but also something to be taken seriously. There was a lot of planning that went into this trip and there was not a lot of information available on what routes to take. I was lucky the person who I worked with on the permits had also done the hike and therefore was able to guide me on the best route.

After doing the hike, I recommend staying one night at Bright Angel Campground then trekking the 4 hours to Indian Gardens where you will camp. After a half day rest and a good night’s sleep the rest of the hike should be a bit easier.

Training:
The name of the game for the Grand Canyon is fitness and equipment. Frankly, I made mistakes on both of these. Ken and I were both runners and while that sort of training was useful, we needed to spend more time working our legs. Several other blogs about the hike suggested training a lot with your pack fully loaded with what you intended to take. I did this once and that was not enough. If you are looking to hike the Grand Canyon to the Colorado and back consider stair climbing or hiking on trails similar to the ones you will encounter on your trip carrying between 25 and 30 lbs.

Equipment:
Light is the name of the game. I bought the lightest of just about everything that I could find but then made the mistake of carrying food stores that not only were heavy but also has a high waste weight. Others made the same mistake. This is one time where you will want to consider using dehydrated foods specially designed to be light with very little packaging. Avoid CANS! I had two cans of chicken meat for a pasta dish I prepared on the fist night. In the end we only had eaten one of the cans and the other had to be packed out along with the other trash. In the end your pack weight should be about 25 lbs on the way down and five pounds less on the way back up. Our packs were all 30 lbs or heavier to start the trek. The lighter your pack is on the way up the less torturous the trip will be.

Here was my gear for the trip:

There is a penalty to all of this light weight stuff. This year we will be hiking the Oregon Cascades were the evening temperature will dip into the high 30’s. I may have to purchase another sleeping bag or liner to handle the colder nights. I will have to carry more cool weather gear. Although I have not attempted to pack my ultra light weight backpack with the extra gear, it is possible that I will not have enough room for all that I will need for this trip.

Take into consideration you backpacking destinations when buying. I intended to do most of my packing in Arizona and therefore the light sleeping bag and other gear was prudent. But from a practical standpoint, I should have bought a slightly larger pack than I would need for the Grand Canyon to accommodate the additional gear I would need for future trips. The good news for me was that the ultra light weight pack was a real bargain and was about the same cost as it would have been to rent it. Consider a pack that is at least 65 L in capacity. You don't have to fill it to the top on every trip. This pack should be perfect for hikes up to 5 days if packed correctly.

It goes with out saying for this hike you should be survival ready. You should already have the items needed packed. There are lots of dangers along the trail that can delay your time table.

Common Sense Clause