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2023 Landen Grand Canyon Trip
Thunder River Trip, North Rim, Grand Canyon, Arizona
The last trip we made to the Grand Canyon was for Rachel's turning 12. On this trip we chose to hike the south rim of the Grand Canyon and chose Bright Angle Trail. This hike was plagued with many poor choices and as a result, wasn't much of a hike.
So this year, we went back to Thunder River. It was Landen's, Rachel's & Carson's first time to Thunder River. We decided that we would plan to sleep on the trail somewhere below the rim, and tentatively planned to hike down to the Colorado River and sleep near it. Then the next day we would hike out.
It sounded so easy. We drove up on a Wednesday and made camp. We arrived after dark, around 7:30 and pitched our tents and made some chicken and rice for dinner. We stopped in Marana and met Mylinda to pick up Carson. Then we went to Aj's & Brittany's house to drop off Janelle and Serra. By the time we arrived at the camp site it was dark, dark.
Mia and Wyatt were going to meet us at the camp site with their trailer. When we hit Jacob Lake, they were in Flagstaff, so we didn't wait up for them, but rather we went to bed. Around 1:30 in the morning we woke up to hear them pulling into camp. We didn't go out to meet them, but rolled over and planned to see them in the morning.
The next morning, we got up, ate, adjusted our packs and then started hiking. The weather was very pleasant. Being October, the night was cool in Kiabab. The car temperature gauge read 29 degrees as were were heading to the trail head.
We stared hiking down and had little issues. As we came to the red-wall, Terra's knee started to hurt her. She had issues with the downhill. She stopped and debated turning back or waiting at the red wall for the rest of us. This knee issue slowed down the decent. We eventually decided to keep pressing on, she felt that she could make it. As we traversed Surprise Valley, her knee felt fine. Once we stared to head down the cliff to Thunder Spring, her knee once again acted up. She made it to the falls around 2:30 in the afternoon.
After about an hour at the falls we decided that heading down to the river was not in our best interest. We had about 2 hours of daylight left and decided that we could either make it back to red-wall or to the river. We diced that red-wall was the wiser choice and we headed back.
We hit the bottom of red-wall with about 45 minutes of daylight left in the day. We again debated camping at the bottom for the night or hiking up and loosing daylight during the climb. We decided that hiking up would be the best move, as we could camp at the top and have an easy day to get out of the canyon.
During the climb we lost total light. There was a new moon, so we had little aid from the celestial lights, but relied on flashlights instead. Everyone took a glow stick and we all put one on so we could keep track of each other on the way out.
The hikers quickly separated into 2 groups. All of the kids went in front, and the adults in the rear. We reached the top of red-wall at about 8:30. Sunset was at 6:00 and total darkness was close to 6:45. The climb was slow, and it was difficult to keep on the trail. There had been some rock slides since out last trip down and at times finding the trial amidst the switch backs proved tricky.
When we topped the red-wall we made camp and ate dinner. Margie had dehydrated some beef stew or tortilla soup for us and we boiled some water and added it to the freeze dried meals. They turned out rather well.
Waking up in the morning to the tremendous view was awesome. We warmed up some oatmeal, packed up camp, and headed out.
We ended up topping out close to 1:00 in the afternoon and then drove back to camp where Wyatt and Kylie waited for us.
Once we arrived back at camp, Wyatt made us some hamburgers & french fries. They were wonderful. Kyle probably ate 6 of them. For dessert (later in the evening) we had an apple crisp (made by Kylie) and some ice cream.
After we ate dinner, Rachel, Landen & Kyle all wanted to pack up the car and head home. This was Friday afternoon and we wouldn't have arrived home until after mid-night. We decided to stay the night and leave on Saturday morning.
During the night, Carson got up and threw up around 1:00 in the morning. I am not sure if he didn't get enough water during the hike out, or if he didn't feel well. He went back to bed and was fine in the morning. I asked all the kids if they enjoyed it and wanted to go back, and they all said the did. I don't know why, but I sure enjoy doing this hike. One of these days we are going to make the full loop and see the river and Deer Creek Falls in addition to Thunder River.
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2023 Landen Grand Canyon Trip
Thunder River Trip, North Rim, Grand Canyon, Arizona The last trip we made to the Grand Canyon was for Rachel's turning 12. On this trip we chose to hike the south rim of the Grand Canyon and chose Bright Angle Trail. This hike was plagued with many poor choices and as a result, wasn't much of a hike. |
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So this year, we went back to Thunder River. It was Landen's, Rachel's & Carson's first time to Thunder River. We decided that we would plan to sleep on the trail somewhere below the rim, and tentatively planned to hike down to the Colorado River and sleep near it. Then the next day we would hike out.
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|
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|
|
|
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It sounded so easy. We drove up on a Wednesday and made camp. We arrived after dark, around 7:30 and pitched our tents and made some chicken and rice for dinner. We stopped in Marana and met Mylinda to pick up Carson. Then we went to Aj's & Brittany's house to drop off Janelle and Serra. By the time we arrived at the camp site it was dark, dark.
Mia and Wyatt were going to meet us at the camp site with their trailer. When we hit Jacob Lake, they were in Flagstaff, so we didn't wait up for them, but rather we went to bed. Around 1:30 in the morning we woke up to hear them pulling into camp. We didn't go out to meet them, but rolled over and planned to see them in the morning. |
|
|
|
|
The next morning, we got up, ate, adjusted our packs and then started hiking. The weather was very pleasant. Being October, the night was cool in Kiabab. The car temperature gauge read 29 degrees as were were heading to the trail head.
We stared hiking down and had little issues. As we came to the red-wall, Terra's knee started to hurt her. She had issues with the downhill. She stopped and debated turning back or waiting at the red wall for the rest of us. This knee issue slowed down the decent. We eventually decided to keep pressing on, she felt that she could make it. As we traversed Surprise Valley, her knee felt fine. Once we stared to head down the cliff to Thunder Spring, her knee once again acted up. She made it to the falls around 2:30 in the afternoon. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
After about an hour at the falls we decided that heading down to the river was not in our best interest. We had about 2 hours of daylight left and decided that we could either make it back to red-wall or to the river. We diced that red-wall was the wiser choice and we headed back.
We hit the bottom of red-wall with about 45 minutes of daylight left in the day. We again debated camping at the bottom for the night or hiking up and loosing daylight during the climb. We decided that hiking up would be the best move, as we could camp at the top and have an easy day to get out of the canyon. |
|
|
|
|
During the climb we lost total light. There was a new moon, so we had little aid from the celestial lights, but relied on flashlights instead. Everyone took a glow stick and we all put one on so we could keep track of each other on the way out.
The hikers quickly separated into 2 groups. All of the kids went in front, and the adults in the rear. We reached the top of red-wall at about 8:30. Sunset was at 6:00 and total darkness was close to 6:45. The climb was slow, and it was difficult to keep on the trail. There had been some rock slides since out last trip down and at times finding the trial amidst the switch backs proved tricky. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
When we topped the red-wall we made camp and ate dinner. Margie had dehydrated some beef stew or tortilla soup for us and we boiled some water and added it to the freeze dried meals. They turned out rather well.
|
|
Waking up in the morning to the tremendous view was awesome. We warmed up some oatmeal, packed up camp, and headed out.
|
|
|
|
|
|
We ended up topping out close to 1:00 in the afternoon and then drove back to camp where Wyatt and Kylie waited for us.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Once we arrived back at camp, Wyatt made us some hamburgers & french fries. They were wonderful. Kyle probably ate 6 of them. For dessert (later in the evening) we had an apple crisp (made by Kylie) and some ice cream.
After we ate dinner, Rachel, Landen & Kyle all wanted to pack up the car and head home. This was Friday afternoon and we wouldn't have arrived home until after mid-night. We decided to stay the night and leave on Saturday morning. |
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|
|
|
During the night, Carson got up and threw up around 1:00 in the morning. I am not sure if he didn't get enough water during the hike out, or if he didn't feel well. He went back to bed and was fine in the morning. I asked all the kids if they enjoyed it and wanted to go back, and they all said the did. I don't know why, but I sure enjoy doing this hike. One of these days we are going to make the full loop and see the river and Deer Creek Falls in addition to Thunder River.
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