Tanner Trail trip report: Apr 25-29 2010

[dkerr24]

Tanner Trail trip report Apr 25-29 2010:

Getting to the bottom OPTIONAL
Getting to the top MANDATORY



04/24/2010 – After months of training and planning, the time has come to hit the trails in the Grand Canyon again. This will be Mary's first hike into the Grand Canyon, and it will be my first time to hike the Tanner trail. The Tanner trail is the easternmost trail that leads from the south rim to the Colorado River. The Park Service does list the trail as 'unmaintained', and considered one of the most difficult and demanding south side trails. The elevation at the trailhead is 7350 feet and the elevation at the river is 2650 feet for a total elevation gain/loss of 4700 feet. The length of the trail seems to vary – between 8 and 9 miles from the trailhead on the rim to the Colorado river. We got an early start on the long drive west on I-40 to the Grand Canyon. I had the car gassed up and packed the night before. The plan is to break up the long 15 hour drive by stopping at Gallup, NM to spend the night. The weather was great for the drive, and there was only a minimal amount of construction along the interstate to slow us down.

04/25/2010 - After spending the night at a hotel in Gallup, Mary and I drove to the canyon via Cameron and proceeded through the East Entrance. This entrance to the park doesn’t see near the traffic as the main South Entrance. We got to the park on the last day of the annual NPS free admission and saved the $25 entrance fee which was a nice bonus. After stopping at Desert View...



for a few pictures, we drove to Lipan Point. The parking lot was completely full at that time of day. I wanted to verify the exact trailhead location so that we wouldn't have any issues the following morning. The trailhead is just a few hundred feet to the east and just a bit downhill from the parking lot. The trailhead is hard to spot through the bushes while driving up to Lipan point, but was easily spotted on the way back down.

We next stopped at the picnic area along the highway across from the South Kaibab trailhead access road. Private vehicles are not allowed to drive to the trailhead, and a large number of vehicles were parked along the highway. We packed up a sack lunch, water and a camera into a small REI daypack and started to walk to the trailhead.

It's a nice 1/4 mile walk from the highway to the trailhead. We had picked up some sandwiches at the Wal-Mart deli in Winslow and ate those at the picnic table near the South Kaibab trailhead:



A steady stream of day hikers strolled past. Fresh hikers headed up to the trailhead, while some very tired hikers slogged past us to wait at the shuttle bus stop. The weather was about perfect, almost totally clear skies and temperatures in the 70's.

After finishing our lunch, we topped off our water bottles at the faucet near the mule corral:



Next stop was for the obligatory pictures at the trailhead sign.





It was about 1pm local time when we started down the trail. We waited a few minutes for some fast hikers fresh off the shuttle bus to get started down the trail. The South Kaibab trail was in excellent condition, and we quickly passed a few slower hikers and made our way to the first stop which is informally called Ooo Aah point. A number of hikers were stopped here taking pictures. Some of the less adventurous were turning around at this point as well.



This point provides a wide panoramic view of the canyon below. For the most part, the South Kaibab trail stays along the top of ridges which makes for excellent views in almost every direction. The wind can be a problem, but today it was fairly calm.





Our next stop was Cedar Ridge. There were quite a few day hikers at this point, but the area is large enough so that you can spread out and get some solitude. We headed out on the NW point of the area and took in the views. O'Neill Butte was to our right, and the Plateau Point was plainly visible a few miles away to the west. After a few more pictures and snacks, we started back up to the trailhead. Since we both were feeling pretty fresh, we headed up at a fast clip, taking 38 minutes to regain the trailhead sign at the top. Fresh legs and no significant pack weight can sure make a difference on the uphill climb.

By the time we finished that hike and got back to the car, it was around 4pm. We headed over to the Bright Angel lodge to check in for our room that night. The rooms are basic and hostel-type (no bathroom/shower in room), but the price is reasonable... $69/night. It's the cheapest lodging within walking distance of the rim.

We walked up to Maricopa Point for a beautiful sunset that day.



To be continued...

[Ray52]

Nice start! I've been waiting for this Darin.  Did you reserve your room at Bright Angel Lodge beforehand?

[dkerr24]

Nice start! I've been waiting for this Darin.  Did you reserve your room at Bright Angel Lodge beforehand?

Hi Ray... yes, I had made reservations several months prior for Bright Angel.  The rooms are basic...  but for $69 and only a rocks throw from the rim, hard to beat.

[bjbriggs]

Good start to your Trip report and photos.

[dkerr24]

04/26/10 - I didn't sleep all that well last night and kept waking up thinking about the logistics of the hike that day.  We were up around 4:30am, got the car loaded and were ready to leave by 6am.  We decided to skip on breakfast at the lodge, instead bought a couple of sweet rolls and juice. 

The drive back to Lipan Point took about 30 minutes.  We didn't see any elk or deer on the way, but I did watch my speed and kept a constant watch on the trees along the side of the road for any movement. 

By the time I went through our checklist and got the packs on, it was about 8am by the time we made it to the Tanner trailhead.  I finished my breakfast just before heading down to the trailhead:



After a few more pics at the trailhead, it was time to hit the trail:



The trail took a few lazy switchbacks before taking a serious plunge downwards.  We did see a few very patchy sections of snow, but nothing large enough to have to walk through.

About 30 minutes into the hike, we came through the section of trail that was damaged by a rockslide 2 years ago.  It was pretty rough going through that section.



It's hard to tell from this picture, but the rim seems almost vertical from this point on the trail:



The Palisades of the Desert were beginning to come into view once we started getting out of the side canyon.  The Palisades would dominate the views to the east for much of the entire hike:



After crossing the 75 mile saddle and Stegosaurus Rocks, we began the 'easy' 3 mile section of the trail leading to the Redwall down climb.  I cached a 2L bottle of water under a rock near the 75 mile saddle.  Instead of doing the smart thing and taking a long break at the top of the Redwall, we immediately headed down.  The Redwall section is very steep, loose and dangerous.  Mary fell twice doing the Redwall section, but luckily just fell backwards onto her behind.  She had a few minor scrapes and bruises, but nothing more severe.

We did take a long break at the bottom of the Redwall section.  There was a rock with a small cedar on it that provided some relief from the hot midday sun.  We should have stopped there to wait out the heat, but after about a 30 minute break, we started back down the trail.  There are some interesting hoodoos in this section of trail and some very exposed sections.  We were both getting hot and tired, but continued on.

I was carrying 5 liters of water for the hike and Mary had 3liters (after leaving a 2liter cache back up at the 75 mile saddle).  In reality, this wasn't enough water to allow us to stop and spend the night, so we slogged on towards the river.  I did bring along several packets of vitalyte/gookinaid to mix with our water bottles in our side pockets.  All backpackers should carry gookinaid or powdered Gatorade to help replenish salts lost through sweating.

The Dox Sandstone section was pretty narrow and crumbly.  There were sections so narrow and exposed that I had to concentrate on the trail in front of me and just shuffle my feet while checking to see if the next step could hold my weight.  A steep slope several hundred feet deep was just inches from the narrow trail which definitely added a degree of panic to hiking this section.  One wrong step or slip...

After 9 hours of hiking, we finally made it to the river at Tanner Beach.  This is the view from the river looking back towards Desert View and the rim:



I had .5L of water left, and Mary had 1L.  I told her to drink her 1L while I got out my 2 collapsible containers and filled them with river water.  The water was pretty silty, but after an hour of settling it seemed to be easy to filter for drinking water.  The water temp was about 45-50F.  Standing in bare feet in the river for more than 30 seconds was quite painful.

Another couple was just vacating the shady campsite next to the river, so we took that campsite and setup camp.  They were also kind enough to allow us to filter some river water they had let settle overnight.  The river water had a silty aftertaste, even after settling and filtering.  We brought along a good supply of powdered drink mixes which at least masked the silty taste of the river water.  Now I understand why many backpackers will filter water from creeks in side canyons if at all possible.  The water I filtered last year from Clear Creek tasted as good as tap water.

After setting up the tent, I heated up water for Mountain House spaghetti.  We barely finished dinner and made it to sundown before going to bed exhausted.

To be continued...

[mule ears]

Darin,
I can't believe you dragged that pretty girl to the bottom of the GC and she is still talking to you!  Of course the rest of the trip report may tell a different story. 

Great start.

[dkerr24]

04/27/10 - The sound of Tanner Rapids just a few feet from our tent pretty much drowned out any other sounds we might have heard last night. The temperature dipped into the upper 50's, but the temperature quickly rose as soon as the sun rose over the top of the Palisades wall to our east. We were pretty sore and still pretty tired, but we proceeded with breaking down camp and packing up for what we thought we be an easy 3 mile hike over to the Palisades creek area to spend the next 2 nights.

We passed a group of 3 guys from Canada who were camped in the site just west of the us. They told us they were going to day hike on the Beamer as far as Palisades creek, then come back to their campsite for the night. We informed them of our plans, and proceeded up the short climb to the junction of the Tanner and Beamer trails. The morning sun was stunning coming over the top of the Palisades:



It was around 9am when we finally got on the Beamer trail. The trail climbs about 50 feet above the river, then continues along a crumbling ridge in the sandstone. We made it only about 1/4 mile up the trail when we came to a climb up comprised of 3 large steps. Each step was about 30 inches high, which would be something very easy to do if not carrying a backpack. The additional squeamish factor was that the drop off to the river was only a foot away. One wrong move here and it's in the river. If the fall doesn't kill you, the 45F water will. I wish I had taken a picture of the steps, but at that point it was so close to the edge that I didn't want to fumble with getting my camera out.

Mary and I looked at each other and said this was just plain nuts. We turned around and headed back to Tanner Beach to reclaim our shady spot by the river. My previous 'exposed trail' experience was Clear Creek trail, and this just seemed a lot worse than that. Perhaps it was the morning heat, we were still worn out from hiking all the way to the river... a number of factors for sure. Yes, we would be violating our permit, but there were only 3 groups of hikers at Tanner so we were pretty confident that we wouldn't be taking a spot needed by someone else. The surprised Canadians kidded us by telling us we were headed the wrong way for Palisades. I explained the issue we had with the exposure, but told them it may not be a problem for a more experienced hiker with a daypack. They weren't fazed by my report.

We ended up spending most of the rest of the day relaxing by the river and walking around the Tanner beach area to check out other campsites.











There were about 8 or 9 campsites that were easily defined in the vegetation, but only 4 of them had any reasonable shade. The best campsite with hard shade was the overhang camp which had a large rock wall on the backside which shaded the spot from the sun for most of the day. Someone already had that camp, so we decided to stay in our original campsite by the river.

That night the wind really kicked up out of the SW and when we woke up the next morning, everything in the tent was covered in fine sand. The sand hill that the park service is trying protect was right behind our camp, and was the source of all the sand.

To be continued...

[dkerr24]

04/28/10 - After breakfast, we started shaking down all of our gear to remove all the sand.  During my morning visit to the latrine, I noticed the prime overhang camp was vacated.  We were looking to get further away from the roar of Tanner Rapids along with the sand, so we moved our gear over there and setup camp.  The overhang camp is in full shade for much of the day and the cliff wall provided a good windbreak.



I had an interesting extended dip in the river this morning.  I had walked down to the river to get some water to filter, and I removed my hat to wash my face.  I forgot that my $50 Zebralight headlamp was strapped on my hat, so when I pulled off my hat, *plunk* my light goes into the river.  You cannot see at all in the murky water, luckily I had my Tevas on, so I just waded in hoping I might find the headlamp.  The light wasn’t turned on, so here I am in knee deep icy cold water bending over trying to find my light before the current took it to Lake Mead.  Of all the blind luck, I had accidentally stepped on the headband strap when I stepped into the river.  I yanked it out of the water… fortunately it has double rubber washers and is water resistant.  It worked fine and just needed a few hours to dry hanging from a tree limb.  That was definitely a morning wake up that worked better than a cup of coffee!

Around lunchtime, a hiker stopped by our camp to say hello.  He mentioned they had just hiked into the camp, spending a night along the Tanner descent.  He said one of his fellow hikers lost his hat to the wind gusts while hiking the Dox Sandstone section and asked if we had any hats or bandanas to spare.  My wife had an extra Nike ballcap which we gladly gave him for his friend.  I figured we needed some good karma for the trip back out. 

Later that day, we stopped by their camp to chat and had our pictures taken with the recipient of Mary's hat.  He’s the guy wearing the yellow women’s Nike hat.



Their itinerary was to head west on the Escalante Route, over the Papago rockslide, and exit the canyon via Grandview.  I couldn’t imagine hiking that distance without some sort of head cover. 

Our original permit was for 1 night in Tanner, 2 nights in Palisades, followed by one last night at Tanner.  Since we didn't make it to Palisades, we decided to head for the rim the following day and cut short our trip by a day.  The weather that afternoon was becoming a bit unsettled, and the thought of hiking out on rain/ice slickened rocks didn't sound too appealing.

We did finally get a picture of a boating party coming around the bend towards Tanner rapids:



We decided to skip on setting up the tent and decided to sleep in the open.  In all my years of camping, I have never slept outside (other than the back of a open pickup truck bed).  As soon as it began to get dark we began to hear the flittering of wings... and it wasn't birds or insects... it was bats.  My wife was a bit concerned about how close a few of the bats were flying over our heads while we were in our sleeping bags, but I assured her these bats are just hunting juicy bugs and aren't the vampire bat variety.  haha

Several times during the night, I noticed the cloud cover increasing and I began to wonder if it was going to rain.  I had the tent right next to my bag, so I figured I could get it setup in a few minutes if rain started to fall.  It never did. 

I had my watch alarm set for 4:30am.  My plan was to beat the midday heat and at least get to the top of the Redwall section.

04/29/10 - My alarm went off long before I was ready to awake, but I knew we had to get an early start to avoid the heat.  It was quite cool and a bit breezy, with some scattered clouds.  The clouds rolling in didn't look especially threatening.

I had scooped up two buckets of river water last night but ended up having to throw out one bucket of water as one of our rodent friends decided to jump in and take a swim.  As you might have guessed, he couldn’t climb back and expired in the water.  Definitely not water you want to filter out of, so I threw it out.  There was enough water in the second bucket to top off both our camelbacks and a spare 3L Platypus container.  For the trip out, I was carrying 7L and Mary had 3L of water.  We also had a 2L soda bottle full of water waiting for us at about the 75 mile saddle. 

We got our camp cleared and hit the trail around 6am.  The sun was still behind the Palisades of the Desert and I figured we could make it to the Redwall before things got too toasty.   I guess karma was feeling generous that day, as the sun really never came out long enough to warm up the temps past 50F.  We took a few short breaks when we could find a spot wide enough to take off our packs.   Here’s a picture looking back at the river:



Here's Mary at the same rest stop:



Just before we made it to the base of the Redwall, we came across a young lady who was camped in a small overhang camp.  She said she had hiked up to this point from Palisades Creek and spent the night there.  We stopped to chat for a few minutes while we ate a snack and drank water.  Since the morning was so cool, we were doing fine on water.  The young lady mentioned she was not prepared for this type of backpacking trip, and then I noticed she was hiking in sandals!  I can’t imagine hiking an unmaintained trail in sandals, but I guess each person has a different comfort level.  She cruised on up the trail, and I figured we’d never see her again.  It began to snow a few flakes which seemed really odd to us.

It took us about 3.5 hours to get to the base of the Redwall section.  There was a nice open area there and we stopped for a breather.  The weather was beginning to worsen.

 I tried not to look up as I knew the height of this section would appear even worse from the base.  We stopped there for a 15 minute break… the wind was gusting at times which made us feel a bit chilled with the current temperature.  I figured at least we weren’t climbing the redwall in direct sun.  Karma was with us… for now.

About halfway up the redwall, I noticed what appeared to be a white fog coming down Tanner canyon towards us.  It got to us very quickly, turned out to be a combination of sleet and snow.  The snow wasn’t so bad, but the larger pellets of sleet were starting to sting a bit and beginning to get our clothes wet.  I did have a couple of emergency ponchos in our packs, but I really didn’t want to stop anywhere along the Redwall climb to dig them out.  The visibility kept dropping as we climbed, but I kept us moving forward as there was no safe place along the redwall climb to take refuge.  I figured if we could just make it to the top, we could find a flat area to setup my tent and climb inside to warm up.  I guess karma was just testing our resolve. 

The 45 minutes it took us to climb to the top of the Redwall section seemed like twice as long with the sleet and snow.  Just as we were within a few switchbacks from the top of the Redwall, the skies began to clear!  Mary and I high-fived each other as we got to the top of the Redwall.  For both of us, this was the toughest part of the trail.  However, karma was not quite done with us yet.

The next 3 miles of trail is relatively easy and doesn’t have a great deal of elevation change.  About 1 mile above the Redwall section, we spotted the female hiker heading back towards us with no pack.  When she got closer, her face turned red with embarrassment and she explained she left her poles at the top of the Redwall when she took a break.  She dropped her pack further up the trail and was heading back to retrieve the poles.  I told her I didn’t see anything on the ground near the top, but then I was so ecstatic about reaching the top of the Redwall that I wasn’t looking around for gear.  We continued about another mile through this section before stopping behind some large rocks to get some relief from the wind.  I also needed a wind break to light up my stove to heat water.  At that point, a hot meal seemed like a great idea to refuel our bodies for the remaining climb out. 

As I huddled around my stove providing a wind block, the young lady walked by with her tent poles.  I asked her if she needed some water?  She hesistated, and I then added that we had plenty to spare and had another 2 liters further up the trail.  She said she was a little bit groggy from dehydration, so I let her drink her fill from my spare 3 Liter container and Mary gave her a half liter bottle of water to take with her.  I should have asked her if she needed something to eat but she thanked us and headed up the trail before I thought of it.  We had plenty of food left since we were coming out a day early.  We never saw her again on the trail.

We met a group of 4 hikers and shortly thereafter a group of 3 more hikers heading down.  One of the guys in the last group asked me if the river water was silty.  I told him it is, but advised as long as he allows the water to settle for an hour or so, it was not too bad to pump/filter.  I asked if he had some alum, he responded he did.  I tried the alum, and did notice it helped a bit to decrease the settling time required.

As we neared the 75 mile saddle, I spotted the large flat rock that I had cached our water under.  I had situated the bottle in a spot with no exposure to the sun, so the water was nice and cold when we opened it.  Water from the sink faucet at Bright Angel lodge never tasted better!  We poured out our smaller containers of the river water and replaced it with the contents of the bottle.  With the cool weather, we were using far less water than I expected, so I poured out the rest of the 3L Platypus container which definitely lightened up my pack.  A scrubby looking spruce tree was the recipient of all the excess water.

The weather continued to be windy, some sleet at times, then followed by brief periods of sun.  It was very strange weather.  The wind was especially fierce along the top of the 75 mile saddle and along stegosaurus rocks.



My hat blew off several times, but I had it clipped to my shirt to keep from losing it.  Here's a view as we neared the last big climb:



We came upon the slide section and knew this would be the last big obstacle to overcome in order to get to the top.  That section of trail is just plain nasty no matter which direction you are going.  I had to keep looking around to find some semblance of a trail in the rocky sections.

The top seemed to be getting a bit closer at each switchback, and finally we rounded the last turn and saw the trailhead sign by the road!  It took us 7 hours and 38 minutes to get from the river to the trailhead, which was far better than the 9 hours it took us in the opposite direction.

Mary and I high fived each other, took a few more pictures...





then headed over to our car.  Our vehicle just barely started, so I guess I shouldn’t try to push a 5 year old stock battery much further.  We had water and energy drinks in our cooler in the car, they were still cold due to the cold weather at the top.  The weather was cold and windy at the top, so I quickly got our gear in the car for the drive back to Maswik Lodge.  Snow began to fall, at times quite heavy near Buggeln Hill.  By the time we pulled into the parking lot at Maswik, the sun was out.  It was a very appropriate ending to a challenging hike. 

As the sign at the beginning of my report states, getting to the bottom is OPTIONAL; getting to the top is MANDATORY.

Postscript:

The Tanner trail turned out to be much tougher than previous trails I've hiked in the Grand Canyon.  I've hiked all the corridor trails, Grandview, down the west side of Grandview to the Tonto, Clear Creek, and part of Hermit Trail.  None of these trails were nearly as exposed, crumbly and plain dangerous as the Tanner trail.  I was always skeptical of the National Park descriptions of most of the trails as they tended to overemphasize the danger.  They really weren't kidding about Tanner.  I apologized to Mary numerous times for taking her on this trail as her first inner canyon hike.  I applaud her for maintaining her composure and finishing the hike, and furthermore she helped to encourage me when I was getting tired.

The climb out was not nearly as hard on the body as the climb down.  We made it up in 90 minutes less time than going down, and my legs were not sore at all the following day after climbing out.  Anyone reading this report would be strongly advised to do the climb down in 2 days, camping the first night near the top of the Redwall.  If I had done that, I doubt my legs would have been so sore the following day at Tanner Beach.

Pros:  Completed the Tanner trail. 
Nice sandy campy areas near river at Tanner Beach. 
Was able to hike each direction in a single day, even cut time on the climb out.

Cons:  Weather was very variable.  In the future, I’m sticking with fall hikes in the canyon.  We did not get far on the Beamer trail due to exposure.  I think I could have made it with a small daypack, but not with a 40lb full pack.  The mice at Tanner Beach are determined and voracious.  They were able to bend open the steel mesh of my Ratsack bag enough to nibble on some peanut butter crackers inside.  I probably could have avoided that problem by tying up the bag from the limb of a tree.

I found the Tanner trail definitely fit the description that the NPS provided.  This trail did exceed my comfort level due to the exposure and loose footing.  The views were fantastic and did compensate for the challenge of the trail.

[Ray52]

Great report and pictures of your hike Darin.  You're a marked man now though, I'll be bugging you for tips and information when I plan my next hike in the canyon.  I know very little about the trails other than the ones I hiked, but met a hiker going up BA who'd come from Hermit and has me interested in learning more about thta route. 

I had the same experience with the wind and the sand although in a much more sheltered setting.  Waking up at Bright Angel everything in my tent was covered with sand and it took a while to make my point and shoot camera function again.

Thanks for your incredible report

[mule ears]

Great report and pictures of your hike Darin.  You're a marked man now though, I'll be bugging you for tips and information when I plan my next hike in the canyon.  I know very little about the trails other than the ones I hiked, but met a hiker going up BA who'd come from Hermit and has me interested in learning more about thta route. 

Thanks for your incredible report

Ditto, great report and pictures, Darin, thanks. 

Ray the last time I was in the canyon we went in Hermit and out BA in case you need any info that Darin doesn't have.

[dkerr24]

If you are looking for more trip reports from other folks that have hiked in the canyon, here are two of the best I've found:

http://www.bobspixels.com/kaibab.org/hiking.htm

Bob Ribokas has quite a history of hiking in the canyon, and his trip reports are worth a read.

Another great site is this one:

http://www.allhikers.com

The owner of the site was nice enough to put up links to my trip reports.

Mary and I may go back in mid-Oct to hike a rim-to-rim-to-rim.  I figure I owe her a corridor trail trip after what she put up with hiking the Tanner.
Speaking of the Hermit trail, that sign at the beginning of my report is the sign after you head down the first few switchbacks on Hermit Trail.  A good hike using the Hermit would be to hike the Hermit down to the Tonto Trail, then east on the Tonto trail to the Bright Angel trail and back out.  That would be a hike that would be best spread over 2 or 3 nights.  I've heard of people hiking that entire length in one day, but that would be a LONG day.

Darin

[Robert]

Thanks for a great report that takes me back to my hikes in the canyon. I remember how sore I was after hiking down to Phantom Ranch on one trip. Luckily we stayed two nights so had time to recover. On another hike we did the Thunder River trail which was very challenging. There were several sections of trail that I definitely felt nervous about as they were on the edge of a drop off with crumbly soil and slanted towards the edge. I think it was one of the first times I saw people using hiking poles and thinkging how odd they looked and then afterwards I went out and bought my first hiking staff (and later upgraded to poles). Having mice scamper over us at night while we slept was another experience that I won't forget.

[MilesOfTexas]

Fantastic trip report!  I am really looking forward to getting out there some day!!!!

[bjbriggs]

Enjoyed your trip report and photo's.

[homerboy2u]

Loved that trip report, Darin..you are getting better as you progress. Kudos to you, for bringing the wife along, although i would love to read her thoughts about the trip... .

 Domo-Kun salutes you.