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Grand Canyon 2005
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Grand Canyon Backpack - Day 4
The Tonto: Grapevine Canyon to BH9/BJ9 Boundary
Day 4 was another brilliant sunny day. Our camp time-management skills were getting better, and we were ready to go by 7:30am. Shannon had also gotten her blister care down to a science, and could tape those feet up in her sleep now!
Video Clip: Morning at Grapevine Creek Campsite
Early morning at Grapevine Canyon
East fork, Grapevine Canyon
Angel's Gate from Grapevine Canyon
Grapevine Canyon Panorama
Now, the official itinerary (as dictated by our backcountry permit) for today was for us to camp on the boundary of two backcountry zones. We would generally have preferred to hike into the next backcountry zone west in order to shorten our final day's hike, but there weren't any spots available, according to the backcountry office (which it turns out was pretty strange, since we had not seen a soul on the Tonto since we started hiking on it). Anyway, the lack of people and the length of our last day led us to start thinking about stretching the rules and camping in the next zone west anyway. This would both get us further along, reducing a long final hike day, and it would allow us to camp near a water source. The only risk was that the area would be full or would have a ranger checking backcountry permits. Both of these possibilities seemed highly unlikely considering the apparent lack of human life anywhere around!
Grapevine Canyon
Grapevine Canyon (annotated)
Blister stop
After some thought, we decided that we'd fill up with water at the last water source before our "approved" campsite, haul a full load of water to our camp (which was only 2km further along), and then hike the next morning and fill up again at the next water source (which was also only about 2km away from Camp).
Hiking towards unnamed butte
Brio on the Tonto
Heading out of Grapevine Canyon
Around mid-morning on our hike out of Grapevine Canyon, lo and behold, we heard voices - human voices - and not our own! We ran into two other back packers, going the other way (east) on a 7-day trip. These two guys would be the only two people we would see for our entire four-day stretch on the Tonto trail. Perhaps the Grandview trail closure had reduced the number of people in this stretch of the canyon....

Along the stretch of Tonto out of Grapevine Canyon there were some excellent spots to stand out on the very edge of the Tonto Platform and look down into the inner canyon. I tried to convince Shannon to stand out with me on a detached pinnacle, and she reluctantly did. She was making me a little nervous out there, so I turned back. Brian couldn't even watch her because her nervousness was making him nervous too! Now she was stuck out there by herself (sorry Shannon, but you were really freaking me out!), so Andrew gave her a hand as she came back. Phew!
courtesy CDoucet
Prickly pear and Pointy point
Lookin' down to Grapevine
Caro and Andrew
Nervous Stance
Strained posture
ok, enough of that!
courtesy BConnell
courtesy CDoucet
Caro and Shannon
Lookin' down to Grapevine
Antlers and Ladybugs
A true 360
Zoroaster Temple
Unnamed Spire
Unnamed Spire
Jenn, Caro and Vishnu
The humans are dwarfed
Rounding the unnamed thumb
Caroline and Brian fell victim to some rather vicious cacti...Yikes! ( Shannon 's legs could relate to this from all her scratches the day before.) Some of these cacti have hair-like spikes that I had gotten stuck in my socks and ankles. These things are virtually impossible to get rid of, and finally I just gave up and had to live with it. I put on some new socks, but I was still finding these hair things in my leg days later!
Unfriendly encounter
Little gifts
Desert foliage along the Tonto
Angel's Gate
Boulder Canyon Lunch Stop
Agave Bloomin'
We got into quite a rhythm with our hiking. Each day we were faster than before, and in essence we were training for the last day where we would be hiking out. It was beautiful, with the plants and cacti starting to flower in greater numbers.
Video Clip: Trek from Grapevine Canyon to open campsite on the Tonto platform
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