Utah to Grand Canyon (Start) Archives - Yeti Hikes

Arizona Trail Day 7: South Rim

Yeti — Sun, 16 Oct 2022 19:20:03 +0000

5.5 miles

99.9 AZT mile marker

It was windy overnight but there were only a couple sprinkles. Everything was dry in the morning. It was thankfully still cloudy in the morning though. I had another 3,000 feet left to climb to the south rim over 4.5 miles. In the sun that would have taken me a while.

I set off quickly as the sun was rising and tore up the trail, wanting to make as much progress as possible in case the clouds broke and it got warmer. The cooler the better for me while I’m hiking. I was able to maintain my normal hiking pace all the way up, while only stopping for mule trains with people taking the easy way down into the canyon and pictures. There were also a couple water spigots on the way up too. I’m not used to this posh hiking but it meant I had a very light pack with little water and a nearly empty food bag.

The canyon was fantastic climbing out. I progressed up through the various layers of the canyon, and they were amazingly distinct at times. The top layer was a straight, discrete line and looked too perfect.

The canyon opened up behind me as I got higher, and though it was cloudy, there were some breaks in the clouds that were casting light on some of the prominences in the canyon which looked very dramatic. I thoroughly enjoyed the climb out and the scenery; the climb flew right by.

At the top, I turned onto the rim trail to get back to the official AZT, which took the other trail up to the rim. There were a lot of plaques and geology information on the trail which was nice. It is an eternal regret of mine that I don’t know more geology for all of the hiking I do.

I ended up at the General Store where I bought some fresh food to destroy. I can only eat so many nuts and bars. I found the hiker camp and Mark was there as planned. Hip had just left though, so I probably won’t see him again.

I did my town chores and had a second lunch. It’s amazing what a 5 minute timer shower can do, and my laundry actually smells fresh (yes I tested).

Later in the day, Break, Kaitlyn, Koala, and More showed up and we caught up. I had a huge dinner at the cafeteria. It’s all about the volume for me when thru-hiking. And if you were keeping count, I had breakfast, a few bars, 2 big lunches and a big dinner. I am probably still losing weight; it is an endless battle with the repeated big mile days.

Rain dampened the fun after dinner so we went off to our tents to get ready for tomorrow. Me, Mark, Katherine, and Break are heading out tomorrow, and the others are staying here for a day.

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Arizona Trail Day 6: Grand Canyon

Yeti — Sat, 15 Oct 2022 19:20:03 +0000

19 miles
95.3 AZT mile marker

I thought we would be able to see the sunrise since that was my recollection from last year, but it was hidden by trees. As everyone gathered for breakfast, I was already ready to go when Katherine, another AZT hiker showed up. We took off together. I wanted to leave a little earlier than the others since my designated campsite was further and I had some climbing to do at the end of the day with 93 degrees forecast.

We easily flew down the North Kaibab Trail from the North Rim to start our 6,000 foot descent to the Colorado River. I climbed this last year, and it was very nice to be able to descend this time. Early on we encountered a lot of rim-to-rim hikers going up who had started from the south rim very early in the morning. We agreed we didn’t see much point in that besides the bragging rights.

At one pint we chatted briefly with a father and his kids. We mentioned we were on the AZT and it was about 800 miles. As we were leaving, one of the kids asked his dad “800 miles?”, and his dad replied “and you were complaining about being tired”. We got quite a laugh out of that one.

We took a short side trip to the scenic and unique Ribbon Falls. Well worth the trip.

On the way down, we crossed running water for the first time of this entire trail, at almost 100 miles in. Aside from the other streams and river in the canyon, it will probably be the last for a while.

We stopped often for pictures, and I relished the luxury of the frequent water faucets so I could only carry a liter of water. A far cry from the norm on this trail. The canyon corridor is beautiful, and I will let the pictures speak for themselves. It was a pretty fast and easy hike down to Phantom Ranch at the river.

At Phantom Ranch we had the traditional lemonade and took a good break. Katherine was staying here for the night so it was on me to decide to leave and continue on. It was warm and sunny, though I’m not sure it made it to the forecast 93. However, some cloud cover popped up, and I decided this was the obvious time. I refilled my water yet again and took off, crossing the Colorado River.

After hiking along the river, before turning uphill, I took a brief douse and scrub in it at a beach since I had not showered in a week and have been hiking through the hot desert. Even I can smell myself very well. The water was dark and muddy like chocolate milk, so I’m not sure if I got cleaner or picked up more dirt from the river. I scrubbed my poor feet and legs at least which were caked in dirt.

Feeling a little refreshed and only slightly less smelly, I started uphill to Indian Garden where I was camping. The clouds had continued to roll in and there was some wind too, so the uphill hike was actually not that bad and I cranked it out. I had not been on the Bright Angel Trail before, and it was very nicely graded and had far more flowing water and vegetation than I was expecting.

I passed a bunch of flagging hikers and backpackers on my way up, and offered encouragement to all. I was in good spirits and just flying while enjoying the scenery.

I reached my campsite and it is quite a setup. I have my own bear box, picnic table, and covered pavilion; pretty fancy for hiker trash. It is supposed to storm tonight and it’s quite windy, so I just pictched my tent under the pavilion and threw my entire pack in the bear box because I could. #hikertrash

The ranger stopped by and even offered me more snacks after I mentioned I was on the AZT and started at the North Rim this morning. I had plenty of food and declined, but I was surprised to be offered. They seem to treat the AZT hikers well here which is a nice break from some other trails.

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Arizona Trail Day 5: North Rim Traverse

Yeti — Fri, 14 Oct 2022 19:20:03 +0000

13 miles
76.9 AZT mile marker

I slept a bit better and awoke in time for a great sunrise over the Grand Canyon, with the sun coming up on the far side of the canyon from me.

Today I was taking a couple trails that more or less follow the rim of the canyon back to the AZT. Though the trails were close to the rim, they didn’t always have views due to the vegetation, especially since most of the hike was through a burn area with a lot of short trees vying for the sun.

I had several great views down into the canyon and back across to where I camped before I got to Point Imperial, which is the highest viewpoint in the park. That makes sense since a couple trees had signs of lightning strikes.

I spent some time at the viewpoint, especially looking back at the Nankoweep trail which I took last year on the Hayduke. That trail clings to a steep terrace between two cliffs, and it’s amazing something could be routed through there. More amazing looking at it from this distant perspective than on the trail itself.

I headed on along the rim and got more continuous changing views of the canyon which were fantastic. These trails don’t look like they are used much, and that’s a shame.

I took a scenery break a few miles from Point Imperial around 9, and apparently that is the magic time when the constant stream of helicopters started flying. At first it was a racket in the canyon, but apparently their flight path was right over my trail, and I was being buzzed every minute or so only 100 feet above my head! How absurdly obnoxious. I couldn’t even sit there and enjoy the view because of the capitalist pestilence. It is amazing the park lest them do that, so close to the trail, but I guess money talks even for the government. It pretty much ruined my hike today, the constant noise. I’ve had the same thought in the canyon where you would think you can just enjoy nature, but not so.

I was obviously in a foul mood, and just stormed down the trail. I wanted to stay but I just couldn’t. I didn’t escape it until I got back into forest away from the rim. Needless to say, I did give each helicopter a salute that they could probably see because they were close enough. No picture of that. From there, the trail was relatively uneventful.

I arrived at the North Rim area and got a hiker spot at the campground. I’ve got a permit for in the canyon tomorrow night, so another shorter day gives my body a chance to rest. I also found some stove fuel at the general store to replace my sooty isopropyl alcohol. I’ve got yet another campsite right on the rim of the canyon, though this one will be my last. It was a good run, and I love the canyon, but there are just some very commercialized aspects to it.

A number of other AZT hikers showed up and we chatted until past hiker midnight. Cameron (now dubbed Freeze), Koala, Kaitlyn, Break, and Mora. Mora is from Israel and got off trail for a week because she tripped on a literal trip wire someone had set across the trail. She fell and smashed her nose and got a concussion. However, she was now back on the trail. I was shocked to hear that someone would set a trip wire on a hiking trail, and embarrassed that a foreign hiker visiting America had to experience it. C’mon people, what is the point of that? Just be a good person.

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Arizona Trail Day 4: Reach the Grand Canyon

Yeti — Thu, 13 Oct 2022 19:20:03 +0000

14 miles
64.6 AZT mile marker

I slept horribly last night, just like the prior night. By sleeping horribly I mean I didn’t sleep much. This often happens to me backpacking. I only slept about 2 hours each night. I just couldn’t get to sleep despite being warm and comfortable. When this happens, the little sleep I do get seems to make up for the deficit and must be deep sleep, because I don’t end up tired. It just sucks laying there for many hours trying to go to sleep.

I got up in time to see the sunrise from my camp spot. It was nice, but there were no clouds to give more brilliant colors. I then went back to the spring I filled up at last night to top off again because I would need my full water capacity for today. On the canyon rim it wasn’t too cold, but it got frigid as I went inland to the grassy knoll where the water catchment was. There was a hard frost on the grass, and the temperature justified that. Amazing how there was such a difference in temperature in such a short distance.

As I was finishing packing up, Mark rolled by. Apparently he didn’t know the exact spot we were talking about camping at and he stopped at the first campsite he saw. He continued on as I finished packing.

I took off through the mixed pine and aspen forest. The aspen were particularly bright and I had glimpses of the canyon to my left as I strolled down easy trail. Despite my lack of sleep, I was in great spirits and thoroughly enjoying the colorful and peaceful trail. A wave of euphoria hit me and I even shed some tears. If yesterday didn’t fully do it, today got me solidly into this trip and looking forward to the experience and adventure.

The trail went through some grassy meadows which were equally cold as where I got my water. The forest was warm in comparison. I caught up to Mark and we talked for a couple hours as we hiked. It is great to have company on the trail because few outside of the experience can fully relate to it. We talked about all things hiking and non-hiking and it was a great accompanyment to the pleasant stroll we were on. It even made me forget about the 8 liters of water on my back, though my shoulders later assured me it was there.

We parted ways at a road crossing. He was continuing on the AZT, but I was taking a diversion to a potentially more scenic route along the canyon rim vs. the AZT which just goes through the forest straight to the North Rim.

I took a good break and then began a 7 mile road walk, retracing my steps still from last year on the Hayduke Trail. Even this road walk couldn’t get my spirits down. It was a dead straight road, but lined with aspen and pretty. At the end of the road is a trailhead that goes down to Nankoweep on the river where I’ve been a couple times. I knew there were great campsites right on the canyon rim looking down the full 6,000 feet to the river, and I grabbed the site furthest out into the canyon to have the spectacular view for the afternoon and hopefully sunrise tomorrow.

I finished early since it was easy and shorter hiking than I had been doing, and relaxed for a bit. It was hot but I eventually decided to do a dayhike on to Saddle Mountain which sticks out a bit further into the canyon and affords more complete views. It was worth the hot side trip and I spent some time at a viewpoint before heading back to camp and setting up for the night.

When it got dark I saw the Milky Way and shooting stars before the moon came up.

These last couple days have been fantastic and represent what thru-hiking should be all about. Enjoy the trail without killing yourself, and meeting and spending time with other like-minded people. It is an adventure that you never know where it will take you, but you have to embrace it and go with it instead of fighting it. Hike how you want, disregarding any judgment from others, and respect the trail and those who maintain it.

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Arizona Trail Day 3: East Rim

Yeti — Wed, 12 Oct 2022 19:20:03 +0000

22.9 miles
57.8 AZT mile marker

I was planning another bigger mileage day today, so I bumped my alarm forward a little to make the most of the day and especially the cooler morning. As I was getting ready, I felt a little off. Maybe a little nauseous, but I couldn’t place my finger on it. There wasn’t anything for me to do but put my pack on and hit the trail. I did feel better shortly after starting.

I quickly came to an area that had just burned a month or so ago. As I was passing through it, I noticed something smoking. At first I assumed it was a campfire, but I couldn’t see anyone. I went over to investigate and saw that a log was smoldering and smoking still from the fire. The fire looked like a prescribed burn, but everything else was out cold. I noted the GPS location and messaged it to Kate to tell the Forest Service in case it was an issue. She called them and they said it was fine.

I then entered an old burn area that I hated last year when I was on this same route on the Hayduke Trail. It was wide open with dead snags here and there, and just some low aspen brush. Last year it was later in the season and there were no leaves on the trees. Everything just looked barren and dead. It was also very windy last year. I was expecting another pound the miles experience, but I was pleasantly surprised. It was not windy and the aspen were mostly bright yellow with changing leaves. I actually enjoyed this stretch of trail this year.

I got water for the day early at another catchment. It was 20 miles to the next source so I grabbed a gallon for the hiking in the sun. My brand new filter is starting to slow down significantly and flushing it isn’t working. So much for trying a new entry in the filter market.

After several miles, I regained the forest, but the forest had changed. It was more mixed with the yellow aspen, but it also gave way to open meadows every mile or so. The meadows seemed discretely bounded by the forest, but there were no stumps or anything, as if trees had never grown there. They were pretty scenic and occasionally had small, dry ponds.

I had glimpsed a hiker in the distance, and caught up to him as he was taking a break in one of these meadows. Mark is also heading to Mexico. We talked for a mile or two, but I needed a break and had to stop.

A couple miles after resuming hiking, I came upon Mark again talking to another hiker, Baywatch. He was heading the other direction and confirmed a couple things on the trail ahead for me, and I was once again hiking with Mark for the rest of the day talking about our hiking experiences and wildlife encounters.

We stopped for water at a catchment and I got 8 liters since I won’t see more water for 2 days possibly. Another hiker, Hip, was there. Mark and Hip had briefly met on the PCT five years ago and we talked while filling up.

We all left separately, and intended to meet up and camp at an overlook, but when I got there, only Hip was there, and we never saw Mark again. We set up on the edge of the overlook which was a cliff on the eastern face of the Kaibab Plateau, marking a start to the Grand Canyon. Quite the place to set up, and we were surprised not to see no camping signs.

Great conversation with Hip over dinner before hiker midnight. I found some other hikers, but we will be going separate ways tomorrow.

The last couple days were a grind for me with little enjoyment. Today was a great changed and I really got into the hiking and was glad I met some other like minded people. I didn’t want this trail to be a purely solo experience.

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Arizona Trail Day 2: Burn Area Aspens

Yeti — Tue, 11 Oct 2022 19:20:03 +0000

21.7 miles
35.3 AZT mile marker

There were some dark clouds growing in the west as I was approaching camp yesterday, but they disappeared after it got dark and I had a bright sky lit by the full moon. That overpowered the stars, but I will have more than a full lunar cycle to see them due to the length of this trip.

Since it’s fall and daylight is waning, I’ll get into the pattern of setting my alarm an hour before sunrise so I can hit the trail when it is bright enough and make the most of it. If I have extra time during the day I can take more breaks at the nice spots, or get to camp a little earlier. I hit the trail a leisurely hour after my alarm which is typical for me. I can do 30 minutes or less if I’m pushing including breakfast, but no need to do that most days.

I recovered well overnight and hit the trail not exactly knowing where I’d end up today. The trail continued through the mostly juniper forest and quickly came to a burn area from last year. They had recently reestablished the trail and it was generally pretty easy going on the mostly flat Kaibab Plateau. I went quickly at first while the sun was low to allow me to go slower later. There wasn’t much for views through the burnt forest, so I didn’t have much reason to stop.

I stopped at a water catchment after the first third of the day and took a break. I had been debating how to manage my water for today. This was the most sure source for the rest of the day, but recent water reports said there was more ahead at a cache and in a cattle trough, so I decided to take enough to get me through those sources with some buffer. Water is the most important thing to manage out here since there is so little of it. I’ve not yet seen a flowing stream, and I don’t expect to see one until the Grand Canyon.

It was getting warmer after my break and I started slowing down. I was now in mostly pine forest, buried without a possible view in sight. It was just a walk through the woods. Not the most exciting thing for the entire day.

I had to put on an audiobook to keep me trudging forward. I do like the rewards of hiking; the scenic spots, but there just weren’t any today so it came down to doing the miles.

I took a good break at a road crossing and saw my first people on the trail; 2 dayhikers. I took a little water from the cache there which is also where my food was stolen from last year. In a twist of fate, someone had left a bottle of alcohol fuel which was the one thing I had stolen that I couldn’t get replaced last year. The knife to the heart for me. At least there was water there now and a garbage can. I could have gotten away without the water, but since it was there and clean I took some.

As I was about to leave, the first thru-hiker I’ve seen showed up, Cameron. He was headed into town for food, so we went our own ways. I must have passed his camp in the morning without knowing it. It looks like there’s a couple more hikers a day or two ahead of me, and I can’t know behind except maybe spying on the water report, so I’m not sure how many others I will see out here. I was expecting more.

More forest walking for the rest of the day, but the one great change was some clumps of aspen showed up and they were at the height of changing colors and were bright yellow. The sun made them look even brighter, and it picked me up a bit.

I hiked to a point where I could make the next good water spot tomorrow for camp which would be nice. Water is really sparse up here, and it’s almost 20 miles tomorrow between good sources. I just pitched in the pines at a flat spot.

I decided to throw a bear line since there was mention of a bear sighting in spring. I made my first throw, but for the first time ever for me the line wrapped around the branch and knotted itself up. It was a brand new bear line too. I couldn’t pull it loose, even by sitting on the line. It was about 15 feet above me and I managed to grab the knot with a stick after a few tries and successfully got it down. I thought it was gone.

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Arizona Trail Day 1: Start at UT/AZ Border

Yeti — Mon, 10 Oct 2022 19:20:03 +0000

Start: State Line Campground, Arizona northern border

Finish: Water catchment

Daily Mileage: 16.5

AZT Mile: 13.2

Note: I am writing this journal as a stream of consciousness at the end of the day after hiking many miles. I’m not proofreading or reading what I wrote. I will do that later and revise the entries, but I do not want to spend my time on the trail working through those details. I will also write whatever I am thinking as I’m typing, so it may not make sense or offend. I am carrying extra weight in equipment to do this blog, and editing a Wordpress site on a cell phone is not ideal, to say the least, especially with the low quality wifi I expect on the trail. Please just consider the experience, and not the details. -Yeti

My start of the Arizona Trail didn’t exactly go as planned. I had a layover in Phoenix and my second flight was delayed. The plane was there but there was no explanation as to why we couldn’t leave. When we finally boarded 3 hours late, the pilot informed us that the original pilot’s wife had to go to the hospital, so I can respect that the airline let him go and flew in another pilot to take us.

We landed in Page around sunset, after a beautiful flyover of the Grand Canyon at dusk. I had planned to get some stove fuel and hitch straight to the trail tonight, but that wasn’t going to work with it being dark. Noone really hitches after dark.

So, I decided to embrace being hiker trash and got the cheapest motel I could find at $55 to spend the night in town. I checked a cardboard box on the plane as my disposable luggage for the hiking equipment I couldn’t carry on, and I strapped that bad boy to the top of my pack and waked through the city after dark to my motel. I definitely got some looks, but who cares? The motel was barely worth that rate, but good enough for me. I next set out to find stove fuel. I hadn’t had any troubles finding yellow HEET on the Hayduke last year, and was surprised that the 3 grocery stores and 4 gas stations I visited hadn’t even heard of it. I had not expected that at all since I’ve never had troubles, especially in a big town like this. There was an Ace and NAPA, but they were closed til 8am, so there was nothing I could do but drown my sorrows in a giant plate of Mexican food and go to bed exhausted from the long day of travelling.

Some research on the internet revealed that isopropyl alcohol also burns if it is a high enough percentage, so I found some 91% in the grocery store and did a larger than expected successful test burn in the parking lot in front of my room. Once again got some looks. Now that I had a solution without waiting for other stores to open, I scarfed some of the mediocre breakfast buffet and walked to the main road to start my hitch. I had hitched on this road twice before, and this time about matched my expectations with a 2 hour wait to get a ride, with tons of cars passing. An electrician picked me up and dropped me off at the gravel road to the trailhead after pointing out the tent resort for 9k per night he wired for celebrities to use.

I had thought that it would be an easy hitch to the trailhead 10 miles down since it was a popular place, the same road you take to get to The Wave. However, it took me another frustrating couple hours to get a ride. What made it even worse was I knew most of those people were hikers and many of them shrugged as if they couldn’t take me when I could clearly see the empty seats in their vehicles.

At long last, an older couple that didn’t speak much English picked me up. I think they were Russian from the few words they said and the song names in cyrillic. I just thought it was interesting that foreign tourists were the people who picked me up after all the others that passed me.

They dropped me at their trailhead which was only a mile and a half from where I was headed, so easy enough for me to walk it. I tried to explain where they could see petroglyphs from my hike on the same trail last year, but that was definitely lost in translation.

At long last, 5.5 hours from when I left my motel, I arrived at my trailhead. Since I had originally thought I was going to be here yesterday, I was a bit behind. That only mattered since I have a Grand Canyon permit starting in 4 days that I need to make. I’ll be hiking on one of the busiest National Park trails in existence, so not something I can stealth.

The sun was taking it out of me and I took a break at a water catchment 4 miles in. I decided I would shoot for the next water source as my goal to camp since it was a reasonable distance and always nicer not to have to carry as much water.

The trail was mostly rolling shallow hills through juniper and pine forest. I could occasionally catch glimpses of the scenic stuff to the east, but mostly the trail stayed buried. I just used the time to reflect, which was one of my goals for this trip. I was a bit frustrated with the issues I had just getting my hike started, but in the grand scheme of things I can still make everything work just fine, so it does not matter. I made it to the trail and have fuel, so I have everything I need.

I was getting bushed later in the day due to general exhaustion from rushing on the trail and from fatigue from travelling and not sleeping well the last couple days. However, I had to make it to the next water source because I didn’t have enough water for the night, except in an emergency. I put on an audiobook to help push through, and that helped me get to my goal just as the sun was setting. I grabbed water and found a spot nearby to set up my tent. I was so tired that I didn’t even want to do my camp chores like setting up and cooking dinner, but I made myself. I also didn’t want to write up this journal, but it gets so much harder to catch up in the future, and remember all of the details. In the end I got everything done and I’m where I need to be, so everything should be good from here. And I’m now on the trail left only to my own devices, so now my experience is now more in my hands.

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