Made it back from Grand Canyon

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Hey guys... made it back from my Grand Canyon backpacking trip... this time hiked 36 miles over 5 days, covered a lot of ground. Here I am climbing to the Phantom Ranch overlook on Clear Creek Trail... and yeah that's a minnow bucket on my back... made a great tool for dipping water out of the streams to filter drinking water, bathing, etc.

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And here I am about halfway to Clear Creek (it's a 9 mile hike from Phantom Ranch)...

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Here is a view of Clear Creek canyon... really tight in places with mountains of rock surrounding you...

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and another at the furthest point I made it down Clear Creek. I couldn't make it all the way to the Colorado without a rope and help should an injury happen.



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Here's a view you seldom see... this is a morning shot of the South Rim taken from the Clear Creek trail. Most photos you see of the Grand Canyon are taken of the North Rim as viewed from the South.

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I'll post more pics and a link to the full write-up in the days to come... was amazed that I lost 10 lbs in 5 days. What a great way to spend my 45th birthday!

 

[Ben Poche]

nice pic's

 

[John Mastrocco]

Welcome back.



Meckie missed you.







cya Mon.

 

[Kevin Palmer]

Nice pictures. I fly over it all the time. Never been there yet though.



It would be be nice to get 5 days to explore the area.



Nice Job!!!

 

[Lauren Y]

Grand Canyon is my boyfriend's favorite place to go on vacation. I can't wit to go with him. I know the pictures don't do it any justice. Thanks for sharing! Glad you are safe!

 

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The trail for the last 1/4 mile into Clear Creek was the spookiest trail I've ever hiked (or almost crawled). I had just finished the 9 mile hike from Phantom Ranch and was on my last 1 liter of water. I knew I HAD to go down that trail, or I would not make it back to Phantom on the water I had left. There was NO water in any of the dry gulches between Clear Creek and Phantom.



The trail was only 18 inches wide, wasn't even flat ground, and passed along a crumbly shale slope. It was about 300 ft down to the creek gully below, and there was nothing to grab onto should I have slipped off the trail. Hiking alone, I knew that even a minor injury might be the end, so it really added a lot of adrenalin to that portion of the hike. The wind was dead calm fortunately and didn't add any additional degree of difficulty.



I think I burned more adrenalin in that 30 mins than I have at any point in my life!

 

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Here's an example of the trail I just mentioned... you can barely even make it out in the pic.



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And here's camp at Clear Creek... as you can see you have to clear a lot of rocks just to find room to setup a tent...



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Here's a typical section of Clear Creek trail... as you can see you have to carefully watch your footing so as to not twist an ankle...



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[Austin Tatious]

Nice Pics Darin. I always enjoy reading your GC adventures - you really are a canyoneer.



I've been in Clear Creek from the other end. It's narrow and you can hardly see it in the inner gorge. You can hike up the narrow canyon until you get to a big waterfall. The river is fast at the mouth and its pretty exciting to kayak in at high speeds.

 

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My trip report is now posted at the following link if anyone is interested: