Rim2Rim2Rim Backpack, Day 1, Grand Canyon, May 2021

This posting has nothing to do with Virginia, and is instead my attempt to document details of a Grand Canyon 5 day backpacking trip I took in May, 2021.

This trip is really the culmination of every other trip I have taken to the Grand Canyon during my lifetime, 3 backpacking trips and one dayhike.  They are as follows:

1974 - Traveling as a part of a summer high school class, we camped on the North Rim then backpacked down the North Kaibab Trail for a night, returning by the same route to the North Rim after camping overnight at Roaring Springs.

1982 or 1983 - While in grad school, I returned to the GCNP with a college friend without backcountry reservations.  Instead, we dayhiked down the South Kaibab Trail to a spot known as the Tipoff before returning via the same trail and then driving 170 miles that same day to the Jacob Lake Campground in the Kaibab National Forest.

2008 - Backpacked down the South Kaibab Trail to the Bright Angel Campground, stayed two nights, then ascended back to the South Rim via the Bright Angel Trail.

2010 - Backpacked half way down the South Rim with my ten year old son to Indian Garden Campground, spent the night there, and hiked out to Plateau Point before returning the next day to the South Rim.

This trip connected routes previously taken on these other outings, and brought back many memories of each trip.

Planning the Trip

This trip was completed with my son Will, his longtime friend (and fellow Eagle Scout) Cole, and Cole's grandfather, Mike.  Will and Cole and I had backpacked together in 2016 as part of our Scout Troop's trip to Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico, over 11 days.

This 2021 trip was originally scheduled to occur in 2020 but was delayed due to the pandemic.  This actually proved to be an advantage for our group.  My original plan was to hike from the South Rim to Cottonwood Campground on Day 1 (halfway up the North Rim) for the first night, then spend 2 nights at Bright Angel Campground on the Colorado River, and one night at Indian Garden Campground, halfway up the South Rim before returning to the South Rim.  This itinerary would not have permitted us to hike to both rims (R2R).  The NPS cancelled our May 2020 trip and did not refund our permit cost - $170.

Instead, the NPS gave us the option to rebook in either 2021 or 2022 for the same number of people and the same number of nights, and allowed us to apply for the permits 6 months in advance of our outing.  Usually, the NPS books only 5 months ahead.

This created several advantages for us.  When booking the normal 5 months ahead, the backpacker needs to be flexible in both dates and locations.  So when applying for a 5 day/4 night outing, the backpacker does not know the exact dates and campgrounds until several weeks later.  Depending on the request, the actual dates issued might be several days away from the original request.

Having a 6 month window instead of the 5 month window meant that I had a much greater chance of getting exactly the dates and locations I desired.  Figuring this would be the case, I could obtain lodge reservations on the South Rim for the night before our hike a year in advance.  And I could obtain Zion and Bryce camping reservations 6 months to the day before I planned to be at those parks - on the days those reservations became available.  

I could also re-think what I really wanted to accomplish in the Grand Canyon.  I increased the length and scope of our backpack so that we asked for a different plan, which would allow for us to hike from the South Rim to the North Rim and then back to the South Rim over 4 nights and 5 days.  The details are shown below.

Travelling to the South Rim

We flew in and out of Las Vegas, and I worried most about obtaining the mid-sized SUV that we had reserved through Costco Travel back in January from Alamo rental.  Multiple news stories talked about a shortage of rental cars after the pandemic.  It turned out not to be an issue.  I signed up through Alamo to "skip the counter" and go straight to the fleet.  A woman there told us they were out of mid-sized vehicles, and gave us instead our choice between three nearly identical Chevy Equinox, a full-sized SUV.  We spent a night in a Vegas casino before driving to GCNP.  

My casino choice was less than optimal.  I chose the Sahara, which is in the middle of the Strip, near the big tower shown in the photos below.  It also isn't near much of anything on the Strip, with the older casino area about a mile to the north, and the current central Strip area, from Treasure Island south to the Luxor, a mile to the south.  The Sahara's casino was pretty dead - not what the younger hikers wanted.

But the views out the room window were pretty great, and changed based on the time of day.

We were on the road the next morning before 7AM local time, picked up fast food breakfast in Hendersonville, and crossed into Arizona by about 7:40AM.  Stopped for a bathroom break in Kingman, then took Old US 66 to Seligman before stopping for groceries at a Safeway in Williams, Arizona that I stopped at with Will on the way to our 2010 Grand Canyon trip.

We headed north to the Grand Canyon's South Rim Entrance, which took us a half hour in line to get through.  

We had a park pass, but it didn't really help us get into the park faster.  There is a separate lane for vehicles with passes, but the lane doesn't appear until relatively close to the toll booths.  

We were early enough that we could make our reservation for an early dinner at the Fred Harvey Tavern, located in the Bright Angel Lodge and containing a bar I had visited at the end of my 2008 hike.  After that, we pulled out all of our packs, divided up the food, and had everything ready for a 4:30 AM meeting time.

I slept hardly at all that night, thinking about all the details.  I was up by 4 and had everyone ready by 4:30.  We drove to the Backcountry Information Center, where we stored our vehicle for the trip and got in line for the 5 AM bus.  We ended up the first group not to make the first bus, but were loaded on a second bus that arrived shortly after the first bus left.  It took us to the South Kaibab Trailhead just as it was starting to get light out.

Day 1: South Kaibab Trail to Bright Angel Campground

The trailhead was surprisingly crowded.  The only way to get there is via shuttle busses or walking - no private vehicles are allowed to drive to the trailhead.  We took some obligatory pre-hike group photos, then dropped off of the Rim.

It was pretty chilly to start - about 32 degrees when we got up.  We each had several layers, which were shed fairly quickly as we descended.  We let the younger hikers go at their own pace, instructing them to stop at pre-determined landmarks to re-group.  As a result, I was able to take multiple action shots of the younger hikers as they sped down the trail.

We first stopped at Cedar Ridge, which included restrooms and a mule corral.  I had stopped here in 2008 and took a similar photo on this outing.  2008 is on the left, below.

The trail continues to descend, with expansive views in every direction. 

 

At the 2.5 mile mark, just under 90 minutes into our hike, we reached a series of switchbacks that I have photographed every time I've hiked this trail.

First in 1982 or 83.

Then in 2008.

And a better recreation in 2021, this time showing my son.

We descend 500 feet over the next 0.6 miles via a series of switchbacks before leveling off and coming into view of the privies and shade shelter at the South Kaibab's intersection with the Tonto Trail.

You can see two structures in the distance in the photo above.  There is only one in the photo from 2008, along with several mules.  The second structure is a shade shack, built a couple of years ago using materials dropped by helicopter.  We spent 15 minutes in the shade, stretching and hydrating.  The new structure is much appreciated!

Just past the shade shack is a spot called The Tipoff, where the Colorado River is clearly visible.  In 1982/3, we hiked to this point, took some photos, and turned around to ascend back to the South Rim. My recollection in 2008 was that the hike after this became much more difficult - surprisingly so for a relatively short hike that is almost all downhill.  But the mules really dig up the trail, and consequently a hiker has to step up over the wooden ties in place to prevent trail erosion.  It has an effect after a while that is greater than the short distance would indicate.

We let the young guns hike ahead at this point, giving them the backcountry permit and instructing them to hike to Bright Angel Campground and select the best campsite with shade that they could find. In the first photo below, you can see them hking well ahead and below our position.

We reached the campsite just after 11:30 AM, and spent much of the afternoon recuperating, before heading to Phantom Ranch at 6 for a steak dinner - purchased several months earlier before we learned that we would not be eating in the building, but would receive bagged meals to eat outside on picnic tables.  Definitely disappointing, and we would not have bought them if we had known.  

Day 2 description: Link.

Sierra Club Presentation: Finding the Trail Less Traveled

Click on the link below for a copy of the slides I used in my April 14, 2021 Sierra Club presentation on lesser used Virginia hiking trails.  

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LudGpWWN11bkL1cZL2cfXAta_3Ju6MAh/view?usp=sharing

Here is a copy of the actual presentation.  

https://fb.watch/556X0YRtWU/

Maps featured included the following:

Carr Mtn Trail and Snake Hollow Trail, GWNF

This posting is part of my effort to document trails in the North River District of the George Washington National Forest that don't have much in the way of online descriptions. Like much of the North River District north of US 33, this trailhead is tough to find and involves a drive over difficult Forest Service roads. We came in via Broadway, Bergton, and Criders, driving in from the north for the northern portion of this trail and accessing via the rough Snake Hollow Road and tough-to-find Snake Hollow Trail. 

Several weeks later we returned to access the southern portion of the trail via forest service roads from the south, and these roads were in such terrible shape that I would never recommend them to anyone not driving a Jeep. The German River Road's southern section set a new personal record for the worst forest service road I've ever driven on, even surpassing a road on Shenandoah Mountain that basically murdered a Subaru Outback I once owned - that car never made it back to Charlottesville after driving to the Benson Run Trailhead.

In between these two access points, local landowners claim (apparently without legal basis) that there is no public access to German River Road from the north (via Bergton).  One map we found showed a gate on this road, and we did not push the point, though we have since heard that others have made the drive on this section without incident.  Below I recommend the best way to access a trailhead - via the Snake Hollow Road.

The Carr Mountain Trail is likely the most obscure trail in the North River Ranger District.  The only way I found out about it was a reference to the trail in the PATC's guidebook to the Virginia section of the Great Eastern Trail (GET).  It can also be found on a brochure for the proposed Beech Lick Knob Wilderness, as the trail forms part of the Wilderness boundary.  Link. This trail is a part of the long distance GET, and was built back in 2012 - 2014 due to construction of the GET.  Construction was completed by the PATC's Southern Shenandoah Valley Chapter and mountain bike groups. Link.  

Further isolating this trail from any use is the fact that it isn't found on either of the National Geographic/Trails Illustrated maps covering this area, though they do show the Snake Hollow Trail. (Much of my continuing issue with these maps is the mistakes I continually find in their coverage - I am genuinely convinced that the only change to these maps each time one is revised is to increase the price of the map.) 

The North River District also publishes a list of its trails and this one is not on that list.  The list is pretty old - it also fails to include all of the trails that were in the old Deerfield Ranger District, which merged with the Dry River District to become the North River District a couple of decades ago.  But I found this list still publicly distributed by the Forest Service as recently as the Summer of 2020, without updates.

Getting to the northern end of the Carr Mtn Trail is difficult, but I found it easier than reaching the south end.  The best way to do this is to take the Snake Hollow Road.  The SHR is a somewhat rough road that is easy to miss when driving south on the German River Road from the tiny town of Criders. 

This map shows the Snake Hollow Road, but incorrectly indicates that it does not connect to the German River Road.

Follow the Snake Hollow Road to its end at the red mark, where you park.  High clearance vehicles recommended.  There is a gate here, and the road continues past the gate.  There is also a trail marker, as this is where the Snake Hollow Trail (#517) now starts.  

The trail uses the old road for its first mile, until the road ends.  Above the road's end, on a steep slope perhaps 100 feet uphill, is a white shed and an antenna that appears to no longer be in use.  Maps seem to indicate that the road once connected this point with the top of White Grass Knob, about 500 feet above, but the slope is so steep that such a road does not seem to have ever been possible.

From here, a trail heads east along the slope, marked by faded yellow blazes.  

The trail eventually comes out into a flatter area that appears to have once been an orchard.  

It is harder to follow here, but it continues east until it reaches a woods road called the Blue Hole Road (FR 302), 0.7 miles after the end of the old road and 1.8 miles after the gate where you must park a vehicle.  This road is pretty grass covered, and it is hard to believe that it is ever open to traffic.  And it may not be - North River District documents indicate it is open in August of every even numbered year, but I found it gated during August 2020.  This road is part of the Great Eastern Trail, and the guidebook indicates that the road at this point is 6.4 miles from where it is gated, just south of the Forest Service's Blue Hole recreation area.

Take a right here onto the road (shown above), and soon the road ends and a trail sign for the Carr Mountain Trail can be found, shown below and at the beginning of this post. The area along this trail has a number of flat spots ideal for camping. 

 

The trail follows an old road bed while climbing over approximately the next mile.  It then doglegs right and continues to climb.  For about the next 3.5 miles, the trail forms the approximate western boundary for the proposed 6,200 acre Beech Lick Knob Wilderness.  This Wilderness is exceptionally wild for this part of the country, with no trails or roads within its active boundary.  The Carr Mountain Trail ultimately ascends 850 feet over about 2.8 miles before reaching a ridge a little west of Beech Lick Knob and starting to drop down the other side.  The trail never summits the 3280 foot Beech Lick Knob.

In the Beech Lick Knob area is where some mystery still exists for me.  In conversing with PATC members who built this trail, all claim that the trail splits around Beech Lick Knob, with a bike trail on the western slope of the mountain and a hiking trail on the eastern slope.  We found no evidence of the hiking trail, despite looking hard for a decommissioned trail in the same area called the Clay Lick Trail. When I return to this trail, likely in the Spring, looking for the hiking route will be at the top of my list.

We stopped at the ridge just west of Beech Lick Knob (described above) to have lunch.  This was the high point of the trail.  At this point, the views along the trail switch, as the slope the trail followed up to this point is gone, and views change from northwest to southwestern and then southeastern views as the trail heads toward a point near the summit of the 3100 foot high Carr Mountain.

Somewhere between Carr Mountain and Beech Lick Knob the missing hiking trail portion of this route merges back in to the bike trail.  (Note: we followed the bike trail and had no problem following that.  The map included with this posting shows only the bike trail.  Neither trail is used hardly at all.)  As we started to climb Carr Mountain, we had some difficulty following the trail.  Just know that the trail climbs the ridge towards the summit of Carr Mountain before cutting around the summit on the left (east) side near the top.  The trail is easy to see as it skirts the summit of Carr Mountain.

Shortly after the Carr Mountain Summit the trail again rides a ridge for a short time before cutting right, eventually heading compass west.  We had a little difficulty following the trail here, but found our way by searching for blazes on trees.  From this point, the trail drops in elevation until it reaches the German River Road, shortly after passing under some power lines and merging into an old road that appears to access a tower holding these lines. 

At the German River Road, the trail has no sign, but it appears like a road with blazes indicating its trail status.

Despite the remoteness of both trails and the difficulty in reaching them, we found the Carr Mountain Trail to be in really good shape with the exception of a couple of spots where we had difficulty finding the trail.  The Snake Hollow Trail is a little sketchier, but overall not a bad trail.  If you want to hike in an area that is incredibly remote and isolated, this trail is an ideal choice.  The trip is easier with a GPS receiver that has both trails loaded onto the unit.  You can email me at jeff@hikingupward.com if you want the tracks.

Total length:

Carr Mountain Trail: 6.3 miles

Snake Hollow Trail: 1.6 miles

Blue Hole Road connecting trails: 0.2 miles

Total: 8.1 miles each way.

Little Stoney Trail, George Washington National Forest

This posting is part of my effort to document trails in the North River District of the George Washington National Forest that don't have much in the way of online descriptions. The Little Stoney Trail (#1027) is one of eight trails that ascend the western slope of Shenandoah Mountain.  It is the southernmost of the five trails (of these eight) that are primarily located in West Virginia, as they climb Shenandoah Mountain where the mountain's ridge forms the boundary between Virginia and West Virginia.  All of these trails are relatively short, but have exceptionally steep sections.  This hike, at 4.6 miles roundtrip, left my legs more spent than the average sub-5 mile hike does (or should).

The Little Stoney Trail is listed on the Trails Illustrated Staunton/Shenandoah Mtn Map #791 as a hiker only trail.  It is probably also a winter only trail, given the difference in my experience looking at the trailhead twice in 2020.  Above is a photo taken in November, and below is a photo taken of the same area in July, both looking at the trail's start from the parking lot.  No way I was wading into that back in July!  

There are two trailheads for this hike, on the trail's eastern and western ends.  From my home in Central Virginia, the eastern trailhead is much closer.  I also believe, however, that the trail is easier to follow from the summit than it is from the lower part of the trail.  Below is a hike description that attempts to guide a first timer coming from either direction.  Overall, I did not find the trail that hard to follow - a surprise, because an experienced hiker I know told me that he and a colleague gave up when trying to hike this trail, due to inability to follow its route.  I had a route in my GPS which helped resolve any questions I had when hiking.

Mile 0.0: The eastern end of the Little Stoney Trail is on the ridge of Shenandoah Mountain, a couple of miles south of the summit of Reddish Knob.  The Trails Illustrated map shows that the trailhead is also a Forest Service picnic area with privy.  This is another example of these maps being wrong - if you show up here with a full bladder, you are going to be using the woods!

What is there now is a parking area.  The trail marker shown in the photos above is at the beginning of the parking area.  Beyond the parking area is likely the old picnic area.  It would make a good camping area today, even without the privy or tables.  At trail's start, look for several trees marked with yellow paint forming an "i."  Facing the trail in the parking lot, the trail drops down then cuts left towards a ridge.         

 

Mile 0.2: After riding the side of a ridge as shown in the photo below, with higher elevations on your left and lower on your right," the trail takes a slight right angle to descend along the ridge. 

The trail enters into an area of Mountain Laurel that is 3-4 feet high.  The trail is relatively easy to follow through here, even though the Laurel sometimes pushes into the trail and the yellow blazing that was prevalent early in the hike is now gone.

Mile 0.5:  The trail takes a sharp left off of the ridge, then a couple hundred feet later cuts right to follow a little valley, on the right side of the stream bed.  It should be obvious, but if you drop down into the stream bed, you have gone too far.  The trail here is very nicely constructed to hug the slope, and there are some pretty views thrown in for good measure.  In the valley to the north, the Navy's satellite dish installation should be visible in winter.

Mile 0.7: The trail reconnects with the ridge and follows the ridge downhill for quite a while, entering in and out of groves of short Mountain Laurel.  The trail remains easy to follow, despite a lack of yellow blazing.

Mile 1.2: Exit from the last set of Mountain Laurel.  If heading uphill, you can find where to enter the Laurel by looking for a tree with a yellow diamond (see below).

The trail gets harder to follow here.  Stay on the ridge until a field becomes visible downhill to the right at about 2 'clock, then cut down to the field.  It was this section that I used my GPS track the most, as this area could have used more blazed trees.

Mile 1.4: Come out in an open field that is likely kept open by the Forest Service to attract wildlife.  

Hike through this, staying to the left.  On the opposite side to the left, under the large pine tree grove in the center of the photo below, is where you want to go.  You will find a road there, which you follow for the rest of this hike.  

Mile 1.7:  Cross the first of two streams.  The second stream is at the 2 mile mark.  Note along the way that the road merges into a couple of other woods roads.  Remember which way you came, though I didn't find this at all confusing.

Mile 2.3: Reach the end of the trail, at a closed gate.  The trail is marked by a metal marker, shown in the third photo below.  The road is a forest service road (#61) that heads west to Sugar Grove, West Virginia. Turn around here to return to your vehicle.

Data:

Length: 4.6 miles

Time: 2.5 hours

Ascent:  1500 ft

Rader Mtn Trail, GWNF

This posting is part of my effort to document trails in the North River District of the George Washington National Forest that don't have much in the way of online descriptions. Like much of the North River District north of US 33, this trailhead is tough to find and involves a long drive over difficult Forest Service roads.  Don't be coming up here in your Miata!  To give some perspective, the 37 miles from the US 33/I-81 intersection in Harrisburg (via the town of Broadway) took me an hour-and-a-quarter.

I found the PATC's publication entitled "Trail Guide to Great Eastern Trail, 2018 First Edition" to be invaluable in getting me here, as some of the unmarked Forest Service roads near the trailhead are also parts of the Great Eastern Trail.  The trailhead is actually on the Great Eastern Trail, though I use the guidebook to tell me how to negotiate the roads where my driving is over roads that constitute the route of this trail  The trail itself is not marked within the GWNF, and road signs are sporadic, at best, in this area.

I am not sure that the Rader Mtn Trail even exists anymore.  I only know about it because I've come across a list of trails in the North River Ranger District, which oversees the area that includes the trail.  But the list is old (even though I picked up a copy this Summer), and I know at least one trail on the list was decommissioned nine or ten years ago.  It is not found on my copy of the Trails Illustrated Shenandoah Mountain map, which has a copyright of 2001.  It is not listed in my bible, The Trails of Virginia: Hiking the Old Dominion, 2nd Edition, copyright 1995.  And its southern end passes into private property, which the USFS seems to decommission to avoid issues with landowners. 

So I didn't head out with high hopes, but figured that if it is still visible, I'd check it out.  I parked where the Radar Mtn Road meets the main road, which at this point is called Hall Springs Road, nearly within spitting distance of the West Virginia state line.   (GPS: N38° 39.341' W79° 06.150')

I parked on the main road because, even though the gate was open (the Rader Mtn Road is open September 1 through December 31 each year), the road looked rough and there were multiple puddles in view from the main road.  I didn't want to risk needing a tow in an area where I could not get a cell signal!

So the first 2.5 miles of the hike was on the road.  But the road was occasionally blazed with yellow plastic diamonds and there was no traffic.  (In fact, I saw no one for the entire time I was off pavement this day, on a beautiful Tuesday in late October.)  It passed multiple open fields that are no doubt maintained as a wildlife attractant.  And the road dropped in elevation at an almost imperceptible rate. (The trailhead is the high point of this hike.)

At about the 2.5 mile mark, the road ends in a large field.  Trees are blazed indicating where the trail continues, and multiple national forest signs signal that no vehicles should continue.  For a while, the trail continues straight and wide, making me think that it may have also once been a road.  The trail itself has been around a long time, as I found it shown on USGS topographic maps dating back to 1947, however even the most recent topos show the entire route as a trail, without any being listed as a road.

At about the 3.25 mile mark the trail has narrowed to a legitimate trail and it hugs the side of the ridge on its way steeply down.  The last 0.6 miles that I hiked the trail dropped 440 feet, at an average grade of 13.5%.  I reached a point where I would drop very fast over a trail that was now composed of loose rocks, so I turned around - knowing getting hurt here would make for a difficult return and not knowing when I was going to reach private property.  There's no cell service, so I hope to return when I have a friend or a satellite communication device.  

Total distance: 8.1 miles

Hiking Time: 3 hours, 20 minutes

Ascent: 1136 feet

Min elevation: 2948 ft.

Max elevation: 3723 ft.