Grand Canyoneering

TripLeader

Explorer
2011
Part 3 [To Tanner Beach]

We continued down Tanner Trail.
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The river views became mesmerizing.
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It was a great place to take a break.
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We hit the river. Several rafts were floating by, at least two of which were marked as "National Park Service."
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We camped near Tanner Beach.
 

TripLeader

Explorer
2011
Part 6 [River Camping]

We established our camp for the night.
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The river was to be our main source of water for the trip. We brought collapsible buckets to pull water from the river and to hopefully get most of the sediment to fall to the bottom.
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We went and explored around the area.
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TripLeader

Explorer
2011
Part 7 [To the Confluence?]

We had hiked down the Beamer for a chance to see the confluence. It was the day to hike out to see it.
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Looking back toward camp at the start of the hike.
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The trail became narrow, steep, exposed, and windy.
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We turned around somewhere around this point without making it to the confluence.
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Headed back toward camp.
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Last edited:

shade

Well-known member
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That's one of my favorite views of the canyon. It's visible as distant haze in the photograph, but there was mist hanging in the air from snow melting as it fell. We were still high enough that it could be seen in the wind. The scene reminded me of Haleakala Crater on Maui, with clouds spilling over the rim. Gawkers along the rim never get these views.

I need to post some companion threads so we can see TL in action, too.
 

TripLeader

Explorer
2011
Part 8 [Down by the River]

We got back to camp, after missing out on the confluence. We passed some time by the river.
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The Dories came in and set up camp on the opposite bank from us.
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Checking out another nearby section of water.
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TripLeader

Explorer
2011
Part 9 [More of the River]

The trip took us lower than the previous two trips. So we made the most of our river access.
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A couple more Dories floated in to our neighbor's camp. That brought the total to four boats: Bright Angel, Temple Butte, Vishnu, and Zoroaster. On a side note, I highly recommend the Grand Canyon book The Emerald Mile by Kevin Fedarko.
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And that concluded our night.
 

TripLeader

Explorer
Fantastic pictures, again.
Thanks for posting.

Up the New Hance trail can be the real deal. I’m looking forward to your pictures since I have very few of that area from my trip.

You are spot on about the difficulty of the New Hance.

Spoiler Alert: I don't think I'll have a lot of photos from it. We'll see.

I blame the strenuous trail and overall fatigue from the entire backpacking trip. It wore me out to the point of not being in the spirit to take photos.
 

GB_Willys_2014

Well-known member
@TripLeader - excellent photography as always.

Sorry that you guys didn't make it to the Confluence. There is always a next time, tho!

We did this trip in 2 parts:

The first part was in October 2016: Tanner to Confluence, via Beamer, and ascend in reverse.

Our initial plan was to spend night 1 at Tanner, and night 2 at the confluence, before reversing course with a dry camp on the ascent (we cached food and water during the descent).

However, we changed our plans when we reached Tanner. Two factors:

1) During our descent, we stopped and talked to a party of old dudes ascending. They had come down the salt River, and were crusty, figuratively and literally. One of them was a student of Buchard. Anyhow, they strongly recommend not lugging all our gear across Beamer. They also told us how to find the cabin.

2) The descent beat us to s_h_i_t. Full Stop.

So, we slept in the morning of Day 2, and spent Night 2 at Palisades Beach.

On Day 3 we completed a ~14 mile day hike to the Confluence and Cabin. We left at the break of dawn and returned after dark. We carried enough equipment for a bivouac just in case. Anyhow, the Confluence was muddy and unfortunately underwhelming (we expected to see the bright azure waters), but the Cabin very interesting.

On Day 4 we returned to Tanner.

Day 5 was the ascent. We planned to cover in 2 days. But, we were able to complete the hike in 1 day as we felt so good and made such good time.

Side note: we have encountered lots of "characters" over the years: remarkable people that are odd ... Years ago, some guy with nothing but an iron bar not far from the junction of the Tonto and the west-side Grandview Trail. This trip delivered too: as we made our ascent, we stopped to talk to a made up older woman draped in jewelry making her way down to Tanner. She seemed in good shape and spirits. Oh, yeah, this was her first inner canyon trip ...

The second part was in October 2017: Tanner - Grandview via Escalante Route.

I like the idea of the bicycle shuttle. We solved that problem by parking at Grandview, and taking a taxi to the Tanner TH. The taxi logistics took some planning and work, but was successful.

BTW, we opted against a Hance ascent because Grandview offered water (Miner's Spring) and we aren't ... um masochists. :)

Some pictures from the 2016 trip:

Beamer's Cabin:

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A Menorah, or at least what I THINK looks like a Menorah. We stopped for water between Palisades and Tanner, and I looked over to the North Rim, and saw this erosion pattern:

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Yeah, I have a vivid imagination, but hey Hanukkah starts tomorrow so ... :)
 

TripLeader

Explorer
2011
Part 10 [Westward in the Abyss]

It was time to get moving. The diversion we had taken down the Beamer Trail had cost us in time and mileage. We headed for the Escalante Route.
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Still re-tracing our steps.
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Is the Escalante Route right for you? This was the message previous hikers had left for us.
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TripLeader

Explorer
2011
Part 12 [Dusk at Camp]

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This sums up the Grand Canyon: A campsite at the end of the day, under the sunset glow, and dirty socks.
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We sat around camp in the dark. We could hear a creature prowling near us in the brush that surrounded our camp. It turned out to be the biggest desert rat I'd ever seen. Not cool.
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