Date:
15 Jun 2000
Time:
21:19:11
Remote User:
enjoyed your report
Date:
22 Jun 2000
Time:
17:41:21
Remote User:
Your web site and your experiences should be very helpful to those who are preparing for their first backpacking trip in the Grand Canyon and to experienced Canyoneers as well. You've done a lot of good work. I found your techniques worthwhile and proven, especially the thoughts on redundancy for critical items, but eliminating all those other excesses. We, too, need to work harder on lightening our load.
My wife and I have done three trips: May 98 - Four days doing the Hermits Rest - Hermit Creek - Monument Canyon - Indian Garden loop; Oct 98 - Seven days from Grandview - Cottonwood - Grapevine - Cremation - Bright Angel Campground - Indian Garden; Oct 99 - Five days from north rim to south rim with a side trip to east fork of Cremation.
The Oct 98 trip - a dry time of year - was the most challenging physically, having to lug and properly manage 5 gals of water from Grapevine for two fairly warm days of hydration and dry camps along the Tonto. Made it to the river with a little less than two liters; others we know of weren't so fortunate. For any first timer, water management, proper hydration and food intake are CRITICAL issues. If done well, the trip can be exilerating; if not, it can be a bummer.
Good luck with your site.
Joe
Date:
07 Jul 2000
Time:
00:36:28
Remote User:
enjoyed your site, the two of you have done a very nice job. Contumplating my first hike in Sept.
Date:
13 Jul 2000
Time:
10:48:40
Remote User:
I enjoyed the pictures of your hikes. You seem obsessed with the Tanner area :) Thanks for taking time out to make this great homepage, so the rest of us can enjoy it.
best wishes, Camilla (Denmark, Europe)
Date:
06 Aug 2000
Time:
11:28:57
Remote User:
Jim and Kathy, Thanks for sharing your Grand Canyon experiences. Your stories and photos are great and make your website one of the best I've found in the kaibab.org links. I live in Trumansburg,NY and am making my second journey into the Canyon in late August with my brother Gary who lives in Tempe,AZ. We are hiking a North to South rim to rim via the North Kaibab - Bright Angel trails with camping stops at Bright Angel and Indian Gardens. I love the Grand Canyon and the Southwest but also backpack regularly in the Adirondacks. Thanks again for the inspiration. Maybe someday our hiking paths will cross. Chris Martelli
Date:
15 Aug 2000
Time:
12:12:43
Remote User:
Thanks to Joe, Camilla, Chris and others who have left such supportive comments regarding our Website. Perhaps we will get the opportunity to meet you in person on one of our Canyon treks.
Jim and Kathy Lyons
Date:
03 Sep 2000
Time:
02:53:29
Remote User:
Hey Jimmy- How ya doin there boy:-)? GREAT SITE. Do I win a FREEZE DRIED BANANA or something for being your 1200th Visitor:-)? Give my LOVE to ALL Cuz. VINCENT JAMES AUGUSTINIUS HAMILTON(a.k.a.- The ALPHA-ALPHA-ALPHA SILVERBACK GORILLA- The ONE in 2 TRILLION:-).)
Date:
10 Sep 2000
Time:
15:49:23
Remote User:
Thanks for posting your trip reports.
Dave Marcus
Date:
17 Sep 2000
Time:
22:40:49
Remote User:
Glad to have join this organizaton. My husband & I are covering all the trails in the Grand Canyon. We have too learn how to cut our pack weight prior to our 1999 200 Miles John Muir Trek. We suggest Ray Jardine Pacific Crest Trail hikers handbook. It has been a great help for all backpacking.
Date:
17 Sep 2000
Time:
22:41:37
Remote User:
Glad to have join this organizaton. My husband & I are covering all the trails in the Grand Canyon. We have too learn how to cut our pack weight prior to our 1999 200 Miles John Muir Trek. We suggest Ray Jardine Pacific Crest Trail hikers handbook. It has been a great help for all backpacking. Catherine A. Crandall & George J Mortimer Tucson AZ
Date:
28 Sep 2000
Time:
10:15:37
Remote User:
Jim, Checking is to see what you have been doing the last few months. We were gald to see you are keeping the site up to date. Jim & Marge W
Date:
16 Oct 2000
Time:
06:38:07
Remote User:
poor and over rated
Date:
02 Nov 2000
Time:
20:16:06
Remote User:
I had a wonderful time looking at your trip report for New Hance -...- Grandview. I'm about to embark on a similar itinerary over Thanksgiving Break (5 days); it's been real helpful being able to actually conditions of the trail (other sites covering New Hance include harrowing descriptions of the trail and endless pictures of scenery from the trail, but none actually showing what's at their feet).
A more general comment - your occasional reports of elapsed time are helpful in determining if I've accurately assessed the terrain. I would greatly appreciate any water estimates and other details that might help the planning effort. I understand this might detract from the narrative so perhaps a summary blurb?
An excellent site; thanks for sharing it with us.
--Amy.
Date:
12 Nov 2000
Time:
11:29:49
Remote User:
Enjoyed your web site very much. Very informative. My husband and I are new at hiking and planning our second hike to Grand Canyon next fall. What do you like about the spring rather than the fall for GC hiking? Have you hiked a lot in the past. The Tanner, etc., trails you took, how much trail finding skills did you need? Also, we experienced very sore toes on our first trip into the canyon. I have read lots of solutions, what is yours? Again, thanks for an excellent coverage of your trips. The information will be most helpful to us.
Date:
13 Nov 2000
Time:
12:57:17
Remote User:
I would like to comment on the Nov 12 guest book entry. Also, anyone please feel free to email me, or leave your email address in the comment, if you would like me to respond to specific questions.
Kathy and I prefer spring (actually late April and early May) to hike the Canyon because the weather has been consistently good, and the Colorado mostly clear. We tried hiking in September, and the temperatures were brutally hot, the river was full of silt, and there were thunderstorms every afternoon (September is still the monsoon season in the Canyon).
Before the Canyon, we hiked for several years (and still do) in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Hiking the Canyon is like hiking Mt. Washington upside down. Before our first Canyon hike, we logged over 120 miles of mountain hiking that year to get into shape, and I feel that it helped a lot. These days, we do not prepare nearly as much, but adjust our speed and distance covered to compensate for our lack of conditioning. The Canyon is a mental challenge as much as a physical one.
For the most part, the trails and routes in the Canyon are easy to follow. Sometimes, you are presented with alternate paths, but they all get you to where you are going with varying degrees of difficulty. We tend to take the higher paths when offered a choice because the lower ones always seem to hug the edges of the cliffs. Basic topo map and compass ability is all that a person should need. There are lots of landmarks in the canyon to aid in locating position (i.e. Desert View tower, the distinctive buttes and the Colorado River).
I lost three toenails on my first 6 day trip into the Canyon. Last trip I got one very small blister in 9 days. For me, the secret is using light weight socks instead of the heavy treking weights I used at first. Sometimes, I use only Smartwool liners to give my toes more room in the boots. It is the brutal downhill sections at the very beginning of the hike that do your feet in. Kathy and I have both used Vasque Sundowner boots for all of our Canyon hikes. We also use Leki hiking poles, and I would not hike the Canyon without them.
The one thing I wished that I had known for my first hike was just how muddy the Colorado River can get, and how to deal with it. Bring a 2.5 gallon collapsible container, or better yet a 6 liter ziplock Platypus bag, to settle the silt out before trying to filter it. Otherwise, your pump filter will clog immediately, and you risk breaking your pump.
Thanks for the comments. Kathy and I are glad that we can share some useful information with other Canyon hikers. Again, feel free to email me at jim@rijim.com .
Jim Lyons