Step 13: Back to the Canyon

So we returned from San Diego on January 31st and would leave for the Canyon February 2nd for a 9 day trip. This gave us one day to do laundry, pack, eat some real food, rest, and go out on the town. We left at 7am from our apartment with a new supervisor named Lamai. Her boyfriend is the national park service supervisor for the project we would be working, which was nice as we were treated very well. The top part of the trail was still in bad shape from the storm and had a lot of snow on it which meant the mules would be delayed another day. In turn we had to carry down our first 2 days of food as well as stove and fuel. This added some unwelcome weight to our packs and some people decided to skimp on their breakfast and lunch food and this was a decision they would soon regret. The hike down was much quicker than our last trip to the Canyon because we were much more familiar with the trail and we didn’t have to rescue a hiker with a broken ankle. This doesn’t mean the trip was without incident. After we had gone down about 1000 vertical ft and had our first break we headed off back down the trail. While most of the snow was behind us there were still some large accumulations in spots where the sun did not shine. I was walking a ways behind our assistant supervisor CJ who packs a lot of extra things and his pack is all catawampus. This and the fact there were soft spot in the snow did not mix. He hit one such soft spot and sank up to his calf sending him off balance and over the edge of the trail. I came around the corner to find him 20ft down the side of the cliff. Luckily he had landed in 2 feet of powder which cushioned his fall and saved him from what would have been some serious bodily injuries otherwise. I scampered down the side of the steep slope and helped him get his gear which was now spread across the hillside back up to the trail. He was shaken up to say the least, but luckily unscathed. We continued down the rest of the trail making it to camp with no more unwanted excitement. (although I had some excitement of my own as I tested fate by doing handstands on the edge of the canyon, see picture)

From Grand Canyon february 2nd to 10th

The storm had also changed the color of the river dramatically. (see pictures for this as well) Sadly we had tuna mac n’ cheese for dinner our first night which I struggled mightily with, but at least I got it out of the way in the beginning of the trip. I settled in for my first night sleep expecting nothing but visions of sugar plums dancing in my head. This could not have been farther from the truth. Around 11pm I awoke with a start as I felt something crawling over my legs on top of my sleeping bag. I kicked violently and then I heard whatever it was quickly run away. Having opted to safe weight I did not pack my tent, but only my rain-fly and ground cloth. This meant animals could visit me throughout the night as they pleased, and this is just what they did as the scavenged for food that they hoped I had left beside me. So each night between 8pm and 12am I dealt with the comings and goings of ringtail cats. While you may see from pictures of them they are quite cute, they were hardly conducive for good sleep. I won’t be going down without my tent again soon.

The 2nd day was my birthday. While we did nothing terribly exciting besides some cyclic maintenance work, it was a very nice experience to celebrate my birthday in the bottom of the Grand Canyon. At night we went to the Canteen to get some hot chocolate. We made friends with a gentleman named Ryan who was traveling solo back across the country. In the time it took us to have one hot chocolate he put back 4 tecates and proceed to inform us of his travels to Hawaii. On our way back to camp he decided to unload a burden on us and tell us he slept with a married woman while on the island. We said our farewells and bid him a safe and prosperous journey back to the east coast. While I had no cake or candles with which to blow out on my birthday this did not stop my ability to make a wish. My co-worker David was kind enough to light hand sanitizer on fire in the palm of his hand while Alison sang happy birthday to me and then I took my time thinking of a wish and blowing out the flame in his hand.

Going into this trip we were all bummed we would miss the Super Bowl. However on Friday we learned this would not be the case and the employees at Phantom Ranch would be setting up an internet connection for us to view the game. So on Sunday we all(NPS crew too) ended work early and had an quick early dinner so that we could head to the Super Bowl party. They had a great selection of appetizers for us as well as drinks for us to enjoy while we watched the game. Sadly because of our location the feed was not great and would often pause in the middle of plays. This almost made the game more suspenseful as it would pause when the ball was inches from the receivers hands and we would all scream at the computer for him to either catch it or drop it depending on what side we were cheering for. This got old though after a quarter or so, but we stuck it out and it was still nice to watch the game, even though the Colts lost.

As for the work we did it was much like the last project here. More cyclic maintenance and lots of work on the rock crusher and laying gravel on the trail. There was a noticeable improvement in the quality of our work this time as due to our increasing experience and confidence in what we are doing. By the end of the project we had repaired 4800 ft of trail and crushed close to 10 tons of rock with which we laid down over check steps on 500 ft of trail creating a gravel ramp rather than knee jarring stairs. All in all it was a huge success and the NPS crew was eager for us to return again.


The best part of the trip was the weather. As I hope my pictures capture we had quite the show each and everyday as the clouds would rest on the Canyon’s edge and creep over them threatening rain and snow each day depending on where we were working. Once I was caught in a white out snow storm up at the rock crusher that forced us to end work early. 30 min later and 1500ft lower there was not a cloud in the sky and I was in a t-shirt applying sunscreen. A surreal experience. The rain also made it possible to see the quality or lack thereof of our work. Places which were constructed well looked great while places that we made mistakes became rutted out overnight. This was an invaluable learning experience that only nature could teach.

From Grand Canyon february 2nd to 10th

So now I have enjoyed the last 6 days off with Becky, but am eager to return to the Canyon. The NPS crew has been so impressed with our work that we will be taught how to do rip-rap stone work. Rip-rap is extremely durable and highly resistant to erosion, but is very labor intensive and is a kind of artwork to get it just right. It is essentially making a jig-saw puzzle with 100-200lb stones without a picture to look at. While I have seen them working on it, I really have no clue what to expect, but am eager to give it a try. I shall return on the 24th at which point I shall inform you all as to my success or lack thereof with rip-rap.
a few more pictures. see the album for all of them

From Grand Canyon february 2nd to 10th

amazing scenery and weather

bathroom with one hell of a view

Bright Angel Creek confluence with the Colorado River. on the first trip the colorado river was the clear blue color, but the storm as changed it to a chocolate color