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Grand Canyon Trip Report Nankoweap Trail (May 10 - 16, 2002) by Larry Walker and Marty Pietz |
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Attendees: Robert Buhrman, Larry Lee, Marty Pietz, Larry Walker
"I defy anyone to make his way over this country without the aid of profanity. Many and many a time... I have come to some confounded canyon of piled-up rocks and slippery precipices, which would have been utterly impassable for myself and men if we had not literally cursed ourselves over." US Calvary Officer in Arizona 1870's.
"It rain'd all night the day I left, The weather it was dry, The sun so hot, I froze to death, Susanna don't you cry." Stephen Collins Foster, (1826-1864)
Brief Trail Description: The Nankoweap Trail is a rigorous rim-to-river backpack of four to five days for experienced Grand Canyon hikers only, tracing one of the most difficult trails in the Park.
Trail Stats:
May 10, 2002 Friday, Day One: Drove up to Sunset Crater area, north of Flagstaff. Pick any spot to camp. Not too cold, but very windy. We decided to sleep in the trucks because of the strong winds. Got there around 01:30. Fueled up (people and vehicles) in Flagstaff.
[Marty's notes] Our party, Bob Buhrman, Larry Lee, Larry Walker, and Marty Pietz all left Phoenix on Friday, May 10 about 9:00 PM and headed for the usual stop (gas and Denny's) in Flagstaff on the way to the usual sleeping spot in the volcanic cinders North of Sunset Crater. Crawling into the sack sometime after midnight the wind howls most of the night but we awake to a clear blue sky.
May 11, 2002 Saturday, Day Two: Drove up through Navajo Nation. Drove to Cameron and visited trading post for breakfast. Nice, expensive place food not too expensive, but gifts were. Drove to Navajo Bridge near Lees Ferry. Stopped for a look. Got the rare opportunity to see some (8) California Condors, which were being tracked by an observer. Oddly, they had gray and red heads and had large white numbers painted on their wings they looked like a football team. The head coloring depicts their relative age. The adults have the full red helmets. Drove on to Jacob Lake and then to trailhead. The road to the trailhead was right across the street from the road to the Thunder River trail. The book (get name) description to the trailhead was very accurate. Kaibab Lodge wasn't even open for the season yet. Arrived at Saddle Mountain Trailhead, packed, and got started around 14:10. I was feeling sick to my stomach all morning, but it seemed to clear up when we got to the trail.
The first part of the trail was fairly easy, although our packs were heavily loaded in preparation to cache food and water at Marion Point. Once we reached the Nankoweap Trailhead (the real one), the trail gets pretty rough. It was quite a hump down to Marion Point. There were two areas along the trail, one in particular, that had some direct exposure; the rest was just "endless [up and down] Supai traverse." Then there was the wind again. The wind was blowing furiously. I guess old man winter was not ready to leave. Thick, dark clouds began rolling in. We all read the "no rain" weather reports. We even thought we might be camping in the snow wow! By the time we got to Marion Point, we were whipped! Then, from all the wind and the 50°F weather, we began to get seriously chilled hypothermia types of chill. We arrived around 18:00. We all spread out our sleeping bags and climbed in to get warm. We finally go up enough heat and energy and nerve to fix hot drinks and some supper, which helped tremendously as you might imagine. We crashed around 20:00 looking at stars, galaxies, satellites, and meteors. Great day!
[Marty's notes] Saturday, May 11: Breakfast at the Cameron Trading Post is a tradition for us when headed for the North side of the Colorado, today is no exception. I suggest the Warrior Surprise, fried eggs on top of fully loaded Navajo Fry Bread; It'll last you for days. After surveying the rugs and pawn jewelry, we head out for the bridge just below Lee's Ferry to cross over Marble Canyon with the Colorado River 600 feet below. We walk out onto the old bridge that sits beside the new bridge and spot an animal tracker radio set as often seen on National Geographic type television programs sitting on the bridge. A volunteer from the Peregrine Society is tracking California Condors below the bridge. The birds have been released at the nearby Vermilion Cliffs, and they have come down to the river. There are 8 or 9 birds all with numbers on their wings and radio tracking devices on some of them. We watch them below the bridge through binoculars. They are magnificent, black, large and ugly, with bright red heads devoid of feathers like a Turkey Vulture.
We tank up at the Marble Canyon gas station and drive on, skirting the Vermilion Cliffs, up the Kaibab Plateau to Jacob Lake, then South to FR 610 turnoff located 1/2 mile S of Kaibab Lodge. About 1/2 mile on FR 610, we turn right on FR 611 and follow it through the just leafing out aspens to the end of the well-graded road.
We hit the trail about 1:30 PM and our objective tonight is a campsite at Marion Point about 4 1/2 miles distant. The first 3 miles of the trail descends from the parking spot at 8600' dropping about 300' and then up and over a hill to about 8900' then down to the actual Nankoweap trailhead, located at the base of Saddle Mountain. There is a camp spot at the rim overlook that has a stunning view across to the South Rim and out onto the Navajo Reservation. Some switchbacks drop about 200' and then you traverse on the edge of the Supai formation about 1-1/2 miles to Marion point, our planned campsite for the first night. The trail is a combination of bushwhacking and exposure, sometimes simultaneously. There is some up and down, but no real net loss in elevation. At one point about 1/4 mile before Marion point there is a spot of exposure where it is necessary to turn sideways and grab onto the rock overhead for about 15 feet. The trail slopes down at about 30 degrees and is covered with loose scree. A slip here drops about 50 feet to the first bounce. People with fear of heights will not like this point. A belay might be appropriate here if you are concerned. At about 5:30 PM we reach Marion point and the wind which has been blowing all afternoon seems to be intensifying. The temperature is in the low 50's and with the wind, it is getting shivering cold. Everyone pops into their sleeping bags to warm up. Some hot tea and hot food (Beef Stew for Marty and Larry Walker) is whipped up and we retire early just to get out of the wind which continues most of the night.
May 12, 2002 Sunday, Day Three: Before we could even get started, two older men popped up on the trail on their way out. Basically they said, "The trail is really bad, and it just seems to get worse." They had stopped there at Marion Point and then turned around. Their words were not too far off. We hiked from Marion Point to Nankoweap Creek in six hours; we started at 08:10 and rolled into Nankoweap Creek at 14:00. Whew! We were overjoyed to see and play in the cool water (although there was a hot faucet there as well...). The views along this trail are the best I've ever seen as far as pure expanse it's simply amazing the range of view. Wow! a deer just walked by me 16:24 a little buck in felt. This trail kicks butt it is difficult. It's a long, steep (fairly) descent. It was warm today, at least 90°F. I wouldn't want to do this in the hot part of the year, or during a rain or snow storm. The stepping is precarious, but not too dangerous very tiring. We'll probably day hike to the Colorado River instead of carrying our packs down. Temperature is 85°F at 16:30. Oh, we knew it was Mother's Day because of all the references to mother and mom along the trail.
[Marty's notes] Sunday, May 12: Up around 6:30 AM, oatmeal and cocoa and we are packing to go when we hear voices coming up the trail. Two hikers walk into view. They have decided to turn back stating that the trail only gets worse and what are they trying to prove anyway? They give us a liter of water that they don't want to carry out told us to help ourselves to their water cache located down the trail and headed on out. They must have parked on the other side of Saddle Mountain, which is an alternate way to the trailhead as we had the only vehicles at the FR 611 parking spot. We cached food and water for our return (I will discuss our cache later) and around 8:30 AM, headed on down the trail. The first few hundred yards beyond Marion Point offer some overhangs that would give adequate shelter from wind rain or snow. I wish we had known about them last night. The trail remains more or less on the Supai formation all the way to Tilted Mesa. It's the same up and down exposed bushwhacking climbing over rockfall type of stuff that the first day consisted of. There is an excellent campspot at Tilted Mesa with one of the finest views in the whole of the Grand Canyon. You can see across and down to the South Rim, although it's actually the East Rim at this point, the Little Colorado Canyon is visible, the Navajo Reservation, the Watchtower is visible many miles away and the Vermilion Cliffs can be seen. Well worth the walk. As fine as the view is, it doesn't stop Marty's camera from breaking. Something has gone wrong in the film winding mechanism motor drive and Marty fears he won't be taking any more pictures this trip. He vows to try and field repair the camera when they reach Nankoweap Creek, but erring on the side of pessimism, he gives the remainder of his film to Bob and Larry Lee who now have the 100 speed film they wish they had brought in the first place.
Here we begin the descent down the Redwall. Just as you leave the Supai, there is a dead juniper you must sort of shimmy down. This might be tricky with a pack on, so we handed the packs down. A series of switchbacks follows, followed with an even larger set of switchbacks, followed with a straight downhill shot on scree. This is a knee breaker, so be prepared with ibuprophen for all. Finally the trail levels out and after a short, mostly level traverse, at 1:30 PM we drop into Nankoweap Creek. We could see the creek lined with cottonwoods from Marion point, and it was sure good to get there. There are several fine campspots along the creek with shady trees to foil the hot sun. The distance from Marion Point to Nankoweap Creek is about 6 miles, but do not be deceived, they are tough canyon miles. Everyone heads for the creek to cool their feet, and then finds a shady spot to take a nap. Marty disassembles his camera with a Swiss Army Knife and successfully repairs the drive motor mechanism. Being a white man giver, Marty retrieves the film he had earlier given to Larry Lee and Bob. Two mule deer wander by paying little attention to us. The sun arcs West and we fire up the stoves for dinner. Larry Walker and Marty have spaghetti with mushroom and sausage sauce and garlic breadsticks with pistachio pudding for dessert. Stuffed like pigs, we roll out the bags and watch the planets and stars emerge while the bats chow down over and around us. Larry Walker has charted Iridium satellite flares and International Space Station passovers for our location. We see a couple of flares as well as the usual polar orbit satellite show. Space station is too low on the horizon as the canyon walls obscure it, however, Mercury, Saturn, Venus and Mars all visible in the West, it's a great week for the sky. Sack time.
May 13, 2002 Monday, Day Four: To the river! Day hiked to the Colorado River today. Left about 09:30, and arrived about 11:30. It's just about 3 miles from the trail/creek crossing to the river. Beautiful place. No beached river rafters were there, and we only saw two or three parties float by. Fished, swam, slept, looked. Climbed about 400 ft. up to the Indian granaries whew, what a hump. These are blocked in storage areas in the clefts of the canyon walls. Caught one lousy little fish while we were at the river. Guess that's what you get for fishing in the middle of the day. Got back to the base camp about 18:00 or so. Smelled some cannabis burning on the way back hmmm. Came to find out that there was a honeymooning, kayaking couple holed up in the canyon along the Nankoweap Creek very strange for them to be there alone. Maybe they were the source of the cannabis smell.
[Marty's notes] Monday, May 13: After a continuing discussion at breakfast of whether to camp at the Colorado River or to leave a basecamp where we are and dayhike to the river, we opt for the basecamp/dayhike option. We dayhike 3 1/2 miles to the Colorado River. The route down Nankoweap Creek is easy to follow with only a little bit of boulder hopping. We see 2 more mule deer (maybe the same 2) and snap some pictures. As we approach the river, we follow a use trail over a ridge and drop onto the beach. This is several hundred yards downstream from where the creek dumps into the river, but it is just below the Anasazi Granaries located about 400 feet up the cliff. We will wait until the sun is over the cliff before climbing up to the ruins. The Larrys fish with Larry Walker catching only 1 small rainbow, which is released. Two river rafts pass by while we are at the beach. The rafters and hikers exchange the usual waves and tip of the hat as the rafts pass by. Everyone naps on and off in the shade under the Tamarisks. Lunch for Marty and Larry Walker was a fine pita stuffed with salmon, avocado, and Swiss cheese with a dash of lemon juice. Very good.
The climb up to the ruins is class 3. There is a route that just shoots straight up the wall with a few switchbacks at the top. The climb is worth while. The view from the granaries is spectacular. The ruins are small caves in the rock wall with stone walls built across the front. Much of the ledge in front of the ruins has broken off, so some scrambling is necessary to get a view inside the rooms themselves.
We return to our camp as the sun is setting. On the way we catch the distinct smell of marijuana in the air, but see or hear no one. Smells like Havasupai Canyon. Maybe the Anasazi aren't really gone.
Red beans and rice with coconut pudding for dinner. Swooping bats, roaring frogs, planet and satellite show for entertainment.
May 14, 2002 Tuesday, Day Five: All split up today. Bob went back to the river: destination the upper beach, which we didn't make it to. Larry L. headed up to the top of the lower switchbacks along the trail to cache some water and screw up his nerve for the trip back it was weighing on all of us to some degree. Marty and I up to Nankoweap Butte well, almost. We made it to the base of Nankoweap Butte, and just didn't have the burning desire to make the final 600 ft. ascent. What a gorgeous place with outstanding geologic displays. Bob ran into the newlyweds (as mentioned) on his way back to camp. We've seen more than 15 deer running up and down this canyon since being here. They don't seem too afraid of people; I can't tell if that's from tameness or ignorance. While at the river yesterday, I walked right past two of them (within 15 ft.) playing in the water and eating grass, and they just watched me very carefully.
[Marty's notes] Tuesday May14: Today we each have different goals in mind. Bob will solo hike to the Colorado to explore upstream from our previous day's trip. Larry Lee will hike up the Nankoweap to stage some water at the base of the Redwall for the return trip tomorrow. Marty and Larry Walker will explore the Butte Fault route between Nankoweap Butte and Nankoweap Mesa hoping to climb Nankoweap Butte (first modern ascent by Harvey Butchart 8/28/63 although archeological evidence of ancient ascents) and see Kwagunt Valley. At about 9:30 AM Larry Walker and Marty proceed up the first drainage upstream from our campsite to the top of this canyon. Bushwhacking and scrambling and following deer trails up to a ridge on the Butte Fault. Now Nankoweap Butte is visible to the West, Nankoweap Mesa to the East. A saddle between the Butte and Mesa appears to be filled with sand and we cross over the ridgeline and drop onto the sand. The wind is howling through the notch but the view into Kwagunt is fine. After looking at the route up the butte, we opt to not attempt it. It is certainly class 3 leaning toward class 4 and we are a long way from any help if anything goes wrong. We do, however sand surf down the notch and end up at another drainage that seems to go down to Nankoweap Creek. The route is level and smooth and we comment that there is probably a big fall to descend at the end. We are correct, but the fall has a lot of breakdown and the descent is rather easy. One note, the rock is very dark and would probably be quite hot in the Summer. We continue in the streambed and find some of the most unusual rock formations we have ever seen. Some of the rock seems to be bent, some is like floor tile and some looks like heaps of petrified dung We take some pictures and later send them to Dr. Bowser, professor of geology at the University of Wisconsin. His explanation is attached.
A short walk downstream, and we return to Nankoweap Creek about 1/4 mile upstream from the side canyon we started up originally, arriving at camp around 2:00 PM.
Larry Lee has returned from his water staging trip and is napping, Bob wanders in about 3:00PM reporting that he ran into a young couple down the canyon who said they were on their honeymoon doing a private kayak trip down the canyon. He never saw any kayaks at the river and they were camped over a mile upstream in Nankoweap Creek, which seemed curious. This may have explained the marijuana smell from the previous night.
Turkey and dressing for Marty and Larry Walker with cheesecake for desert. More bats, stars and satellites after sunset. Gotta get hiking before 6:00 AM to get up the Redwall in the shade.
May 15, 2002 Wednesday, Day Six: Great hiking day! We started up the trail at 06:05. We made Tilted Mesa at about 10:00, and made Marion Point at 12:05: six hours in, six hours out; quite a trail. We rested at Marion Point for about three hours, and then headed on up to the Nankoweap Trailhead. Marty had some notion about heading all the way out; I'm glad that got vetoed. Looks like squirrels or some other critter got into our cache at Marion Point. The couldn't get to the food in the paint cans, but the water bottles were gnawed open or leaking. We had gorgeous weather. The bad exposure spot there just up the trail from Marion Point wasn't too bad coming or going just watch your step. Everybody in the group held up well as usual. It was cool at the Nankoweap Trailhead at about 7,600 ft. elevation 65°F. Great stars, galaxies, satellites, and "flares."
[Marty's notes] Wednesday, May 15: We heave ho and start up the return at 6:00 AM just like we vowed. Somehow, the return hike always seems easier than the descent and this is no exception. Larry Lee recovers his water, which is actually closer to the top of the Redwall climb than he had thought. We are back on the Supai at Tilted Mesa by 10 AM and at Marion Point by 12:00 AM. I had stopped to recover the cache of water that the two hikers we met the second day had told us about. They had placed a quart plastic juice bottle in a crevice in the rock above the trail. Animals have gnawed through the bottle to get at the water and about 3/4 of it was gone. The Larrys and Bob had gone ahead to the Marion Point campspot to recover our cache and found similar results. Although we had piled rocks on top of our cache to keep the ravens away, small critters with teeth (squirrels?) had gnawed through Larry Lee's 4 liter gallon platypus bottle, Bob's plastic 1 gallon bottle of water and the top of Larry Walkers 1 gallon plastic Arrowhead water bottle. It has been a dry year in Arizona. Marty's 1-gallon plastic water bottle was intact, but it was on the bottom of the pile. They did, however, gnaw through Marty's plastic bottle filled with stove alcohol. Look for drunk, blind squirrels. The food was all intact as we learned long ago to store it in empty 1-gallon paint cans. Two tourist helicopters illegally swoop below the rim at Marion Point. After lunch and a nap, we decide to hike on out to the rim and overnight there. We continue the traverse on the Supai formation, crossing over the sloped exposed spot and about 4:00 PM are at the junction of the Nankoweap trail and the Saddle Mountain trail on the North rim. Dinner is Chili, Vienna Sausages, and Mandarin Oranges. The wind howls once again for most of the night, but it is warm.
May 16, 2002 Thursday, Day Seven: Real windy all night, not too cold though. Arise and depart by 07:45. We reached the trucks by 09:30. What a grunt! We all pretty much agree that this is the toughest trail we've been on in Grand Canyon. Visit North Rim, which is spectacular as usual, to shower, eat, and shop. Then we head for home: one stop in Cameron, then at Cordes Junction, and we're home by 21:15.
[Marty's notes] Thursday, May 16: Oatmeal and hit the trail. The climb up and over the mountain is a real grunt, but about 1 1/2 hours later we are back at the trucks sipping hard lemonade and Perrier. Bob has tried out a new Coleman 5-day ice chest and it works just fine. Plenty of ice still inside. We hop in the trucks and roll to the North rim lodge for a shower and lunch in the dining room. The North Rim lodge is a wonderful, elegant while rustic hotel. After a stroll on the lodge observation deck overlooking the canyon, we pile into the trucks and head out stopping for gas at Marble Canyon. A quick slice of pie in the dining room at the Cameron Trading Post, we drive through Flagstaff and are home by 9:00 PM.
Overall Comments: Most excellent hike! Like I said, we all agree that Nankoweap is the toughest Grand Canyon trail we've traveled. You definitely do not want to do this trip in serious heat or during rain or snow or dark... lest you will surely die. As the man said, "The trail is really bad, and it just seems to get worse:" but it was so beautiful. Also, the planes and helicopters were not that much of a nuisance. On day six, we were bothered by helo's flying below the rim near Marion Point, but all of the others stayed well away. Looks like the volume of air traffic has decreased, and I think they have to stay above 2,000 ft. above the rim. We turned in those dark maroon helicopters to the GC Rangers: you know who you are...
Ringing through our thoughts were the words "endless Supai traverse," and "this is considered one of the toughest trail in Grand Canyon," from the reports we read. They were right, but I wouldn't let that discourage an experienced Grand Canyon hiker in the least. Planning, thinking, and getting in shape are the keys to a successful trip.
As mentioned, do not hike this trail at night or in rain or snow or serious heat. There is lots of exposure in certain areas along the trail. Cut you toe nails. Get ready for sore feet and legs. Enter at your own risk. Carry water. Avoid the noonday sun. Try to ignore the vultures. Pray frequently. As we know, Grand Canyon is the superbowl of hiking, and one of the most beautiful spectacles around.
[Marty's notes] The Nankoweap Trail is certainly a very challenging route. Some guides rate it as the most difficult trail in the Grand Canyon. This may be true, but it is also one of the most beautiful routes with some of the most striking panoramas in the Canyon. The trail is indistinct in places and has a significant amount of exposure on the upper portions however if you are an experienced Grand Canyon hiker, it is well worth your effort to visit this part of the Canyon. There is no water on this route until you reach Nankoweap Creek, so you must carry water to cache on the trail for the return trip, especially in hot weather. This is a great time of the year to do this trail as the temperatures in the canyon are in the low 90's during the day and the mid 60's at night. Be advised however, on June 2, 1999 we hiked out of Thunder River in a late season snowstorm on the North rim, so be prepared for any type of weather.
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Extra notes on the geological formations seen along the North side of the Butte Fault. These comments are from Dr. Carl Bowser, professor of geology, University of Wisconsin. Dr. Bowser is the father of a colleague of Marty's who has traveled in the Grand Canyon many times. We sent him some scanned pictures of the "bent rock", "tile rock", and "dung rock", asking for his comment on how they had formed.
Wow, such huge files! 24-29 mb [note mb = milli bits, MB = Mega Bytes... geology is such a soft science...]. We don't use ones this big even for large photography (11"x14"). Well here's a try.
1) Bent rock appears to be folded sedimentary rock. Heat required?? Hardly, it depends on when the rocks were folded and by what mechanism. If they're relatively unconsolidated at the time of folding then folding (slumping, earth movement) is relatively easy. If they're older and more consolidated... still no problem. Most people incorrectly think that a folded rock is a plastically folded material. However subtle grain to grain movement can also adapt to rock shear giving the APPEARANCE of folding. Think of it as a very large number of very small faults, each adjacent "block" moving only slightly with respect to its neighbor. A second possibility is that it's not folding at all, but instead original bedding. For example the sediment filling in an old stream channel can slope (dip) toward the middle of the channel and give the appearance of folding. We call it original dip, and no Howard, it has nothing to do with snacks!
2) Dung rock and Tile rock both show similar features, but with slightly different results. They are fractured rocks that form a series of cracks or "joints" (the fancy name for fractures). Very typical in most all rocks, but not always as well developed as in these photos. The geometric regularity of the fractures is not too atypical as they respond to the stress in such predictable ways. In tile rock the person is standing on a "bedding plane", a plane parallel to the general direction of bedding. Good locality, neat photo! What makes "dung rock" interesting is that is STARTED OUT with a series of fractures similar to "tile rock", but was subsequently altered. Through a combination of precipitation of minerals in the blocks between the cracks (probably an iron oxide mineral) and differential weathering the originally square ("blocky") rock massed proceeded weathering toward the center and through removal of grains in a way not unlike what formed "half-dome" in Yosemite. The cementation of the iron started from the fractures on the edge of the block and as it worked it's way inward the "corners" get more and more rounded. Then later erosion/weathering has removed the rocks and the relatively resistant "cement" is exposed. You can see similar features in granite on the way out of Prescott (on the way to Jerome). Ask a simple question, and look what you get.PS - Tell your friend that they need to see an analyst about their anal retentive fixation. Dung indeed!!
