Friday:
April 5, 2002
This part of my trip had an
itinerary for one night at Horseshoe Mesa, second night down at
Cottonwood Creek, then back up on Horseshoe Mesa for my third night.
Switching to my big pack I loaded up with about 6 liters of
water. There is no
water at Horseshoe and the nearest water is a Miner’s Spring and
from what I read in other trip reports the trail down to the spring
left something to be desired. After
breakfast I drove over to Grandview Point (about a 20 min drive from
the South Rim Village), parked and headed down the trail. I had
spoken to the backcountry office about trail conditions and they
stated that with the current heat wave that the upper portion of
Grandview Trail should now be ice free (there was doubt in his voice
and he wasn’t completely sure).
I decided to take my crampons anyhow, and since Murphy and I
are such good friends, would now ensure that the trail was ice free
and I would carry the crampons for nothing.
I was right.
Grandview trail is unique
to say the least and it is steep in several places rising at 40+
degrees. I cannot
imagine going down that trail with ice on it.
The trail used to be used by miners hauling copper ore up
from the mesa – how the mules did it I have no idea. When
you head down the trail, turn around and look up, you can see the
pin and log construction supporting the foundation of the
cobblestone trail.
As I headed down the trail
I bumped into a group of New Yorkers.
The group was spread apart over a half mile.
They had spent a night on Horseshoe Mesa and had come from
Tanner. They said they ascended the mesa from Hance and came across
the Redwall along the eastern arm of the mesa.
They all stated that part of trail was washed out and had to
cling to the wall with their fingers.
One guy looked pretty shaken by the whole ordeal.
“Pretty hairy”, was the common statement, and that was
the most positive of assessments.
That was the same route I was going to descend and do the
loop around Horseshoe Mesa. No
way. Clinging to the
side of the wall didn’t appeal to me.
I planned to scout the route out first.
I bumped into another couple from Virginia and they said it
looked pretty bad. My
optimism was dropping fast. I
took my time hiking down to the mesa, no hurries.
I must have talked to about a dozen or so people on the
trail……
I took a little bit of
time to look at the artifacts around the Last Chance mine.
I was going to pay heed to the Backcountry Offices warning
that the mines are highly radioactive.
I poked my head into one just to take a quick picture of the
ore cart. I then
wandered down to Pete Berry’s Cabin.
I took some time to take a good look at the construction and
some of the other remains, especially the old tin cans.
There weren’t too many people on the mesa and I headed over
to the eastern arm of the campground.
It was recommended to me to set my tent up along the ridge
looking down Hance Canyon. It
is a great spot, however the wind was really starting to gust.
I decided to pitch my tent under a Pinyon pine for a little
more protection.
I was about to take an
early lunch when another solo hiker came over to me looking for a
campsite. Armand from VA. I
would also meet a father /son team from Baltimore (the east coast
visits the GC). I
chatted with him for a while and he was coming up from Cottonwood
Creek. He was supposed
to stay the night on
Horseshoe, but decided to head up to the top instead.
As a nice gesture he gave me about 2 liters of extra water.
This was great since it would allow me a little more
breathing room to explore the mesa. It was getting hot.
I tried to go and find the
Cave of the Domes and found two cairns along the trail.
I followed footprints down what look to be a slight wash
until they disappeared. Dead
end? I hiked back up to
the top and followed the path down at the second cairn.
This seemed to be a more established trail, although it
seemed to go on for quite a bit.
However the temperature was about 96 and I was going through
my water rapidly. If I
was going to attempt the loop around the mesa tomorrow I would need
to conserve my water. After
a moment of pondering everything I decided to abandon my search for
the cave (next time, next time, next time).
I hoofed it back to camp a bit dismayed at missing the
opportunity. Camp was
relatively quiet except for the two large flies that were
incessantly buzzing around me. Do I need a bath already!?!?! It was becoming a complete irritation and I couldn’t
stop for a moment to even read under the shade.
The only time I would get a reprieve is when the wind would
really pick up again. And the wind would really pick up.
I thought about my
options. I decided to
bag the loop around the mesa and go down to Cottonwood the next
night and just hike all the way out the next day and skip the last
night back on the mesa. I
was actually pretty bored out on the mesa by myself; there were a
few people about a hundred yards off.
I changed my mind yet again, and decided to hike out tomorrow
and change my itinerary. The shell game continues.
I am glad I had pitched my
tent on the eastern side of the Pinyon, the wind out of the west was
really starting to gust. The tent that night would really get
buffeted. I didn’t
sleep well at all. The
temperature would drop to about 55 that night.
Some one had slammed open the lid on the pit toilet and it
woke me up abruptly around 11.
I read for a couple of hours and went back to sleep until
finally getting up around 4.
Trails:
Grandview Trail. This trail is non-maintained. The trail
starts from Grandview point and ends at Horseshoe Mesa. All
junctions are marked with signs. There is no water at
Horseshoe Mesa. The closest water is Miner's (Page) Spring or
continue down to Cottonwood Creek another 1.5 miles. The trail
is steep on some of the upper portions. There are a few
washouts as you descend below the Coconino Saddle but are easy to
traverse. There are only one narrow 30 foot section that
traverses across some scree.
Distance traveled: 3
miles. Time: 3 hrs.
Difficulty:
Strenuous.
