The Grand Canyon - Rim to Rim

The Grand Canyon gets over four million visitors each year, but only ten per cent of visitors venture below the rim, and less than one percent make it to the bottom of the canyon. When I realised that hiking across the canyon was an option, it definitely seemed like the thing to do. Unfortunately October is the most popular month for hiking in the canyon and multiple attempts to get a permit for a rim to rim hike ended in failure. We did manage to get a permit that would allow us to hike from the North Rim down to the river, then back up the same trail. But when we got to the South Rim, I couldn't help but stop by the Backcountry Office and put our names on the waiting list for a last minute permit for a rim to rim hike.

Sunrise at Mather Point.

Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona

The same storm we miraculously survived in Utah dropped about 6" of snow in the high mountains of the Maroon Bells area which is a day's drive from Moab. It wasn't likely to stay, but it left us with two bad options. Head over right away and suffer through hiking and camping in wet snow for four days, or hang out in Moab and wait for the snow to melt. As much as we liked Moab, we had to be at the Grand Canyon by October 15th, and had lots of places to visit before we got there.

Nevada and Utah.

After finishing our JMT hike a few days early, we thought we were in good shape for the next hike on our itinerary. We were heading for the Maroon Bells Four Pass Loop near Aspen, Colorado. It's a four day hike that is reputed to be one of the best hikes in Colorado, and that's saying a lot. There are four passes over 12,400', so given the elevation and our now anticipated start date of October 1st, we knew we'd be pushing the season a bit.

John Muir Trail

After a day off to recover from our Half Dome hike, we were ready to tackle the longest hike of our US trip. The John Muir Trail (JMT) in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, is considered by many to be the premier long distance hike in North America. It runs about 218 miles from Yosemite Valley south to King's Canyon National Park and Mount Whitney, the tallest peak in the continental US. Dogs aren't allowed on US National Park trails, so we planned to spend 11 days doing the section of the JMT that runs between Yosemite NP and King's Canyon National Park - about 100 miles including the access and exit trails. That was the plan.

Half Dome

I think it's fair to say that government agencies and departments generally like to play it safe. Liability is a dirty word, and "risk management" can often rule the day. After hiking - and surviving - Half Dome, I'm happy to say that Yosemite National Park is the exception to the rule. As Cyd and I stood at the bottom of the cables on Half Dome, I couldn't help but say, "I can't f***ing believe they let people do this!"

On to Yosemite

After seeing the redwoods on the coast, we headed east into the mountains of northern California. We'd had cooler weather with a few clouds on both the Oregon and California coasts, but that all changed as we moved inland. It was 37 Celsius by the time we'd driven an hour and for the next 10 days, we got a taste of what most Californians had been experiencing for about 3 years straight. Sunshine, hot temperatures, and the constant threat of forest fires.

Whitehorse to California

Camping has always meant canoe or backpacking trips for us - even car camping with our tent felt like a guilty luxury. We briefly considered just using the tent on the US part of our trip, but in the end decided that sleeping in a tent for  2 1/2 months on the road with the dogs wasn't a good option. Actually, I briefly considered tent camping, and Cyd quickly decided that wasn't an option.