21 April 2024 Boucher Creek to Hermit’s Rest (9 miles, +4,700/-800 feet). Here’s what the National Park Service has to say about our route out of the canyon today: The Boucher Trail (pronounced Boo-shay) offers access to a charming and secluded part of the Grand Canyon, but the beauty has a price. The Boucher challenges…
Tag: UltraShuffle
Day 5: Slate Creek and the Colorado River
20 April 2024 Tonto Trail, Boucher Creek to Slate Creek to the Colorado River and back (13 miles, +1,800/-1,800 feet). This morning I woke up to find out that UltraShuffle had a party in his tent last night! In the early evening he was awoken by something that crawled over his face. It was a…
Day 4: Salt to Boucher
19 April 2024 Tonto Trail, Salt Creek to Boucher Creek (12 miles, +1,700/-2,300 feet). What a difference 13 hours in the tent makes! I felt so much better this morning. Last night it was so hot that I actually laid there without clothes for the first two hours. But it eventually cooled down and I…
Day 3: Cremation to Salt
18 April 2024 Tonto Trail, Cremation Creek to Salt Creek (14 miles, +1,900/-2,100 feet). Last night I looked at the map and realized that we were camped in a tributary of Cremation Creek, not the main Creek itself. This gave it a wild, jumbly, tumble-down character that was especially apparent in the morning light. Today…
Day 2: Grapevine to Cremation
17 April 2024 Tonto Trail, ridge between Cottonwood Creek and Grapevine Creek to Cremation Creek (15 miles, +1,100/-1,300 feet). I feel well rested this morning. But sleep was hard! It was so hot that I could not get comfortable with my sleeping bag. It was too hot to be in my bag but too chilly…
Day 1: Grandview to Grapevine
16 April 2024 South Kaibab Trailhead via FS 206 to Grandview Trailhead to ridge between Grapevine and Cottonwood Creek (18 miles, +1,200/-4,600 feet). I think this is my ninth visit to the Grand Canyon. And certainly not my last! The target this time was to do a large section on the Tonto Trail. This path…
Back to Horseshoe Meadow
27 July 2023 Cottonwood Lakes Trail (6 miles, +200/-1,200 feet). One last day in Paradise. We agreed to meet at the car at 3. And then UltraShuffle, Half Cookie, and I took one last tour of the meadows to the east of the Cottonwood Lakes. Meanwhile another crew was busy showing off. Back in San…
High Lake and South Fork Lakes
26 July 2023 Ramble from Cottonwood Lakes to High Lake (6 miles, +700/-700 feet). UltraShuffle was so taken with High Lake on our excursion to New Army Pass that he wanted to take the whole gang there. So today we mounted a group expedition. So High Lake was a lot colder. Like 33 degrees cold….
Muir Lake and Hidden Lake
25 July 2023 Ramble to Muir Lake and Hidden Lake (4 miles, +400/-400 feet). What a crazy night! The wind went non-stop until early morning. The predawn light had a very calm-after-the-storm vibe. Today I led some off country excursions to two lakes outside the main basin. The first was Muir Lake, which we approached…
The JimmyJam Hiking Club 