Heading to the Grand Canyon
Diane and I are about to leave for our annual trip to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. This trip will be short, down on Saturday and up on Sunday. As usual, the trip will be grand (pun intended). I should be able to post tonight and on Sunday and Monday, but I will be traveling and will have other priorities (like enjoying myself). Even so, I might post something on our trip, especially considering that this will be second trip in a row to Phantom Ranch where the water system is broken and, though there is drinking water, there will be no showers. More details to follow.
Readers!
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Diane and I are about to leave for our annual trip to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. This trip will be short, down on Saturday and up on Sunday. As usual, the trip will be grand (pun intended). I should be able to post tonight and on Sunday and Monday, but I will be traveling and will have other priorities (like enjoying myself). Even so, I might post something on our trip, especially considering that this will be second trip in a row to Phantom Ranch where the water system is broken and, though there is drinking water, there will be no showers. More details to follow.
Readers!
My annual February birthday fund-raising drive for Behind the Black is now over. Thank you to everyone who donated or subscribed. While not a record-setter, the donations were more than sufficient and slightly above average.
As I have said many times before, I can’t express what it means to me to get such support, especially as no one is required to pay anything to read my work. Thank you all again!
For those readers who like my work here at Behind the Black and haven't contributed so far, please consider donating or subscribing. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
I also am headed to the Grand Canyon with my 2 kids. I’ll arrive Sunday evening, leave Tuesday. No roughing it for us, though. Staying in a hotel.
It’s been a few decades since I hiked down to Phantom Ranch. My father made us start back up early, early in the morning, as he advised that it gets hot coming up. He was right! The stop to rest at Indian Gardens was much needed, and the water-houses along the trail were precious.
Have a good trip.
Enjoy yourselves! Too bad you don’t have an extra day to take a hike up the North Kaibab to Ribbon Falls for a shower there.
http://static.panoramio.com/photos/large/39447399.jpg
That’s a pretty spot, though I’ve done my Grand Canyon hiking in February or March when showers like that aren’t quite as comfortable. I’ve found that up until Spring Break starts in earnest, walk-up back country permits are readily available. (Advanced planning isn’t my strong suit.) It can be chilly on the rim that time of year, but hiking conditions down below are wonderful.
Back in 2005 or 2006, we tried a five day rim to rim to rim, but started down only hours before a blizzard which closed the South Rim for three days. There was no snow down at the river, but our tents got a fair covering of snow up at Cottonwood Campground on the second night. We then started up well before dawn, and hoped to make it to the North Rim and back down to Cottonwood the same day, but were pushing through thigh-deep snow drifts on the trail by the time we made it to the Supai Tunnel (with 1400 vertical feet still to go to the North Rim). By then it was noon, and since we had left the tents pitched at Cottonwood and were packing light, we had to turn back around.
I’d love to reattempt that hike someday, blizzard and all, but packing snowshoes and tent and allowing two days for Cottonwood to the North Rim and back.
Kirk: Sounds like you’ ve had a lot of fun in the Canyon. I also suspect that you are relatively new to Behind the Black and don’t realize that Diane and I do this every year. Been to the bottom more times now than I can count, and loved every trip. The Grand Canyon always makes me happy.
Do a search on Behind the Black for the Grand Canyon. You’ll find some posts by me that I am sure you will find interesting.
Kirk– interesting Adventures!
Mr Z.–
We need some weather (temperature) reports from the Canyon! (does it actually get “cold” at night, in the desert?) (I’ve never been West of the Mississippi.)
–past week in Michigan, it’s been a literal sauna; temperatures in the mid 90’s and with 90%+ humidity.