Solitude, Guaranteed

How one BACKPACKER editor found it in the Grand Canyon

(Day 1: The snow was still a foot deep 1,500 feet below the edge of the South Rim (7,000 feet) as we descended on the Tanner Trail.)

Tuck this tip away for 355 days: The best time to visit the Grand Canyon for utter, total complete, pin-dropping, billion-years-of-rock-spanning solitude is the dead of winter. Like the day after Christmas until the day after New Year’s. You won’t see lines at the backcountry desk or fight for primo riverside campsites with legions of rafters and other hikers. Shouts from youth groups won’t break the epic silence, and jostling photographers won’t shoulder you aside at popular overlooks.

(Day 2: Heather takes a siesta beside Lava Rapids during a dayhike along the Beamer Trail from our camp at Tanner Rapids.)

How do I know this? Because I just returned from a trip in the Canyon with my family, and it was quietest five days I’ve had in a national park this side of Alaska. We drove down from Boulder the Friday after Christmas, scored a walk-up permit the next morning for one of the premier wilderness routes in the park, and were shouldering packs at Lipan Point two hours later. Over the next 40 miles—from the top of the Tanner Trail down to the Colorado River, up the Beamer Trail to Lava Rapids (a dayhike), over Unkar Overlook and across the Escalante Route to Hance Rapids, along the Tonto Trail to Horseshoe Mesa, and and up, up, up the Grandview Trail to the top of the South Rim—we crossed paths with only four other backpackers.

(Day 2: Sunset, looking up the Colorado River from the overlook above Unkar Rapids)

Backpacking our way into the new year is a tradition my wife and I started years ago, back when our daughters, now 12 and 10, were still riding in child carriers. It was a good way to enjoy uncrowded trails and the beauty of the winter wilderness, but also offered some pretty practical benefits. Shedding holiday fat from weeks of cookies and Christmas parties. Decompressing from the stress of big family gatherings. Avoiding the hangover-football-Dick Clark insanity…

(Day 3: Kilt hiking!)

This year’s trip was our most ambitious yet. Besides the 8-mile-per-day average and 4,500-foot descent/ascent at either end, a snowstorm had piled 20 inches of snow at the rim, requiring warmer (read: heavier) clothes and crampons. And if you’ve hiked the Escalante, which is unsigned and unmaintained, you know that it contains long sections of exposed, scrambly terrain where narrow ledges teeter hundreds and even thousands of feet above cliff bottoms. There’s even a 30-foot rock climb that’s just a hair from needing a rope. In other words, a monster challenge for pre-teens and a wife whose vertigo comes on when she looks out a second-story window.

(Day 4: Abby treads carefully beside a 600-foot-deep chasm along the Escalante Route.)

But more on that later. This spring, when we launch our biggest series of national park stories and maps ever, I’ll return with a full report on the trip that will include a Google flyover, GPS downloads, video clips, and a photo gallery. For now, here are a few images from a chronically busy park that for one blessed week was as quiet as wilderness ought to be.

(Day 5: The kids lead the way back to the South Rim on the sometimes-precipitous Grandview Trail.)

- Jonathan Dorn

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READERS COMMENTS

The Grandview trail isn't as dangerous as the picture makes it look. I've hiked it in the same snow conditions - not a problem at all, very safe as long as you have crampons or spikes, poles and common sense.
Posted: Dec 29, 2011 Goatlegz

I am planning a winter backpacking trip to the Grand Canyon in 2012 as my Graduation gift from OU and really like the idea of there being few people to hagle with on the trail. Thanks for the article..it will be saved with the rest of my Grand Canyon research I am currently doing.
Not sure I am ready for a kilt tho :)
Posted: Dec 29, 2011 JDenn

For the most part, the terrain of this high plateau is gently rolling, with an occasional short, steep climb. The scenery is varied, ranging from tall stands of old growth ponderosas, to grassy canyon bottoms and alpine meadows dotted with aspens. At road's end there are the unmatched panoramas of the Grand Canyon. The ridge tops that lead there offer clear views as far away as Bryce and Zion National Parks in Utah. Throw in the fact that this area is almost totally undiscovered as a mountain biking haven and it all adds up to unmatched riding enjoyment. http://explorearizonatours.com/grandcanyon.php

Posted: May 04, 2009 Grand Canyon Tourist

I have hiked in several kilts from the mountain hardware one shown above to semi traditional buckle style (full traditional formal is too pricy to hike in) and I have found my favorites are the Sport Kilt hiking kilts that have velcro waist, nice plaid prints, pleats that allow more flexibility for getting over tough spots than the mountain hardware smooth and are of wicking fast drying material.
With the sport kilt I put the pack hipbelt through the front beltloops to keep it in place (saves weight of a belt) The optional pockets hold a map and glasses well.
Pack hip belts tend to drive the buckles on a more traditional kilt into hips.
Posted: Apr 23, 2009 Frank

I agree with the other kilted hikers that the Utilikilts Survival and the Original are the best for hiking. I've been wearing my Utilikilts on trails since 2003.
Posted: Jan 21, 2009 Doug Churchill

That "kilt" looks like... well... it's not good. It is about 1.5 to 2 inches too short, which makes it look skirt-like. You shouldn't be able to see the whole kneecap. If you want a kilt for hiking, the Utilikilt SURVIVAL model is the only way to go. It is made for this kind of activity!
Posted: Jan 15, 2009 Rory

(You never know when there will be ice under the snow, or when kids will start showing off. Unless your photo overestimates the proximity of the dropoff to the slanted trail, I would not take kids on this hike!
Posted: Jan 08, 2009 snowgirl)

I have to agree with snowgirl's comment about the last picture. While I applaud you taking your family on this great trip, the picture of your kids on snowy Grandview Trail looks pretty questionable. Perhaps the picture isn't a true representation of the actual situation, but to me the kids appear to be on a snowy slop with around a 45 degree grade and about 15 ft from the edge of one of the biggest canyons on the planet. Is this inaccurate? Jonathan, make sure you continue to protect your family by not putting them on steep terrain that has any possibility of being unstable. Keep this a continuing "tradition" for your family by not pushing beyond safety.
Posted: Jan 09, 2009 outdoorsman

My husband and I were also backpacking at the GC the day after X-mas. We left Boulder on the 24th, walked right up to the backcountry office and got permits for two nights. Being that it was our first time there, we did the popular South Kaibab Trail, went and saw Ribbon Falls, and then came up Bright Angel. We didn't run into a lot of people until Indian Garden. What a great time for a visit, though!
Posted: Jan 09, 2009 Laurel

Way cool TR! Thanks for sharing a bit of
your family fun with us. And glad you
joined us kilted hikers. *smile*
Someday I will return to the Canyon and
finish a trip I could not complete.
Posted: Jan 09, 2009 Richard Jerden

We met a hiker wearing a traditional kilt at Double Springs Gap shelter in the Smokies, along the AT. He seemed to think it was more comfortable and yet provided better protection to his legs than did shorts.

However, he was also a tall, muscular college athlete, and it was obviously a traditional scottish kilt - plaid, pleats, and the lot. The Mountain Hardware version, on the other hand, just looks like a khaki skirt - sorry guys. My advice is to carry a gun (or maybe a scottish claymore?) to deflect the inevitable harassment.
Posted: Jan 08, 2009 John Sears

No rope or climbing gear required for this route, but trekking poles are highly, HIGHLY recommended. And if you go anytime between mid-October and February, it's prudent to pack mini-crampons (I like Kahtoola's). The rim gets and stays icy as you can tell from the photos.
Posted: Jan 08, 2009 Jon Dorn

13-14 drive from Boulder

Posted: Jan 08, 2009 Jon Dorn

It looks like Mountain Hardwear's Mountain Kilt. It is more of a wrap than a kilt as it has no pleats. I prefer my traditional kilts and Utilikilts for hiking, but I am glad to see kilted hiking get more exposure.
Posted: Jan 08, 2009 Scott

Once I hiked the Canyon with a girl who wore a sundress. I always made sure I followed her up the trail.
Posted: Jan 08, 2009 BSC

You never know when there will be ice under the snow, or when kids will start showing off. Unless your photo overestimates the proximity of the dropoff to the slanted trail, I would not take kids on this hike!
Posted: Jan 08, 2009 snowgirl

Once I hiked the Canyon with a girl who wore a sundress. I always made sure I followed her up the trail.
Posted: Jan 08, 2009 BSC