|
| | | |
| |
|
| Backpack | 20.50 Miles |
7,655 AEG |
| | Backpack | 20.50 Miles | 3 Days | | |
| 7,655 ft AEG | | | | |
|
|
| |
| Partners |
|
[ show ]
| partners | | I got the old Vishnu team together for another one. Although, I should note the original plan was three. The plan was to give Ochoa Point, Apollo and Venus a run over a three day trip off the Tanner Trail. Inclement weather nearly derailed our trip, but we gambled on some suspect weather on the first and last day and committed.
Dave and I picked up Karl who was already in the area on the way and we started descending Tanner around 10:00 a.m. Saturday. The forecast called for a 70 percent chance of rain, so we were expecting some suffering. However, we ended up getting kind of lucky, we endured a few snow squalls and the cold wind that accompanied them, but not much rain and a little graupel here and there. In fact, we finished the final stretch to our crossing point sans rain gear and to sunny skies. However, it did start pouring right before we wanted to cross of course. But that was just a quick delay and we were in the water shortly after. We launched just below Tanner Rapid and then hit a powerful eddy to slow down enough to reach a large channel that bypasses some quick water before Basalt Rapid. At camp we enjoyed sunny skies until dark, but the rain came around 8 and continued on and off until the next morning.
Due to some pretty cold temperatures, we did not get out of camp until 7:30 the next morning. We followed the distinct ridgeline to a steep chute that looks impassable from a distance, but it goes and we used it to gain the ridgeline of Ochoa. From there I took the ridgeline and Karl and Dave traversed along its base until we were at the slopes of Ochoa Point. A distinct gully and break through the tapeats took us to just below the summit cap of Ochoa Point. Some minor scrambling on semi suspect rock was required to reach the summit. We ended up deciding to call it a day on Ochoa Ridge and did not even make an attempt at Apollo or Venus. We did not get an early enough start for all three anyways. I think when I come back, I will wait for some warmer temps, travel lighter down Tanner and get like a 5:00 a.m. start. There was no real disappointment in not going for the other two summits, as the scenes from the top of Ochoa and its ridgeline were spectacular and we were all just happy to be out there, after nearly bailing due to the weather. We returned to camp the way we ascended.
It rained from about 4:30 to 6:30 Monday morning, which delayed breaking camp some, but we were still off by 7:30. We did not get any rain or precipitation until about the last three miles, which devolved into blizzard like conditions for Karl and I as we finished. There were times, we had to do double takes to find the trail and breaking trail through the 6-8 inches of fresh snow proved tiresome, but we finally dragged ourselves out of that Canyon sometime just after 1:30 p.m.
This was one of my more fulfilling Canyon trips in a long time and I will probably always look back on it as a good one. We braved the elements, suffered a little, bagged a summit and saw the Canyon in rare form. I wanted to go for all three summits, but it was not meant to be on this one and I will be back sooner than later hopefully. It was great to see Dave and Karl again and we had a lot of fun. This was my 47th Grand Canyon summit. |
| _____________________
| | |
|
|
|
Route Editor
Route Scout
