Recently, I traveled to the southwest where I backpacked and hiked a number of trails in the Grand Canyon, Grand Staircase-Escalante, and Zion National Park.   I traveled alone, but met a number of hikers along the way and stories were shared.

I met Rick from San Diego who came with his Subaru packed with gear, including a large box of hiking books and maps.   He told me he collects books on hiking areas of Western North America and researches every route thoroughly.   “I tear out the pages from the book for the hike so I have the information with me,” he stated.  “My favorite area to hike is Canyonlands and I am driving over to Moab in a few days.”  We had breakfast and talked about hiking areas.   He enjoyed Denali, Mount Rainier, and always returns to the Grand Canyon each year on his way to Utah, Colorado, and the Four Corners area.  On this trip, he had 13 days to hike and was combining a few parks into one long driving route, sleeping in his car or camping out wherever the trailheads were.  He was a Vietnam War vet, now retired and just wanted to hike and backpack at every opportunity for as long as his legs lasted.   We made plans to meet up and hike the Grandview Trail, 5 days later.

While hiking down the Hermit Trail, I met Jessie a 20-something man who was heading down this off-corridor route all the way to Hermit Rapids to “find a place where no one else is around.”   Jessie was hauling a big pack and he wasn’t sure how long he would be out in the canyon.   I asked him where he was from and he said, “all over, but from Texas originally.”   He had been in Tuscon last and was uprooting to go to a place that had mountains.   The backpack was on the way to wherever he ended up.   The previous year he had backpacked the Great Divide trail from the Mojave Desert to Snoqualmie Pass over 5 months.   This time, he was starting at the Grand Canyon, but wasn’t sure where we would end up.   We took turns passing each other down the difficult and demanding Hermit Trail, but down at the junction with the Tonto Trail, he headed down the gully to the river to find his first camping site.

On a long hike up to the East Rim, I met Sandra, a 60+ woman hiking by herself high on the mesas, a few hours from the Zion corridor.   Sandra used to live in Flagstaff and hike the SW trails frequently, but now she was living in Wisconsin.   “I need to come out west in the late spring each year.   Its still cold, wet, and flat back home,” she stated.   It was 82 degrees F on the open slopes where we talked.   She had numerous water bottles attached to her pack.  ” I have hiked this trail about a dozen times over the years and I will come back as long as my body will let me.  I take my time more now, though.”   She had just finished a backpack in the Grand Canyon too and still had a few more days left to hike before flying home.

Down on the Tonto Trail, I met a group of backpackers who were being guided along the same route I had planned.   They had 4 tents set up at Hermit Creek.   Janet came over to talk to me.   She was from Ottawa where she enjoys cross country skiing and hiking in the Gatineaus, but also traveled each year to destinations.   This was her first trip to the Grand Canyon.   “I would never come to a hike like this one by myself.   The guide makes the logistics easy.   I arrived at the airport in Phoenix where he picked me up.   He takes care off all of our bookings, equipment, meals, and leads us along at our pace.   Its worth the cost,” she explained.

I met a couple who were camping at Granite Rapids.   They were from Phoenix and were retired.   I went for a swim in the cold river then Bob and Teresa came over to talk to me.   They volunteer in the National Parks every year.   Granite Rapids is right where Monument Creek (a big gorge, but a little trickle of water) meets the Colorado River.   For about 100 metres, sand dunes from the river.   “Park Rangers want us to water the native vegetation in the sand dunes.   Drought conditions, campers, and blowing sand  make it hard for the plants to get established,” they explained.   I watched them go down to the river with a bucket and carry the bucket up the dunes to the selected plants, pouring water into the sand around the roots.  “It won’t rain here until July now.   A little extra water gives these plants a head start.”   Teresa knew all the names of the flowers and shrubs.   She took me over to an onoethera (evening primrose) still in bloom hidden in the dunes behind a shrub.   .  This was their third time to volunteer in Grand Canyon National Park, each time backpacking down to a different spot to take on some task for the park.  “We also spent a week down at a (remote) campsite as camp hosts, mostly to make sure people camped in the right spots and respected park rules.   Rangers hike the trails, but there are not enough of them to patrol sensitive areas.   When we were at Phantom Ranch, every day someone would be in trouble from heat, dehydration, and exhaustion.   At the end of the day, a woman collapsed only 200 yards from the campsite.   Someone hiking with a headlamp almost tripped over her coming into the campsite a few hours later.   The rangers carried her to the ranger station near the campsite and had to wait until morning to helicopter her out.”

While hiking across the West Tonto Trail, I saw no one for 6 hours.   Near Horn Creek, I ran into a park ranger who was hiking across the same trail in the opposite direction.   She asked to see my backcountry pass and she was pleased to see that I kept to my itinerary.   She advised me not to drink from Horn Creek,   “In the early years, miners higher up in the gorge found uranium.   All of the seasonal creeks in this area have a high radium count.”   I already knew this but was interested in her explanation.   I asked her if she did this all year and she explained that it was a seasonal job and they rehired trained Rangers each year to hike and patrol the trails in the park.   She was carrying a backpack so she must be camping out at one of the sites at the end of the West Tonto Trail.   Backpacking the remoter areas of the Grand Canyon as part of your job?   How did I miss this gig?