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April, 2017 - Nankoweap, Kolb Natural Bridge & Marion-Seiber Backpacking Trip |
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Trip number 53 - April, 2016 : Tanner-Escalante-New Hance
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Ever since my first trip up to the Kolb Natural Bridge in April, 2006 I had been looking forward to going back to see it again. That first visit was solo and I wanted to share the experience with someone else. There was a failed attempt at it in April/May, 2012. I had come down with some kind of stomach bug on the second day of that trip and was still not feeling well enough to do the day hike up to the bridge on day five. I start up there but then just had to give up. The two guys I was with attempted to continue on but were unsuccessful at finding the route to get above the huge pour-off. There had been another trip planned for April, 2016 but that trip never even got off the ground because the people I had planned it with found YouTube videos of the "scary spot" on the Nankoweap Trail about a week before the start date for the hike and refused to go.
This trip was finally a success at getting up there but not everyone made it. I had my cousin, John, along for this trip and it would be his third trip into the Canyon with me after two previous trips to Deer Creek and Thunder River. My friend, Max, was also along and it would be his third trip as well after doing a trip to Bright Angel Campground/Phantom Ranch and also one of the Deer Creek and Thunder River trips with John. And then there was Janice, who had also done a trip to Deer Creek and Thunder River with John and I, but not the same one as Max. This would be Janice's second trip. Everything started off well enough and we spent the first night camped in some tight accommodations out near Marion Point. No problems at all with the "scary spot". On the second day we completed the hike down the Nankoweap Trail to Nankoweap Creek. We had a nice long rest/lunch break on Tilted Mesa before doing the final section down to the creek. I actually find some of the sections of trail from Tilted Mesa to the creek to be considerably scarier than anything higher up. There is lots of lose rock in some spots and it can get a little steep at times. The array of flowers that were in bloom along the trail was fabulous. We had no problems with the descent and had a nice night camping at the creek with a sky full of stars. Day three was an easy morning hike down to the Colorado River and the Nankoweap granaries there. The yellow flowers (Brittlebush) down at the end of Nankoweap Creek and along the Colorado River were astounding. Everyone enjoyed seeing the granaries and we lucked out with a nice visit by a river trip while we were there. We enjoyed a nice swim in the Colorado River to wash off some of the sweat and grime that had accumulated from the first two days and we also managed to score a few cans of beer from the river trip. After hiking back to camp and having lunch there we packed everything up and moved camp a few miles up Nankoweap Creek to be closer to the Kolb Natural Bridge. I was very shocked by the changes that had taken place along the creek since the last time I had been there in 2012. A major wildfire had come down from the north rim since then a burned all of the trees. There were still lots of smaller plants and flowers but most of the trees were just charred skeletons. I had a hard time finding the campsite I had used for that first trip in 2006 but did finally manage to locate it. It was late by the time we got there though and ended up cooking dinner by headlamp. Day four was the day hike up to the Kolb Natural Bridge. The trip was starting to take its toll on some of the trip members by this point and John gave up on the day hike. We had taken a rest break next to a huge rock that was providing lots of shade and he decided to wait for us there. From that point along the creek there was a big slope that we needed to climb to get above the dry falls that was about a half of a mile up the creek yet. Max, Janice and I took that on but then when we got to the dry falls Max decided that he had had enough. He also had a nice shady area to rest in and his was a lot better than John's as there was even a little bit of water flowing there. Janice and I continued on and it took another two hours or so of solid hiking to get to the bridge. Janice was a real trooper and refused to give up on it. It felt awesome to be back there again and have actually succeeded in bringing someone along as well. It was hard work but I know that Janice enjoyed getting to see the bridge as well. It is a very small percentage of Grand Canyon hikers that ever make it up there and a feat to be proud of. On this trip there was even a small waterfall flowing from above the bridge and a trickle flowing beneath it which made it all that more enjoyable. Janice and i spent about an hour up there before starting the hike back to camp and picking up Max and john along the way. It was another long day and another with finished with cooking dinner by headlamp. Day five was moving camp from upper Nankkoweap Creek over to a camp below Seiber Point and the start of the Marion-Seiber Route. This took much longer than the previous two trips and we ended up way too high on the hike over there and got cliffed out. We had to backtrack some and it was late already before we finally made it down to the creek bed. We rested for a while at the creek before following it up to the camping arrea below Seiber Point. It took a while to find this one as well as it is not visible from the creek bed. Because it took us so long to get to camp we did not have enough time to hike up to see the waterfall or the ruins and that was a little disappointing. Day six was hiking out on the Marion-Seiber Route. The first time I did this back in 2006 I had no problem whatsoever and it took about 7.5 hours to go from camp to the start of the Nankoweap Trail and another 2.5 hours to go down the Saddle Mountain trail to the car. The second time, in 2012, we had all kinds of trouble finding the correct route to the Redwall and also through the Supai cliffs to get back to the Nankoweap Trail. On that trip it took almost 12 hours to go from camp to trailhead. Crazy. This trip was a little better than trip number two, but not by much. We had similar problem following the route getting to the Redwall but not much trouble getting through the Supai cliffs to the Nankoweap Trail. It was about 11.5 hours from camp to trailhead. I still don't understand how I did it so quickly on that first trip and I think I would like to do it solo again sometime just to see if that makes any difference. It was still a wonderful trip and the only thing that I really sorry about was not taking people to see Mystic Falls and the ruins near there. The full trip report is here. |
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Next >> Trip number 56 - March, 2019 - Clear Creek backpacking trip
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