2nd Annual Grand Canyon Hike - Mission Accomplished

There wasn't anyone else at the Bass trailhead, so we took our group photos in two shots.  From Left to right it is my friend, co-worker and hiking buddy, Mr. J, myself, my racquetball buddy and neighbor Lynn, his son Jacob, and Lynn's brother-in-law Marc.

The details of this fantastic hike are posted at the Grand Canyon Adventurers link.  There were five of us on this trip, and I'm hoping that everyone had at least as good of a time as I did.  Hopefully they had a much better time than I did because for me, it was one of the toughest, most grueling things I have ever done in my life.  I pride myself in being in fairly good shape for an old man, but this hike kicked the crap out of me.   I've never been so happy to see a warning sign as I was to see this sign at Hermits Rest.

It has now been almost a month since we started down the trail, and I'm all ready contemplating my next trip to the GC.  I'm working on the Tonto Trail.  A trail that runs from East to West below the rim and above the river.  I hiked my first Tonto segment back in 1998 and didn't get back to it until Oct 2008.

My Grand Canyon Summary
Mr. J and I have now hiked from the Eastern start of the Tonto to its intersection with the South Kaibab trail (~31 miles) and from the intersection of the Bass and Tonto to its intersection with the Boucher trail (~29 miles).  I'll be back again to hike from Boucher to Kaibab and from Bass to the Western terminus of the Tonto.   To get to the Tonto, I've hiked down the Tanner, New Hance, Grandview and Bass trails and to get back to the rim I've hiked up the Grandview, South Kaibab, and Boucher trails which has added an additional 51 miles.

I've also hiked from down and up the Kaibab in Dec 1980, down the Kaibab and up the Bright Angel, Jan 1982, North Rim to the South Rim in late September 1983, and a hike with my wife to Havasupai in June of 1981 (I think it was 1981, I'll have to find an old journal to verify).  In August, 1989 I took my twin sons down to Havasupai and in December 1991 I took the boys on a 3 day, 2 night rim-to-rim-to-rim hike between Christmas and New Years.

For me, the Grand Canyon is one of the most enjoyable hiking places in the West.  However, I must admit that hiking in the fall, winter and spring is much more preferable than the summer hikes.

Please see my posts under the Grand Canyon Adventures blog to see my report of this hike.

2nd Annual Columbus Day Grand Canyon Hike

It's getting close!

Last year I led a small group of friends on a hike into the Grand Canyon.  We started at Lipan Point and hiked down the Tanner trail to the Colorado River.  We spent the next few days hiking downstream along the Escalante Trail to Hance Rapids.  At Hance Rapids we picked up the Tonto trail and after climbing up to Horseshoe Mesa, we exited the Canyon at Grandview Point.  An excellent trip.

I'm the old dude on the left in the photo.  Also in the picture are the three Js.  Jeremy, Jason J (Maj J), and Jason H (Mr. J).

Now I'm doing it again.  I got a permit for six to hike west of Grand Canyon Village.  We'll start by going down the South Bass trail to the river.  We'll then pick up the Tonto trail and head East and exit several days later by climbing out on the Hermit trail.  The cast of characters for this trip has changed.  Mr. J will be making the trip along with 3 new victims.  The victims from last years trip would like to go, but one has moved to Ohio (are there any hills in Ohio?) and the other drew for an Elk hunt in Montana.

Dollar Lake Again

I'm trying to  getting ready for the 2nd Annual Columbus Day Grand Canyon Hike.  My training regime has been running 8-12 miles per week and biking home from work as often as possible.  To keep it interesting, I try to throw in a swim every now and then.  To measure my progress, I'll do a triathlon once or twice a year.  Now a tri isn't my favorite activity in the world, but it does add a little variety to the workouts and makes them a bit more tolerable.

I recently signed up to do the Hill AFB mini triathlon:  800 meter swim, 12 mile bike ride, 10K run.  I was even looking forward to it.  I need something as an intermediate step in preparing for my Grand Canyon hike.  On Thursday evening, before the Saturday tri, my triathlon and hiking buddy (Mr. J)  stops by the house.  He won't be making the tri this weekend because he's still recovering from a vasectomy - ouch.  12 miles on a bike saddle - ouch ouch.  "Hey Dale - are you up for quick backpack to Dollar Lake."  Uh - triathlon or backpack?  The backpack trip will always win.  No need to toss a coin.

Dollar Lake is located at the foot of Kings Peak, UT.  Kings is the highest point in Utah and I've been to the summit twice, once on Aug 11, 1994 with my two sons and again on Sept 6, 2008 with Mr. J.

Dollar Lake is 7.5 miles from the trailhead.  We left the vehicle at 4:37 p.m and arrived at Dollar at 7:28.  1345 feet elevation gain, 7.5 miles, less than 3 hours.  Not to bad.  By the time we had our tent set up and dinner cooking, it was dark and raining.

It rained through out the night and though it had stopped by the time we got up, the basin was fogged in.  We had met our objective of getting to Dollar Lake and so after a breakfast of oatmeal - yuck, we packed up our stuff and headed back out.  We left Dollar at 8:37 and arrived back at the trailhead at 11:27.  We didn't see any large animals this trip, but we've seen elk, moose and deer on past trips.

All in all a very good trip.  No injuries - not even a blister.  However I decided that my water filter needs an overhaul.  Pumping water out of the lake took forever.