Thursday, May 15, 2025

Camping Gear Recommendations for All Seasons

 

Emergency Preparedness: Camping Gear for All Seasons

Here are some recommendations about basic camping gear for all seasons of the year.  There is no bad season for camping; only poor equipment choices.  (caveat: a wild fire and a tornado are unequivocally bad camping weather; don't do that)

Basic Essentials: Stay Warm/ Stay Dry/ Clean Water/ Clean Food

Step 1:  Go camping and see what you like 

If you haven't been camping enough to know what style of camping/ cooking/ sleeping/ water treatment you like, do yourself a favor and go camping and find out what you like. If you don't have any gear, borrow some. If you go buy a bunch of gear based on some ill-informed recommendations (like this list) and no knowledge of your own preferences, you may likely regret it. Go now. Then, you can make more informed decisions.

Spring/Summer/Fall

In my opinion, the gear you need for Spring, Summer, or Fall camping is largely the same.  It just depends on how specialized you want your gear to be.  If you buy generally good gear that is useful over a wider variety of seasons, you can use most of it all the time.  We'll talk about winter separately below.

Sleeping Bag (stay warm)

Depends on your preferences and climate. Some people prefer to get a deep freeze back rated to 0F for use in winter, and a lighter bag in the summer. Some people will have 3 or more different bags for different situations. For Spring-Fall weather in NM, I find that if your sleeping bag is rated down to around 20-30F, you can probably use it all three seasons. Mountains near ABQ (Sandias, Jemez, etc) can and do get into the 30 deg F range in Spring and Fall.  I've had it snow on me in late May in the Jemez. I have a single bag: down mummy bag, rated to 15F, weighs around 2lb. I use it in all situations throughout the year (see discussion below about winter camping) If you want some lightweight options for different seasons, a bag rated to 40-50F is likely just fine for a summer camping trip (depending on where you are going).  I'd recommend getting one rated for at least 10F lower than the temperatures you expect to see.

Down vs Synthetic: Down is unmatched for warmth/weight ratio and compressibility. But, it doesn’t retain warmth well when wet. It’s also more expensive. So, if you feel like the user is less likely to maintain their gear and keep themselves dry, you may want to get them a synthetic bag. Synthetic bags can still be very warm and comfortable, but will likely be a bit bigger and heavier to get the same rating. They can be significantly less expensive, although not always.

Size/shape: A mummy bag (with a hood on top) fits the contours of your body more snugly and with reduced space in the bag makes it easier to retain warmth. But, some people don’t like the more constricted feel. A rectangular bag is classic, but is heavier (more material) and will take a bit more fill (weight) to stay warm with all other things being equal. Key: try it out. People fit differently and have different preferences. Don’t just buy a bag and assume it will be good for everyone. And, some bags come in different sizes for broader shoulders, taller, etc. While most bags are unisex, they will usually have different temperature ratings for men vs women. Although, there are some mummy bags that are specifically designed for women, which usually have different amounts of insulation in different areas, and have an overall different fit.

Tent/Shelter (stay dry)

You need to stay dry. Whether you just use a bivvy (really just an outer bag/sack to put your sleeping bag in) to a lightweight backpacking tent to a full 20-person family tent that takes 4 people 30 minutes to setup, you’ll want some type of shelter to keep you dry.  Or, both of my sons really like to use hammocks.  Note: no matter the tent, how ever many people it claims to be good for, usually subtract 1 for a decent fit. A typical 4-person tent will normally only fit 3, even without a lot of gear. A 4-person tent will be pretty roomy for 2 people with a bit of gear. If it says 3, it probably really means 2. (“n-1” for real tent comfort fit)

Most of the discussion below is about tents.  But, if you are looking to hammock, then get a tarp to go with you, and sufficient rope to set it up taut over the hammock and stake it down.  Read a discussion of hammock camping and decide for yourself.

Seasonal Considerations: not much. You can buy a “4-season” tent, which usually means it’s a bit sturdier to not collapse under snow and high wind loads, but normally any regular 3-season tent will be fine throughout the year. (I’ve never owned a “4-season” tent, and I have done lots of winter camping)
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Features to watch for:

  • Weather-proofing considerations - rain fly. A larger family tent usually doesn’t have a full rain fly (one that goes all the way to the ground, or covers the entrances). It’s just hard to find. But, the larger square footage in a large family tent usually means that if a bit of moisture gets in at the entrance, it’s not that big a deal. A 2-6 person tent for car camping or backpacking may have a full rain fly where the rain covering goes all the way to the ground and completely covers all entrances, with a separate zipper opening to get in. These are the most weather-resistant options.
  • Vestibule: Tents with a full rainfly usually have some storage space in between the fly and the entrance. If the fly is staked out from the tent with several square feet of area in between the tent and the fly, that area is called a vestibule. It’s great for storing gear outside the tent (roomier in the tent, and cleaner), while still providing some protection from the elements.
  • Weight: If you are driving to your campsite, weight doesn’t matter much. But, if you are backpacking 10 miles into the backcountry, you are going to want something lightweight. For reference: I don’t consider 5-6 pounds lightweight. If you split some of the load with someone sharing the tent with you, that’s not bad. If you are going any decent mileage on your own, I’d look to carry something between 2-3 pounds, 4 at the most.
  • Ease of Setup: This factor can be important whether you are looking at a small 2-man or a large family tent. See how long it takes you to set it up, whether you will need others to help, or whether you will need extra tools to ease the setup. Another consideration is whether it is self-supporting or if it needs stakes in the ground to properly set it up. Stakes can be hard to secure in really deep sandy soil, or very hard ground. Other options: If wind isn’t too much of an issue, something as simple as staking down a tarp can be effective, and still provide some measure of protection from the rain. For a family gathering, using rope and poles to create a larger lean-to with a large tarp can be a nice respite from the sun.


Water Treatment (Clean Water)

If you are car camping for just a couple days, you can just haul in enough water.  If you are backpacking or otherwise trying to get a bit more remote, or don’t know how long you’ll be out, you need to plan on filtering water on your trip. I'm not going to go into an in-depth treatment of various options here, but here are a few possibilities. Get a system, test it; know how to use it.  


I used to have a pump, and I liked it (Katadyn Vario), and while it worked great for a few years, as it got older, the filters just seemed to get clogged faster, and I got tired of buying $40 filters for it.  I've now got a Sawyer Squeeze, and the similar Katadyn BeFree is also very popular.  Both are highly rated for 1-4 people, maybe 5.  If you have more people, you probably want a gravity-fed filter made for larger groups of people, like the Katadyn BeFree Gravity 6L (or 10L), or the Platypus GravityWorks 4L. Test them out before your trip. When I go backpacking, I always want a backup water filtration source.  Either someone else with a filter, or a little canister of chlorine dioxide tablets or something similar.  

Stove (Clean Food)

You can’t always build a fire in the backcountry, and you may not want to. A stove is a good idea to add flexibility to your cooking options. Here is where it is important to understand your preference for cooking style. Do you want pots and pans and the ability to cook with several ingredients to make a wonderful meal? Or, do you just want to boil water for heating up dehydrated food? Or, just a stove with enough of a burner to cook a hot dog or a piece of spam? They all require different stove types. Figure out what you want to do, and buy accordingly.

Fuel: Isobutane, propane, or white gas.  
  • Isobutane/propane mix is my go-to fuel of choice if I have to carry all my gear myself.  It does better at higher altitudes than straight propane.  It is also stored at lower pressures than propane, so the canisters don't have to be as heavy.  
  • For a classic family car camping trip, there's nothing wrong with a large (or medium-sized) two burner stove with a big 20lb propane tank.  The smaller 1lb propane tanks are a little heavy for backpacking, but more importantly, they are much more likely to freeze up in cold weather and not operate properly.
  • I don't love the white gas stoves as the priming and carrying of liquid fuel doesn't excite me, but it does work better at higher altitudes than isobutane.  I won't be covering any gas fuel stoves.


Ultra-lightweight stove, but requires additional pot: There are lots of versions of this, but the MSR Pocket Rocket is a prime example.  Weighs next to nothing (the stove itself).  Attach it to a isobutane canister, put a pot or frying pan over it, and you are good to go.  These tend to be fairly versatile, as the burner is an open configuration allowing you to either use a frying pan or a pot and do what you want with it.  They are meant for cooking for 1-2 people at a time.


Also fairly compact and more all-in-one is are the hyper-efficient systems like Jet Boil.  (or various generic copykats that are usually still well rated and often sell for $50 or so).  They come with a pot and integrated burner assy, sized such that the fuel canister and everything fits inside.  Very nice package for backpacking.  In my experience, the burner/heat exchanger system is highly optimized for use with their pot and isn't as effective for something like roasting a hot dog over the open flame.  But, this style of stove is my go-to for backpacking.  I just boil water in it to rehydrate a mountain house meal or something similar.  No pot to clean.  The food residue stays in the zip-lock mountain house package, which is easy to pack out.  Oh, and it is very efficient on fuel, so I could do 4-5 days backpacking, cooking for 2 people, and still get by with a single 100g fuel canister. So, weight saving, too.


Car camping brings the capability of bringing something larger.  There are lots of options, and I will only showcase two popular versions.  The classic portable Coleman 2-burner stove, and the larger 2 burner camp kitchen variety (and 3-burner version here).  Bring a 1-lb or 20lb propane tank, and you have enough capacity to cook for much larger groups.

Food Style (Clean Food)

There are lots of different styles of food for camping.  I'll cover a few common varieties:

Full Camp Kitchen: Here's where you bring all the gear, multiple pots, raw ingredients, lots of prep work.  Some people really enjoy the cooking aspect in the outdoors.  The food can be amazing - it will be whatever you can come up with, usually just as good as cooked at home.  Weight, prep time, cooking time, cleanup - all are more involved than other options, but the food can be amazing.

Dehydrated Food: Whether you buy the packaged variety (like Mountain House), or prepare your own - these are very light weight, and the cooking requirements are minimal.  Usually you just boil water, mix and let it sit for a few minutes.  Eat it right out of the container.  Minimum weight, very little clean-up, prep can be almost non-existent (store-bought) to more involved (home-made), and it will never be as tasty as the more involved cooking.  But, the home-made stuff can still be pretty good.  I just buy the Mountain House meals for the ease and the clean-up.  I don't want to have to wash any dishes on a campout.  But, those store-bought dehydrated meals are expensive - more than $10 per meal.  I plan on posting here some recipes a friend of mine collected for home-made dehydrated/freeze-dried meals.  Hopefully soon.

Campfire: This is a lot of fun. Cooking real food over an open fire brings out wonderful flavors.  It depends on being somewhere that fires are allowed, having sufficient firewood, and things being dry enough to get it going (or having enough skill to do so regardless).  The flexibility on what you can do is pretty high, and the cost is definitely lower than store-bought dehydrated meals.  Usually heavier cooking equipment, and sometimes more cleanup.

Clothing (stay warm & dry)

I am not going to dive into a lot of clothing details, but let me focus on socks. Ever hear the phrase "Cotton Kills"? It's because when cotton gets wet, it looses all ability to retain warmth. So, if you are on a cold-weather campout wearing cotton, and you get wet, you will freeze! Even the small amount of moisture from natural perspiration can cause serious problems in cold weather. I wouldn't do any cold-weather camping/hiking with anything but wool socks. In fact, I'd recommend getting good wool socks for any serious backpacking trip. The wool will wick the moisture away from your feet, and will keep you much more dry and comfortable, and less likely to have problems with blisters. Plus, they will generally last longer than cotton. Wool alone won't solve blister problems if you have issues with your boots, etc, but they can help a lot. You can pay $20-$30 for a single pair of good thick wool socks at REI, or Costco often carries a 4-pack of medium-weight wool-blend socks for $15. The Costco socks aren't pure wool, but they work pretty well.  Have you ever tried alpaca wool socks?? They are heavenly!  (Note: there are popular moisture-wicking synthetics that share many properties with wool, but I still prefer wool)

Backpack

Maybe not an essential - but a decent backpack is often a good way to carry gear and keep it dry, even if you aren’t backpacking, per se.  I really enjoy my REI pack, as well as Gregory and Osprey gear.  But, they can be expensive.  Depending on your needs, the Teton Brand (sold at Sportsman’s Warehouse or even on Amazon) can be pretty affordable.  I’ve seen several youth use these for years, and one of my sons has borrowed one several times - they seem pretty decent and well-built.  They can also be a quick and easy way to stash a family’s worth of 72-hr kits for grab & go access.

If you are looking to get backpacks for kids for actual backpacking trips, I’d recommend not spending a lot of money on it unless they are old enough to not grow out of it in 1-2 years.

Features to look for: 

  • I personally prefer hydration reservoirs over water bottles, so I look for a pack that has a built-in pouch for a reservoir and a good system to route the hose out to the shoulder straps for sipping while hiking.  Almost anything these days will have this, though.

  • Lots of straps and pockets to attach/hold onto things.  I am a fan of more organization and not just throwing everything into one large cavernous spot.  But, everyone is different.

  • I love it when they come with a place to stash a water-proof pack cover, but that’s just a convenience.  Most packs will be relatively water-resistant even without a pack cover in all but the most intense storms.

Saturday, May 20, 2023

Grand Canyon Rim-to-River-to-Rim Day Hike

Latitude, Longitude: 36.0529 -112.08304 Elevation: ~7260ft (at South Kaibab trailhead)

Elevation varies from 7260' at South Kaibab Trailhead to 2546' at Phantom Ranch to 6860' at Bright Angel Trailhead (according to NPS websites)

Weather Forecast:  Grand Canyon Village Weather Forecast

Fire Restrictions: See the Grand Canyon National Park site


View from Skeleton Point, Grand Canyon (photo by Dan Lafferty)

Intro

Here we are with yet another out-of-state blog on my New Mexico camping blog.  Well, this one is just because the Grand Canyon is epic and deserves another spot on the web to showcase some beautiful pictures.  We often try to get a more adventurous trip for the older (14-18) teenage boys in our church youth group, something with sufficient challenge to help them appreciate that they can accomplish great things with sufficient preparation and hard work.  In planning our options for 2023, one of the young men suggested the Grand Canyon.  We (I?) might have initially scoffed at that, but once one of our leaders started looking into it, we realized it was doable.  I'll also convey some of the preparation information, which honestly, is even more important for this than it was for the 4 Pass Loop.

Resources

Do your homework; be prepared.  Honestly, the National Park Service does an excellent job of making appropriate resources available.  We scoured for planning resources, but ultimately, we got pretty much everything we needed off the NPS website itself.  It really is well done.


Specific NPS page about distances and elevations of various parts of the Grand Canyon Adventure.  Backcountry Trail Distances - Grand Canyon National Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)

Webcams from NPS page.  Super helpful when you are looking to evaluate trail conditions.  Webcams - Grand Canyon National Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)




Preparation

All over the NPS pages and on other blogs around the web, you will find abundant warnings telling people not to do exactly what we did on this trip.  They glaringly say, "DO NOT, under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, attempt to hike from Rim-to-River-to-Rim in a single day."  (referring to leaving the South Rim, going to the bottom, then back up to the South Rim)  They are even more strenuous in condemning such an attempt to go "Rim-to-Rim" (from the South Rim to the River and on to the North Rim; or vice versa).  That is very good advice, but there are exceptions.  Keep in mind, the NPS must put out such warnings for the lowest common denominator, for the average person with no experience who shows up on a Tuesday morning at the Grand Canyon and thinks, "Wow.  This is beautiful.  I've gone on a 2 mile hike before; I'm just going to do this today and be back before nightfall."  People have tried such things without preparation, and sometimes they do fine - but sometimes (often) they end up injured or even in the hospital.  I won't link to the numerous stories here of people who ended up with serious health issues/accidents in the Grand Canyon; feel free to google that yourself.  Preparation is the key.  Weather is your worst enemy here.  If you show up in the Grand Canyon in June or July, those 120F temperatures at the base of the canyon are going to eat your lunch, fry your brain, and leave you seriously dehydrated or worse.  I know there have been some that have done this trip successfully in the summer, but they are the exceptions.

We went in mid-March, and it was great.  Even though it was around 20F in the morning and snowed multiple inches the night before, it was still around the 70s at the bottom (4hrs later) and very sunny.  Sunscreen was required, and lots of water.  We had planned our trip for months in advance and knew how much water we'd need, planned to have enough calories for the trip (I brought way too many), and had carefully planned out the route we were taking, including planning our departure and anticipated arrival times relative to shuttle bus availability.

For preparation, I will note that the AllTrails link above was very helpful.  The NPS sites have lots of good information, and the webcams are super helpful, but the AllTrails page gets new comments often (sometimes multiple times per week) where people will often comment on the trail conditions, water availability, etc.  I found that very helpful.  

Conditioning: You don't need to be a marathon trail runner to do this trail successfully, but you do need to be experienced in hiking.  You need to be familiar with your limits and know yourself well enough to be able to push through a long, difficult hike.  Because, once you get down there, hiking up is the only way out.  We had 13-14yr old boys with us, but they are all active and regularly participate in soccer or other sports, so they had no problems physically.  A few of us were quite a bit slower, but we had been on enough long-distance backpacking trips to know we could do this - especially as a day hike without the extra weight of overnight gear.  But, please don't attempt this if you don't have sufficient experience.

Route planning: most people will head down South Kaibab and back up Bright Angel.  There's a reason for that.  SK is a bit steeper, and there is zero water available along SK.  You have water at the trailhead and down at Phantom, and that's it.  I mean, I guess you could filter from the river, but at that point, you're less than a mile from the Ranch with clean water.  Coming back up BA, we at least had water at the Gardens, but during the summer months, you'd also have water at the 3mi and 1.5mi rest houses.  That's the route we took, SK to PR to BA, and I would do it that way again.

The Trek

We started at 6am and went approximately 6 miles down to the river, then another mile or so to Phantom Ranch.  The hike down South Kaibab is pretty steep at times, and since the return on a standard hike (hike up a mountain, and return coming back down) is so much faster than the way up, I figured we'd make really good time on the way down.  

South Kaibab trail conditions at 6am (photo by Jeff Dabling)

I was warned it probably wouldn't be so, but I didn't see how it could be otherwise.  I don't know if the trail conditions for the first several miles had something to do with it, but while I was thinking we maybe do that 6 miles in 3hrs or less, it took me more like 4hrs or so.  Especially since we were doing a day-hike without the need to carry 40-lb backpacks, I figured it wouldn't be that big of a deal.  It was slow going with the icy trail to start, then slushy, then muddy, then damp.  Maybe we were tired after that... but it took time to get down.  Don't underestimate that.

Tunnel leading to Kaibab Suspension Bridge, at the Colorado River (photo by Jeff Dabling)

Kaibab Suspension Bridge (Black Bridge), on the Phantom Ranch side (photo by Gary Fears)


We got down to Phantom Ranch and took a break for lunch.  I checked my boots and decided to apply a little moleskin to make sure some hot spots didn't turn into full blisters.  Applied more sunscreen.  Rested a bit, refilled my hydration reservoir, then got going.  We were on the move again by 11am.  We had 10 miles to go, and a lot of elevation in those miles!  Honestly, while I was a bit tired at this point, I felt pretty good.  I didn't have any issues and knew I was still good for multiple more miles.

The next major stop would be Havasupai Gardens (formerly Indian Gardens), approximately 5 miles away.  That would also be the next water station.  The trail starts out relatively level for the first two miles or so out of the Ranch before it starts going back up the canyon (around Pipe Creek Beach).  Once you get hiking up the canyon a bit, you get to a region I was told was called the Corkscrew - a series of switchbacks and twists and turns before you hit the straight-away leading to the Gardens.

Getting into the Gardens, I was tired.  I had done around 12 miles by that point in the day.  But, I was still feeling good.  I felt like I could keep going, and even do this again the next day.  We got some water, took a break.  Had some more snacks.  I was a bit motivated by the fact that while I had been planning on another 5 miles from the Gardens to Bright Angel Trailhead, the signage at the Gardens clearly said it was 4.5 miles remaining.  Sometimes it's the little things. 

Time to finish this off!  

From Havasupai Gardens, with 4.5 miles remaining, there are 2 additional checkpoints at 3 miles from the top and 1.5 miles from the top.  These checkpoints are creatively named the "3 mile rest house" and the "1.5 mile rest house".  Knowing that my progress would be easily trackable gave me a lot of assurance (at about the Gardens, I had to turn off the GPS tracking on my phone for AllTrails because it was sucking my battery dry!  I wanted to make sure I still had battery for taking pictures, so no more digital GPS from this point; I was down to 25% battery).  I was also pleased to look at my timing and realize it was feasible that I could get back before dark and possibly have a chance of a decent dinner!  Up until then, I was thinking it might take me 15 hours to complete this, putting me back up top around 9pm.  Now, it was looking possible that I might be back hours before then.  That was good news.

I hit the 3 mile checkpoint and still felt pretty good.  Obviously, I was tired.  But, I felt good.  No water refill available, but I had plenty.  The trail was still in good condition.  But, about the 1.5 mile checkpoint, something switched in me, and my body said I had enough.  I was dead tired.  It didn't help that around this point, the trail started to get snow/ice covered again, which takes a lot more energy to hike over.  More energy is wasted as there was a fair amount of slipping.  Mostly due to this, I decided to put on my ice spikes at some point around 1-1.25 miles remaining.  It's a bit of a trade-off, as it's harder to walk with the spikes, but each step is much more efficient.  So, I was better off with the spikes on at the end, but it was still more tiring than hiking a dry trail without spikes.

Snowy/Icy for the last mile or so to Bright Angel (photo by Jeff Dabling)

After 12hrs and 40 minutes, I made it to the top of Bright Angel!  Woot!  It was great!  Several members of our group made it in around 9 hours, but I was pretty happy with my time.  We got back just in time to head to a nearby town to get some real dinner!  No mountain house meals for me that night!

I'd be interested to do this trek again, but I'd like to try it as a 3-day backpacking trip.  It seems like a good itinerary would be to take the first day hiking down to Phantom Ranch from South Kaibab.  Tent camp down there (permit required).  2nd day, hike up to Havasupai Gardens and then camp there.  Last day, hike out the last 4.5 miles to the top of Bright Angel.  It would be nice to spend more time in the canyon, and breaking up the hike out into two days would make it much more doable.

Transportation in the Village
Something to consider is how to get where you are going.  The Bright Angel Trailhead is pretty accessible as it sits amongst the main part of the shops and museums and such of Grand Canyon Village.  There are shuttle stops nearby, but also parking, so you can come and go as you please.  South Kaibab has no parking - you can only get to it by shuttle bus.  So, you need to plan your route such that you can go when the shuttles are running.  We were able to make it work by planning on having some of the faster crew finish up early enough to still be able to take a shuttle back from Bright Angel to South Kaibab, pick up a car that we had left at SK that morning, and then come back in that vehicle to pick up the rest of us. Keep in mind, that round-trip with the shuttle and then driving back took our team member the better part of an hour!  The shuttles make lots of stops.

Drinking Water & Food
Water is life.  Hydrate or die.  Know where you are getting your next water from and plan accordingly.  Know how much water you need in case your next refill point is unexpectedly unavailable.  We had grand plans of just carrying a few liters of water down to Phantom Ranch, and then only carrying maybe 2 liters to the Gardens, and from there, 1 liter in between each rest house.  Great way to save weight.  Problem is, per the link below, the 3mi and 1.5mi rest house water was closed for the winter when we went in March.  Only water between Phantom and Bright Angel Trailhead was at the Gardens.  So, I hiked with my full 3L reservoir plus a backup Nalgene.  I actually drank the Nalgene first, as that is where I mixed in my electrolytes.  Regardless: make yourself knowledgeable about what water is available, have a backup plan, and be prepared.


As it turns out, I only consumed 1.5L of water (with 2 Propel packets) from SK down to Phantom.  Whatever I might have drunk at lunch, once I filled up there, I only drank another 1.5L (and 2 Propel packets) until the Gardens.  And, after the refill at the Gardens, I did about 1.75L (and 2 Propel packets).  But, everyone is different.  I am glad I had the water available.  This was the first hike I tried the Propel packets.  I don't actually like flavored water; I only took them because someone suggested the electrolytes would help me maintain endurance from all the "stuff" you lose when you sweat.  I did it, and I feel like I did pretty good for most of the hike, so maybe it was helpful.

For food, I brought quite a bit more than I normally would have, but given experiences of others, I wanted to make sure I had enough.  I ended up consuming:
  • ~150 cal of peanut M&Ms
  • one half of a mint power pro crunch bar (~160 cal)
  • a 210 cal beef jerky stick (it was huge)
  • 2 honey stinger waffles (160 cal ea)
  • Lunch: 2 pulled pork packets (from Walmart, no refrigeration needed, 130 cal ea) with 1 tortilla (210 cal)
Oh, and at Havasupai Gardens, I downed a 700 cal pouch of RecPak Chocolate.  It was a little hard to take down (it didn't mix well, but they tell me they are making improvements), but it was calorie dense for the weight.  I had quite a bit extra food.  I already knew I typically don't snack much on a backpacking trip, so I didn't really expect to need much - I just wanted to be prepared.  Above is what I actually ate; I'd definitely carry enough to have spare on a future trip, but not nearly as much extra as I had this time.

Water Crossings & Adverse Trail Conditions

I did enjoy the fact that there are no water crossings on this route that required getting your feet wet (but you do cross the river several times on bridges).  Note that some other trails in the Grand Canyon do require crossing rivers, but not these.  

Anticipating icy trails, I brought micro-spikes.  I also brought hiking poles.  I hadn't ever done a long trip with poles before, as I figured it was just extra weight.  But, knowing there would be a lot of steps on this trail (lots!), and hearing that they are uneven in height with some as much as 18" (not common), I thought the poles would help me unload my legs and especially help if the trail was wet or icy.  I could have maybe done without the spikes, although I'm glad I took them, but I definitely wouldn't do it without poles.  I really enjoyed them.  I think I will take them on all future backpacking trips or extended day trips like this.  Look to the webcams (linked above) and the comments on the AllTrails link to evaluate your trail conditions and see what you might feel like you need.

Weather 

I was told to expect a 30F difference between Rim temperatures and River temperatures.  For us (in March), it might have been more like 40-50F, as it was around 20F when we started, and it felt like it was in the 70s when we got to Phantom Ranch.  In the summer, it may be different; but keep in mind there is nearly 5000' elevation difference from the Rim to the River (depending on where you are on the Rim).

With those temperatures, I was worried about needing extra layers and then needing to pack those layers out, carrying dead weight.  I didn't have one of those nice compactible puffy jackets or some other extra lightweight layer.  So, I just started out wearing long pants and a long-sleeve Columbia PFG shirt, and a hat, of course.  I did take a pair of lightweight gloves and balaclava in my pack, just in case, but I never needed them.  It was admittedly chilly waiting for the shuttle bus in the morning, but the moment we started hiking, I was just fine.  I'm certainly glad I wasn't carrying any significant weight for extra warmth.  But, everyone is different - some people will need extra layers.

If you go in the summer, expect brutal daytime temperatures.  I've spoken to several people that therefore intentionally started the hike in the summer at 11pm or midnight, trying to finish up by 7-9 am.  I've spoken to some who did the trip in early Jan, and often snow isn't as much of an issue there, although I'm sure the overnight lows are still cold - but they didn't have to worry much about the trail condition at all.  Whenever you go, just do your homework and plan accordingly.

Photos (in chronological order)

Our campsite at Mather Campground, the night before our trek (photo by Gary Fears)

Grand Canyon as seen from one of the overlooks at Grand Canyon Village (photo courtesy of Jeff Dabling)

Bright Angel Trailhead marker at Grand Canyon Village (photo by Jeff Dabling)

Starting to snow heavily the afternoon before the trek at Grand Canyon Village (photo by Jeff Dabling)

Getting on the shuttle bus to South Kaibab Trailhead at 5:30am (photo by Gary Fears)

Starting out the morning on South Kaibab Trail at 6am (photo by Gary Fears)

South Kaibab Trail a bit before Cedar Ridge (photo by Gary Fears)

Misty Morning at Cedar Ridge (photo by Gary Fears)

Me at Cedar Ridge (photo by Ray Griffith)

Foggy canyon view, between Cedar Ridge and Skeleton Point (photo by Jeff Dabling)

Fogged in trail on the edge of a cliff, coming down from Cedar Ridge (photo by Jeff Dabling)

Skeleton Point (photo by Gary Fears)

View of the canyon past Skeleton Point (photo by Jeff Dabling)
                                                  
Coming down off Skeleton Point (photo by Gary Fears)

Early view of the Colorado River (photo by Gary Fears)

View of the Kaibab Suspension Bridge (Black Bridge) from above (photo by Gary Fears)

Kaibab Suspension Bridge (Black Bridge) crossing the Colorado River (photo by Steve Meredith)

Crossing back over the Colorado on the Silver Bridge (photo by Jeff Dabling)

Coming up the trail towards Havasupai Gardens (photo by Jeff Dabling)

View of the canyon walls coming up Bright Angel (photo by Jeff Dabling)

Looking back down the Bright Angel Trail, in between the 3 and 1.5 mile rest houses (photo by Jeff Dabling)

Looking down at Havasupai Gardens and Plateau Point from just before 1.5mi rest house (photo by Jeff Dabling)

View from the tunnel near the top of Bright Angel Trail (photo by Steve Meredith)

View of the canyon from the top of Bright Angel Trail (photo by Jeff Dabling)


























Sunday, May 14, 2023

Dispersed Car Camping in Jemez past Gilman Tunnels

Latitude, Longitude: 35.8360990, -106.7860470; Elevation: ~7400ft

Weather Forecast:  https://tinyurl.com/AHjemezSpotWeather

Fire Restrictions: https://nmfireinfo.com/fire-restrictions/

So, we never went here as a Boy Scout troop, but for nearly every May since 2015 or so, we've gone here for a church group campout, Fathers and Sons.  It's a beautiful little spot right off a road, nice grassy area for tenting, and near a stream for playing.  Good times. 

It's just dispersed camping on National Forest land in the Jemez Ranger District of the Santa Fe National Forest.


We've always loved this spot.  Seemed perfect for going on a campout with a bunch of younger boys and some other siblings, and just hanging out and having a good time.  

Note that in May, the weather in the Jemez can be highly variable.  In 2021, it was beautiful weather, in the high 60s during the day and the evening weather before bed wasn't below the 40s.  It did get down to 35F overnight, but nothing that required double-bagging.  However, in the same May timeframe, we've had it rain non-stop the entire campout; and at other times, we've seen it snow.  So, watch the weather and plan accordingly.

The map below (as well as the GPS coordinates at the top of the page) show the location we camped at.


A few pictures of the campsite area:





The campground area includes a nice long strip of parking along the road, and a decent size meadow area for playing games, or just hosting lots of tents.  We've easily fit 60+ people here, and had room for more.  The Cebolla River (stream) runs right along the campsite, which dumps into the Guadalupe a mile or so downstream.

Nearby spot for exploration:

You pass through the Gilman tunnels on the way up here (assuming you go that way).  Once you pass the second (north) tunnel, there is a spot to pull off and park.  There are areas you can scramble over the rocks and get down to the water.  I wouldn't send a 2-yr old unaccompanied, but it's not too dangerous.  Highly recommended to stop and enjoy the rushing sound of water in the cascades as they tumble down the canyon.  This Guadalupe River is fed by the Cebolla (runs by the campsite) and the Rio delas Vacas.