The Grand Canyon….one of my favorite places to visit and hike in.
In late September 2020 my wife, Karen, and I took our new motorhome on it’s maiden voyage. We were supposed to start at the Grand Tetons, but a delay made us miss our reservations at Colter Bay RV Park. We headed straight to Colorado, with Breckenridge being our first stop. From there we went on to Grand Junction to surprise Karen’s son, Jaxon, with some Krispy Kreme donuts and the dogs!
After that visit we just didn’t want to go home yet….we were working from the road, enjoying some time off, and really getting to know our new coach. So, we did what any normal people would do…we kept going….to the Grand Canyon!
Karen has never been. I’ve been a few times, and have backpacked below the Rim twice.
Standing on the edge of the Rim, looking at all the trails I could see below made me crave the experience again! Karen and I talked about it on the long drive home: I’d like to hike the Canyon again!! I started to research possible route options for a March hike. March is usually good for weather – probably have some snow on the Rim, but at the River the weather should be perfect.
I set off to research possible routes. I knew I wanted to do 5-7 days, and try to avoid the busy corridor trails. I knew about the Little Colorado Confluence but didn’t know much about the trails to get there. So I started with that…the Escalante and Beamer routes. There are a few blogs and YouTube videos on these routes, more on Escalante than Beamer, but not much. You could pick out some data from FaceBook groups, and piecing it all together it became helpful. No question this was a grueling route, would be HOT during certain seasons, and water scarce between portions.
I utilized the Sky Terrain Trail Maps for the Grand Canyon, as well as the National Park Service information on the trails: Tanner, Beamer, Escalante, Tonto (Tonto mileage) and Grandview. I also use CalTopo to plan the routes and mileage.
Ultimately I submitted 4 itineraries for the mid-March 2021 timeframe, in order of preference.
- Tanner\Beamer\Escalante\Grandview
- Hermit\Tonto\South Kaibab (can reverse)
- Hermit\Tonto\Bright Angel (can reverse)
- Hermit\Tonto\Boucher
I figured these 4 routes would give me plenty of time to explore some new areas, or revisit some old ones. I’ve hiked Hermit\Tonto\Boucher, but thought it’d be nice to spend more time in the area, as an alternate selection. As you can see I wasn’t totally opposed to Corridor Trails, but had no desire to camp at Phantom Ranch, I prefer the solitude provided on other trails. Absolutely nothing against Phantom Ranch, I’ve never been there, it just wasn’t the experience I was looking for. I don’t get a lot of vacation time to go off grid, so really wanted to disconnect and unwind. Personal choice.
I faxed off my submissions with great anticipation, and waited excitedly.
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