Harvey Butchart's Grand Canyon Hiking Logs
Early Protologs
My first visit to Phantom Canyon
[date unknown]
This was on the first day of a two day hiking club trip to Bright Angel
Campground. Three of us got away soon after lunch and went up the bed of
Phantom Creek. The two students (Taylor and Wilson) were real hustlers
and I was struggling to keep them in sight. When they came to the fall
in the Tapeats, they stood back and waited for me. One of them said It's
Your turn Dock. Show us how to go on. I backed up a few yards and
climbed the wall on the south side. They saw me find the grips, but
still neither of them offered to come up the same way. I went on to the
junction with Haunted Canyon and figured that it was time to turn back.
I met one of the boys who had succeeded in getting up the same wall, but
he turned back with me.
My first visit to Supai
[spring, 1946]
Jim Jackson was president of the hiking club at the college and they
went to Supai for their spring outing. I recall that we cooked as a
group. The mine shacks were still in place at the campground just north
of Havasu Falls. I can recall going up Carbonate Canyon and noting the
mine shaft there, but the most impressive thing I did on that trip was
to walk to the river and back. Right after the second World War, there
was no trail down to the river, at least for long stretches where the
way was overgrown with a dense tangle of wild grape vines. Jean Rowe had
told me about killing seven rattlesnakes on the way to the river so I
carried a big stick to defend myself. I wondered how I would ever see
the rattlers under the tangle of growth. There were places where I tried
going along the base of the cliff in order to pass the worst thickets,
and in this way I found a couple of mine shafts quite far downstream.
They were deep enough to require ventilating machinery.
Toward the river I got rather high on the slope to get away from the
vines and I slipped and came down with one hand on sharp limestone and
the other on a barrel cactus. I used my stick to help keep my balance
when I was crossing on the tops of the travertine dams in the creekbed.
It took a long day of struggle to go from our camp near Havasu Falls to
the Colorado river and back. This was a four day trip since at that time
qualified hikers were allowed to add Thursday and Friday to their
weekend for the club spring trip.
My first trip to Clear Creek
[sometime in 1948]
This must have been quite early, perhaps about Veterans Day, 1948. It
was an overnight hiking club trip to Bright Angel Campground. I got down
to the camp well before noon and I would have taken off for Clear Creek
soon thereafter, but one of the students wanted to go along. He held us
up until about 12:30 p.m. With darkness so early, we knew that we had to
shortcut down the steep shale to get a refill for the canteens and then
come back by the regular trail. On the way back wherever there was a bit
of downhill trail, I broke into a jog but still we got back to camp
after dark. The student was nearly lame the next day and had a bad time
while getting out.
Indian Gardens to Hermit's Rest loop hike
[perhaps February 21, 1949 to February 23, 1949]
I recall that Jean Rowe and I had 40 pound packs to carry down to Indian
Gardens where we camped overnight, in fact two nights. I had only a
bunch of old blankets for a bedroll which I carried over my shoulder
like a horseshoe in addition to a pack with the communal food. This was
the time that I left the party just before sunup and walked the Tonto
Trail over to Hermit Creek and then returned to Hermit Rest and got back
to Indian Gardens about 11:00 p.m. I had been given a three mile ride
along the West Rim Road, but it was something like a 26 mile day.
Supai
[May 14, 1949 to May 15, 1949]
This was a family trip taking our kids and Tommy Benson and Yvonne
Cogdill with us to see Supai. The children got horseback rides and
plenty of swimming. We did the usual climb down to the bottom of Mooney
Falls and probably scrambled at least part way up Ghost Canyon to the
west of the campgrounds.
I am rather sure I was at Supai with the hiking club again before I
began taking pictures of my trips, say for four days in 1948.
Roaring Springs and Ribbon Falls
[perhaps June 3 and 4, 1949]
We had a family trip to the North Rim and Bryce and Zion. I walked down
to Phantom Ranch from the North Rim and got back the same day even
though I took the short detour to see Ribbon Falls and almost an hour
for the inspection of Roaring Springs. I climbed up into the mouth of
the cave and found an old pair of rubber boots that had been left there.
On this trip, we scrambled down through most of the Kaibab on the
Transept side of the campground to look at a small Indian ruin that we
had been told was there. There were signs that they had pumped water up
to the rim from a small spring down there.
Grandview Trail
[perhaps sometime in 1949]
On a day trip with the Pullens down the Grandview Trail, we went around
to the west side of Cottonwood Canyon and Jean Rowe and I tried going
down the creekbed below the Tapeats. We didn't get very far because of
the lack of time. I recall that I wondered how we would get out of there
if the Grandview Trail should give way where it was held up by logs.
Old Bright Angel Canyon Trail
[sometime in the 1950's]
I was camping at the North Rim sometime in the fifties when I decided to
see the Old Bright Angel Canyon Trail that was replaced by the
constructed trail down Roaring Springs Canyon. I didn't have my own map
and I recall that I studied the map under glass at the North Rim Lodge.
The next morning I went down the North Kaibab Trail to Bright Angel
Creek and up the trace of a trail along the far side of the creek. I was
able to tell where to cross the creek and go up through the Redwall.
Some telephone line was lying around which helped. I got along the top
of the Redwall over to Trough Spring, but then I lost the trail in the
Scrub Oak. Rather than beat my way up the brushy slope, I backtracked
and went up the Kaibab Trail. After more map study, I went out the next
morning and followed the road that crosses a meadow away from the Point
Imperial and Cape Royal Highway. When I got to the rim across from where
the trail comes up, I could see the switchbacks in the brush below. I
walked around and went down the trail, most of which was still in
evidence to Trough Spring and then came back out the same way.
Down the Old Hance Trail to Sockdolager Rapids
[sometime in 1952]
Where do we go from here? That was the thought occurring to the three of
us: Marvin Hole, Boyd Moore, and I. We were in Hance Canyon, a side
canyon leading down to the Colorado River between Grandview Point and
Moran Point. We had been told that you couldn=t get down this creekbed
to the river by two experienced canyon hikers who were professional
geologists. And yet we were almost sure that this must be the route
referred to as the Old Trail. Mr. Edwin E. McKee, the geologists and
former Chief Naturalist at Grand Canyon National Park, had written that
the Old Trail, although completely obliterated, had been located a few m
iles west of the Red Canyon Trail, which is still shown on the official
map. We were in the only deep side canyon between Grandview and Red
Canyons below Moran Point.
We also knew from reading G. W. James, that ropes and rope ladders were
used near the river in the granite. We could see why. Before us the
little stream dropped over a ten-foot fall and just beyond that we could
see a still deeper drop. The sides of the narrow bed were verticaland
well polished. We didn=t intend to use ropes, and we hated to give up.
Upstream a few yards, ther seemed to be a chance to climb out of the bed
to the east. When you are approaching the crest of the ridge, there is a
tense moment. Will the other side give a route for descent, or will it
be vertical? This one was all right and we were soon down to the bottom
of the wash below this series of falls. It would be awkward if we were
to miss this route on our return, so we left a marker, a dead stalk from
a century plant.
After only five minutes of easy walking, we came to another barrier
fall. This time we thought the route lay to the left or west. After an
attempt to scale the cliffs here, we gave it up as being too dangerous
in the rotten rock. Only 50 yards farther upstream, we found an easy
climb up and over this ridge. It was farther down to the bottom this
time, but the walking was over nothing worse than a talus slope. It
seemed only a short time until we were stuck again. We knew by now that
we must be rather near the river, and it would be most annoying to have
to give up at this point. The only possiblity seemed to be to the east,
and it was steeper here than it had been before where we had succeeded.
The climb wasn=t very long, but the other side seemed still harder to
descend. I went ahead past another ridge and saw that the descent there
was out of the question. One of the boys started down where we had
topped the first crest and soon reported success in getting to the
bottom. Right at the river, we easily saw that we had to make a very
slight detour to the west again.
Success and vindication! We recognized the view up the Colorado as the
scene given in an old book above the caption, AAt the foot of the Old
Trail.@ We were in the heart of the Granite Gorge although the beginning
of the granite was less than two miles upriver. The river seems very
narrow here, although we found that it takes a good arm to throw a rock
clear against the cliff on the other side. We were at the beginning of
Sockdolager Rapids which made such an impression on the two Powell
parties. Here there was no question of walking along a boulder strewn
beach even at low water. When we first saw the mouth of Hance Creek, it
was near the end of May and the high water was racing by. The estimates
of waves as high as the boat was long, seems like something the badly
frightened party had imagined, but the four or five foot waves we noted
had a way of popping up across the entire river and continued as far
downstream as we could see. Anyone who fell into that water would go a
long way whether alive or dead.
The high water had backed up into the south of the creek and this lagoon
was quiet, a most pleasing contrast to the torrent a few feet farther
out. The day was warm and we followed the example of the travelers who
had been here more than a half century earlier. The comments in the
Hance Ranch guest book often mentioned a swim in the Colorado. We were
able to swim up to a platform in the granite below the last fall which
was inaccessible except from this approach.
Echo Cliffs and Navaho Bridge
[May 8, 1952]
This was a hiking club trip to Zion and Bryce but I have pictures only
of the Echo Cliffs and Navaho Bridge. I recall that we stopped there
long enough to drop big rocks from the middle of the bridge and were
impressed by the noise they made when they hit the water. The
reverberation in the canyon was almost like a cannon. I walked west
along the north rim of Marble Canyon to get a better picture of the bridge.
First Trip to Thunder River
[July 4, 1952 to July 6, 1952]
This was my first trip to Thunder River, the one with Henry Hall. I
followed the east rim of the lower gorge of Tapeats Creek to the
overlook down the river, but I didn't get down to the mouth of the creek
on this trip. I saw how it could be done using the scree slope on the
west side. Henry had a hard time on this trip and took something like 12
hours to get from the car to the creek. We must have started out very
early because I don't recall that we separated. I believe I went ahead
on the first day and got down to the river and back while Henry was
continuing down to the campsite. We had a little rain on our way out and
this relieved the water situation since it put fresh water in rainpools.
South Kaibab and Bright Angel Trails
[December 27, 1952]
This must have been a one day trip down the South Kaibab Trail and up
the Bright Angel Trail.
Grandview Trail to New Hance Trail loop hike
[January 22, 1953 to January 23, 1953]
This was going to be a one day trip down the Grandview Trail, along the
Tonto to Hance Rapids, and up the New Hance Trail. When Robert Gardner
couldn't make it in one day and he and Boyd stayed by a fire at Hance
Rapids overnight, I went home and carried food back the next day. I met
Gardner on the Bright Angel Shale of the Hance Trail and then went
around and met Boyd coming up the Grandview Trail Sunday evening. I had
no map and missed the proper way to come up the Redwall in Red Canyon by
very little. I was on the trail until I was supposed to follow a shelf
around the corner and walk up the trail to the top. Instead I scrambled
up a crack to the top on the north side of the promontory. The last
light of the winter day showed me where I should try to go up the
Coconino and then I lost the trail in the dark when I had a few ledges
above me in the Kaibab Limestone. I scrambled from ledge to ledge and
got out about 8:15 p.m. Then I had to walk the rim road to pick up the
car at Grandview Point. I was driving toward the village when a ranger
car came east with three college girls to look for me. After I took the
students to the campus, I tried to sleep about three hours before
getting started back to help Gardner and Moore. We were home to
Flagstaff about 11:00 p.m. on Sunday.
Phantom Creek and Haunted Canyon
[May 23, 1953 to May 27, 1953]
A four day trip with Boyd Moore. We went down the Hermit Trail and
probably camped at Monument Creek. I believe we had time the first day
to go to the mouth of Monument and back. The second day we walked to the
Bright Angel Trail and went to the river and over to Phantom Ranch. We
still had time to walk up Phantom Creek and camp above the fall in the
Tapeats. On the next day we walked up Haunted Canyon and inspected the
shallow cave above the spring. I recall that we went up to the Redwall
at the head of Haunted Canyon and I climbed a lot higher on the wall
than Boyd wanted to. Still I couldn't bring myself to take the chance of
getting spread-eagled helplessly reaching for tiny handholds and make it
out on top as I think a very good climber might have. On the fourth day
Boyd and I walked out the South Kaibab Trail and over to our car. I
can't recall having to walk all the way to Hermit Rest, so I suppose
Roma took us to the take-off point while we left one car at the South
Kaibab Trail head. One point of interest was that we found a name and
date in pencil in the cave above the spring in Haunted Canyon. I recall
that the date was 1926. Later Euler found split twig figurines in this
cave after Peck had missed them.
South Kaibab Trail and Bright Angel Trail loop hike
[July 20, 1953]
A one day trip with Jim and Linda Burdette down the South Kaibab Trail
and up the Bright Angel Trail.
Hance Rapids
[January 23, 1954]
A one day trip to Hance Rapids and back.
Clear Creek
[February 21, 1954 to February 24, 1954]
This was the time Boyd and I went down and slept at Bright Angel
Campground. Then when we were high above Bright Angel Creek on our way
to Clear Creek the next morning, I remembered that I had not let the
water out of the radiator of the 34 car. It had a slow leak already and
I was carrying five gallons of water in the back seat to fill the
radiator before returning to Flagstaff. I put down my pack and took my
canteen and a lunch and hiked back down to Phantom Ranch and then up the
South Kaibab Trail. After starting the water to drain about noon, I
turned around and hiked over to Clear Creek. On that day Boyd had tried
to go down the bed of Clear Creek to the river, but when he saw that he
would have to trust his shoe soles to get back past the little
waterfall, he gave up that idea. On the third day we hiked out. When I
was coming up the South Kaibab Trail with only my canteen and a lunch, I
did the walk from the campground to the rim in 170 minutes. This was my
fastest time ever. In 1957 I made my fastest time carrying a pack. It
only weighed about 19 pounds and I made the trip in 188 minutes from the
campground to the head of the South Kaibab Trail.
Hermit Trail to Granite Rapids
[August 1, 1954 to August 2, 1954]
Ellery Gibson and I went down the Hermit Trail and to the river at
Monument Creek. At that time the Purtyman river running gear was cached
there. Later they got mules to the place and took out all but two heavy
rubber boats. Georgie White came along later and with Elmer's
permission, she tied them with their bottoms exposed and set them loose
in the river. They were found several months later among the driftwood
of upper Lake Mead. I experimented above Granite Falls with air mattress
navigation and found it quite handy. I could cross to the far wall and
get back with no tendency to be swept into the rapid. We then walked
over and camped by Hermit Creek. The next morning Ellery and I went down
to see Hermit Rapid. Then he walked back to the rim while I paddled down
to Boucher Creek on my mattress and then walked up the Boucher Trail. I
got there about a half hour behind Ellery.
Floating the Colorado River through Sockdolager and Grapevine Rapids
[sometime in September, 1954]
This very memorable trip occurred just after college began. I met a
young GI teacher in the training school, Ben Surwill, who liked my idea
of using an air mattress on the Colorado River. He went with me down the
New Hance Trail and we took to the water below Hance Rapids. The most
noteworthy sighting was a bighorn ram in the Supai ravine of Red Canyon.
It was large but old and not quick and it lay down as soon as it was out
of sight the first time, at very close range of about 15 feet. We caught
up with it two more times until it went down the Redwall break to the
bottom of the gorge about a quarter mile from its head in the Redwall.
Ben and I tried to walk past the rapids, but at Sockdolager and
Grapevine Rapids, we got by only about a third of each on the right
side. We rode the waves in good style with the mattress extended
crosswise like waterwings. Ben went over one rock where the water seemed
to fall several feet at a steep angle on the downhill side. I had gone
to the rocks on the left to try to crawl past this pace, but he hailed
me just as he went over. I would guess that the water over the rock was
only three feet deep, but he went over it without scraping or getting
flustered. He had to pull over in an eddy and wait for me to catch up.
We got to the Kaibab Bridge after 6:30 p.m. and ate our supper before
starting up the Kaibab Trail. Ellery Gibson had come down to the bridge
to see us arrive about 6:00 p.m. and at 6:30 p.m. he went back to the
rim and told our wives that we wouldn't be along that night. Ben had
been good in the water, but he was slow on the trail, six and a half
hours to the rim. Roma had taken Ellery's advice and finally drove home,
but Mrs. Surwill came up to get us about 2:00 a.m.
Floating the Colorado River from Tanner Rapids to Hance Rapids
[sometime in September, 1954]
About two weeks later, I undertook to paddle my air mattress from Tanner
to Hance Rapids. A freshman from Winslow, Arizona (I believe his name
was Hanson ) convinced me that he would be good at that sort of thing
including the walk to the rim. Dale Slocum, who had gotten me quite a
bit of publicity for my previous trip by air mattress through Grapevine
and Sockdolager Rapids, and his friend, Young Veazy, wanted to go too.
In fact Dale furnished the transportation up to Lipan Point where we
slept by the car to get an early start. This was my first trip down the
Tanner Trail and I lost it below the Redwall. I believe we walked the
bed part of the way and then paralleled the trail but below it in the
Tapeats. The freshman and I got to the bed below the Tapeats and then
had to wait for the other two. When we did take off in the river, Veazy
soon became quite ill and threw up. I asked Dale to take him back up the
Tanner Trail while the boy and I went ahead with the project. My
companion was fine in the water, but when we started up the Hance Trail
I found that he was even worse than Ben had been. We took about eight
hours to get to the rim and arrived long after dark. The boy was so
sleepy that he took the two air mattresses for warmth and lay down in
the gutter beside the highway. I spent the rest of the night trying to
keep warm. After finding that the men's room was too cold and the floor
of a generator room too greasy, I finally fell asleep for a short time
when the sun hit Lipan Point. I couldn't get my sleeping bag because
Dale had locked his car. Dale Slocum and Young Veazy hadn't arrived even
by morning light, and I wanted to take food and water down to them. A
ranger loaned me a canteen but no food. I waited until a car came from
Flagstaff with food before walking down to meet them. They had found a
cache of canned food but they hadn't had a refill for their canteens
since about 4:00 p.m. the day before. They had botched the trip by
starting up too far west of the trail and then going back to the river
to stat again. When Veazy and Slocum finally came to the rim shortly
before noon, Slocum was having a harder time keeping any sort of pace
than Veazy.
Grandview Trail to Hance Canyon
[sometime in November, 1954]
This must have been the Thanksgiving trip with Boyd Moore and Marvin
Hole. We went to Hance Canyon from Grandview Point and tried to get to
the head of Sockdolager Rapids, but we turned back without quite enough
time. Then we got on the Tonto without using the burro shortcut from the
Archean of the bed and walked around Horseshoe Mesa and slept the second
night at Boulder Canyon. The next night we slept on the sand below the
River Trail and came out the Bright Angel Trail the last day.
New Hance Trail to Old Hance Trail loop hike
[December 21, 1954 to December 23, 1954]
For the first night I slept at Hance Rapid and then went over to Hance
Canyon via the Tonto Trail and the shortcut in from the east. I looked
for a way to get down into Mineral Canyon without success. Later on
students told me that they could do this with an approach from the west.
At the end of the second day I was trying to find the right bypasses to
get around the falls in the lower bed of Hance Canyon, but I didn't
allow enough time to complete this project. I wanted to be sure that I
could go up the Old Hance Trail and have time enough to retreat and go
out the Grandview Trail if necessary. The old trail was all right.
Navaho Bridge Sheep Trail
[May 1, 1955]
This one day might count as experience in the Grand Canyon. We walked
down the sheep trail a half mile upriver from the Navaho Bridge on our
way to Bryce Canyon.
Point Imperial to Tanner Trail
[May 24, 1955 to May 27, 1955]
This was the trip when Boyd was drowned. We came down from Point
Imperial to the Saddle and then lost the trail. We spent a dry night on
the Hermit below the east end of Saddle Mountain and then got down a
break in the top Supai to the trail leading to Tilted Mesa. Our break
faced Little Nankoweap and was not what I used by myself on another
occasion. After a late breakfast at Nankoweap Creek, we walked up and
inspected Kolb Bridge and I measured it with a string. That second
night, and Boyd's last, we slept by Nankoweap Creek, and then went down
to the Colorado river through lower Nankoweap Creek. We walked the right
bank of the Colorado River to within about a mile from the mouth Little
Colorado River and then tried to get across the flooded river. As I have
detailed these events elsewhere, Boyd drowned and I slept that night
near Palisades Creek and struggled out the Tanner Trail the next day.
Clear Creek
[sometime in November, 1955]
This must have been a two day trip to Clear Creek because I have
pictures of Cheyava Falls to show for it. I believe Allyn Cureton and
Don Finicum came to college in the fall of 1956, so I wasn't with them.
Tanner Trail and Hopi Salt Mine
[April 3, 1956 to April 4, 1956]
This was a two day trip to the mouth of the Little Colorado River. I got
down the Tanner Trail and went to the mouth of Palisades Creek in good
time. Then I had to decide whether to walk above the bluff for the rest
of the way or to stay closer to the river. I had no advance information
to help me so I stayed close to the river. When I got to the ladder
against the wall and the salt deposits, I came to where the wall came
straight into the water and further progress was impossible unless one
were to climb the ladder. It was obviously not safe so I retreated to
Palisades Creek and spent the night. Early the next morning I went up
the bluff and found the Beamer Trail marked with a few cairns but with
very little recognizable trail. I took a few pictures of the mouth of
the Little Colorado River and then turned back. I was able to pick up my
pack at Palisades Creek and still walk out to the rim on the Tanner
Trail that same day.
Old Hance Trail to Sockdolager Rapids then out the Grandview Trail
[May 25, 1956 to May 26, 1956]
This was the time that I took Jack Morrow down the Old Hance Trail and
we succeeded in getting to the head of Sockdolager Rapids by means of
the three bypasses, first to the right, then the left, and then again to
the right. We didn't encounter any chockstone near the river as it is
now. We went back out the Grandview Trail.
Little Colorado River
[May 28, 1956 to May 30, 1956]
This was the trip when I expected to go to the Hopi Salt Mine which
would be opposite the mouth of Kwagunt Creek, according to Dock. Then as
I was approaching the Little Colorado River, I convinced myself that he
had to be wrong, and I went up Salt Trail Canyon far enough to get a
view of the Echo Cliffs. I slept at the mouth of the Little Colorado two
nights and saw the Beamer Cabin, but I didn't go off the Beamer Trail
and locate the descent to the Hopi Salt Mine. I think I noticed the big
cairn on the point just north of the descent.
Deer Creek Falls
[June 4, 1956 to June 6, 1956]
This was a visit to Tapeats Creek and Deer Creek Falls. I must have been
by myself. I was able to see the clear water of Deer Creek falling into
the muddy Colorado, but the river was not as high as it was in Reilly's
photo. I slept along Tapeats Creek and went over to Deer Creek and back
without my pack.
South Bass Trail
[October 20, 1956 to October 21, 1956]
This was my solo trip down the South Bass Trail and across the river on
my air mattress. I got as far as the bank of Shinumo Creek without going
as far as Shinumo Gardens to see the old campsite. I slept on a pocket
of sand near the Ross Wheeler.
South Bass Trail and Copper Canyon
[November 10, 1956 to November 12, 1956]
This was a trip with Don and Allyn. We left our packs near the old Ross
Wheeler and hiked west on the Tonto Plateau. Without knowing about the
descent to the mine in Copper Canyon, we walked the Tonto until we could
look across to Hakatai Canyon. On the way back we saw the mine and went
down to it. Then we followed the trail going up behind it and out toward
the river beneath the Tapeats. We saw a mine across on the west wall of
Copper Canyon, but we continued east near the base of the Tapeats
without finding a trail all the way. We got down to the river a little
upstream from the mouth of Shinumo Creek and then made our way back to
our packs. We hiked out the following day.
South Bass Trail and Elves Chasm
[December 29, 1956 to December 31, 1956]
Allyn Cureton and I went down the South Bass Trail and along the Tonto
to the west. This time we found the trail off the Tonto to the mine in
Copper Canyon and then we climbed out the other side. We put down our
packs between Garnet Canyon and Elves Chasm and then hurried in the
fading light to see Elves Chasm and back to our packs. The following day
we walked up to the rim and spent a fairly comfortable night next to the
barn at Pasture Wash Ranger Station. We spent more time down here than I
had remembered. This was the time when we had Roma drive our car home
from the head of the South Bass Trail. We intended to walk the Tonto
Trail back to Hermit Rest, but I got worried about reaching water and we
decided to go to the rim and walk the park boundary road. We spent a
fairly comfortable night by a fire next to the barn at Pasture Wash
Ranger Station and then we walked most of the way along the park
boundary before a ranger named Iverson picked us up and took us to our
car at Hermit Rest.
Cremation Canyon
[February 16, 1957]
This was a one day trip to see the split twig figurine cave in Cremation
Canyon. I believe this was the time that I visited the seep spring high
in the Bright Angel Shale on the east side of Cremation Canyon.
Clear Creek
[March 2, 1957 to March 3, 1957]
This was a trip over to Clear Creek to see the split twig figurine cave.
Allyn Cureton was with me. This may have been the time that he and I
walked up to see Cheyava Falls and then back to our packs. We still had
time to walk clear out that same day.
Sockdolager Rapids
[March 9, 1957]
Ellery Gibson, Don Finicum, Allyn, and I went down to the foot of
Sockdolager Rapids and back in one day. We used the trail off the west
fork of Horseshoe Mesa. Allyn went down a harder way from below the
Tapeats than I used, and he went up through the Redwall east of the
trail in the hollow of the horseshoe.
Old Hance Trail
[March 16, 1957]
This was a trip down the Old Hance Trail and up the Grandview Trail with
the variation that we went along the east side of Grandview Point on the
trail that used to come off the rim back near where the hotel once
stood. I believe that Allyn Cureton and I went out along the east base
of Sinking Ship and then made our way down to the Redwall to intercept
the Old Trail down there.
Old Hance Trail
[March 31, 1957]
Allyn and I went down the Old Hance Trail and took time out to climb
into the big cave in the Redwall, Tse An Bide. Then we went down Hance
Creek and did the three bypasses, but didn't have the bother of the
chockstone near the river. We came back to the spur trail through the
Tapeats on the west side of Hance Canyon and used the Grandview Trail to
get out.
The Colorado River at Mile 79.9
[April 13, 1957]
This was the trip with Sharon and Elaine Crowder when I got to the river
by a difficult route at Mile 79.9. In 1974 one boy made it down here but
his companion fell to his death trying to reach water. I didn't have a
very big canteen in those days and I was also pressed for water, or I
might not have persisted in getting to the river. It was questionable
right to the end.
My first hike down the Boucher Trail
[April 18, 1957 to April 21, 1957]
This was my spring vacation hike from Hermit Rest down the Boucher Trail
and along the Tonto to come out the Bass Trail. It was my first time
down the Boucher Trail and Dan Davis had given it a bad name. He said he
had needed 11 hours to get down it, but I got down in five hours and 10
minutes including the time it took me to eat lunch under an overhang out
of the rain. I looked around at the area including a visit to the river
the first day. On the second day, I walked the Tonto Trail rather
steadily without many detours except to look down on the Colorado River.
I camped at Ruby Canyon after quite a long day of hiking. On the third
day I reached the Bass Trail before noon and proceeded up to the rim. I
believe I was able to get a refill for my canteen on the Esplanade and
then I went on to Pasture Wash Ranger Station in the afternoon. The day
was very windy and cold for April. I knew I would be cold sleeping out
and it was too windy to think about keeping a fire going. I checked the
back window of the ranger cabin and found that I could get in without
breaking anything. I had a comfortable night on the floor inside and
walked back to Hermit Rest on the fourth day.
Phantom Creek and Haunted Canyon
[May 4, 1957 to May 5, 1957]
This trip was at the height of the spring runoff from the North Rim and
Allyn Cureton and I had some difficulty in crossing Bright Angel Creek.
We went up the bed and had some assistance from a cable and a ladder
that the engineers had installed when they were studying the idea of
using the water from Haunted Canyon Spring to supplement Indian Garden
water at the South Rim. They rejected this supply as not being enough
and later removed the ladder at the Tapeats Fall. Allyn and I slept near
where a couple of sleeping bags were left in a garbage bag near the
junction of Haunted Canyon and Phantom Creek. Lynn Coffin had told us to
notice whether these supplies were still all right. As I now recall this
trip more clearly, Allyn and I slept farther up Phantom Canyon. We went
up the bed and saw a lot of water in a chute in the Bright Angel Shale.
We didn't go up the last slope of water covered shale and around a bend
into a sort of vertical tunnel or we would have seen a fine fall. This
was the time when I left Allyn at camp early in the morning and went
close to inspect the possible Redwall break in the Phantom Creek
headwall. I had told him that I would be back at 8:00 a.m. or I might
have gone up the Redwall at this time. We walked out that second day,
using the route past Cheops Pyramid and down to the campground.
Great Thumb Trail
[May 25, 1957 to May 28, 1957]
Allyn Cureton and I had the idea of walking the Esplanade from the Great
Thumb Trail around and down into Supai. We drove to the south rim with
the idea of going out to Topocoba Hilltop from there, but the word from
the rangers was that the road was muddy and dangerous, so we got into
the car and drove around to Hualapai Hilltop. We were able to reach
Topocoba Spring for camping although both of us were as tired as we have
ever been by then. On the following day we went up the trail and out on
Great Thumb Mesa around to the east side of 140 Mile Basin where we got
down the trail to the lower spring. I didn't know there was a more
reliable spring above at the base of the Coconino Sandstone. We pushed
on to a pool fed by a seep in Olo Canyon for camping. We could see that
the route was too slow to go on back to the car on the Esplanade to
Supai in two more days, and since I wanted to be at home for our son's
high school graduation, I elected to return much as we had come in. We
varied the return by going up a talus and then into a ravine between
Gatagama and Hamidrik Points. There was a place here that was hard and I
had to give Allyn my pack. We slept near the end of the better part of
the Jeep road and went down to the rain barrel at the end of the
Topocoba Road for water in the morning.
Rim to rim with car exchange
[June 1, 1957 to June 2, 1957]
This was the only time I crossed the canyon one way and then came home
in a different car. Henry Hall and I walked one way and met three men
who were friends of Henry walking the opposite way. We exchanged car
keys in the middle. The creek was still running high and we had just a
bit of trouble in fording it all right . They used to have makeshift
foot bridges and this seems to have been one of the times when the
bridges were out.
Climbing Shiva Temple
[June 5, 1957 to June 7, 1957]
Allyn and I wanted to climb Shiva Temple. We found the Tiyo Point Road
blocked by fallen trees and we couldn't get very close to the take off
point near the ridge that extends toward Shiva. We walked for about four
miles through the woods from a road junction marked by a piece of metal
nailed to a pine bearing the words Shiva Temp Exp. The west fork ended
in the woods not very close to the best place to leave the rim. I
conjectured that for some reason the 1937 Museum Party started from the
end of this fire road and this poor choice explains why they didn't get
any farther than the saddle below Shiva the first day. We got off the
rim where E. D. McKee had suggested and then we didn't know whether to
cross the ravine and proceed along the top of the promontory to get
through the Coconino in the canyon directly east of the Tiyo Point Road.
There was still some time so we experimented with getting through the
Coconino in the canyon directly east of the Tiyo Point Road. We got
through about two-thirds of the Coconino and then we were stopped. On
the following day we went to the right departure point and got through
the Coconino directly beneath it. After my study of the 1937 published
photos, we were able to pick the right ramp to go up Shiva, the first of
two reasonable looking places on the east side. Allyn helped me once by
going ahead and pulling out a dead agave from the best route, and we got
to the top in just over three hours from the time when we left the north
rim. We turned west from the work table near the top of the ascent and
crossed the mesa near its middle. Then we followed the rim east and
north until we came back to the access route. We passed two of the four
corners of Shiva where Emery said that he had erected cairns, but we
didn't see any rock piles. I wondered whether the Anthony party had
knocked them down. Allyn and I spent more than an hour on top and then
got back to the North Rim in just under three hours. We went up the
Coconino at the end of the promontory and found this a lot better.
Widforss Point and west
[July 4, 1957]
This was a one day hike along the rim to Widforss Point and west. Keith
Runcorn was doing some geological collecting along the North Kaibab Trail.
Dripping Springs and Mesa Eremita
[August 3, 1957]
This was a hike to Dripping Springs and up the Boucher Trail to look
around from the rim of Mesa Eremita. We walked south to a road and then
came back to Hermit Rest on the Hermit Trail.
My first visit to Powell Plateau and the North Bass Trail
[August 17, 1957 to August 19, 1957]
This was my first trip down the North Bass Trail. I spent the first day
getting out to Swamp Point and then walking out to Dutton Point on
Powell Plateau. On the second day I walked down to Shinumo Creek using
the trail as shown on the map and left my pack where I reached Shinumo
Creek. Then I had time to go down past the old Bass Camp and on
downstream to where I had been when I crossed the river from the south
side on my air mattress. On the return the next day I took the burro
route to shortcut the swing to the west in the shale.
Looking for the Point Atoko Route
[August 21, 1957 to August 22, 1957]
On these days I was scouting for a way down into Lava Creek. I walked a
lot of the rim the first day and figured I had a way through the Redwall
west of Hubbell and on the next day I found the Coconino Route west of
Point Atoko. I went down here and took a picture from below the Coconino.
Thunder River and above Tapeats Creek Source Cave
[August 27, 1957 to August 28, 1957]
Dale Hall and I went down from the rim between Monument and Crazy Jug
Points and slept near Thunder River. In the morning we went along the
slope above the inner gorge of Tapeats Creek over to the source cavern.
We must have come back and carried our packs out the same day. Dale
hitchhiked to Flagstaff while I drove on to Toroweap.
Toroweap and the Lava Rapids Trail
[August 29, 1957]
I spent a few hours at Toroweap. I talked to John Riffy and then went
down the Lava Trail in 70 minutes and came back up in 80. While down
there I went along the bank to get a good look at Vulcan Rapid. I recall
that there was some water in the lake north of Vulcan's Throne and I
walked from there to the rim.
Cottonwood Creek to the Colorado River
[September 14, 1957]
This was the day that we found a way to go down Cottonwood Creek and get
to the river by using the talus just upriver from the mouth of
Cottonwood Creek. We also entered Cottonwood through the Tapeats break
on the east side. Then we went rather high along the west side beneath
the Tapeats and came down to the bed just back from the river.
Lee's Ferry to Badger Rapids
[October 27, 1957]
We were waiting at Lee's Ferry to meet Gene Foster and I figured I had
time for a hike. I crossed the bridge to the south side of the river and
followed rather close to the rim until I could look down on Badger
Rapids. Then I went back to the south and got into the bed from the east
tributary. Upon reaching the river, I went upstream and crossed the
river on my air mattress. I had seen from the south side a place to go
up about two-thirds of the way to the top and then go west along a bench
to enter a ravine that brought me out on the plateau well to the east of
Badger Creek. Then I walked back to the car at the bridge parking lot.
Clear Creek
[November 9, 1957 to November 11, 1957]
This was the Veteran's Day trip to Clear Creek when Don Finicum and I
followed the arm that starts below the saddle separating The Howlands
from Angel's Gate. We didn't try to go through the pass but stayed on
the Tonto around the base of The Howlands. We got into the valley below
the Tapeats immediately to the east of Clear Creek and were able to get
down it close to the river. Finally, near the bottom we had to climb out
and go down a break slanting toward the mouth of Clear Creek. We
finished the loop by going up the bed to our packs near the foot of the
Clear Creek Trail (cf. Clear Creek Trip - November 9, 1957 later entry).
Big Saddle, Tapeats Cave, Deer Creek Falls, Chamberlain Canyon, and Kanab Canyon
[November 27, 1957 to December 1, 1957]
This was the Thanksgiving trip when Don, Allyn and I were dropped off
from my car at Big Saddle and came up to my car taken to the mine in
Hacks Canyon by the Finicum's. We slept the first night at the Tapeats
Cave after Don and Allyn explored it as far in as the main channel. The
next night we spent a cold and windy time on the beach a mile or so west
of Deer Creek Falls. The next day was warmer with a fire in front of me
while I slept at the base of a cliff in lower Kanab Creek. The following
day we wasted some time by trying to find a way out Chamberlain Canyon
because we didn't know what Hack Canyon looked like. We slept in the dry
bed of Kanab Canyon and got to the car at the mine about noon the next day.
Blue Springs Trail
[December 29, 1957 to December 30, 1957]
This was the time that I took a cold weather hike to look for the Blue
Springs Trail. I went along near the Palisades of the Desert and got the
view from the top of Comanche Point and then headed for the north side
of Gold Hill. I mistook the bay to the north of Blue Springs Bay for the
real one and I succeeded in getting down a ravine that slopes south on
the north side of the bay as far as the rim of the Redwall. There is no
way to continue here short of following the Redwall rim upstream to
where the Blue Springs Trail goes down. I had to break over an inch of
ice to get water for camping, but I slept surprisingly warm by getting
down to the Redwall and back. I walked back to the car at Desert View
and went home late at night.
Mouth of Horn Creek Rapids
[January 25, 1958; February, 25, 1958; and March 15, 1958]
These were one day trips down the Bright Angel Trail and over toward
Horn Creek. On the third trip, Allyn took me down his route to the mouth
of Horn Creek from the south.
New Hance Trail to Old Hance Trail loop hike
[March 30, 1958]
This was a one day trip down the New Hance Trail and up the Old Hance
Trail to identify pictures in the book of Stoddard's Lectures.
Asbestos Canyon
[April 4, 1958 to April 8, 1958]
This was the Asbestos Canyon trip starting across from Phantom Ranch.
Hermit Trail to Boucher Trail loop hike below the Tapeats
[April 19, 1958]
The one day trip down the Hermit Trail using the cutoff down the Redwall
to Hermit Camp south of Cathedral Stairs. I stayed below the Tapeats
from Hermit Rapid to Boucher Rapid in order to see how a river runner
could have done this along a beach trail. He couldn't! I went back up
the Boucher Trail in five hours and twenty minutes at the end of this
strenuous day. The boys with me went directly up the Hermit Trail from
the river and were waiting for me at the car. It took me three and a
half hours to go from Hermit to Boucher, slower than if I had gone back
and used the Tonto Trail.
Spur trail west of Cottonwood Creek to the Colorado River
[May 3, 1958]
This was the day that I finally got to the river on the spur trail west
of the mouth of Cottonwood Creek. I checked the old map right where the
trail had fallen away and went east below the Tapeats and then down to
the west.
Aerial tram across the Little Colorado River Gorge
[May 10, 1958]
This was the time that Alan Osbon took me across the Little Colorado
River Gorge via the aerial tram east of the viewpoint. We went down the
Sheep Trail and while we were there he cleaned out the automatic river
flow meter.
Cape Solitude, Blue Springs, and Tanner Trails
[May 26, 1958 to May 29, 1958]
This trip took me out to Cape Solitude, down the Blue Springs Trail, up
the Little Colorado River Gorge three miles, then down to the mouth of
the Little Colorado River, along the Beamer Trail with a detour down to
identify the Hopi Salt Source, and out the Tanner Trail.
Grand Scenic Divide, South Bass Trail, and Royal Arch Creek
[July 4, 1958 to July 6, 1958]
I went down the South Bass Trail and camped at the seep spring below the
Coconino around to the west. The next day I went down the east arm of
Royal Arch Creek and down the main bed as far as the spring, but I
didn't get far enough to find the natural bridge. On the first day I
went out to the end of Grand Scenic Divide and also climbed Mount
Huethawali.
Phantom Creek
[July 25, 1958 to July 26, 1958]
On this trip I went up Bright Angel Creek to where I could go up on the
Tonto and walk around into Phantom Creek. This time I went up to the
very end of Phantom Creek right below the usually dry fall. I also
climbed Cheops Plateau.
Butte Fault Trail
[August 22, 1958 to August 28, 1958]
I went down the Tanner Trail and across the river to go up Basalt Creek
over into the bed of Lava. Then I climbed through the Redwall just west
of Hubbell and walked around to the pass between Lava and Kwagunt. I
spotted Hartman Bridge and spend the following half-day going up to it
from below. Then I followed the Butte Fault to Kwagunt and Nankoweap and
went up Tilted Mesa returning to Kwagunt via the riverbank. For the
return trip after using the Butte Fault again, I crossed the river below
the mouth of Lava and went up the Tanner Trail.
Atoko Point Route to Nankoweap Trail loop hike
[September 20, 1958 to September 21, 1958]
This time I got out of the car near Point Atoko and went down through
the Coconino and around to the Lava-Kwagunt Saddle. I didn't know that I
could get down into Kwagunt here, but I did and slept in lower Kwagunt
below the spring. The next day I went over into Nankoweap via the Butte
Fault Trail and out to the river to inspect the cliff dwellings. Then I
tried to go up the Little Nankoweap Canyon and found that the main bed
is blocked by dry falls. I had to go back and out the Nankoweap Trail,
without a trace (at the time) of where the trail went. I climbed up
through a crack in the Supai and ate dinner on the Hermit level. Then I
had to walk in the dark to Point Imperial where Roma picked me up about
twelve hours after I was supposed to get there.
Unkar Creek
[October 18, 1958 to October 19, 1958]
This time I went down the Tanner Trail and up Unkar Creek above the
Tapeats Fall bypass. I visited the Lookout Ruin above Unkar.
Hopi Salt Source
[December 6, 1958 to December 7, 1958]
Allyn Cureton went with me to see the Hopi Salt Source. We left out
packs at Palisades Creek and followed the Beamer Trail to rappel down to
the salt source and walk back mostly in the dark beneath the bluff to
find our packs in the dark (cf. December 6, 1957 - Hopi Salt Spring
later entry).
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