| | -
-
| |  |
|
1 |
-
-
-
-
| |  |
|
1 |
-
-
| 1 label |  |
|
1 |
-
| |  |
|
1 |
-
-
| 1 label |  |
|
|
-
-
| 1 label |  |
|
1 |
|
| | |
|
| Hiking | 9.10 Miles |
2,944 AEG |
| | Hiking | 9.10 Miles | 4 Hrs 57 Mns | | 1.96 mph |
| 2,944 ft AEG | 19 Mns Break | | | |
|
|
| |
| Partners |
|
none
[ show ]
| no partners | | After South Canyon, it was a great night of car camping on the Kaibab Plateau and then Nankoweap Trail and a summit of Saddle Mountain on Sunday.
We both enjoyed the short but sweet section of Nankoweap Trail. We found it to be scenic and a unique way to reach the Grand Canyon from our prior experiences and were pleased with a pretty modest glyph find along the way. Once at the saddle, we began the off trail portion to the summit of Saddle Mountain. We took what most off trail hikers with any route finding sense would consider a pretty obvious route to a pretty obvious little break on Saddle Mountain's western slope. There was a little bushwhacking along the way and it was pretty steep, however, overall we both agreed it was not that bad and it looked far worse from a distance. Once on top, we were greeted to some amazing views into the canyon and some dramatic drops. The snow capped peaks were visible in the distance and Tilted Mesa was easily identifiable, along with a few other landmarks that we will be getting a much closer look at when we backpack to the Colorado River from Nankoweap Trail in a couple of weeks. The route to the summit went smoothly and was pretty nice by most off trail standards. The summit had a very large cairn marking it and a pretty busy log in for a peak that did not have that well worn of a use trail going to it. We found a nice spot for lunch overlooking Marble Canyon and the Vermillion Cliffs in the distance and then headed back the way we came.
Final Notes
Route Scout was having a bad weekend and straight lined a portion of our trail, so I estimated the minor SNAFU, however, the route to and from the summit are the actual tracks and would be a good reference for anyone completing a summit from Nankoweap Saddle. This was my tenth Grand Canyon high point and although it did not have the same feel as some of the others, it feels nice to finally get in the double digits! |
| _____________________
| | |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Route Editor
Route Scout
