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| Hiking | 18.70 Miles |
4,865 AEG |
| | Hiking | 18.70 Miles | 9 Hrs 55 Mns | | 2.22 mph |
| 4,865 ft AEG | 1 Hour 30 Mns Break | 14 LBS Pack | | |
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| no partners | | I've had my eye on this one for a while. Made 2 sort-of attempts prior but didn't make it far. Once from Phantom Creek and another from Widforss Trail. On both I ran out of time and energy to make any serious progress. Ready for a third go at it although July is probably not the best time to do it but I was starting to get itchy.
From HW67 on the North Rim, I turned off onto Point Sublime Road (also the road to get to Widforss Trailhead) and followed that about 4 miles to Tiyo Point Road. As I discovered, Tiyo Road is now Tiyo Trail and is closed to vehicles so I backed up and found a spot to park about 1 mile away. I walked Tiyo Point Trail about 3 miles from the gate to the turn off for Shiva Point Trail. The intersection is marked with 2 metal tags nailed to a tree. Tiyo is an old road so it is easy to follow (except it is quickly being reclaimed by the forest with lots of new trees and downfall) but Shiva Road exists only for a couple hundred yards and then completely disappears. From here a compass or GPS is necessary, IMO, to continue as you're just walking through the trees with no view of the rim until you're almost there, 2 1/2 miles later.
From Shiva Point, the trail down to the saddle is well marked with cairns. This is also an exit for one of George Steck's routes so I think it gets lots of use. There's also many cattle or bison trails leading down.
On the saddle I was surprised to find a large rock holding a pocket of water on such a hot day! This probably explains the cow trails. After crossing the saddle I found the route up to the Temple pretty straight forward using the description from Grand Canyon Summits Select. There are a couple of class 4 climbs through the Coconino and then lots of scrambling to the Kaibab break. Most of the route is cairned. This section beat me up good but most of the climbs are pretty easy.
On the mostly flat and tree covered summit I quickly found the two 5-gallon metal milk jugs on the high point. I opened the one containing the register and was greeted by a nice little hornets nest under construction! No way I was leaving without signing in so I reached in and yanked out the register as fast as I could and then sprinted about 100 yards away. The log dates back to 2001 with about 2-3 trips per year, mine being the first for '13. After gently replacing the register I heard the sounds of an approaching thunder storm. Dam! No time to explore the top, had to get down and beat the lightning. I made it down to saddle just as the rain started. Put on my $1.50 emergency poncho and found a low spot to wait out the storm and hide from the lightning. The storm passed after about 20 minutes and the sky was blue again but now it was hot and humid. I returned back to Shiva Point mostly the same way and back across the Kaibab forest to my truck without any more issues. Didn't see any people all day.
On the way home I stopped at the BCO and picked up 2 permits. North Bass in September and South Canyon in October  . |
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