A Labor Day Grand Canyon Adventure (warning – LONG)

Great read and pictures!

Sent from my iPhone

On Sep 7, 2010, at 7:24 PM, “rich_rudow” rich_rudow@trimble.com> wrote:

> My head hit the Neoair Sunday night at dusk like hundreds of canyon nights before. This small patch of sand, above the active wash, was selected for convenience. It really wasn’t a great camp spot like the classic ledges in the Muav limestone, but it was flat and just large enough for us to deploy ground cloths. We were behind schedule on an ambitious itinerary. What the camp lacked in amenities it made up for in convenience. It was right at the base of a Redwall break that would allow us to scramble west out of the narrow clutches of Tuckup Canyon. Tent-less, I remained awake long enough to see the Milky Way silhouetted by the narrow canyon walls while my favorite heavy metal mix was playing on the iPod. It was a hot night and I knew my bag would remain in the pack. I quickly dozed off before waking around 9 pm to a Seether song. My left ear bud was lacking the usual fidelity. I cursed Apple, rolled over, and started dozing off again. I was tired.
Todd and I got a late start on the long drive to the North Rim Saturday afternoon. My nephew, who works at the South Rim, grabbed the permit for us earlier in the week and we made the long detour to pick it up before heading out the East Rim drive toward Cameron. Entertainment was provided near Moran Pt (Moron Pt?) by a teenager inching ever closer to a large mule deer in velvet occupying the road center. His father provided encouragement in French behind the camera and out of harms way. Todd was snapping photos of this silly scene while I wondered what Darwin would think. We rolled into the trailhead above Tuckup Canyon about 1am, tossed out bed rolls, and quickly passed out. My eye caught the first light at 5:30am and we were hiking down the Tuckup Trail from the Schmutz Spring trailhead by 6am. “Tuckup Trail” is a misnomer. In places it’s quite distinct and in other places it simply disappears. We found ourselves contouring endlessly on the Esplanade on a mostly trail-less route to Cottonwood Canyon. It was damn hot out and we ran up canyon to check the condition of the spring. Whew! Water flowing nicely! We didn’t need the water right then, but in the (very) unlikely event that Tuckup was bone dry we planned to climb up Cottonwood to this water source as an emergency backup. After Cottonwood the trail miraculously reappeared and we made speedy progress toward our “shortcut” into Tuckup Canyon, and our first of two planned slot canyon descents for the day. The Supai proved to be non-technical with a few down climbs that sharpened the edge for what was to come. The Redwall slot started slow and then got very pretty as we neared the junction with Tuckup Canyon. We were confronted with rappel after rappel into deep inviting pools. At one point I rappeled into a pool and swam across the other side before I realized that it was a keeper. The water level was just low enough that I couldn’t “beach whale” out. I removed my pack and managed to push it over the pothole rim while hanging on to a runner attached to the haul loop – a nice handline helper to get out. Todd rappelled down next and swam the pool. I extended a hand for his exit from the keeper while we both grinned ear to ear at the discovery. So much for the water problem! We tanked up with clean water from a big pool just before the final rappel into Tuckup Canyon. The extensive anchor problems in the limestone slot ate up too much time and there would be no way to climb to the top of the Redwall cliff to descend the adjacent slot before dark. Our choices? We could simply exit Tuckup Canyon to beat the heat Monday morning or we could extend our stay four or five hours and hit the second slot before exiting. It was a long way to come for one slot and we quickly found the west side Redwall break that would allow speedy access to the top of the second slot. Our choice to do the second slot in the morning seemed easy. And our modest camp was right at the base of the break. What Luck!
Next, my playlist coughed up a Korn classic and the left ear bud hum seemed to dwindle under the throaty bass. But I wasn’t that comfortable so I opened the Neoair valve for a softer ride. As Korn faded and Chevelle started that left ear bud seemed worst. A louder buzz. My iPod shuffle was only a year old. I figured it was Apple’s way of encouraging me to buy a new one. After all, they just launched the next generation iPods last Friday. But it was really getting irritating! By the time Chevelle faded I decided to remove the iPod from my ears. When I did the buzz became so loud that it took a moment to register before the adrenaline kicked in. I now knew EXACTLY what it was and Apple was off the hook. To my left side was a mighty pissed rattler completely concealed by the black of night. I slowly rolled right to find my headlamp and I hollered at Todd who was only 15 feet away. When the spotlight found its mark a mighty mad 3′ blacktail was coiled three feet from my tarp rattling with supreme indignation. I suppose he was used to intelligent animals moving when he sounded the alarm. My complete ignorance really got him worked up. He got no respect! There was really nowhere else to go for camp so I wasn’t about to move. I finally grabbed my trekking pole and gently nudged him toward an escape away from my spot. He rattled with supreme irritation at being required to move and slithered up a dirt bank away from our humble camp. I’ve had mice run across my body, ringtail cats steal my hiking shorts (with camera in pocket), and plenty of insects crawling around, but I have never had a rattlesnake get so brazen. Of course, Tuckup is a great secret and nobody gets out that way. The big horn move when he rattles. This new mammal just turned up the volume! I guess I’d get pissed too
We climbed the Redwall break at 6am and started the descent down the next target slot at 6:45. It might be the fastest approach on record! But we knew the delay would cost us hours resulting in a hot exposed exit to the rim in the early afternoon. A nine hour drive home lay ahead too. But this canyon got good, REALLY GOOD, and we were soon consumed with complicated anchor problems in a gorgeous limestone slot. Rappel, swim, rappel, wade, rappel, swim. More silvery hallways and pools awaited until the final exit rap in a stunning Temple Butte limestone silo fluted by eons of floods. The hike out Tuckup was as beautiful as ever in the long Redwall corridors. But the shade wouldn’t last and we got a full sun blast for the last hour and a half to the rim topping out at 1:30pm. All in all, a small price to pay for a great weekend!
A few photos here: > http://picasaweb.google.com/rich.rudow/TwoForTwo#
> Regards,
Rich

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