This was a solo trip on the Grandview Trail, down to Horseshoe Mesa where I camped overnight, before returning the rim on the 7th. The Grandview Trail is only 3 miles long, but quite steep in spots, losing 2600 vertical feet from the South Rim to the Mesa. In just a couple of spots the trail was pretty steep and narrow with massive dropoffs on one side. Not a place you would want to lose your footing!
It only took a couple of hours to reach the Mesa and the designated campsites there. One other group was camped there that evening. After setting up camp, headed out to the very end of the left (western) arm of the "horseshoe" on the Mesa. This was a 3 mile roundtrip. Some excellent views along the way, including numerous sightings acorss the side canyon to caves and mines in the canyon wall. Very interesting and pretty spot.
By sunset the temps were in the mid 40s, with the wind picking up. After a great sunset, I headed into the tent. By 1AM the wind wa howling, with gusts strong enough to collapse the side of the tent in on me like an inverted umbrella - the tent poles were actually laying on me. Amazingly, the poles did not break and the tent did not rip! It also rained around 4AM, but when I arose around 7AM everything was dry on the outside - I think that is a function of the low humidity.
Headed back to the rim. Went pretty slowly, eating breakfast along the way. Took about three hours.
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On Grandview Point (South Rim) |
A trail view (above the saddle) |
Approaching Horseshoe Mesa |
My camp on the mesa |
Looking northeast from my camp |
Looking southwest from the Mesa |
Vishnu Temple (?) |
Sunset |
Early morning |
An old portion of the trail |
The trail - steep, rough and narrow |
Horseshoe Mesa |
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