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The original was posted on /r/Ultralight by /u/laurk on 2024-03-22 16:26:06.

**Where: Grand Canyon - Escalante Route w/ u/dubbin64

**When: March 14 - 17, 2024

**Distance/Intinerary: 30mi, 13,800ft of elevation gain/loss Grand Canyon - Escalante

**Conditions: Snow, Rain, Mild Temps (34° to 55°), More water outside of the Colorado River than usual, No bugs, No sun. Not what I was imagining for a Grand Canyon trip :) but I loved this trip and would do it again and probably will take my wife here with me ASAP.

**LiarPack:

**Useful Info: Do not underestimate the miles in the GC. 10mi feels like 15mi. Some of the miles on this route are very slow even for a fast hiker and also demand climbing skills for the 3rd/4th class hiking. Also, the 5,100ft descent with a full pack will take its toll. Read the permit section below. Bring rodent protection for food or do a rodent hang and make sure all food is out of your pack.

**Photo Album:

**Trip Report:

Day 1: From SLC the day before, I camped somewhere near the border of Utah and Arizona on some BLM land. That morning I cruised on over to the Cliff Dwellers Lodge for breakfast. Highly recommend if you’re doing a similar itinerary. More snow over Jacob Lake area and more snow on the rim of the Grand Canyon. Not ideal backpacking conditions. Visibility of my first time seeing the grand canyon was all of about 30 feet in front of me. Nevertheless, we shuttled our cars from Grand View to Lipan Point and headed down. We threw in some last minute items like micro spics and Ursacks for the mice. Both not necessary but we wanted to be prepared based on previous trip reports. Once we dropped about a 1000ft over a mile or so, we did a side trek up to Cardenas Butte where we scrambled and climbed our way up to the summit. Views were terrific and hiking temps were ideal. It significantly increased the sufferfest mindset to type-one fun hiking. The trail eased up in tripping hazards as we descended gradually now to the Colorado River. Packed small gravel and dirt trail was welcomed after several miles of slower trail. The clouds made for dramatic scenery and before we knew it we were at Tanner Beach. Taking careful note of the pit toilet location, we continued to our camping zone which was NE of Tanner Beach about a mile or so. The trail was difficult but fun as we contoured our way on shale cliff bands above the Colorado river. Not before long we were at our camp spot just at dusk. Warm dinners all around for our camp was a great way to cap a snowy start. A mountain house dinner for me night 1 to allow me to reuse the same mylar bag for my other dinners to keep my pot clean. Nice sleeping temps around 40s at night, and RAIN.

Day 2: The MLD Solomid XL was a great choice for this bugless trip. I had just a zpacks solo ground sheet and the solomid. The low pitch prevented splash-back of the sand and held up in the winds that increased in the morning. The half zipped fly while the corner extended to the tie-back loop was nice in the morning while it was raining. It allowed me to cook my oatmeal and coffee without getting anything wet inside. The rain stayed hard and steady that morning and each of us stayed inside our shelters until around 9:30am. While I was lying there for hours in the morning wondering if we will ever see the sun again, I noticed two slow-small leaks in the two locations near the top of the mid. Otherwise my seam sealing job was good, but still annoyed I had an action item when I returned home. Something I never had to think about with my DCF shelters. I did enjoy the quieter pitter patter of the rain on this SilPoly shelter though. Anyway… we packed up sad and wet and hiked our way back to Tanner beach and onward to our next destination. Solid 2 hours or more of hiking in the rain. A cold and wet lunch stop with beautiful views was short due to the chills brought on by cooling sweat. The rain didn’t last and definitely didn’t define the day as a whole. We hiked along dramatic landscapes as we climbed away from the Colorado River to the mid elevations. By now I was truly impressed with the variety this canyon had to offer. Three distinct zones to me; the rim trees and snow and rocks, the mid section desert with cacti and plants abundant, the low elevation beaches along the Colorado River lush with plant life. Truly amazing. Our smooth trail brought us to Escalante Creek where we crossed and descended along side it back down to the mighty Colorado. Our campsite was once again void of any people and we were happy to have more of a pea gravel/soil site. This ground here didn’t cling to my stuff like the sand of the first night and driving a stake in felt easy and secure. The white noise of the rapids nearby were so loud you had to raise your voice to converse from tent to tent. I was starting to miss the quiet away from the river. Skurka and his beans and rice were had that night.

Day 3: Some more rain in the night. A easy morning packing up. Our trail took us a bit higher above the Colorado River above some cliff bands. The trail takes a hard turn away from the river as you hike along the top of the slot canyon of Seventy-Five Mile Creek. One of the cooler sections of this whole route as you stand above the was you are about to enter. A fun but slick 25ft 3rd class descent to the wash bottom before cruising in side the canyon you were once on top of back down to the Colorado River. A short snack break while we awed at the straight up wall we had to tackle next. About 30’ of 4th class climbing to get you on top of the cliff bands. Short but super fun followed by a technical steep descent down a wash to Hance Rapids area. The theme of this whole route was easy hiking to technical hiking then back to easy hiking then technical hiking. A nice variety, but this aint the PCT. This route demands some substantial physical ability. If you were at all wigged out by heights or can’t easily climb 4th class I would reconsider. Not long after the Papago Creek technical section we took a lunch break at Nance Rapids beach area where the New Hance Trail/Red Canyon area joins the East Tonto Trail. Watching the white-water folks take on this challenging section of river was one of the best lunch time backpacking entertainment I have ever experienced. We continued up nice trail away from the river above Mineral Canyon and Hance Creek Canyon. A terrific section with a variety of cacti. The lush green leaves at the Hance Creek camp site was stark. This was a lovely camp with fresh clear water flowing that wasn’t the silty Colorado for once. Bold mice live here so beware. Nighttime temps were hovering just above freezing. Our coldest night. No match for the 18° Sastrugi.

Day 4: Woke up around 6am for a quick(er) departure since I had a long drive ahead of me back to SLC. Beautiful hiking with no clouds for once. But still no sun beneath the shade of the south rim. By the time we go to the rim clouds had rolled in lol. Hiking this day was a lot of elevation. About 3,800ft to 7,400ft I believe. 3,600ft in 4mi about if my quick mental math is correct. The mine on Horseshoe Mesa was cool. Views were amazing and at this point I had wished we had got a permit up at Horseshoe Mesa camp. As we climbed higher the snow/ice was more of a obstacle. I did not need spikes at the start of this trip or at the end but they were good to have. Both of the other guys put them on and happy they did. The final switch backs on the upper portion with snow/ice were exposed and one slip would be a disaster. At last we crested the top at Grandview TH and not more than 6 to 8 people up there given the snow and ice maybe? Now is a good time to say that we saw maybe 2 people on the trail the entire trip. 6 people at Tanner Beach camp but none at any of our campsites.

**Closing Remarks: You could easily shorten this trip up to 2 nights, 3 days. Just don’t underestimate the descent down to the river from the rim on day one. And don’t underestimate the slow miles of technical trail that break up the cruiser miles along and occasionally above the river. I was happy to take it easy with my friends as the first backpacking trip of the year and appreciate the beautiful views. Try to camp in not popular areas if you don’t want to deal with the mice. They are bold!

**Permits for this trip are confusing IMO. is where you get them and you have to select “requires adv(anced) GC experience or unusual.” You treat the green “w” as basically available and have to call the ranger with a small resume via email to the ranger which they will pull up when you call them. I did not get the permits so I’m not exactly sure which office to call but I believe it is the GC backcountry office. My friend got these permits on Dec. 29th I believe. All permits were for the general area. here is the camping area layout. Permitted areas for this itinerary were BA9, BC9, BE9. If shortening it to 2 nights I would do BC9 and BE9. Camping has these large zones but very few camping spots, especially near water, actually exist. Really just the washes and by the beaches near the Colorado River. Much of the hiking has un-camp-able ground so keep that in mind.

**Gear Notes: Loved all my gear for this trip. The Z-P…

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