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?

[Canyonram]

I've waited for an e-mail response to my letter to Backpacker Magazine but have not received any response as of 10/06. I also requested info from NPS regarding the full report on Andrew Brunelli (hiker who died on the Tonto after heading down from Grandview) in Sept. 2009 but have not received any response from the Parks public relations officer. Not really surprised by either delay (or total avoidance) and will wait a few more days and will then press the issue with a few more emails. LOL.

I am puzzled by suggestions that if a hiker ends up in trouble (or dead) as result of following the published instructions in the Backpacker magazine article that it is somehow the personal responsibility of the hiker and not the magazine. How much research is enough when planning a hike? If a hiker did the suggested 3-day loop hike and used a second trail description but made a fatal decision, did that person do adequate research? That argument is a closed loop since you can continue pushing the explanatory envelope back to maintain the assumption that the hiker was not acting in a responsible manner. The person is dead, well, the poor SOB was not acting responsibly and 'deserved' what happened.

As to lawsuits, etc. that is secondary to keeping hikers safe. I don't see the difference between a Scout Master heading a troop of newbie scouts down a primitve route without sufficient water or route knowledge and a magazine article that directs someone into the same error (the Scout example is real). I'd rather see correct info published and the notion of a lawsuit a moot point. Even if the flawed magazine article is the origin of a fatal error, who is going to know? The person is dead and can't tell us why he went wandering on the eastern edge of Horseshoe Mesa looking for a way down to Miners Spring---I believe the sign at the cookhouse actually directs you toward 'Page Spring' another name for the same waterhole, not mentioned in the magazine article. It would take someone very tuned in to this route and the mistake who could piece the thing together----and even that would require some huge leaps to make a convincing argument. Most likely, the dead hiker will get labeled as yet another irresponsible hiker who didn't know what he was doing and earned his own two paragraphs in 'Death in the Canyon.'. Any time someone ends up dead in the Canyon it validates just how smart and well-prepared, etc. all of us who hike the Canyon are since we are so dang smart we lived to tell about it---or at least we like to pretend.

I'm open to hear the opinions regarding 'personal responsibility' and how the magazine is not accountable.

[azbackpackr]

As mentioned before, the Park Service is supposed to be the best source of info, and I know they do try to reach dayhikers as well, although I am sure it is a real task to try to get info out there to every dayhiker. I would hope most people know that magazines are commercial enterprises whose main raison d'etre is to make a profit.

I myself do not think anyone deserved to die out there. There are many people who do not listen to warnings or read signs, like the kids who jumped into the river to swim it last year. There is no sign in Surprise Valley, you are supposed to have a map and compass, but that kid went down Bonita creek and died last year, after reading Backpacker. He had no permit, so what can we do about that?

I wish Backpacker would stay out of the Canyon myself because I have never read an article about a GC backpack in there that was very good.

[Canyonram]

I wish Backpacker would stay out of the Canyon myself because I have never read an article about a GC backpack in there that was very good.

Most of the recent Grand Canyon articles are written either by Canyon Park Service staff or by those with close connections to the Canyon. Annette McGiveny is the SW editor and I believe she is still with NAU in Flagstaff; a recent boot reivew for the Canyon included evaluations by Park Rangers. Backpacker Magazine is using writers who know and hike the Canyon. They just need to get the information correct before they put it into print. (Still no answer from Backpacker or the Park Service regarding the info on Grandview loop hike.)

[maxpower]

What is the consensus regarding the May 2010 issue where they published a 6 page article and included hikes using the Thunder River and Deer Creek areas? Unfortunately, I have done little off-trail hiking on the north side of the river, except for some scrambling up Phantom Canyon towards Utah Flats and Cheops Pyramid, so I can't speak from firsthand information. It did seem like the article was well written and included sufficient detail to help guide a relatively experienced canyoneer to get through the area. I'd be a little hesitant to try it solo, but would love to do something like this as part of a small group.

[azbackpackr]

And, as I just mentioned on this thread the other day, the kid who died in Bonita Creek had read that article. At the junction in Surprise Valley there never used to be a sign, and I don't think there is now. He tried to hike down Bonita Creek and died of heat stroke and lack of water. He had no permit, and picked the worst time of year to go there, as it is relentlessly hot on that slope in early summer.

A lot of people on here and on that other Arizona website have done the Tapeats Creek/Deer Creek Loop, and have done some triplogs, I think. You should probably be able to find out something. A little late in the year for it though, to get the permit. I personally would not do it except in the fall. In the spring you may not be able to get to the trailhead--it is about 30 miles of dirt road. In the summer, they may not even issue permits for that area, at least they didn't used to on a regular basis, due to the extreme heat exposure on that slope. That is something you can find out from the BCO. I have been to Thunder River, and hope to do that loop sometime.

[maxpower]

A little late in the year for it though, to get the permit. I personally would not do it except in the fall. In the spring you may not be able to get to the trailhead--it is about 30 miles of dirt road. In the summer, they may not even issue permits for that area, at least they didn't used to on a regular basis, due to the extreme heat exposure on that slope. That is something you can find out from the BCO. I have been to Thunder River, and hope to do that loop sometime.

Those were pretty much my thoughts too. I was thinking of this as a possible trip for late next September or early October. For the most part, in the summer heat I rarely drop below the Tonto, prefering to restrict my day hikes down to that level and doing them in the early morning as well. I hope I live long enough to do all the trips on my radar though.

[Canyonram]

maxpower----I e-mailed Backpacker in early Sept. 2010 and asked why they had pulled that particular trail route from their website. I did not get an answer. I am not sure if there was something wrong with their website OR if they pulled the article knowing that there was a fatal error in the route description. I did that hike too many years ago and don't trust either my memory or my hiking notes to know if the trail description in the magazine was correct.

As you know, the problem with trail descriptions is one single incorrect word can send someone off in the wrong direction, especially on the primitive wilderness routes when the trail isn't a manicured defined path. I've tried following some of Harvey Butchart routes----the joke is when you come to one of his 'jaunty climbs'----for a bighorn that is.

From the public information on Mr. Gillies, looks like he made plenty of errors of his own. I hope his major error wasn't following a flawed trail description.

[maxpower]

I have some of Harvey's books and have read a lot of his logs from the NAU online library. I'm intrigued by his habit of describing a route as "interesting!"

[Dschur]

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.

They have now taken down the head frame and reclaiming the top....

[PaleoRob]

I'm kinda disappointed that they took down the headframe - a piece of history, even if it was contaminated.

[azbackpackr]

Is that the mine along the trail to Miner's Spring?

I wish they would leave all the historic stuff alone. I hear they are demolishing a lot of old mining buildings in the Kofa as well. A lot of people were really angry about that.

[PaleoRob]

No, that's the big headframe you can see from anywhere along the main village rim. Check under culture - headframe. There should be a picture of it.

[paulhubbard]

http://hikearizona.com/photo.php?ZIP=36321

[Canyonram]

Orphan Mine was orginally developed as a copper mine and later mined for uranium. The Rim access is between Powell and Maricopa Points on the South Rim / Hermit Rest route. It contains some of the highest yield uranium found in the world and supplied the uranium for US nuclear weapons. From 1956 to 1966, the mine was in full uranium mode---wastes were transported through the park in open trucks---there is a large dumpsite near Tuba City on the Navajo Nation that received a lot of the radioactive wastes (another example of the total disregard for the health of Native people). During the 12 years of operation, the Orphan produced 5 million pounds or uranium. There is still an estimated 10-20 million pounds of deposits in the closed mine. Park Service finally took over in 1987. You can still look down on the open 'Glory Hole' from Maricopa Point.

The clean-up and closure is a major headache and concern. The Navajo Nation is still trying to figure out ways to clean the dumpsite near Tuba City. Taking down the structures on the Rim has been in the works for YEARS. The current dry climate and fact that water on the South Rim runs away from the Rim has limited the leaching of the radioactive wastes into the ground water leading down Horn Creek and to the Colorado. The big cleanup concern is to do something before contaminating the Colorado. It's a huge debate as to whether such contamination will even occur or the extent of the contamination. The cost will be extreme---this for the Park Service that has a hard time repairing a sidewalk or putting a coat of paint on Bright Angel Lodge.

Plenty of long-time Park employees have developed 'strange' cancers, including thyroid cancers. Many claim this relates to living in close proximity of the uranium mining and the waste dust that was released into the Park during the years the mine was operating. Some have petitioned the CDC to investigate the illness as a cancer cluster.

Wayne Tomasi had a good chapter on the Orphan Mine in his book 'Grand Canyon Hiking Adventures.' He gives descriptions on how to climb into the mine and along the Hummingbird Trail. There's no good reason to go into the mine or to attempt the Hummingbird---why he included directions to both is a puzzle.

[maxpower]

Is this also part of the mining equipment that you can see from one of the outlooks west of the Hermit transfer? Not sure which one, but I remember seeing some equipment down below, like somewhere below the Coconino, perhaps in the Hermit shale layer?

[Canyonram]

Is this also part of the mining equipment that you can see from one of the outlooks west of the Hermit transfer? Not sure which one, but I remember seeing some equipment down below, like somewhere below the Coconino, perhaps in the Hermit shale layer?

Not sure where you are making reference. At one time, there was an extensive tourist destination called Hermit Tourist Camp down the Hermit Rest Trail. There was an aerial tramway stretching from Pima Point (along the Hermit Rest Road) to the camp---some 3600 vertical feet down and over 6300 linear feet. When the Park Service gained control of the Bright Angel Trail, the tourist interest in Hermit Camp faded and Fred Harvey Company closed Hermit Camp back in 1931. The remains of the tramway and the dozen buildings are still at Hermit Camp.

If you are making reference to views off of Maricopa and Powell Point, you can still see remains of the construction done on behalf of operating the Orphan Mine.

[maxpower]

I think it was the view from Maricopa Point. If you lean out over the railing and look down a thousand feet or so, you can see the mine shaft area and some steel I-beam structure that is still there below the rim. It was a couple of years ago that I noticed this, so I'm not sure if it's subsequently been removed or not.

[big_load]

If you lean out over the railing and look down a thousand feet or so, you can see the mine shaft area and some steel I-beam structure that is still there below the rim.

I remember that. It's been a really long time, though, so it's kind of foggy.

[PaleoRob]

Wayne Tomasi had a good chapter on the Orphan Mine in his book 'Grand Canyon Hiking Adventures.' He gives descriptions on how to climb into the mine and along the Hummingbird Trail. There's no good reason to go into the mine or to attempt the Hummingbird---why he included directions to both is a puzzle.

I love visiting uranium mines. I'll have to check into that!

[Canyonram]

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.

They have now taken down the head frame and reclaiming the top....

Thanks for the update on the Orphan Mine and the removal of the head frame. Any idea on what they are doing are far as clean-up and closing the mine entrance? The sorry looking fence that they had around the perimeter wasn't doing much to keep the curious from going into the area. There used to be signs up warning about possiblity radioactivity, etc. The warnings included advice about not staying in the vicinity for more than 24 hours. A Ranger told me they stopped putting them up because they were being ripped off.

ASU and the Grand Canyon Association has a new website on Grand Canyon history, etc. They have some stuff on the Orphan Mine:
( dead link removed )

Check out the swimming pool on the Rim and the proposed hotel carved into the side of the Canyon.