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| Canyoneering | 9.00 Miles |
2,550 AEG |
| | Canyoneering | 9.00 Miles | | | |
| 2,550 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no linked trail guides |
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| no partners | | Haha, this is a trip I will never forget! It's gonna be a long triplog, but half the fun is in the retelling of the story...
The adventure began Saturday morning when we hit the trail at about 11AM, our packs loaded down with gear, wetsuits, packrafts, etc. It was a hot boulder-hop of a hike; by the time we reached the technical section we were drenched with sweat and balking at the idea of putting our wetsuits on here as the beta recommended. Let me tell you, wearing that wetsuit while being so hot was pure misery until we jumped into the first cold pool a few minutes later... ahhh, instant amazing relief!!
The technical section was pretty short, only 4 rappels but all of them dropped into incredibly beautiful grotto pools, each banded with different striations of colors in the canyon walls. It was simply gorgeous and the views were astounding. The scenic narrow section and fun waterslides were over much too fast and we were at the beach before we knew it. What a cool beach, too, with a huge sandy area for us to set up camp at. After hanging all of our gear in the trees to dry out (they looked like freakish christmas trees decorated with random gear, helmets and clothing by the time we were done), we were about ready to bust out our dehydrated meals for dinner when the unexpected happened. A raft appeared. Then another, and another. Before long, 8 big boats or so had pulled up to our beach. At first they were confused when they saw us standing there on the beach with no boats, which soon turned into amazement when they learned we had actually just rappelled in. They asked us if they could camp on the beach too, and they were quick to mention that they had 120 CASES of beer and peach moonshine to share. Are you kidding, of course you can stay on this beach with us!!! We learned that they were a group of 20 or so friends, mostly from Colorado, who were on day 2 of a 23-day rafting trip (one of many this group has done over the years). The trip leader invited us to come hangout with them, which we planned on doing after we ate dinner. As we were eating, we were joined by several members of the rafting group who wanted to hear our story, all of them passing around cold beers and good cheer. All of us canyoneers were marveling at how awesome this was, but little did we know that it was going to get even better!
We headed down to join their party around sunset, bringing with us the wine and hiker's punch we had smuggled in. Before long a bottle of bourbon appeared from the rafters, soon to be followed by an enormous bag of homemade sangria! As the booze and stories flowed, it didn't take long before it turned into a huge party with a big fire, music and... food! They ended up sharing their tri-tip steak, fire-roasted potatoes, sauteed asparagus and carrot cake fresh out of the dutch oven with us. This was pure heaven, so much better than our lonely little dehydrated meals. They were so fun and generous, their group was a total riot and everyone was having a blast. Shooting stars sailed above us as the night went on, I don't even know what time everyone passed out on the beach in varying stages of drunkenness.
It is an absolute miracle that we all woke up without hangovers, despite the crazy mix of booze everyone had enjoyed the night before. The rafters showed us even more generosity when they topped us off on water that morning, as 3 of our 4 filters were dead. We packed up, blew up our rafts and parted ways with our fun-loving river friends. They offered to give us rides, or to follow us down the river... I think they thought we were all crazy when they saw the tiny boats we were floating out on. But we kindly refused, as our exit beach was only a mile away, an easy float on a beautiful morning. Before we departed, another rafting group floated by, receiving a friendly mooning by one of the girls on our beach as they went past. We hit the river and were soon arriving at the exit beach and back on the trail for the hot hike out, this time the going was a little faster as we bypassed much of the boulder-hopping in Shimuno wash. Thankfully we had cached a couple gallons of water at the bottom of the switchbacks and it was still cold when we reached it. We all made it back to the cars and drank another cold beer in celebration of another safe and successful trip.
Those river-rafters turned an already fun trip into an epic adventure! I feel so grateful for their generosity to our group and I will definitely be paying their kindness forward somehow. I think that is my favorite part about all these crazy hikes and canyons, the bonds that are formed when you go through such an experience or have a chance meeting with fellow explorers in the absolute middle of nowhere. And what better place to experience it than the Grand Canyon! Can't wait to do a rafting trip someday, too.  |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
Using Todd's sweet new Grand Canyoneering book, we drove to the southern rim of Shinumo Wash and dropped down the old damn builders' trail which thankfully was never built. 
It's a steep drop down the trail, but eventually we reach the wash down below and pick up the trail again to avoid the worst of the rock hopping and down climbing. 
After much anticipation, we reached the remote & beautiful Silver Grotto and geared up into thick wetsuits to brave the many chilly pools. 
Though short, the sweet narrows was full of about a half dozen rappels up to 50ft plus another half dozen slick slides and just as we start to get chilly we send the Colorado River thru the end of the narrow canyon and know that relief is soon. 
There's no trail out here, so we blow up our packrafts (glorified pool toys 
I woke around 4am and notice that the bright full moon was replaced by overcast skies and was not surprised to be awoken again at 6am to sprinkles, Most of us were rocking new expensive down bags that were crammed into dry bags all yesterday so we quickly woke up and stuffed them away. The rain didn't amount to much that morning but it helped us get an early start. Scrambled up the cliffs and found the damn builders' trail again and traversed back to above the Silver Grotto and back up Shinumo Canyon and just before making the steep climb back out the heavens opened up a little again and lightly showered us & cooled us off before reaching the sunny top of the rim. 
