This was the big one. Said by many to be one of the classic canyoning/hiking/packrafting loops in the Grand Canyon. A hike from the rim down 150 Mile Canyon, up Matkatimiba Canyon, looping through Panameta Canyon, crossing the Esplanade into and down Olo Canyon, packrafting the river back to 150 Mile, and then back up 150 Mile to the rim. At least that was the plan. Reality dictated otherwise as the other three just came off of a long trip, we tried to navigate the maze of north rim roads at dark, got a late start, and had two in the party relatively new to canyoning and completely new to Grand Canyon hiking. All those factors unfortunately played against us but we still managed a great trip with 3 canyons by cutting the supposedly spectacular Olo from our plans. Nevertheless the trip was amazing and I had a terribly hard time narrowing down photos for this post.
The trip really felt like it started with the drive in. It was dark shortly after we turned unto the long Mt Trumbull Road headed for the big ditch. Although we had good directions and a GPS with maps, the darkness worked against us resulting in a crucial junction being passed unnoticed. We then spent well over an hour trying to use other marked roads to get back to where we needed to, resulting in lots of backing up, u-turns, and even a pretty solid bottoming out for me. Eventually we retreated most the way back and found the right junction. By now we were tired and had learned just how difficult navigating these roads were at dark. We collapsed near a corral, ready to give it another go in the daylight.
After considerable time spent packing, we finally set off- this time finding the right road much easier. Jeff performed admirably piloting his low slung Honda Civic on the rough road. At one point we had to assist him so that his car could execute a diagonal teeter-totter. Very impressive. We made it to the rim sometime around 11am. Kaibab Limestone; Jeff and I knew what that meant, it would be a long way down to reach the Muav Limestone at the river. At least we seemed to a reasonably well-trod trail with some cairns. In only about a half hour we were down through the Coconino where the canyon levels out in the Kaibab. We boulder hopped and cactus avoided our way downcanyon. Some Supai narrows began to appear and provided excellent hiking on slickrock pavements with only a couple dryfalls to bypass.
The Supai narrows briefly abated before we reached the obvious start of the Redwall. Fortunately the route description became quite helpful here and we quickly found the abseil point into the canyon on the true left and the climbing route that would be our exit in several days time. I had to admit the abseil looked pretty intimidating- a razor-sharp prow of Redwall bulging into a black void below. After adding some webbing I went down first- not as bad as it looked. The rest followed and we were on our way. A couple turns in the corridor and it was time to put our wetsuits on.
We suited up at the first chockstone rappel. There was a total of six of these rappels that we would have to get back up on our return. Rather than carry 300ft of extra rope to leave on these drops we set up paracord loops through the anchors which reached the bottom of the drop so that when we returned to them we could tie on our rope and hoist it up and back down like a flagpole. These little pieces of paracord were our only escape option so we left a "do not remove or we will die" note on the first and last just in case someone happened to come this way after us.
The canyon quickly exceeded my expectations. Far from being just the commuter route I thought it was, 150 Mile turned out to be extremely beautiful and a definite highlight. Classic creamy white water-sculpted Redwall below and golden weathered Redwall above. A narrow echo-y slot with pools almost the whole length, surprisingly long and sustained narrows. Temperature: perfect.
Past the sixth chockstone rappel we hit the nice striped layer 2/3 of the way down the Redwall, making for beautiful patio sections. One more section required a bypass, then the pools gave way to more gravel wash and boulders. We de-suited and ditched the excess gear we did not need until the way back up. Further down we had to take an impressive 1/4mi long bypass that took us on a wild ride along narrow ledges well over a hundred feet above the canyon floor before a rock chute eventually led us down. We accidentally cornered a frightened mountain goat kid surprised to see us- we stopped and watched his impressive climbing skills as he backed himself onto a dead-end ledge, then took an impressive leap and ran off over the rough terrain and out of sight. More bouldery streambed led us to the top of the Muav narrows just as dark set in. Here we made a crucial mistake...
The information we had suggested three options: (1) go down the Muav narrows to the 150 Mile mouth which involved at least three obstacles including a 35ft rappel, 30ft rappel and 10ft drop, (2) take a short bypass on a narrow ledge to find a key place near the canyon mouth where it was possible to downclimb vertically with some difficulty, and (3) a long and rough 3/4mi detour on ledges and slopes to a place where the river's edge could be accessed. The first two options sounded horrible and potentially unsafe in the dark so we opted for the third. If only we chose the first! Hindsight would have showed that the 35ft rappel was clean and easy and the two remaining obstacles were nothing like they were described by the beta- easily downclimbable or upclimbable and no water to necessitate wetsuits. We would have been at the river with our choice of camp spots in 20 minutes. Woe is us! Instead we had a late night death marched over loose and trailess boulder piles as we kept wondering whether we had gone 3/4 mi (which of course we hadn't). This traverse wore us out to the point of frustration but eventually we reached the gully that took us to the river. With a little searching I found a few flat patches of sand at the base of the cliff, so we called it a night.
Morning revealed this to have been the best camp in a 1/4mi radius so it was quite fortunate we found it the night before. As if mocking all of our efforts so far, an enormous powered raft cheerfully floated past effortlessly, followed by a group of rafters. It felt like a parade, except we were the show. Groggily we packed, inflated boats and set off upriver to the place we would be able to cross the current of the river and land on the south side. We then deflated the boats, packed, and hiked up onto cactus laden benches above the river, headed for Matkatimiba Canyon. Fortunately as we headed toward the canyon (and Matkat Hotel below, a popular rafter camp) the trail became very well defined and we made great time.
We took a mandatory stop in the shade of the Matkat patio and discussed our options. If we all wanted to get on the road at a reasonable time on Friday we would do well to be out of the ditch and back at our cars by the end of Thursday. We just did not have the time for the full trip we proposed with the pace we were currently making. It took some indecision and weighing of options but we eventually decided to pass on the loop through Olo and instead proposed a third day which would take us through Panameta Canyon and then back to the mouth of 150 Mile- this was the only way I could see us getting out in a day as the packraft setup/breakdown would suck precious time from us and the climb out would be long and exhausting. It was disappointing not to see Olo, but I was looking forward to Panameta, especially without packs! This new plan instantly made out current day 2 the rest and recover day so we had a leisurely lunch at this great spot. Some nude sunbathing was even had by a nameless individual- the rest of us hoped for a group of surprised rafters to suddenly appear.
The hike up Matkatimiba was incredibly pleasant. Any canyon that has running water, and beautiful pools but lets you keep your feet dry is alright by me. Although the sun was high we were in the shade most of the time due to the incredibly sinuous nature of the canyon. Six full canyon meanders up we reached a good looking camp spot next to a few plunge pools and the only pool in the canyon requiring wading. We dropped packs and explored up to the junction of the two Matkat branches- we had found the best camp spot. It was only 2-3p by this time so we each chose how we wanted to spend it. I carved out a choice spot and take a nap, Mike jumped into our pool, Jeff climbed to a lofty perch. After, we all watched the evening's entertainment- frogs! They were everywhere and determined to let all of their neighbors and potential mates know exactly where they were. They sounded like geese, donkeys, ducks, aliens- everything but frogs. The chorus was incredible, easily one of the most memorable highlights of the trip. As we ate dinner we tried to spot them when they were croaking and observed how they jockeyed for positions. Fortunately I brought earplugs which were essential to combating the deafening echoes of the frog chorus. I have no idea how the others managed to sleep!
The frogs were still going to some extent when we awoke but most of the noise responsibilities had been passed on to the dawn chorus of birds. We packed all of our things into the hood of my pack and Jeff's haul bag and slung the rest around us. By going light we were going to be able to make the best time and enjoy the canyon to its fullest. Off we headed up the south arm of Matkat. A couple dryfalls to navigate but otherwise pleasant and easy travel through some nice remote canyon. The exit out of the canyon could not have been more obvious- a boulder jam thoroughly blocked travel further upcanyon. We walked very well defined wild burro trails on top of the Redwall around to the head of the north fork. We were certainly getting a great diversity of views in on this trip.
Panameta turned out to be a very nice canyon, one of the wetter Redwall slots I have been in. It had fresh mudlines on the walls indicating a flash flood recently. A few footprints post-dated this flood which I was happy about as it probably meant we would find good anchors at all the abseils which would save us a lot of time. The canyon had several swims and even a couple jumps. One of the more picturesque drops was a nice chute rappel with a freehanging chockstone in front. The middle of this canyon had a really nice pool-drop-pool-drop section that was lots of fun and even required a meat anchor and shallow jump to get us down. The grand finale for the canyon was a big 100ft rappel with a very awkward start from a hole behind a freehanging chockstone surrounded by a false floor. Unfortunately I spent probably 10+min de-tangling our paracord pullcord. Happily once at the bottom the pull worked well. One more short drop took us to the obvious end of the canyon, and a short distance further the perfect changing rock.
We made good time back down the north branch to camp, collected out things and headed for the mouth of Matkat. We changed, watered and recovered our stashed gear at the patio, then strolled down the short, but stunningly beautiful Muav narrows of Matkat to the canyon's mouth where Matkatimiba Rapid roared.
We spent a bit of time scouting the best way to tackle this rapid in our small boats. We came to a consensus that the least mayhem would be produced by a run down the right of the tongue, where there was a narrow strip of safety between rocks and a packraft swallowing hole. This line would keep us clear of the meat of the enormous wave train below the main tongue. Unfortunately this meant we had to get to the other side somehow. I found that above water and barely underwater ledges were continuous upstream of the Matkat mouth which allowed us to put-in several hundred feet above the rapid, plenty of room to position ourselves however we wanted. We set the line-up: Mike, Jeff, Jesse, me. All made it through easily and had a good ride in the process.
We said hello to two private groups of rafters at the Matkat Hotel. We had been the first packrafts they had seen in 20+days on the river. When we were offered leftovers by these friendly folks it was impossible to say no. Soon we were gathered around their table enjoying shepherd's pie, cake, PBR, and even frosting on spoons! They were a merry bunch and we were sorry to have to turn down their offer of camping with them- tomorrow would be long enough! Meanwhile Mike sneakily (and boldly) secured us another beer from the other group for our dinner later. We waved our goodbyes and floated onward through this peaceful stretch of canyon. It was now nearing dusk but we had no concerns as there were no obstacles until Upset Rapid just past our take-out.
We found a good place to take-out and found excellent camping and staging areas near the mouth of 150 Mile. Our gear was set-out to dry as we got on to dinner. I slept soundly on a comfortable bed of soft sand beneath an overhang near the river. Excellent hiking, canyoning, packrafting- it had been a most satisfying day.
The climb out from the mouth of 150 Mile had looked heinous in the
flashlight-shadowed light of the night before, but in daylight we could
at least see that the bottom was clearly the crux and the rest just
exposed. Jeff and I explored up the Muav narrows to the base of the 35ft rappel- if only we had gone this way on our way down! One by one we climbed up the exposed climb with Upset Rapid roaring in the distance. Once up we snapped a group photo while trying to scout a packraft route through Upset (luck would probably be involved!).
We then found the narrow ledge we were meant to take as the bypass previously- wonderfully sketchy with loose rocks consistently being kicked into the 60+ft depths of the narrows below us. We then returned back up 150 Mile the way we came, or at least intended to. We made the crucial mistake of missing the long 1/4mi bypass which only became obvious once we encountered an unfamiliar dryfall. Rather than the obvious solution of going back to find the bypass, we decided to try our luck climbing around this dryfall. Although somewhat exposed we found two easy ways to do this only to realize there should be another (presumably unclimbable) dryfall further. The bypass trail was 100ft above us, with lots of sketchy rock and cliff bands between us and it. We went for it...carefully. There were a few tense moments but we were soon back on track.
Reversing the technical narrows turned out to go pretty smoothly as one person was ascending the others passed packs up a loose end of the rope. The canyon was no less pretty this second time around. The last climb out of the narrows was straightforward after the sketchier climbing earlier. We collapsed in the shade at the head of the Redwall narrows while our gear and wetsuits dried to a crisp in the sun.
We rested about an hour in the shade which cunningly was enough time to make almost the entire rest of the hike out in the shade. On the way a rattlesnake kindly told us where he was. We put in our time, reaching the car at the last pastel colors of sunset. This gave us enough time to get out of the roughest part of the roads with light. Make at Mt Trumbull Road the allure of someone else making food was too great and we drove on to Kanab with high hopes. Unfortunately options were few by the time we reached it so we suffered through some gas station Wendy's before setting off to camp. In the morning we parted ways. Thanks to Jeff, Mike and Jesse for a great trip.
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