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| Backpack | 23.05 Miles |
5,047 AEG |
| | Backpack | 23.05 Miles | 2 Days | | |
| 5,047 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | I got a small taste of this area a couple years ago and left feeling very impressed by this special area. I also left thinking I had pretty much seen the best of the LCR in that short trip. After getting to the LCR in this trip, I left even more impressed and very aware of my aforementioned previous misconception.
We arrived at the trailhead just after midnight on Friday, but despite getting up early, we did not start hiking until just after 8. A decision we would later regret a little, as we were making a headlamp crossing of the LCR to get back to our campsite later on that day. The hike down was pretty standard, there was a group of rattlesnake researches occupying the most convienent spot, so we pushed down stream to a beach site. We dropped our packs in a hurry, loaded up enough snacks for what we knew would be a long day, packed some empty containers to carry water and then hung everything for our day hike to the confluence. Going down stream was slow going, but not because of the trail, but because that damn river is so scenic and we wanted to enjoy it a little too. In fact, the trail was much easier than I had expected, something I wish I would have read prior to stepping off for our trip, rather than after we returned. Likewise, I wish I would have read that the trail to the confluence is nothing like the first mile from Salt Trail and that the trail stays on one bank for the entire trip. Had I known the aforementioned, I think myself and Carrie would have worn boots and carried chacos. Chacos are great footwear, but that’s a long hike with them when you only cross water twice (Sipapu and the confluence) and Chacos don’t protect heals (see photo-set). The hike down the LCR was simply amazing, hard to even put into words. The water, the vibrant colors in the canyon and that final area around the "ledges" is perhaps one of the most scenic areas I have been to in a long time. In fact, the hike down the LCR was so jaw-dropping that the confluence was a tad ho hum, not necessarily a disappointment, just nothing in comparison to what the LCR had to offer for us. We filtered water pretty quickly, loaded it up and started heading back to camp just after four. The hike back to camp was much quicker without all of the photo shoots, but alas we still did not beat darkness. The tram should add a nice looping option for this one, when they finally put it in.
As noted by other HAZ members, crossing the LCR by headlamp is a surreal experience. However, it should be noted that locating the crossing at night is not surreal, in fact, it was kind of hard. We did not get any benefit of the full moon when darkness hit that canyon and it got real dark in a hurry. We overshot our crossing by probably over a tenth of a mile and I was not running route scout, so I had no references to go by except the route I downloaded, which is hard to use when RS can't seem to find you and is giving you a location on the other side of the river. Nevertheless we found our crossing, then things got cool. The blue water, pitch darkness and illuminating lights were very cool, so were the several large carp surfacing and splashing all around us due to the attraction from our headlamps. The crossing even became a little funny, when Carrie mistook one of the splashing carp for a snake! After the crossing and now on a badly sliced open back heal, there was a small moment of anxiety, as we realized it was going to be difficult to find our packs in the heavily vegetated area we hung them. However, similar to not spotting our crossing at first, that anxiety dissipated quickly when I caught that ever so welcoming bright reflection coming off our packs in the dark night. Camp was all about getting food into us, catching up on the beer we had brought and reflecting on our eventful day.
On Sunday, it was a quick Easter Egg hunt, breakfast and then the climb out. I had to wear boots because of my newly slashed open heal and did not feel like the wet crossings, so I took a well cairned high route through the boulders on high on the east bank and met Carrie at the helipad, where we began the climb out together. The climb out never seemed that hard, but we both agreed it seemed to drag on and you are never as close to being done as you think you are. We saw the five guys researching rattlesnakes on the way out and finished to an empty trailhead, apart from the driver picking up the herpetologist. We finished up a little before noon.
The LCR really took my breath away this weekend and you could not have asked for better conditions. Maybe a tad warm at times during the day, but nearly perfect night time temperatures and a nice cloudy climb out. Thanks for talking me into this one at 9 p.m. on Thursday night @carriejane!
Finally, A little HAZ appreciation to @bifrost and @slowandsteady who came through with a little last minute dog help!
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