Nankoweap Hike or Bust
Grand Canyon North Rim
May 15, 2009
Photos, we have photos!
I prepared extensively for this hike physically and also did my normal research into the route and conditions of the hike. Time and time
again, I read that the hike was considered the hardest of the maintained trails in the Grand Canyon. That says a lot, but I still felt that my
experience and preparedness would enable me to successfully complete the hike.
Originally, I had two friends who were to be my partners on this hike. However, for various reasons they were unable to accompany me.
They will remain nameless (Dave Nixon, Dave Vaughn).
Still I was excited about the hike and another visit to my favorite place on the planet (so far), the Grand Canyon.
I drove directly up to the Grand Canyon North Rim area after arriving in Las Vegas in the morning. I was staying at Jacob Lake Lodge which
is about 50 miles or so from the North Rim part of the park itself. The North Rim was closed when I arrived (May 14th) but opened up the
next day. The road to the developed part of the North Rim is closed every winter from about October 15th to May 15th as the Park Service
doesn’t try to clear the snow which can be significant.
I had reservations for a one bed cabin ($84). This fit the bill for a place to stay the night before that had my three prerequisites. Those are:
*as close to the trailhead as possible
*a bed
*a shower
The people at the lodge were mostly young people working there for the summer and were very friendly. I talked for a time with a server at
the café, Zachary. He was working at the lodge for the second summer along with his sister. They were from Logan, Utah which he told me
is located right across the border from the place in Idaho where they filmed Napoleon Dynamite. He seemed to be pretty proud of that bit of
cinema history.
The only negative about my stay there was that there must have been launching season for moths and their main base most have been in
my little cabin. When I arrived I noticed several at the window. Trying to be green I collected them up and released them back to nature.
However, after a few minutes there were more and the pattern repeated. In the end, after I spent an hour or so putting my gear together for
the next day I just gave up, shut off the light and went to bed. With the light off the moths stopped their buzzing around the lights and
apparently went to bed also.
I awoke as planned at 3:45 AM and was on the road around 4:15 AM. I always try to start each hike as close to daybreak as possible. In
some cases it is possible to start even in the dark with a headlamp if the trail is well developed. I didn’t want to attempt this on this trail. The
night before I had driven from the lodge to the dirt road that eventually led to the trailhead. The dirt road to the trailhead is about 20 miles
from the lodge and passes a very beautiful formation called the Vermilion Cliffs. The dirt road itself is 28 miles from the paved highway. All
in all it took me about an hour and 45 minutes to get to the trailhead at Buffalo Ranch Road.
I started the actual hike at 6:08 AM.The first thing I noticed was the weight of the pack. I am a day hiker and this was my second attempt at
backpacking. I tried to get the weight down as much as possible and not counting water and food everything weighed about 35 lbs which is
reasonable. However, the water and food but especially the water added at least 10-15 lbs. to the pack weight which made for quite the
load. This amount of water (9 liters including 3 liters to cache on the trail) was necessary because there would be no water sources until I
reached the Colorado River after 14.5 miles
.
The trailhead for the Nankoweap Trail is in the middle of nowhere. This route to the trailhead is 3.5 miles with about 1,000 feet of elevation
gain. Most of the trail goes through a pinion pine and ponderosa pine forest and was quite pleasant. I would classify it as moderate but it
was much warmer than I was expecting and I was perspiring heavily as I hiked up. Maybe hauling the 50 lb. pack also had something to do
with my condition.
I reached the actual trailhead of the Nankoweap Trail about exactly two hours later which I felt was good time with the elevation gain. I felt
good and sat down overlooking the canyon to have a little snack, wipe my face off with a wet bandana and otherwise prepare for the real
part of the hike.
The trail initially descends sharply to a trail that then follows the cliff in an overall downward direction however with many, many, many ups
and downs. I would guess the heat at the time was about 75 degrees and as the sun got higher in the sky I was soon hiking in full sun.
I didn’t expect to run into many hikers on this remote trail and I didn’t. I met the two I did see about a mile into the canyon. They were two
friends from California who also were attempting their first conquest of Nankoweap. However, one of them had cut his heel at Tilted Mesa
and they didn’t want to hike the rest of the way to the river and then try to climb out of the canyon with his heel like that. They wisely turned
around. These were the only hikers I met on the trail.
I continued on to the first sort of landmark on the hike which is called Marion Point. This is about two miles into the Nankoweap hike and 5.5
miles from my starting point. This will come up later in my narration of the day’s events. There is a nice flat camping area here.
I continued on to the next big landmark which is the previously mentioned Tilted Mesa. This is another 3 miles down the trail which continues
along the cliff face. Around this time I started having doubts of the wisdom on a single hiker doing this trail. The trail for the most part is
only about a foot wide and in many areas is less than a foot print or side wide with significant exposure with drops of over 1,000 feet in some
areas. There was more than one area where a failure of one of my trekking poles would have meant that you would not have the pleasure
of reading my usual verbose accounting of this hike.
During this section of the hike I also started feeling the first pangs of heat/exertion nausea. I had been drinking water at regular intervals
and also eating during my short breaks but sometimes that isn’t enough. To avoid this you need to take frequent 15 minute breaks which
are not my hiking style. Oh, and also don’t hike in full sun with a 50 pound pack on the toughest trail in the Grand Canyon. For some
reason, sometimes I don’t think the laws of nature apply to me.
I arrived at Tilted Mesa and surveyed the area and my condition. I was feeling quite ill at the point but knew if I rested for an hour or so I
would probably feel better. This is the point that the trail begins to drop significantly down to the river about 5.5 miles away. The trail leaves
the cliff area that it has been following and goes down several boulder and talus areas until it reaches Nankoweap Creek and then the
Colorado River.
As I was looking at all this canyon and the trail I decided to call it quits. I thought that if I rested I could have made it to the river in a few
hours but then of course the next day I would have to hike back out which would be far tougher than my experience of today. I didn’t think I
could do that safely and frankly I no longer had the mental will to do it. I decided to turn around.
My exit plan was to hike back to Marion Point, camp that night and then hike back to my car the next day. Of course the smart thing to do
would be to rest at Tilted Mesa but there was no shade and the ants were trying to get my bagel and I just wanted to go and therefore go I
did. It was three miles back to Marion Point. The sun was high in the sky and it was probably close to 85. Again the trail goes up and down
along the cliff face but now in more of a general upward direction. It took about two hours to get back to Point Marion.
I didn’t actually collapse at Point Marion but I did shed that pack as quickly as I could. After some water and food I laid out my tent ground
cloth and lay down and rested in some shade. That felt good and I almost fell asleep as I was watching the clouds. I started thinking the
clouds looked like various shapes. I don’t if that meant I was delirious or suddenly poetic.
I had read another hiking report where the author and his wife had camped here and then hiked out the next morning to the same location
where my car was in three hours. As I laid there and started feeling a little better I began thinking, “Just get off your butt and finish this,
now.” I wavered between setting up the tent and staying the night and hiking out several times. Once I even unlashed the tent from the
pack but I finally gave myself a deadline. If I felt better by 3:15 PM I would hike out. That would leave me enough time to finish the hike with
about an hour or so cushion of daylight.
Well, you guessed it. I decided to go for it. I went slowly (for me) and took it easy and I didn’t feel ill again. It was hard hiking out of the
canyon with the last ¼ mile, particularly so. See my photos for the hike with a self portrait of my condition as I reached the Nankoweap
trailhead.
I made it back to the car right around 6:20 PM. I had hiked 17.4 miles and several thousand feet of elevation gain and loss. I have hiked
many difficult day hikes before including four rim to rims at the Grand Canyon, Mt. Whitney and Mt. Charleston in Las Vegas but this was
the most difficult of all of them. The heat was the big problem. Even on the rim to rim Grand Canyon hikes there is shade for a good portion
of the hike. Here there was virtually none and I don’t know how you train for that.
If I do this hike again, and I will have to let the pain subside a bit before I decide whether that will happen again this is what I would do
differently:
*Hike with at least one suitably conditioned partner. Two or more would be even better.
*Be at the Nankoweap trailhead at first light. You would have to camp there the night before.
*Keep your pack weight as low as possible. Having several hikers would enable you to distribute some of
the weight.
*Plan on at least two nights for the hike.
*Hike later in the fall. Perhaps October or November.
Here's a link to my video observations on the hike while I was still on the trail.
But I just don’t know. I love the Grand Canyon but this hike is more of an achievement rather that the jaw dropping beauty of the rest of the
Grand Canyon that I have visited. I may just forgo the achievement of this hike and concentrate more of the beauty of other hikes.
Such as Half Dome in Yosemite National Park on my birthday, Thursday, July 16, 2009!
P.S. And the funniest part of this whole day? I hiked 17.4 miles down into the Grand Canyon and out with about 50 pounds on my back and
never used most of the gear!
Grand Canyon North Rim
May 15, 2009
Photos, we have photos!
I prepared extensively for this hike physically and also did my normal research into the route and conditions of the hike. Time and time
again, I read that the hike was considered the hardest of the maintained trails in the Grand Canyon. That says a lot, but I still felt that my
experience and preparedness would enable me to successfully complete the hike.
Originally, I had two friends who were to be my partners on this hike. However, for various reasons they were unable to accompany me.
They will remain nameless (Dave Nixon, Dave Vaughn).
Still I was excited about the hike and another visit to my favorite place on the planet (so far), the Grand Canyon.
I drove directly up to the Grand Canyon North Rim area after arriving in Las Vegas in the morning. I was staying at Jacob Lake Lodge which
is about 50 miles or so from the North Rim part of the park itself. The North Rim was closed when I arrived (May 14th) but opened up the
next day. The road to the developed part of the North Rim is closed every winter from about October 15th to May 15th as the Park Service
doesn’t try to clear the snow which can be significant.
I had reservations for a one bed cabin ($84). This fit the bill for a place to stay the night before that had my three prerequisites. Those are:
*as close to the trailhead as possible
*a bed
*a shower
The people at the lodge were mostly young people working there for the summer and were very friendly. I talked for a time with a server at
the café, Zachary. He was working at the lodge for the second summer along with his sister. They were from Logan, Utah which he told me
is located right across the border from the place in Idaho where they filmed Napoleon Dynamite. He seemed to be pretty proud of that bit of
cinema history.
The only negative about my stay there was that there must have been launching season for moths and their main base most have been in
my little cabin. When I arrived I noticed several at the window. Trying to be green I collected them up and released them back to nature.
However, after a few minutes there were more and the pattern repeated. In the end, after I spent an hour or so putting my gear together for
the next day I just gave up, shut off the light and went to bed. With the light off the moths stopped their buzzing around the lights and
apparently went to bed also.
I awoke as planned at 3:45 AM and was on the road around 4:15 AM. I always try to start each hike as close to daybreak as possible. In
some cases it is possible to start even in the dark with a headlamp if the trail is well developed. I didn’t want to attempt this on this trail. The
night before I had driven from the lodge to the dirt road that eventually led to the trailhead. The dirt road to the trailhead is about 20 miles
from the lodge and passes a very beautiful formation called the Vermilion Cliffs. The dirt road itself is 28 miles from the paved highway. All
in all it took me about an hour and 45 minutes to get to the trailhead at Buffalo Ranch Road.
I started the actual hike at 6:08 AM.The first thing I noticed was the weight of the pack. I am a day hiker and this was my second attempt at
backpacking. I tried to get the weight down as much as possible and not counting water and food everything weighed about 35 lbs which is
reasonable. However, the water and food but especially the water added at least 10-15 lbs. to the pack weight which made for quite the
load. This amount of water (9 liters including 3 liters to cache on the trail) was necessary because there would be no water sources until I
reached the Colorado River after 14.5 miles
.
The trailhead for the Nankoweap Trail is in the middle of nowhere. This route to the trailhead is 3.5 miles with about 1,000 feet of elevation
gain. Most of the trail goes through a pinion pine and ponderosa pine forest and was quite pleasant. I would classify it as moderate but it
was much warmer than I was expecting and I was perspiring heavily as I hiked up. Maybe hauling the 50 lb. pack also had something to do
with my condition.
I reached the actual trailhead of the Nankoweap Trail about exactly two hours later which I felt was good time with the elevation gain. I felt
good and sat down overlooking the canyon to have a little snack, wipe my face off with a wet bandana and otherwise prepare for the real
part of the hike.
The trail initially descends sharply to a trail that then follows the cliff in an overall downward direction however with many, many, many ups
and downs. I would guess the heat at the time was about 75 degrees and as the sun got higher in the sky I was soon hiking in full sun.
I didn’t expect to run into many hikers on this remote trail and I didn’t. I met the two I did see about a mile into the canyon. They were two
friends from California who also were attempting their first conquest of Nankoweap. However, one of them had cut his heel at Tilted Mesa
and they didn’t want to hike the rest of the way to the river and then try to climb out of the canyon with his heel like that. They wisely turned
around. These were the only hikers I met on the trail.
I continued on to the first sort of landmark on the hike which is called Marion Point. This is about two miles into the Nankoweap hike and 5.5
miles from my starting point. This will come up later in my narration of the day’s events. There is a nice flat camping area here.
I continued on to the next big landmark which is the previously mentioned Tilted Mesa. This is another 3 miles down the trail which continues
along the cliff face. Around this time I started having doubts of the wisdom on a single hiker doing this trail. The trail for the most part is
only about a foot wide and in many areas is less than a foot print or side wide with significant exposure with drops of over 1,000 feet in some
areas. There was more than one area where a failure of one of my trekking poles would have meant that you would not have the pleasure
of reading my usual verbose accounting of this hike.
During this section of the hike I also started feeling the first pangs of heat/exertion nausea. I had been drinking water at regular intervals
and also eating during my short breaks but sometimes that isn’t enough. To avoid this you need to take frequent 15 minute breaks which
are not my hiking style. Oh, and also don’t hike in full sun with a 50 pound pack on the toughest trail in the Grand Canyon. For some
reason, sometimes I don’t think the laws of nature apply to me.
I arrived at Tilted Mesa and surveyed the area and my condition. I was feeling quite ill at the point but knew if I rested for an hour or so I
would probably feel better. This is the point that the trail begins to drop significantly down to the river about 5.5 miles away. The trail leaves
the cliff area that it has been following and goes down several boulder and talus areas until it reaches Nankoweap Creek and then the
Colorado River.
As I was looking at all this canyon and the trail I decided to call it quits. I thought that if I rested I could have made it to the river in a few
hours but then of course the next day I would have to hike back out which would be far tougher than my experience of today. I didn’t think I
could do that safely and frankly I no longer had the mental will to do it. I decided to turn around.
My exit plan was to hike back to Marion Point, camp that night and then hike back to my car the next day. Of course the smart thing to do
would be to rest at Tilted Mesa but there was no shade and the ants were trying to get my bagel and I just wanted to go and therefore go I
did. It was three miles back to Marion Point. The sun was high in the sky and it was probably close to 85. Again the trail goes up and down
along the cliff face but now in more of a general upward direction. It took about two hours to get back to Point Marion.
I didn’t actually collapse at Point Marion but I did shed that pack as quickly as I could. After some water and food I laid out my tent ground
cloth and lay down and rested in some shade. That felt good and I almost fell asleep as I was watching the clouds. I started thinking the
clouds looked like various shapes. I don’t if that meant I was delirious or suddenly poetic.
I had read another hiking report where the author and his wife had camped here and then hiked out the next morning to the same location
where my car was in three hours. As I laid there and started feeling a little better I began thinking, “Just get off your butt and finish this,
now.” I wavered between setting up the tent and staying the night and hiking out several times. Once I even unlashed the tent from the
pack but I finally gave myself a deadline. If I felt better by 3:15 PM I would hike out. That would leave me enough time to finish the hike with
about an hour or so cushion of daylight.
Well, you guessed it. I decided to go for it. I went slowly (for me) and took it easy and I didn’t feel ill again. It was hard hiking out of the
canyon with the last ¼ mile, particularly so. See my photos for the hike with a self portrait of my condition as I reached the Nankoweap
trailhead.
I made it back to the car right around 6:20 PM. I had hiked 17.4 miles and several thousand feet of elevation gain and loss. I have hiked
many difficult day hikes before including four rim to rims at the Grand Canyon, Mt. Whitney and Mt. Charleston in Las Vegas but this was
the most difficult of all of them. The heat was the big problem. Even on the rim to rim Grand Canyon hikes there is shade for a good portion
of the hike. Here there was virtually none and I don’t know how you train for that.
If I do this hike again, and I will have to let the pain subside a bit before I decide whether that will happen again this is what I would do
differently:
*Hike with at least one suitably conditioned partner. Two or more would be even better.
*Be at the Nankoweap trailhead at first light. You would have to camp there the night before.
*Keep your pack weight as low as possible. Having several hikers would enable you to distribute some of
the weight.
*Plan on at least two nights for the hike.
*Hike later in the fall. Perhaps October or November.
Here's a link to my video observations on the hike while I was still on the trail.
But I just don’t know. I love the Grand Canyon but this hike is more of an achievement rather that the jaw dropping beauty of the rest of the
Grand Canyon that I have visited. I may just forgo the achievement of this hike and concentrate more of the beauty of other hikes.
Such as Half Dome in Yosemite National Park on my birthday, Thursday, July 16, 2009!
P.S. And the funniest part of this whole day? I hiked 17.4 miles down into the Grand Canyon and out with about 50 pounds on my back and
never used most of the gear!
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