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Showing posts with the label photos

Weekend Photos: More from the Grand Canyon

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There's been a lot going on at my house lately, but I'm chipping away at editing the photos from the October trip to the Grand Canyon. See last weekend's post for photos of the first couple of days. Today we're looking at another night or two, which (true confessions time!) is as far as I've gotten with the photos. The account left off last weekend as we were settling for the night in our camp at Upper Tapeats Creek.  Day 3 Back on the trail at first light, we studied the creek, which we were meant to cross--somewhere--for the better and easier trail, and decided to stick with the west side trail, which does a lot more up and down, not always on the best trails. I'm no fan of wading fast-moving water, even that shallow enough that getting knocked off my feet would mean a dunking, not a threat to life. Getting my pack wet was no part of my plan, however. Petey Possum enjoying the sunrise from a vantage point high above the creek. Too many bits of trail like th...

Weekend Photos: Grand Canyon, Indian Hollow to Tapeats Creek

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Back in October I went in a matter of days from the onset of winter in the Canadian Rockies to some too-hot weather in my favorite big hole in the ground--the Grand Canyon.  This year's trip was the toughest I've tacked yet, coming down off the North Rim on the Indian Hollow and Bill Hall trails (we got spooked off the Bill Hall trail for the initial drop, and anyway, I really like the Esplanade so didn't mind a longer walk on that platform). I went with my friend Alex again, and we took 5 nights to do the classic Thunder River to Deer Creek loop.  We'll take a look at the first two or three days. Day Zero We needed to cache water for our return trip, a final night on the waterless Esplanade, so we did a pre-hike the day before our permit started to take care of that. Because it was still getting very hot--there was that heat dome thing going on over most of the country, so temps weren't what they should have been in October--we camped near the trail head and made a...

Weekend Photos: More from Skoki (Fall in the Candadian Rockies)

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Last weekend I shared photos from the hike in to Skoki Lodge and one of our outings from that base. Today we'll finish off my fall trip to the Canadian Rockies with some amazing peak-top views and the rather wintery hike out. On our second full day at the lodge, the weather was iffy at best, and only two of the three of us were crazy enough to head out for our planned hike up Skoki Mountain. At about two and a half miles round trip and a 1600' climb, it's not a huge undertaking, though a bit steep (you can make it even steeper by taking the "scree trail" which goes pretty much right up the side of the mountain, but we took the longer route).  We lounged around for a bit after breakfast, but there appeared to be some clearing around 9:45, so Tom and I headed up through the trees. About the time we hit treeline, the snow resumed. Still, visibility wasn't zero, and Tom's weather app said we'd get clearing about eleven, so on we went. If you look closely...