[rubywrangler]

On Thanksgiving morning Julia and I met at the Grand Canyon for the second time this year. Back in early May we met on the north rim for 5 days on the Thunder River-Deer Creek loop. (Since John Morrow had just reported on this route, I didn’t post it.) This time we met on the south rim for a 5-day loop on the Tanner trail, Escalante Route, and New Hance Trail, with a side trip to the confluence of the Colorado & Little Colorado Rivers. Luckily we were able to get permits just a couple weeks in advance, in spite of some faxing mishaps. The whole thing was completely spectacular. And Julia is a canyon fanatic, so she peppered me with interesting tidbits about routes and side canyons and geology and history along the way. *Day 1 Lipan point to Palisades Beach camp* After stashing a car near the New Hance trail, we dropped into the canyon on the Tanner trail from Lipan point. It was nearly freezing on the south rim and we were happy to get out of the wind. The wind died down some and temperatures went up as we descended on the Tanner trail. We passed just a handful of folks on the trail and at Tanner rapids camp. After a break, we continued upstream on the Beamer trail for another 3 miles to Palisades creek, passing a couple other creeks with campsites (all empty) along the way... I took a wrong turn onto a blocked off trail and led us up to an eroded goat trail along cliffs above the river (noticed the rocks blocking the trail on the way back). We had the whole Palisades area to ourselves and camped on the beach, which offered the only wind protection. I had dehydrated a whole thanksgiving dinner for this trip (turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, gravy, cranberry sauce) which I rehydrated and then promptly flipped upside down on the beach. Mmmm, sand. At least the pumpkin pie was unscathed. The wine and sound of the rapids totally knocked us out - we were asleep by 8pm.

tanner trail views

tanner trail views

julia on the beamer

beamer trail views downstream

julia on the goat trail above the beamer trail - oops

on the beamer trail, near espejo or comanche creek

dehydrated thanksgiving

*Day 2 Palisades to LCR confluence* From Tanner beach to Palisades, the canyon is wide open. From Palisades to the Little Colorado River, it's narrow and winding. The Beamer trail climbs a few hundred feet and then follows cliffs above the river and into many small, scrambly side canyons. It is incredibly photogenic, and took us 5 hours to go 5.5 miles. You can see the milky blue waters of the LCR mixing into the green Colorado before you actually see the LCR. What a crazy sight. We attempted to cross the LCR to get to sunny ledges on the opposite side but couldn't find a way. The bottom was thick white quicksand muck. Also it turns out you're not allowed to cross at the confluence, I learned later. We wandered around for a long time, soaking in the scenery and taking tons of photos. After a couple hours we started to head out and ran straight into a woman from Seattle who we'd met on YAB in September. Small world! Camping is not permitted within 1/2 mile of the confluence so we hiked back to a beach we'd passed along the way. It took us a while to figure out how to fit our 2 tents into the biggest campsite there, but we managed! For some reason, my calves were in excruciating pain all day so I spent a good hour rolling them on a nalgene (ouch) and stretching. I am not sure what caused this - usually tons of downhill like we did on day 1 makes my quads tight but not calves. This was new and unpleasant. Once again we were lulled to sleep early by the sounds of the Colorado.

view downstream from palisades beach

beamer trail continues up the fan on the left and around the cliff

beamer trail views upstream

julia on the beamer trail, looking downstream

julia on the beamer

julia on the beamer

confluence ahead

LCR confluence

LCR upstream view

LCR confluence

LCR upstream view + julia

LCR

LCR confluence

leaving the confluence

*Day 3 Confluence to Cardenas creek* We hiked back on the Beamer trail to Palisades, making better time. But not much better - the light was different so we still had to take many photos! After lunch at Palisades beach, we hiked back to Tanner and then continued on the Escalante route to Cardenas creek. At Cardenas, Julia jumped in the river and then watered some trees that were planted as part of a revegetation project, while I ran around taking photos. There are many, many campsites at Cardenas (10+), and we tried out every single one before deciding to camp on the beach. We managed to stay up (slightly) past 8pm by doing some stargazing. I repeated my stretching and rolling routine before passing out.

chuar butte

temple butte + rapids reflection

morning view upstream to chuar butte

temple butte + moon

beamer trail side canyon

beamer trail

julia on a high section of the beamer

back on the goat trail

beamer trail view

basalt cliffs and apollo temple from cardenas beach

*Day 4 Cardenas to Hance rapids* This was the best day of the trip. For one thing, I woke up with no calf pain! And then we had nonstop views all day! From Cardenas, we climbed up to a ruin on a hill above the camp ("hilltop ruin"). We continued climbing gradually, along cliffs above the Unkar delta, to the ridge above Escalante creek. Then we dropped down to the mouth of Escalante creek, passing through a pretty narrow-ish section of canyon before following a trail to the creek bed. Escalante creek was one of my requested campsites that we unfortunately couldn’t get a permit for, and it is gorgeous, with a little cove and a big beach.

morning views on the escalante route

morning views on the escalante route

hilltop ruin + upstream view

julia on the escalante route

julia on the escalante route

unkar delta + apollo temple

unkar rapid

morning views on the escalante route

morning views on the escalante route

morning views on the escalante route

apollo temple + unkar delta

looking upstream at unkar delta from escalante route

escalante canyon

escalante beach

After lunch and an extended break, we continued heading west. First we climbed up to cliffs above the river, which we followed on broad rock ledges. Then the trail made a sharp left to follow 75 mile canyon. 75 mile is a big, deep, narrow side canyon and the views into it from above are awesome. After a half mile or so, we scrambled down into the canyon and took our sweet time meandering back to the river. The trail followed slopes above the river for awhile and then dropped to Papago beach, where we turned left and scrambled up the 50' Papago wall. I have read that the wall is class 4, but I'd say class 3. We found it pretty easy - it took roughly a minute and a half to climb. Julia and I also have relatively light packs, which probably makes a big difference. After the wall, the trail climbs to the top of the Papago slide, a huge, unstable talus field that seems to be held in place by one large boulder. This part was terrifying, but over quickly. Once we skedaddled off the slide, it was only about a 1/2 mile to our camp at Hance rapids. We found some nice, but loud, spots directly above the massive and scary rapids. Getting water from the river here was a little challenging! Lots of shooting stars on this night. I think we made it all the way to 9pm before hitting the tents.

75 mile canyon

julia checking out 75 mile canyon

go down here

75 mile canyon

75 mile canyon

75 mile canyon

looking downstream on the escalante route

looking upstream on the escalante route

climbing the papago wall

looking down the papago slide of death

looking back up the papago slide of death

*Day 5 Hance rapids to rim* The New hance trail climbs up to the rim through Red canyon, which is so gorgeous. Pretty much the entire climb was in shade (thankfully!!), but I would love to see this canyon in the sun. At least we got a glimpse of the bright orange Hakatai shale all lit up below us as we climbed - wow! We found a seasonal spring near where the trail leaves the creek bed, and saw more trickles higher up in Red canyon. This canyon is high on the list for future explorations. The new hance trail is several miles shorter than other routes between river and rim and climbs steadily once it leaves the canyon floor, but it didn't feel any steeper to me. In only a few hours we were back at the rental car, and then back at lipan point where we could see most of the route laid out before us.

?, sheba temple, solomon temple from hance rapids camp

morning in red canyon

morning in red canyon

climbing on the new hance trail

pretty side canyon

new hance trail view

hakatai shale

climbing on the new hance trail

75 mile canyon from lipan point

ridge above escalante ck (left) to cardenas area (right) from lipan point. unkar delta center

view looking upstream from tanner to palisades and beyond from lipan point, escalante butte & cardenas butte in the middle

This was a really incredible trip with amazing scenery, great company, glorious weather, no crowds… possibly the start of a new thanksgiving tradition! Thanks to nickmtn for suggesting it a few years back! Overall stats: about 45 miles and 14,500' of elevation gain. A lot more photos here.

[zephyr]

[Nancyann]

What a wonderful trip! Thanks for the write-up and so many gorgeous and alluring photos. What a great idea to dehydrate your Thanksgiving dinner, despite the spill a unique and memorable way to celebrate the day.

[geyer]

[Eric Hansen]

Thanks Megan, great report and pictures. "possibly the start of a new thanksgiving tradition!" I hear ya. Back in the day friends and I would have an annual reunion trip there at Thanksgiving (hiking in to Cottonwood CG). It was a great tradition.

[Stefan]

cool on the preparations for Thanksgiving! Does anybody know if they are still planning on building a gondola down to the Havasu Canyon? I guess they wanted it to the Little Colorado....

[Eric Hansen]

Stefan, hi, I think it is dead for now. See https://www.grandcanyontrust.org/stopping-grand-canyon-escalade Unfortunately, this kind of project proposal often has a way of reviving.

[Stefan]

[rubywrangler]

Thanks, everybody! I was able to salvage the thanksgiving dinner. It just had a little extra crunch

[jaysway]

What a great trip and beautiful photos! Added to the bucket list .

[nickmtn]

Awesome! Thanks for the shout out wrangler - so glad you did this one. That Papago death slide is still one of the sketchiest boulder fields I have ever been on. I remember being all hyped up for the wall (which ended up being trivial) but totally terrified of the slide - which the route description did not mention what so ever. I did the route in the opposite direction - doesn't sound like it makes too much difference. How about all that crazy yellow and purple rock in 75 mile canyon??

[Gil]

Cool trip! Our kids did a trip into the canyon a couple of years ago over Thanksgiving, eventually crossing the river four times, twice by packraft. Our daughter will be the park's artist in residence next fall.