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| | | Ropes Trail to Lees Ferry, AZ | | | |
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Ropes Trail to Lees Ferry, AZ
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| Kayak | 20.83 Miles |
1,885 AEG |
| | Kayak | 20.83 Miles | 8 Hrs 57 Mns | | 2.48 mph |
| 1,885 ft AEG | | | | |
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| Partners |
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| no partners | | Day 2 of breaking in my wife’s new packraft.
No backhaul options this time of year, so we hiked in via the Ropes Trail and arranged a shuttle pick up from Lee’s Ferry.
Before hitting the Ropes Trail approach, we decided to wander around the Beehive Trail first. It has some ok sandstone formations—including what they call the “New Wave,” but it doesn’t remotely compare to its more popular cousin in Coyote Buttes North.
This was my third time down the Ropes Trail. I love it. A little spicy in spots but nothing too crazy.
There are three “roped” descents on the route. The first two are short and both had decent ropes.
The third is the longest, and while there previously had been a nice climbing rope and some other ropes of lesser quality, all were gone except the old metal cable.
We overshot this third/final down climb and had to backtrack to it.
On previous trips I noted that the ropes were nice but not mandatory, but this trip put that to the test. It got the adrenaline pumping a bit, but we made it down without incident and were happy to finally get the descent out of the way.
At the camping area, we admired the petroglyphs and figured out that the white stuff on the ground was frost! Yes, it was chilly, but not that bad.
We quickly got our packrafts set up and were soon on the water. Ironically, at the put-in spot, a huge eddy pulled us the upstream for a good 75 yards before we paddled out of it and began our downstream adventure.
Other than 3 small fishing boats, we had the river to ourselves, and enjoyed lovely solitude.
Although it was cold in the shade (especially on the paddling fingers), and we were excited when the river bend put us in line with direct sunlight, we enjoyed calm water and no wind to speak of throughout. The reflections of the canyon walls on the water were truly magical.
Saw several fish swimming in the crystal clear, emerald green water.
We took a break for early lunch at the descending sheep petroglyph panel (and warmed up in the sun), before continuing around Horseshoe Bend and waving at the gawking Instagrammers high above.
Below Horseshoe Bend, we floated in complete silence and solitude for a good 30 minutes and just let the current take us along as we soaked in the mesmerizing reflections on the river. Moments like that simply fill my soul! I may have even taken a little nap!
The reflection-lined approach to Waterholes is probably my favorite view on the route.
A couple of miles from Lee’s Ferry, we pulled out for a short hike up to Hislop’s Cave. The route is not well worn and required some mild bushwhacking through the initial tree chutes. After the initial bushwhack, it opens up and there are horse tracks all over the place (wild horses?).
In the cave, it took me a bit to locate Hislop’s etching. He clearly took some time on it.
Returning to our rafts, we locked in for the final mile or two, as we were approaching our 5 pm pick-up time with our shuttle. About a mile from the end, I got a text from the driver saying he’d arrived.
We paddled in 10 minutes before our scheduled pick up, and after deflating our rafts and stowing our gear were on the road back to Page at 5 pm sharp. Not bad timing!
This was another magical trip—my third time paddling this route. Second in the winter months—which is by far the best time to do this route, IMO. |
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