Tanner Trail – December 2006

Preview

Back out on Tanner, carried fishing poles just for extra weight, and the blizzard that has us wondering where the ski lift is.

Day 1 – Lipan Point to Tanner Rapids

Descend Tanner Trail as it whoops another Canyon rookie’s ass.  Buster takes a couple tumbles, fatigued.  Cache water at bay between Cardenas and Escalante Buttes.  Halfway thru Dox traverse my back just explodes with pain.  Struggle into camp at River.  Happy hour most welcome.

Day 2 – Layover day

Slept shitty, ridiculous back pain.  Buster and D.K. fishing a quarter mile away.  Knife blade back spasms  allow me to cover that distance in 30 long minutes.  Afternoon nap, awaken to solitary goose honking overhead.  Remnants of The Ancients on Tanner delta.  Heavy wind and scattered showers overnight.

Day 3 – Beamer Trail day-hike

Fresh snow on rim.  Mice got into Buster’s food.  Back better enough to day-hike Beamer Trail over to Comanche Creek.  1 mule deer in mesquite dunes.  No luck fishing, terrible conditions.  2 mallards on The River.

Day 4 – Tanner Rapids to Blizzard Camp

Cold morning.  Ascend Tanner to base of Redwall, short break, windy, starts raining.  Atop Redwall rain turns to snow.  A shitload of snow.  Hustle on to water cache and make camp.  Blizzard continues unabated.  Buster spends 14 consecutive hours in his tent.  D.K. and I enjoy extended happy hour and watch snow fall from under shelter of large overhanging boulder.  Pack rat midden here with lots of dry kindling, tempting to build a fire.  Juniper I pitched my tent under saved my dumbass, left tent door open for 3 hours, luckily not much snow got in.

Day 5 – Blizzard Camp to Tanner Trailhead

Still snowing.  Pack up everything in tent.  Drifts up to knee-high to 75-Mile Canyon saddle, waist high in places above that.  D.K. does great job cutting the trail up.  Nearly hit a javelina crossing Desert View Drive.

Recap

Disappointed couldn’t achieve some trip goals due to my back troubles, but any day in The Canyon is a good day.  Biggest storm and most snow I’ve ever seen in The Canyon.  1^st time ever seen a javelina at The Canyon.