A Grand Canyon Winter Adventure - Preview
Last December, we headed out on a backpacking trip into the depths of the Grand Canyon during the heart of winter. Not only did hiking out remind us of how woefully out of shape we are, well, let's just say it was also just a tad colder than we expected.
Our itinerary was pretty simple. We stayed our first night at the rim at the Mather Campground (review coming soon). After surviving a snowstorm that dropped six inches of snow on us overnight, we descended the icy Bright Angel trail to our first night's stop, Indian Garden Campground. We also put out a stove fire for a group of fellow (and clueless) hikers in the site next to us. Don't keep your propane tank's valve open for 5 minutes while trying to light it kids.
After taking a copious amount of deer pictures when we ran into a small herd along the trail, we slogged the rest of the way down to Phantom Ranch and Bright Angel Campground, where we spent our second night. We ran into even more deer (this will become obvious once you see the film), as well as spending some time exploring the surrounding area and the South Kaibab's Black Suspension Bridge. Dinner at the Phantom Ranch Canteen topped off our last night in the canyon (and yes, the lemonade there is worth the hefty price tag).
I mentioned we were out of shape right? The elevation gain of 4,780ft. over the length of the South Kaibab trail on the way out was just a tad more difficult than we expected. Hiking up a 22% grade at parts didn't help matters either. Nor did the thinning air as we kept climbing. Or the switchbacks by Skelton Point - those were horrible. The last switchbacks at the trailhead were possibly the worst, but with a Wendy's triple cheeseburger as motivation, we made it.
I did mention we were pretty out of shape, didn't I?
It wouldn't have been a true TentTalk trip without bringing along the cameras. We shot our short film, a cross documentary-narrative-experimental-travel-montage-music video, on two Canon 7D's and one GoPro HD Hero 2. Although you can't see it online because of festival regulations, the preview is above.
Check back soon to see a few more pictures of the trip, reviews of the corridor trail campgrounds (Indian Garden and Bright Angel), as well as the full film! We'll also be heading out on a few more adventures as spring is upcoming, most notably Joshua Tree in early March, as well as uploading a whole bucket-load of reviews from our fall adventures in 2012!
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| A Grand Canyon Winter Adventure, coming soon! |
