Horseshoe Mesa Redwall trifecta, new way to Hance but 0 for 2 to Sockdolager, and free gently-used gear.

Day 1 – Grandview Point to East Tonto

Descend icy Grandview Trail.  Dude ascending without crampons slip-sliding all over the place.  Lunch at H-Mesa miner’s cabin, cook pot in fireplace has been returned/replaced, it was missing last we were here 14 months ago.  Proceed to west arm trail, 3 mule deer cross path before us.  Descend to East Tonto Trail, dry camp below east arm H-Mesa at the bighorn outcropping.

Day 2 – Tonto camp to Hance Creek

Eastward on Tonto.  Descend Tapeats break shortcut to lower Hance Creek.  Day-hike downstream, negotiate 1^st waterfall bypass, turn back at 2^nd.  Return to standard Hance camp at big cottonwood.  Used TP in upper camp…gross.  Barely need sleeping bag.

Day 3 – Hance Creek to Horseshoe Mesa

2 ravens watch us pack up.  Ascend to H-Mesa with customary stop at Page Spring.  Lazy nap and lounge time atop mesa.  Jack-Attack hikes out to the inspirational shitter.  1^st sighting of jackrabbit below rim.  Windy night.

Day 4 – Horseshoe Mesa to Grandview Point

Hike out Grandview, someone dropped an empty water container right in middle of trail.

Recap

Don’t know if Park Service or guilty hiker replaced the cook pot.  1^st sighting of mule deer on H-Mesa.  Of the 3 H-Mesa Redwall trails, west arm is quickest to Tonto, and in surprisingly good shape, though it must be the least used.  Hance shortcut a fun easy detour.  Sockdolager becoming our nemesis, need earlier start next time.  Blessed with very mild temps for February.

The Difference is in the Details

Design – The unique design of the FoodSack makes it the most reliable food storage method.  Interwoven with stainless steel wire mesh so that the largest  gap is only 5mm, this design allows for two-fold protection:  1) Critters cannot chew through the steel mesh itself and 2) the mesh gaps are too small for critters to penetrate.

Other Specs – The FoodSack is 18” wide, 22” tall, and weighs only 10 ounces, making it ideal for Grand Canyon backpacking where low pack weight is essential.  A secure Velcro opening makes retrieving or stashing food quick and easy.  Nylon webbing with a minimum breaking strength of 1800 lbs. secures both the bottom and a loop enclosure from which the FoodSack can be hung.

Why the FoodSack is Superior

Storing food in your tent is risky – We’ve seen tents and backpacks with holes chewed through the exterior from hungry critters.  We’ve also witnessed a ringtail enter a partially unzipped tent, grab a bag of peanuts, and climb 30 feet up a cottonwood in a matter of seconds.  In addition, tents are often unnecessary for backpacking in Grand Canyon.  With or without a tent, the FoodSack advantage is that you can safely leave it anywhere.

Hanging food is problematic – Trees in Grand Canyon are rare and fragile.  Even if you find a suitable limb your food is still at risk.  We have seen mice scurry down cordage into a hanging stuff sack.  Since the FoodSack can be left anywhere, you don’t have to worry about finding or damaging tree limbs to hang food.

Testimonial

Despite numerous attempts seen and unseen, Grand Canyon critters have NEVER gotten into our FoodSack, it’s as simple as that.  For only $30 that is valuable peace of mind in the backcountry.

Ordering Info

To order the FoodSack online now click here or call toll free at 855-722-5375.

The Floods, Marooned, Exodus.

Day 1 – Jumpup-Naile Trailhead to Kwagunt Hollow

Descend Jumpup-Naile Trail.  Great shade at cottonwoods in upper Kwagunt.  Trickling slimy water at trail crossing.  Camp on north side, day-hike down Kwagunt.  Clouds roll in, powerful wind bursts, bends a tent pole, periodic light drizzle.  Rainbow over North Rim.  Kitchen overhang has 1 bat and 1 mouse.

Day 2 – Kwagunt Hollow to Sowats Canyon

Rejoin J-N Trail to Sowats.  Volume of sweet water gushing from Mountain Sheep Spring is amazing.  Lush, green oasis.  Dragonflies, tree frogs, some kind of water “scorpion”.  Serious lounge time.  Hear singing upstream, running water playing tricks on our ears.  Camp at base of south cliff complete with fire ring, wood, tinder.  Thanks.  Sporadic light rain again thru evening.  Pepper jack quesadilla on fire rocks, yum.  Critters in brush.

Day 3 – Sowats Canyon to Jumpup/Kanab confluence

4 hikers pass downstream, don’t see us, maybe singing from yesterday was real?  Good flow in creek ends just beyond junction with Jumpup Canyon.  Still cloudy, flash flood nervous down Jumpup, especially thru narrows, skip Indian Hollow exploration.  1 chukar overhead flying up canyon.  Skanky pool in cleft on right, 2/3 way down Jumpup.  Make it to Kanab Creek, tell Pablito “Jumpup is evil”, a premonition.  More chukars flush up Kanab, calls echo like laughter.  Kanab is mocking us.  Tinaja full in cleft ¾ mile upstream.  Camp on bluff opposite mouth of Jumpup, see small rockfall on south cliff.  4pm – spitting rain, 9pm – steady downpour, 11pm – pounding, relentless rain.  Fitful sleep.

Day 4 – Layover day at Camp Marooned

[Note:  For detailed account of floods see Recap below]

Jumpup flashes HUGE at 230am!  Kanab flashes around 430am!  Safe on our bluff, but stuck in Camp Marooned.  Late morning, water low enough to explore down Kanab.  Some creek crossings tricky, flood devastation everywhere.  Light rain, clouds thickening, hustle back to camp.  Jumpup down to trickle by 3pm, rain intensifies, finally stops at 730pm.  Emege from shelter, hot cocktails on bluff balcony, stare up Jumpup, our nemesis.  Then it flashes again!  Smaller this time, disbelief, surreal.  Still steady flow when we turn in.

Day 5 – Jumpup/Kanab confluence to Kwagunt Hollow

Blue skies!  Jumpup flow gone, Kanab flow down to 2 feet wide.  Window of escape, haul ass up the Jumpup gauntlet.  1 leftover waterfall.  Hit Kwagunt in just over an hour.  Obvious Kwagunt flashed as well, water everywhere during ascent.  Camp High and Dry on south side of Kwagunt.  Full Esplanade potholes everywhere.  Mice persistent here, 1 headbutts my sandal.

Day 6 – Kwagunt Hollow to Jumpup-Naile Trailhead

Up and out J-N Trail, Pablito a half-beer behind me.  Fresh snow on Kaibab Plateau, muddy roads, nearly get car stuck.

Recap – “3 Flash Floods in 17 Hours”

230 AM – CRASH!  CRASH!  BOOM!  BOOOOOOOOM!  Awake instantly.  What the fuck was that!?!  Thunder!?!  Artillery!?!  Sounds like The Canyon Gods are bowling boulders down Jumpup and we’re the pins…and that’s indeed the terrifying truth.

Spring from my tent yelling, “Pablito!  Pablito!  Jumpup’s flashing!  Jumpup’s flashing!”, whip my headlamp beam up to see a 4 foot wall of madness, water, mud, boulders, and debris exploding out of Jumpup.  Below my feet flood slams into base of our bluff camp and fills entire bed of Kanab within seconds as it roars downstream.  Holy Shit!  Water has abruptly become our primary concern for two completely different extremes – shifting from scarcity yesterday afternoon to shitload now.

Several tense minutes until it seems our bluff is safe high ground, a few feet above the torrent.  A terrifying and amazing sight at the same time.  Periodically we turn off headlamps and simply listen to the devastation, flood roar in pitch black evokes a freaky sensation.  An hour passes and flow seems steady, finally turn in for a couple hours of sleep.

630 AM – Muddy flow down Jumpup still substantial but lessened considerably, and now there’s a new twist…Kanab flashed as well!  Probably sometime between 4 and 5 am.  Never heard it over roar of Jumpup flood, but now Kanab is adding over a foot of water to the flow.  That’s 2 flash floods in 3 hours.

Plan to hike back up Jumpup today now appears to be a perfectly insane idea, especially since more rain looks like a real possibility.  We’re not going anywhere, stuck in Camp Marooned.

1100 AM – Floods subside enough to day-hike down Kanab, still some tricky creek crossings.  Carnage everywhere, high water mark in places hard to believe if we hadn’t actually seen the monster that rolled through here.  Rain resumes, hustle back to safety of camp.

330 PM – Kanab flow steady, Jumpup now a trickle.  Rain intensifies again, spend next 4 hours hiding out under mesquite trees in camp.

730 PM – Storm finally breaks, venture over to bluff “balcony” for happy hour.  Sip hot cocktails and stare up the canyon, Jumpup Canyon, our nemesis, it seems we have been nervously staring up you for 2 days.  Then it happens…again.

Hear it first, oddly a familiar sound now.  Moon casting perfect light for visibility up Jumpup, disbelief as yet another flood comes barreling down towards us.  3 flash floods in 17 hours!  Completely surreal.

This time flow is more subtle (if a flash flood can even be called such a thing) about 2 feet high.  Compared to original flood it almost seems to move in slow motion, ever so gradually building momentum until it unites with Kanab floodwaters.

Strange feeling when flash floods temporarily become part of a normal routine.  Flow remains constant for a few hours, trickle by morning for our escape.