Cove had been on my radar for about four years but never really happened, even after securing a permit for it earlier this year. I'd envisioned enjoying it as a quick run through, but with Sara recently getting her own Alpacka and Keith's daughter's newfound interest in canyoning, I instead decided the trip could be a grand introduction for the three of them to multi-day Grand Canyon canyoning/packrafting trips. And here we were in the narrow window between too hot and way too cold. The Cove trip is purported to be one of the best in the canyon, one of the few "five star" Grand Canyon slots I had yet to visit. One of its main selling points is multiple narrows and rappels in every major rock unit descended. The stretch of river to packraft is relatively beginner friendly and ends just above the dramatic Lava Falls Rapid. The steep uphill climb up Lava Falls back to the rim, while gruesome, at least gets the elevation done in a very efficient manner. In short, a decent fun to effort ratio, for the Grand Canyon at least.
We left Redlands later than hoped which led to a long drive, long night and inevitable midnight camp on the side of a very long dirt road. We packed up early in the morning, noting the crisp air at the high altitude, and hoping for cooler temperatures in the canyon. Surprisingly we found lots of standing pools of water on the road and on the slickrock from recent rains. This meant we should find no shortage of water in the canyon (true), but that the Colorado might be a muddy debris flow and not a water source (also true). Keith's Subaru gallantly delivered us to the Tuckup Trailhead near Toroweap where a nice slickrock patio provided a great surface for last minute careful decisions on packing. Soon we set off on a good but curvy trail across the Esplanade. Miles turned into miles, but the temperature was comfortable and the scenery great with nice cacti and vantages. As we turned the corner towards the large amphitheater at the head of Cove, I opted for a higher off-trail bench "shortcut" that proved slower, rougher, but at least offered wonderful views of the others traversing the slickrock below me.
As we neared the drop-in point at the head of the amphitheater the trail became less certain and the route even more sinuous as we had to cross heads of several tributary washes. After about 3.5 hours and 8.5 miles we finally entered the canyon and a couple hundred feet further approached our first rappel. I was happy to see that despite the recent rains there appeared to be no storm damage in the canyon (at least here) and there were some pretty fresh anchors to use. This would be a welcome time saver. We had several rappels through the Supai in relatively short succession, each horribly awkward with overhanging ledges and heavy packs. We must not have gotten to the good part yet because this was two-star canyon material! There were nice pools and greenery, and walls that grew as we descended. We had a quick lunch once down the last Supai rappel.
We turned a corner and the canyon opened wide. We dropped lots of elevation as we scrambled our way down, around, and through large boulders. This slowed us down some but soon we reached the grey sculpted polish of the Redwall and a few steps further our first wall-to-wall pool at the start of the Redwall narrows. Unsure what to expect in the slot, we mistakenly suited up. It turned out we could have gotten through with only thigh-depth wading and this was just about the deepest unavoidable pool on the trip. I always have high expectations for the Redwall. Unfortunately it was a little late in the day and the best golden light had past. It was nice with a few good twists and drops, but it was extremely short and over too soon. A few of the drops were awkward enough to make pack passing worthwhile.
A few more twists and the Redwall relinquished. With the last of the
light we scrambled further down the canyon, assessing the limited camping
options as we went. As we later found out the spot we settled on turned
out to be the best for quite a distance and itself was perfectly adequate if well short of where I hoped we would get. It was good to drop the pack
and have a warm dinner. Somewhere an owl was hooting echoes across the
canyon. The night was a little cold but pleasant enough. It was great to
be in the middle of the canyon and I had high hopes tomorrow would be
even better, especially since we still had so far to go still.
Day 2 started with more scrambling and walking including some trickier stretches than the first day, in some cases with only one particular way to bypass a difficult boulder pile. Learning from the previous day, we set off without wetsuits which was much more comfortable. As we approached Big Point Canyon things got even better. Lovely banded walls and lush Temple Butte patios, terraced like ancient ruins. Nice campsite too. It would have been tempting to stop but we had lots of miles to cover still.
Another chockstone bypass rappel was followed by a surprisingly abrupt horizonline. Finally! This was a nice drop! A beautiful sculpted chute dropping down a lightly flowing waterfall to a pool, which then turned a corner into the deeper unknown. This was easily the best rappel in the canyon. It was followed shortly by a nice downclimb into a wider place in the canyon- this is where we should have camped!
More wash walking ensued, mixed with nice patios, scrambling, and the occasional chockstone waterfall. I was pleasantly surprised how lush this canyon was. There was flowing water almost continually. This last Muav narrows wasn't quite as narrow as the first two but had some excellent golden light on it's finely bedded walls. A few of the drops in this last narrows were quite spectacular.
Finally we turned the corner and the canyon widened for the last time, offering our first view of the opposite wall of the Grand Canyon. While it looked like we were home free, there were still several downclimbs (including one quite exposed one) and one last overhanging rappel to navigate. We had lunch near the hanging pool just above the last falls and filled our water supply to the max (from here we would find only be muddy Colorado water).
Easy wash-walking found us at the Colorado's edge at the biggest riffle we'd encounter on the five mile stretch. We walked upstream to a nice beach to get set up to switch into boat mode, as the sun and shadows shifted wildly around us in the canyon's bottom. This took a bit of time but we still had some light and plenty of camping options now that we were at the river. And then we set off. The first riffle turned out to be a bunch of fun for everybody (including Sara, her first real GC riffle). A few more wave trains later on added to the fun as well. Keith and I were in Supais and so turned into bathtubs at each major wave train. Good fun. We paddled some of the flat stretches but also mostly took in the view as we went, enjoying the tall walls and the long corridors. To Keith and my surprise we very quickly approached Vulcan's Anvil, the ominous black lava plug in the middle of the river signalling the roar of Lava Falls Rapid one mile downstream. We were making incredible time which meant we could camp immediately above Lava, let our boats and gear dry overnight and be ready to set off up the hill the next morning.
We pulled into the docking area where raft groups dock to scout Lava Falls, which fortunately had flat sandy areas for our nimble group of four to camp. With boats and gear secured, we used the last of the daylight to walk down to the overlook of Lava where Keith told several stories of bravery and misadventure. Another warm meal, a little less cool night, and unconsciousness.
I awoke from a good night's sleep to find much of my gear (and sleeping bag) heavily dewed by the wet vegetation, which slowed us down a little on packing, but not too bad. We were out of camp and following a faint meandering uphill trail on legs and hands by 7:30a. Progress was initially quite good and the views improved. Eventually we hit the sun which slowed us somewhat. Hot for so early in the morning, I can't imagine afternoon in the summer on the black rocks! We reached a cliffed out lava amphitheater where the trail seemed to fade. We spent a fair bit of time scouting, unsure where the trail went. I checked the last place there could possibly be a way of breaking through and was surprised to find a subtle and delicate route meandering its way up a cliff side. With time and care we made good work of this obstacle and carried on smoothly, but slowly, the rest of the way towards the top. The heat increased, but so did the length of views. The Colorado disappeared out of sight into the deep chasm below us. After over three hours we made it back to the rim. Keith opted to complete the car shuttle by running but found out the road was closed, leaving us with a final 1.5 mile slog across the Esplanade. We celebrated with cold ginger beers Keith had cleverly stashed in his cooler, and then set off on the long drive home.
Cove was a great trip and the canyon had several high points. The number of awkward overhanging rappels (especially in the Supai) did degrade the experience somewhat and the canyon lacked some of the "wow" I've been spoiled with by other canyons in the GC recently. The stretch of river was great, but over rather soon. The exit was about the easiest and shortest possible in the main canyon. Not the best Grand Canyon trip, but certainly a worthwhile and memorable one. Thanks to Keith, Sara, and Maia.
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