The Redwall Sampler. When I was trying to plan a Hayduke Trail hike I really wanted to try to find a way to work the Marble Canyon portion of the Grand Canyon into the itinerary but quickly realized this was highly impractical. Fast forward to a few weeks ago and Jeff's suggestion of a Grand Canyon trip. I began exploring possibilities in the Marble Canyon area again. By scouring Google Earth, looking up existing canyoning/hiking routes, and measuring out packraft miles (a maximum of 5 miles is allowed without a river permit), I eventually came up with a route I am calling the Redwall Sampler. As best I know the exact route has never been done before.
This route takes in many of the scenic highlights along this upper stretch of the Grand Canyon in one adventurous 2-day rim-to-river-to-rim trip: Silver Grotto, South Canyon, ancestral Puebloan ruins, Stanton's Cave, Vasey's Paradise, Redwall Cavern. I imagine this stretch of the Grand Canyon must have been one of Powell's favorites- they were not yet starving, the river was relatively friendly, and there were lots of interesting sights for them to name. It is certainly one of my favorite stretches.
Shinumo Wash. After a surprisingly long and confusing drive across Navajo land, we arrived at the canyon rim near Shinumo Wash. We carefully packed gear- every ounce counts and we had to be sure we did not forget to take a crucial component. Between the late start, permit office visit, drive, and packing, it was a very late noon before we finally left the car and headed down the small side drainage to a large dry falls at the top of the Coconino. During the 1950s the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation investigated the possibility of a dam in the Marble Canyon area of the Grand Canyon, one of the last great proposed dam projects in the U.S. Although this fortunately did not come to be, the engineers and other bureau workers left evidence of their venture in the form of a well-made trail down Shinumo Wash, exploratory mine adits (to test rock strength), and heavy-duty rebar anchors. The Dam Builder's Trail, especially through the Coconino in Shinumo Wash and their Rebar Route at River Mile 32.6 were crucial to us being able to complete this trip relatively safely. The trail in Shinumo dropped rapidly down through the Coconino and Supai before leveling out at the bottom of the wash. The second half of the wash had much boulder scrambling with boulder dropoffs to negotiate or bypass. Eventually we reached the start of the Redwall and the cairned junction where the trail obviously climbed up onto a Redwall bench to bypass the narrow waterfalled slot canyon downstream. Here we stashed hiking poles, shoes and water for our return. We then suited up, double checked our drybags were sealed, and walked downstream a couple minutes to the first pools and drops in the canyon.
Silver Grotto Canyon. The Redwall Limestone makes fantastic and interesting canyons. Where it is water-worn it is a creamy white, smooth and cool to the touch. Dark pools contrast sharply. Outside the reach of flash floods, the Redwall weathers to a reddish brown, which is where its name originates. In this narrow canyon sun reflecting off of the higher redder Redwall bounces its way down into the slot, projecting golden light onto the white rock. I took the first few slides and downclimbs carefully, hoping to keep the contents of my pack as dry as possible. Soon the pools became deeper, and we had at least a half dozen reasonably long swims to perform. We descended deeper and deeper in the canyon. Several of the rappels dropped down into scenic chambers floored by dark pools. All was very quiet in this canyon. I was surprised at the lack of sediment and boulders in the canyon, for the most part it was all smooth bedrock. Yet at the same time there were remarkably convenient natural anchors at all of the drops- boulder pinches, threads, rocks wedged in cracks, and even a deadman rockpile.
All too soon we reached the top of yet
another drop which I recognized as the terminus of the Silver Grotto-
the furthest it is possible to climb up from the river (I had ventured
up to this point during a river trip in 2008). After crossing this pool, we stowed our ropes and harnesses. I forgot just how beautiful this last third of the canyon is. Although the Silver Grotto itself is pretty nice, the reflections and amazing bedrock patios in this section are truly spectacular. We began to hear the roar of the river and eventually could see the opposing wall of the canyon signalling the end of the canyon (frontispiece). Shinumo Wash canyon is very short, but maintains a consistent high quality through its whole length- great scenery and lots of fun. We easily managed the whole canyon with a 100ft rope despite recommendations of more. Without feeling rushed, and while thoroughly enjoying ourselves (I even found a great running jump into one of the pools), we sailed through the canyon in 1hr 10 min.
Packrafting to South Canyon. We emerged from the cool shadows into the warm afternoon sun ready for the next phase of the trip. We readied our gear and inflated our packrafts, all less than one hundred feet from the ominous roar of Twentynine Mile Rapid. The river was a transparent green, typical of dam released flow with little tributary input. I was surprised to see over 20 large fish hanging out in the shallows. Time was of the essence so we set off as quickly as we could. Down we floated and paddled, trying to keep to the current and avoid the troublesome eddylines. We passed through several small riffles, rapids by packraft standards. We stopped to scout the larger riffle/minor rapid at the Fence Fault, a good idea given our delicate boats- fortunately with careful positioning there was a clean line for a packraft. I portaged so I could get pictures of Jeff gracefully bobbing up and down the waves.
The sun now gone, we passed through a few more riffles and calm
stretches to reach the small beach above South Canyon. We had a quick
run over to the mouth of South Canyon where a frigid down canyon breeze
assailed us and made us realize just how cold the packrafting had made
us. Suddenly I was really not looking forward to the night! We quickly walked up to see the ancestral Puebloan ruins and
interesting alcoves and archways on the ledge above, while deciding what
to do with the waning day and discussing where to camp. Back at the boats, the sky
the sun was now beginning to set on the rim.
We passed through the riffle at South Canyon and pulled into the sandy bay on river right. After a minutes deliberation, we were sold on the sandy beach as our campsite. This would give us lots of options of things to see and do in the morning, much more than if we camped further downstream. We unloaded the boats and emptied all of our gear onto our rope strung between tamarisk trees to dry. To both of our great surprises, the air temperature was remarkably warm and comfortable with a light warm breeze. What a wonderful escape from winter! Happily most of our gear dried very rapidly. We shared a beer Jeff had stowed and enjoyed the pleasant evening.
South Canyon. I slept very well and felt rejuvenated in the morning. We had a quick wander over to the picturesque entrance of Stanton's Cave before we packed up camp. With not much more than wetsuit, helmet and camera, we set off to try and upclimb the Redwall narrows of South Canyon. There are about a half dozen chockstone drops we would have to negotiate, each one easier than the last as we climbed up.
The first overhanging chockstone climb posed a significant challenge. After about a half dozen partner assisted attempts at the climb, Jeff and I finally found the winning combination. It was most satisfying to overcome it. A couple other partner assists were required for other climbs but we made quick work of the other obstacles. After several wades and climbs through the narrows the canyon opened up. Unlike Shinumo, there was a lot of sediment in South Canyon. When it looked like the fun was over, we climbed up and out of the canyon and followed a trail on the true left back down to the river. Round trip the canyon took us about 1hr 20min. Good timing since the day was far from over.
Packrafting to Redwall Cavern. We saddled our boats, drifted through the far right of the next riffle and pulled hard to eddy out at Vasey's Paradise, a neat twin waterfall emerging from an extensive cave system. We snapped photos and replenished water before paddling onward. From Vasey's to Redwall Cavern the river slows considerably as it flows down a long corridor between the unbroken Redwall cliffs. At Mile 32.6 we could just make out the anchored rebar of the Rebar Route, our planned escape after a visit to Redwall Cavern downstream. The route looked reasonably terrifying at the distance of the river!
We paddled the rest of the way down this silent corridor to Redwall
Cavern on the outside corner. Since this special place is only
accessible by the river, it is traditionally only visited by river
rafters. The "cavern" is really only a very impressive alcove just above
river level. Powell once estimated that the alcove could hold 50,000
people- this seems like a gross overestimate but the void is impressive
nonetheless. From its back the layers and textures in the rock and sand
sweep out towards the panoramic view of the river. There is a reason it
is one of the few places in the Grand Canyon closed to camping- everyone
would want to camp there! It is also possibly one of the best places in
the world to toss a frisbee. After we had our fill we got back into our
kayaks, portaged the very small riffle just upstream and paddled hard
against the current to the base of the Rebar Route.
The Rebar route. We snacked as we waited for our suits and boats to dry in the warm sun. We then put on harnesses and helmets, and organized the little bit of climbing/canyoneering gear we brought just in case we needed it. The Rebar Route is a 200ft-high steep slope with a heavy duty rebar pounded in every 15-20ft. Although technically it would not be a difficult climb, it was extremely exposed and we had our packs to complicate things. We free climbed to the right of the rebar up a slight nose and under a roof to reach a 6in-wide ledge we could traverse sideways to put us onto the rebar route proper. Here I attached myself to a rebar while Jeff boldly led the rest of the climb to a spacious platform. At a distance the climb seemed like a difficult slab, but the limestone had karstic weathering which provided the most perfect grip for our 5.10 canyoneer shoes. We traversed the platform sideways to the next part of the climb. Although this part of the climb was steeper and technically the hardest, the immediate exposure was less so we tackled it without ropes. Another traverse on ledges brought us to the safety of a scenic balcony above a dryfall (what a spectacular camp it would make!). A few more short climbs up dry falls led to blazing sun on top of the Redwall.
Dam Builder's Trail back to rim. We soon picked up the surprisingly well-worn Dam Builder's Trail back towards or gear cache at Shinumo. Here we put in many miles, the 5.10 shoes destroying both Jeff and my feet. We stopped about halfway to change footwear- I wore sock and Crocs, Jeff wore sandals barefoot. This slog dragged on forever and surprisingly had lots of up and down as the trail weaved in and out of minor drainages and rockslides. At least the towering views down into the canyon below were very nice. We were thrilled to reach our gear cache and change into hiking shoes. Unfortunately by this time most of the damage had been done, and we walk-limped our way back up Shinumo Wash. We did a better job of picking out the faint cairns marking sections of the trail, which made the travel much better. Virtually the whole way up Shinumo was now in the shade which was also desirable. We reached the rim and the car just as the sun set. I was certainly tired and hungry but felt much less smashed than after Garden Creek. Jeff's knees and feet were in poor shape, and on the drive out it was decided we would have to pass on another long and hard day in Big Canyon the next day, despite permits being arranged. So we drove through Flagstaff and ended up camping outside of Winslow. Although another day would have been the icing on the cake, we both had a fantastic 3 days in the Big Ditch. I cannot wait to get back there!
Thanks to Jeff. Photos of me taken by him.
