Palisades Creek to Tanner Rapids
Distance 4.7 km, 10 m elevation gain/loss, 1 hrs 55 min.
I woke up about 7:30am, somewhere during the night it became a certainty that we would not be trying to make it to the confluence of the Little Colorado River, so there was no rush to get an early start to the day. I wandered around the area near the campsite and took pictures of the morning light.
I ate breakfast at 8:35 am, Weetabix with dried blueberries and banana chips, plus a coffee. Siobhan arose and ate at 9:10 am. We slowly tidied up the campsite.
We were all packed up at 10:45 am.
Despite being tired, Siobhan was in excellent spirits, so we spent an hour without packs exploring up Palisades Canyon. I tried to contain myself, but I pointed out a number of geological features to Siobhan. I have to be nice to my hiking partners and not overdue it talking about rocks.
We started to head west back to Tanner Rapids at 11:55 am.
The rafters who we saw camped the night before, got started just after we did, so we lingered at the beach area and watched a few solo kayakers float through the rapids then down the river. We waved at the people in a large inflatable raft, and they actually came over to chat. The river guide remarked that we were a long way away from anywhere. We told him we were all good, and it was part of our itinerary. He then offered us a ride back to Tanner Rapids, we did decline, maybe we should have hitched a ride….
We took a few minutes to clean up the beach. There were some old fuel canisters, pop cans and other garbage that we collected in a garbage bag that we carried for the remainder of the trip.
We headed back the way we had come yesterday, so it was a very straightforward hike. When going down the cliffs we crossed along the way, it became apparent that Siobhan’s legs were very sore.
We found some animal tracks in the sand, that appeared to be of a small cat, I thought that they looked similar to tracks I had seen back home in the snow, left by a lynx, so here in the canyon it would a smaller cousin, the bobcat.
The trail is very easy to follow, but despite being short, it had a lot of variation which made for a fun days hiking.
We arrived back at Tanner Rapids in under two hours. Lunch was pita bread, salami and cream cheese. We use cream cheese when hiking as it does not have to be refrigerated, so it lasts longer than hard cheese.
We set the tent up, and Siobhan got out her homework. Siobhan spent the rest of the afternoon, until dinner working on school work.
I had no such responsibilities, so I went for a little walk exploring west down the Escalante Route. There is apparently some minor technical sections on the Escalante Route, and it is a bit rougher than most of the trails in the Grand Canyon, hence it is not a trail but a route. I would like to hike the Escalante Route at some point, as it leads to the eastern end of the Tonto Trail.
I did not go far, but I walked about 40 minutes, took some pictures and just took in the scenery and the sounds of the canyon.
After dinner, we watch the red glow of the sun reflect off of the Camanche Point, along the Cliffs of the Palisades. After resting all day, Siobhan had really tightened up, we took a long slow walk to the very nice composting toilet. Arriving back at the tent, we headed to bed early. I did not have pain killers in my first aid kit to relieve Siobhan’s discomfort, an oversight that still bothers me today. I woke up after midnight and sat outside for a while. It was a comfortable temperature, about 13C. The night sky was not good for photography, as there were too many clouds. So I enjoyed the peaceful serenity of the campsite before heading back to bed.
