Grand Canyon Rim to Rim June 1-6 '08

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Don Nelsen
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Joined: May 28th, 2008, 10:03 pm
Location: Vancouver, WA

Re: Grand Canyon Rim to Rim June 1-6 '08

Post by Don Nelsen » June 18th, 2008, 3:59 pm

Hi David,

Wow! You have put together an excellent report and all your photos are truly remarkable! Thanks for your efforts.

Don
"Everything works in the planning stage" - Kelly

"If you don't do it this year, you will be one year older when you do" - Warren Miller

nyxlily
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Joined: May 28th, 2008, 10:03 pm

Re: Grand Canyon Rim to Rim June 1-6 '08

Post by nyxlily » June 18th, 2008, 4:41 pm

To echo everyone else: awesome report! Very stunning pictures! Very jealous right now :P

Thank you for posting; as I've always wanted to backpack Grand Canyon, your very detailed daily schedule has given me a great rough outline of one possible route, and that is SO helpful in planning a trip! Though I probably need more experience before I can (safely) tackle something like this.

Also, I'd probably have died in that heat. Kudos on all accounts!

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fettster
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Location: Hillsboro, OR

Re: Grand Canyon Rim to Rim June 1-6 '08

Post by fettster » June 18th, 2008, 8:47 pm

Thank you all for the very nice feedback! It was indeed an incredible trip to go on and with it being my first time there it made that much more of an impression on me.
nyxlily wrote:...your very detailed daily schedule has given me a great rough outline of one possible route, and that is SO helpful in planning a trip! Though I probably need more experience before I can (safely) tackle something like this.
The trip turned out to be over two years in the making. In 2006 we tried the fax method to apply for permits and under some funny circumstances mistakenly (oops!) thought we'd been granted them only to learn we had not. With respect to the backcountry permit system it definitely caters to those that can walk-in on the first of the month since these requests are handled ahead of the thousands of fax requests the park service receives, which don't start getting processed until the end of that first day of the month. My friend likes to call it Grand Canyon "State" Park because of this. A good backup plan to get your foot in the door is to make reservations 12-13(?) months for lodging at Phantom Ranch by the Colorado River. Then four months ahead of your travel month of interest apply for the campsite permits you want for the backpack. If that application doesn't work out you can still stay at Phantom Ranch. I know people also just walk in and see what permits are available based on late cancellations, though I don't know what the success rate is for that.

The heat was not as bad I feared it would be. The shade of the Cottonwoods, a solid breeze, dry desert air, and dunking our shirts and hats in the creek all made a big difference. It was still certainly smart to get an early start each day so that we could reach our next camp by 10-11 AM.

It also felt like we were in the minority going South to North. An advantage certainly for the other direction is less elevation going from the Colorado River up to the South Rim. As well Indian Garden campground offers a closer stopover point heading to the South Rim in comparison to Cottonwood campground heading to the North Rim.

Okay, I better stop rambling. I certainly recommend taking the effort to get down there sometime!

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