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Grand Canyon 2005
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Grand Canyon Backpack - Day 2
The Tonto: Hance Rapids to Hance Creek
We woke up around 5:30 am on the morning of our second day in the Grand Canyon. The wind had died down, and there were clear patches between clouds.

After we finished breakfast (and Shannon completed her labourious task of blister care), we started off (at around 8:30 am ).
courtesy BConnell
Early morning at Hance Rapis
Evening in the Morning
Hance Rapid Campsite
Brian at Hance Rapids
Morning at Hance Rapids
Desert Evening Primrose
The trail leading east out of our campsite at Hance Rapids was the start of the Tonto trail portion of our backpack. The Tonto trail begins at the point where we were camped and continues on for 112 km to the west. (We of course weren't going that far!) The trail started off with a gradual rise through bouldery terrain (in the end, up about 1500 feet, at which point it would level off).
Looking back to Hance Rapids
The start of the Tonto
The start of the Tonto (Annotated)
Jenn and flowers
Beautiful Butterflies
Pacman Monster Rock
courtesy BConnell
Desert Lilies
Extra Ad
Caroline at start of Granite Gorge
At one point not too far from our start for the day, we came to a section of trail with a steep drop off (well, more than steep - it was completely vertical down more than 500 feet). There was an over-hang above the trail, and when my backpack bumped it, it set me a bit off balance, which was rather nerve-wracking. Caroline was quite a bit ahead, so I wasn't sure how she had gotten past this section, so I figured out that I had to crouch very low until I passed the over-hang. When I turned around, I could see that Andrew had to actually crawl on all 4's with his pack in order to get through.

When we got through and met up with Caroline, we all looked back, and saw that Shannon wasn't doing so well (to put it mildly). She had frozen on the side of the cliff-wall on this little exposed section of trail, unable to move, and using some rather un-lady-like language. Caroline ran back to help her (which freaked Shannon out even more), but nevertheless successfully brought Shannon through that section of trail. Phew! Shannon had quite a few words to say about this little episode!
Memories of home
Caro on exposed bit of path
Better shot of exposed path
Shannon's not liking this!
Hakatai Terraces
Shannon on Tonto Trail
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