Bad Directions to Horseshoe Mesa - Backpacker Magazine

[Canyonram]

The October 2010 edition of Backpacker Magazine has a one-and-half page article on dayhiking down Grandview Trail and doing the loop around Horseshoe Mesa. The article has several dangeous mistakes that can get someone in deep trouble. Here's the message I sent to the editors:

The Oct. 2010 Grandview Loop Hike article has several mistakes. (1)A photo taken from the Western Arm of Horsehoe Mesa is incorrectly labeled. I believe this is a photo of Vishnu Temple, not Zoroaster. Big problem if one attempts to orient to Zoroaster and not Vishnu.

(2)One gallon per person per day is not enough for the Grandview, even in cool weather.

3)You do not pass the cookhouse to get to the East Horseshoe Mesa Trail---you turn after going past the mine opening. If you go down to the cook house you have missed the turn off and will have to double back to the south to connect with the East Horseshoe Mesa Trail. If you head east at the cookhouse, you will go past the designated campsites and toilet and then stumble around looking for the trail down. If you go west at the cookhouse you will drop off Horseshoe Mesa and may or may not find water in Cottonwood Creek.

Please correct this mistake---someone down with minimal water and trying to re-supply at Miner's Spring will be left high-and-dry.

Doing the loop off Grandview can be dangerous--hikers have missed the return trail and instead head out across the Tonto---and run out of water. Last summer, a day hiker did die after he went down and headed across the Tonto Plateau.

Has anyone else read or seen this article in Backpacker?

[Jim]

How serious do we take it to be? Are we talking Keet Steel or drinking water in a nuclear power plant?

[Canyonram]

Here's a summary report on the Chemical characterisitcs of the springs in Grand Canyon by USGS:

http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2004/5146/PDF/sir2004-5146.pdf

Uranium mining was done at the Orphan Mine on the South Rim---you can still see the structure along the rim next to Powell Memorial Overlook. The open mine shafts are visible from Powell and Maricopa. Lots of radioactivity down the watershed with warnings posted on the Tonto plateau at Horn Creek. The Orphan Mine supplied all the high grade uranium ore to build our nuclear stockpile----there is still plenty of the stuff still there. Lots of uranium mining on the Arizona strip as well.

The mineral contamination is a result of the unique geology at the Canyon. Breccia pipes, collapsed caves, concentrated the minerals like uranium as the ancient oceans drained---like huge filters straining the minerals. Miners used to look for evidence of breccia pipes ---- when you go down to Horeshoe Mesa you can see the collapsed roof capping the opening into Pete Berry's old copper mine.

http://pubs.usgs.gov/bul/b2004/html/bul ... posits.htm

http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2010/5025/

Recent efforts to continue uranium mining in the immediate area of the Park (just do a web search on uranium mining Grand Canyon). At risk are the Havasuapi people with the proposed mining sites possibly contaminating their watershed.

[Jeffshadows]

Since Uranium ore contains such a diverse group of daughter products, my guess would be you would be worst off (Ingestion-wise) in an area where the water has had a great deal of contamination with one of the alpha-emitting species. In other words, there's probably no way to know without regular testing and monitoring...

[Canyonram]

Looks like our conversation has sidetracked the discussion from "Bad Directions to Horseshoe" to "Bad Water in the Canyon.' LOL. Is it any wonder why we get lost when hiking?

Perhaps the moderator can move this over to Jim's topic concerning Water Taps?

[PaleoRob]

There is radio active water at the canyon?

Lots. The Lost Orphan contaminated the drainage below it. While it started as a copper mine, it ended up producing Uranium until the 60's. That's the primary reason the headframe is off-limits: radioactivity.

[hikeaz]

There is radio active water at the canyon?

Uranium and radium are present in all waters. The readings from which they derived the warning are decades old, and were never a legitimate issue in the first place (unless you were planning to live down there for 30+ years). The old tailings were stirred up by flashing in the creekbed nearby.
Dehydration is a much more real and immediate concern to hikers/backpackers.
A good friend has a radio-chemistry lab and has a PhD in nuclear engineering - this fall/winter I plan to bring back samples from various places in GC for testing. I will report back when the findings are in.

Anyone who would head into the canyon with only the directions from Backpacker are asking for trouble, and likely deserve most of what they get. With the advent of the internet and all the available legitimate sources of trail info there is no excuse for being uninformed. Also, the GC BCO has REAL directions and such and the cost of the 'on-the-ground' info is included in your park admission.
The BCO has up-to-the-minute trail beta from folks who just got off the trail. Backpacker mag. is merely an advertising vehicle for various outdoor product manufacturers; almost never have their writers actually travelled to the places that they feature in an article.

[PaleoRob]

Uranium and radium are present in all waters. The readings from which they derived the warning are decades old, and were never a legitimate issue in the first place (unless you were planning to live down there for 30+ years). The old tailings were stirred up by flashing in the creekbed nearby. Dehydration is a much more real and immediate concern to hikers/backpackers.
A good friend has a radio-chemistry lab and has a PhD in nuclear engineering - this fall/winter I plan to bring back samples from various places in GC for testing. I will report back when the findings are in.

While not the same as a Stabilized Assay Meter calibrated with 1 mCi of Cs-137, I do intend to bring my pocket Geiger counter on my October trip. I'll let you know what sort of counts I get.

[Dave1]

Looks like our conversation has sidetracked the discussion from "Bad Directions to Horseshoe" to "Bad Water in the Canyon.' LOL. Is it any wonder why we get lost when hiking?

Sorry Canyonram, I'll take some responsibility for this. Still an interesting topic though....

[trekkin_gecko]

Backpacker mag. is merely an advertising vehicle for various outdoor product manufacturers

completely agree with this
used to enjoy some of the articles, but stopped subscribing when i no longer found anything useful or interesting

[PaleoRob]

Since Uranium ore contains such a diverse group of daughter products, my guess would be you would be worst off (Ingestion-wise) in an area where the water has had a great deal of contamination with one of the alpha-emitting species. In other words, there's probably no way to know without regular testing and monitoring...

It'd be interesting to get down there with an alpha-capable probe and see what some of the water is putting out in Horn Creek. I don't have that kind of dough or time.

[azbackpackr]

Great conversation indeed!

And to answer someone's question, why are we indoors? I just got back from mtn. biking. Now it is study time. Except that I had to check HAZ first. It is easy to procrastinate reading sociology books...

[Canyonram]

Dave---no need to apologize for redirecting the conversation to the water issues. Afterall, it is expected when hikers are sitting around the campfire sipping their favorite radioactive/arsenic flavored drink. And hikers are usually determined to express their strong opinions and many don't let facts get in the way.

The water quality measurements are not decades old but instead are ongoing. Miners Spring has had excess arsenic readings while Horn Creek has had some mixed results on the uranium. How you want to judge the readings is up for grabs---it's not like the limits set for water quality standards are magic parameters where one is completely safe on one side of the standard and dead if on the other side. Some of the comments posted above may change once the authors take the time to read some of the scientific work available via Internet on the water quality and uranium. Why is it not OK to do a hike based on reading a single Backpacker article but it is OK to comment about water quality and the Backpacker article without reading either the scientific studies or the Backpacker article?

As to Backpacker Magazine----yes, I agree it is pretty much an advertising catalog. So what? I enjoy looking at the gear and reading the reviews but I still make my own decision when I make a purchase. It was the incorrect trip agenda on Hiking Grandview/Horseshoe Mesa that was the point of my thread. I don't know who wrote that article or whether or not the author did the hike. Again, so what? The magazine printed the article and, regardless of what you think about someone doing a hike based only on that article, they will do the hike and follow the specifics in the magazine.

I think about all those who mentored me when I was growing up and taught me how to enjoy the outdoors in a safe manner. I'm grateful for the outdoor survival skills, fishing, hunting, etc. passed to me. Thank heavens they didn't let me gallop off with the mindset that I was going to "get what I deserved." Exactly what would that be in the Canyon? Death by dehydration? Does anyone here sincerely believe that that is the outcome to be delivered upon someone making a hiking error? Expecially if they thought they had the proper information culled from a magazine that is expected to print correct information? It's not the hiker but the magazine that needs to "get what it deserves" for the misinformation.

[Jeffshadows]

I don't know who wrote that article or whether or not the author did the hike. Again, so what? The magazine printed the article and, regardless of what you think about someone doing a hike based only on that article, they will do the hike and follow the specifics in the magazine.

You hit the nail on the head. Their little expose' on Saguaro told me one thing and one thing only - the person who wrote that stuff has probably never ventured beyond the Visitor Center.

[PaleoRob]

Where can you find the Horn Creek water quality data online? I haven't seen anything.

[PaleoRob]

All I found was:

Uranium concentrations and gross alpha radioactivity were highest at Horn Creek and Salt Creek Spring. The average uranium concentration at Salt Creek Spring was equal to the MCL

but doesn't list the actual values in either creek.
MCL=Maximum Contaminant Level.

[Canyonram]

Go to the summary Table 8 at the end of the report for Horn Creek. You can search through a '*.pdf' file with Adobe Acrobat to find all references to Horn Creek throughout the document:

http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2004/5146/PDF/sir2004-5146.pdf

Here's a newer summary report for Northern Arizona:
"Historical and 2009 Water Chemistry of Wells, Perennial and Intermittent Streams, and Springs in Northern Arizona"
http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2010/5025/pdf/ ... rology.pdf

[PaleoRob]

That second report is where I got the quote I had above.
Looks like the first article (much more detailed) had this to say:

Uranium concentrations were about 30 μg/L (equal to the MCL) in all samples from Salt Creek Spring (table 7). Salt Creek spring also had the highest dissolved gross alpha radioactivity (22 pCi/L, based on 230Th). Only one sample from Horn Creek (April 2001) was near the MCL for uranium; the other two samples had values of about 9 μg/L. Uranium mining has occurred in the Horn Creek drainage, and unacceptably high levels of uranium were reported for samples collected previously (Fitzgerald, 1996). In Fitzgerald's study, samples were taken not at the point of spring issuance, but where the Tonto Trail crosses the drainage. The uranium in south rim springs may be related to the presence of nearby breccia pipes and faults

From Table 7:

Uranium 30 Increased risk of cancer; kidney toxicity 31 in Salt Creek Spring; 29 in Horn Creek

The 22 pCi/L of Thorium equates to roughly .201 mg of Thorium in every liter of water, which is basically equal to the EPA's MCL.

[PaleoRob]

Or, another way to think of it - radioisotope samples for calibration or testing available to the public are about 4540x more radioactive than the water in Salt Creek.

[nonot]

The Oct. 2010 Backpacker article on hiking Grandview recommends carrying 1 gallon of water per person for a three-day loop hike then provides incorrect directions on how to get to Miner's Spring below Horseshoe Mesa for re-supply. Note that it is not 1 gallon per person per day but 1 gallon period. The hike to the mesa is farily short (3 miles+) but steep with lots of sun exposure---it is very easy to go through a gallon just getting to the Mesa. You still have over a mile+ down to the Tonto to get the water supply at Miner Spring. Good luck when the directions have you wandering around the campground looking for the route down.

I offer a dissenting opinion - 1 gallon is plenty of water to take with you on the way down - provided you are guaranteed resupply at Miner's spring, which is not all the way down on the Tonto level. If they screwed up the directions, shame on them. Carrying extra water is always a good idea though and it is also surprising they wouldn't just throw that in somewhere. I would personally take more than a gallon on the way back up, though probably not that much more - it's just not that far to the rim from the Tonto, and I consider myself thirstier than most.

In Sept. 2009, a dayhiker went down to Horseshoe Mesa and was found dead on the Tonto Trail about 21 miles from the Grandview trailhead where he had parked his car. I can't imagine that he was attempting a day hike loop that would have him going down to Horsehoe-over the Tonto--back up the South Kaibab trail. His car was parked at Grandview and he would have ended this loop without transportation. I'm guessing that he went down to Horseshoe Mesa and wanted to loop around the mesa on the Tonto and then return the way he came down. Instead, my guess is that he missed the trail along Cottonwood Creek and instead went west along the Tonto.

Based on my experience in 2009, in which I visited Cottonwood Creek maybe only 4 months before the gentleman died, the man would have had to have been a blind fool to miss the signs that mark where cottonwood creek is. There was a sign with huge letters! It looked like a highway headed up the creek.

People who are not from the southwest do not understand the difficulties with hiking long distance in the desert - while you can hike 30 miles in the midwest on flat ground under a lush canopy, take 3 bottles of water, and not even be that tired afterwards, I know of few people who can manage 30 miles as a dayhike in the desert landscapes, given the elevation and rocky nature of the terrain.

[Canyonram]

The Backpacker article sends you down the trail for a 3-day loop hike carrying 1 gallon. As Dave pointed out, there is a call out box on the second page of the article that describes carrying two liter bottles and, if you torture your way through the article, you are supposed to fill 'reservoirs' at Miners Spring---the main article doesn't describe carrying these at the beginning of the hike. The problem is the written article gives wrong directions to get to Miners Spring and has you turning east at the 'ruined cookhouse' instead of doubling back to the south to hit the trail that winds down off the east of Horseshoe Mesa.

One gallon down for a three-day hike is not enough if you don't know how to get to Miners Spring. If you follow the written directions you wander out on the mesa by turning east at the cookhouse and will be left stranded and dry without a way down to resupply. Even describing the pile of rocks left of the ruined 'cookhouse' can be puzzling---I can imagine someone looking for a building that looks like a commissary kitchen!

As to Andrew Brunelli, the hiker who died out on the Tonto in Sept 2009, I tried to figure out his hiking error when I first looked into his situation. (The forum has several postings from last year from the NPS press releases in a separate discussion.) His rental car was found at the Grandview parking lot and he was recovered 21 miles away on the Tonto, within 2 miles of the South Kaibab trail. How he ended where he did in relation to his rental car could be explained by (1) He parked at the Grandview lot and caught a ride or taxi back to the South Kaibab with the intention of walking down the SK, across the Tonto, up the Grandview/Horsehoe Mesa. This has him ending his hike with his rental car waiting for him at the end of his hike. I have done this park-and-taxi to cover the Tonto between SK and Grandview as well as New Hance to Grandview. This would have him going down about 6 miles from the SK trailhead out on the Tonto. This possibility sounds reasonable---heat and dehydration can get novice hikers this quickly on the 100 deg + Tonto in early Sept.; (2) He parked at Grandview and went down the Grandview and attempted to loop around Horseshoe Mesa as a dayhike. If he came around the mesa on the Tonto and missed the turnoff back up Cottonwood Creek, he's headed west along the Tonto and disaster. And yes, the signage here is huge and hard to miss. Of course, not reading something is common---see those who have commented on the Backpacker article without reading the full publication. If he hiked down from the mesa to the west, he could have turned west instead of east at the juncture of the Tonto and the Cottonwood Creek and would not loop around and back up the mesa but would continue west along the Tonto and disaster. If one of these errors happened, he certainly hiked a distance before going down.

The other possibility is that he was indeed trying to do a loop hike down Grandview-across the Tonto--back up the SK. He may have planned to do the hike that he did. That is a ridiculous challenge for a novice dayhiker who is looking to expand his Canyon hiking experience. This agenda resulted in the death of a marathon runner a few years ago. It is also the same kind of 'pushing the personal envelope' that everyone on this forum does when they engage in challenging hikes. The error is pushing one's personal envelope so far that it blows up in your face---and leaves you dead on the trail. If this is the case, he was not a 'blind fool' but someone who over-estimated his ability and under-estimated the Canyon. It happens all the time.