| | -
-
-
-
| |  |
|
1 |
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
| |  |
|
1 |
-
|
| | |
|
| Backpack | 30.00 Miles |
4,100 AEG |
| | Backpack | 30.00 Miles | 2 Days | | |
| 4,100 ft AEG | | | | |
|
|
| |
| Partners |
|
none
[ show ]
| no partners | | I'd been planning a Hermit/BA loop all summer long, realizing it would be too hot in June/July...was considering this extreme 25 miles as a day-hike, but with the intention of including Granite Rapids (30 miles) figured it would be wise to overnight. 
I easily obtained a BCO permit for this date (should have been my first clue) for early Sept. However, I had a tough time finding a partner to join me (2nd clue). I was relieved when my old GC buddy Rick, decided he was up for an adventure.
The plan was for the family to camp at Mather, with wifey dropping Rick and I off at Hermit before sunrise (6am-ish) the next morning. We drove all the way out to Hermit, when Rick remembered he left his hiking boots back at his vehicle at BA. While driving back to get them...wisenheimer Rick commented how his goof would make my HAZ triplog. I don't wanna disappoint, so here it is... 
We finally got on the trail about 6:40am and had a great trip down Hermit, catching up on families and reminiscing about the old days...things were going pretty well until I rolled my ankle descending the Cathedral Staircase. I felt all the tendons & ligs stretch and pull...I thought I was cooked, but after 50 steps, the ankle thankfully returned to normal.
'Bout the time we reached the junction with Tonto, Rick started to slow down and commented about this hike being more "ambitious" than he thought he was ready for.  We continued on around Cope Butte but I was pulling ahead of Rick quite a bit, but waited at each bend. We later had a LONG separation while I descended down Monument Canyon. I was worried that Rick may have accidentally missed the down canyon turn and somehow stayed on top, so I hurried back up Canyon to search. We found each other, turns out he needed to take a few longer shade/food breaks to fix himself back up in the heat.
We both reached the base of the Mounment and were relieved to see running water in the narrows. Being a bad trip leader, I really had no idea where Monument Camp was, so when we saw the sign for Granite Rapids, we considered it might be at the bottom, along with the beautiful water (WRONG). The trail down from the Monument is steep and slippery and not fun especially under full load. At the bottom, Rick took another break as I traveled around up-canyon to hopefully find camp. (The water magically disappears underground in this spot). I reported a disappointing negative back to Rick so we decided to go down canyon a bit to see if we could find any sites...again no luck - it was getting VERY HOT.
We both decided to bee-line to Granite sans the weight of our packs. Rick smartly brought his camelback and food, I unwisely only brought a camera  The open canyon was VERY exposed and by the time we arrived at the muddy Granite Rapids, I was completely dry-mouthed. I even contemplated slurping straight from the trickling creek bed. We were still very anxious about finding camp, so our time at the River was not relaxing at all.
Still having 1.5 miles back up the canyon in the HEAT...Rick gave me the "ok" to shift gears and quickly get back to packs where I polished off the rest of my 100oz bladder. Whew! Together, we made a plan to go back to the lower narrows and filter water in the shade...which was a good plan considering 1)we still didn't know where camp was 2)it was HOT and getting late and 3) We were both out of water.
After this long break, we headed BACK UP the very steep trail to the base of the Monument and the "Granite Rapids" turn-off. We found Monument camp about 1/4 mile down the trail (duh) and basically at the top of the narrows we filtered from (lol). As we scouted a nice camp spot, a 3-4' rattlesnake give me a slight, non-distinct buzz - then silently coiled up opposite side of a rock RIGHT beside the trail, totally out of view from the direction I was going. We got some great photos...(see pics)...but it made for VERY nervous potty trips the rest of the evening and early next morning.
As usual, I didn't sleep well...never do at camp. My original plan was to hit the trial at first light...Rick wisely talked me into an earlier 3am getup, 4am hike time...it worked out well, except we couldn't see awesome landscapes as we walked along the Tonto. I was setting a rapid pace and trooper Rick was right behind me as we climbed up and out of MC...about 2 miles in, Rick absolutely had to stop and moleskin a category 5 blister. Turns out the good-bro had about 3 other huge blisters on his feet as well. To be honest, I was starting to worry if we would finish this 16 mile day and was conjuring up contingencies. 
We arrived at Salt and I told Rick to carry on as I went up to check the Campground and potties (I now MUST know where EVERY campsite is..LOL). Like a dufus, I left my full nalgene there - it was my emergency water.
Near a shaddy spot at Horn, I stopped and waited for Rick. and as I did, I noticed some movement about 5 feet away. There was a tarantula wasp dragging away its freshly killed prey...was a very cool site (see pic). The wasp couldn't fly away with the weight of the spider, so he was dragging it all over the rocks, looking for that final place to lay its egg (inside the spider to feed the hatchling).
Rick and I took a nice water/food break near Horn. I got his permission to bust out to Indian Gardens and reserve a ramada spot for us and our lunch break. Rick saw a second rattlesnake between Horn and IG, I must have walked right past...I was envious, but relieved at the same time.
We (Rick, his blisters, and myself) had no problems going uphill on Bright Angel, other than dealing with the September heat. We took another major break at 1.5 house and gazed in amazement at the variety of "hikers" going up and down the BA. One of these days, I'm hiking down to Indian Gardens in flip-flops just to try it... |
| _____________________
| | |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Route Editor
Route Scout
