52: Tuckup Canyon #4, Stairway Canyon New Year's hike, December 29-31, 1969

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#52: TUCKUP CANYON #4, STAIRWAY CANYON HIKE
New Year’s Hike
DECEMBER 29, 30, 31, 1969
JANUARY 1, 2, 3, 1970
December 29, Monday, 1969
Jan Jensen and I began another trip to Tuckup Canyon. This will be my fourth and his 3rd. We left Flagstaff around 9:00am Monday morning. A snow storm had just gotten over yesterday. There wasn’t much snow in Flagstaff, only ½ inch. There was three inches at Walnut Canyon where I worked as a park ranger yesterday and 14 inches fell at Sunset Crater. It was windy when we left and headed north on highway 89. There wasn’t much traffic and the road was icy in the pass north east of the peaks. There was a trace of snow at Jacobs Lake, 8,000 feet high when we got there and pretty dam cold. By the time we got to Kanab, Utah, the first thing that happened was Cindy, my truck, got a flat tire. I got that fixed there and loaded up with gas. It was just above freezing there in Kanab at 3:00pm. We ate lunch and then drove back down through Fredonia and on out the dirt road to Grand Canyon Natl. Monument. About 30 miles from Fredonia we had another flat tire. Rather then go on with no spare I drove back to Kanab and bought another tire slightly used and cost $9.00.
So back out we started again. This time we made it to Hancock Knolls just before reaching Tuckup rim. It got dark so we made camp on a ridge of red dirt and plenty of pinion pine and juniper trees for wood. There were patches of now in the shaded areas from that last storm but that was all. They were only a half inch deep. We had about 4 miles to go to Tuckup Trail head. It was freezing before the sun went down. We piled up a huge mound of wood which we burned a good portion of before retiring for the night. We had intended to camp down at Cottonwood Spring in the canyon tonight but we were delayed a couple of hours more. You wouldn’t think it would take 6 hours normally to drive 270 miles to get here. Well it does and it took us much longer this time due to flats. I didn’t sit around the fire much since it was quite cold. I climbed into my foam sleeping bag I made at about 7:30pm to get warm. I don’t think you can beat a foam sleeping bag for keeping warm. I made this one a year and one month ago. Jan hit the sack as well. I wasn’t feeling too well tonight and couldn’t eat. I didn’t know what tomorrow would bring. The night was clear and a wind blew from the north about 10 mph. We didn’t have a thermometer this time but I would guess it was pretty close to 20 degrees for the low. The wind made it seem colder.
December 30, Tuesday, 1969
I woke up in the middle of the night and heard a whole flock of coyotes howling somewhere close by. My feet were pretty cold but I stayed there and went back to sleep. I remember the moon shining so it was close to morning. Next time I woke up the coyotes were howling again and they kept that up for quite some time. It was light around 7:30am I guess. My feet felt like they were frozen since I couldn’t move my toes. However the rest of me was toasty warm. I stayed there not wanting to get up because it was cold outside. Finally Jan got up and built up the fire. I still wasn’t feeling quite well but I was not too sick either. I forced myself to eat breakfast. Man was it cold. We got our stuff together and drove on over to Eden at the head of the trail. Eden was named by 794
the lost trip, John, Susan, and Jim in September. Somebody has camped there since I was here last since and there was a sign of a camp fire in the building itself. Probably local ranchers gathering cattle. There were a number of them working at June Tank yesterday.
I parked Cindy and we loaded our packs on and started off about 9:30am. I carried about 25 to 30 pounds on my back which most of it was food and sleeping bag. I took a levi jacket and flannel shirt with a T shirt. My 22 buntline pistol was strapped on my right hip along with my small knife and tin cup and my rock hammer was on my left hip; camera in hand. Jan had about the same things except he had a colt 22 pistol. We carry the guns only for signal purposes.
As cold as it was there was no need to look for poisonous critters you normally find in desert country. We went down the crack which starts to the south of Eden. My rope was still in place and down we went. That cliff must be about 60 feet high since the rope does not reach near the bottom. It’s a 50 foot rope. We reached Cottonwood Spring and found it mostly frozen. Ice was piled up 6 to 8 inches. There was a small trickle of water flowing a very short distance. I was carrying about a pint of water with me and since it was cold I didn’t figure I would drink much water anyway. Jan took off along the Esplanade heading for Dome Canyon. He was gonna try his luck coming down that into Tuckup. I wasn’t feeling very good so far and decided I would take a sure way down by just going down Cottonwood Canyon to Tuckup and then on down to the river where we planned to make camp for the night.
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1. The short cut down the Kaibab Cliff south of the Tuckup Trail head at Eden. Jan Jensen using 50 ft rope. 12-30-69.
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2. Frozen Cottonwood Spring in Cottonwood Canyon of Tuckup Canyon. 12-30-69. 797
I took my time going down Cottonwood Canyon. The pools of water were frozen solid and at least 12 inches thick. I saw a few mountain sheep tracks going down the canyon. I came to the big drop in the Supai and managed to climb around and down that ok. The rock piles were still there. The way down is along a narrow ledge on the north side of the canyon. This canyon runs west to east into Tuckup. The icicles hanging at the spring that I call Fern Spring were about 4 feet long. Surprisingly enough, the ferns were still green or they froze green. I reached the main Tuckup Canyon and there was no water flowing this time since its all froze up above in Cottonwood. I made my way down slowly through the narrows of the Redwall. I didn’t see the sun since I left Cottonwood Spring and it didn’t look like I was going to see it any more today.
While walking the narrow 4 to 6 foot wide canyon bottom I kept hearing something that sounded like some one following me. When I stopped, there was nothing, not even any wind, just completely quiet and still. I would start off and soon figured out that I was hearing my own footsteps echo in the narrow canyon. I didn’t get jumpy; I was just curious as to what was going on. That gravel sure rattles under the feet. When I spoke it sounded like I was talking into my own ears. Well the only tracks I saw were sheep and they looked like they were about 3 days old.
I finally came to a patch of sunlight where there was a small seep coming out of the Redwall at about the Thunder Springs and Whitmore Members. There was also a way out of this canyon and the only other way out besides up the canyon and Cottonwood. I sat there in the sun trying to warm up but it only lasted five minutes. This broken area in the Redwall is just above Dome Canyon and just down from Big Horn Canyon, about in the middle of the two and on the west side. There is no way down Big Horn Canyon. I soon reached Dome Canyon and didn’t see any sign of Jan or his tracks. I fired my gun twice for location signal and no reply. 3 shots were a trouble signal. I sat there for about 15 minutes and fired two more shots. No answer. I decided to go on down to the river and set up camp. He might not have been able to get through the Supai although it looked good on aerial photos.
It was sort of darkish down here, so onward I went. I counted the bends of the canyon on my way down from here and it was 9 bends to the first rope in the creek bottom at the 10 foot drop. It was three bends to the conglomerate arch from Dome Canyon. There was water flowing over this waterfall but not as much as last time. Ice was present in places, but not too much. I climbed down the 10 foot waterfall. It’s not easy with a pack as heavy as mine at the time. A little further on, about two bends, I came to the big waterfall and again water was flowing here as well. So it was not freezing at this level yet. I followed the rock piles and sheep trail on the west side that we went over last time. I came to the 50 foot rope, which was still there and I had no trouble going down that to the creek bottom. It was getting kinda dark it seemed since the walls were 1,500 feet high and only 5 feet wide at this level. I could hear the river roaring over Tuckup Rapids or 164 Mile Rapids. It was just a short ¼ mile or less to the large beach. It was nice to see some open sky for a change and more light from the sun was still shining on the high cliffs 1,500 feet above. The river was crystal clear like I knew it would be and about 35 degrees temperature. I had the whole 120 yard long and 50 yard wide beach to myself. The green toilet built by the park service some time ago was still behind the only mesquite tree on the beach near the cliff walls. I picked a camp site near the cliff wall in a nice sandy area and about 50 yards from the river. I spent a 798
good amount of time gathering drift wood for the camp tonight. There was still tons of drift wood along the beach but river boat parties are using it up fast. There was no sign of anyone having been here in months except by the ashes of fires in one area and the toilet.
3. Looking upriver from Tuckup Canyon delta. CR164.3. 12-30-69.
I went and retrieved my 5 gallon bucket of goodies which I left here under a ledge in Tuckup last September on the river trip. I had a flashlight in that along with 15 dinners. So I didn’t need to carry all the goodies I have with me except I thought it would require more food to fight the cold. The sky was clear all day, that is, what little sky I could see. We left lots of canned food in the truck incase it snowed deep and we couldn’t get back to Flagstaff for a few days after we came out. Also we left a note for the others as to what we were doing each day and not to come looking for us until next Tuesday.
I built a fire and got my camp set up. By now the sun was not hitting the upper cliffs anymore and it was getting dark fast. I began to worry about where Jan was. I figured by now he must have not been able to get down Dome Canyon and had to back track to Cottonwood. I had hoped if he got through the Supai he could go up stream along the top of the Redwall and find that slot down into the bottom that I sat at in the sun. I had shot a post sticking out of the sand about 20 yards away just for the heck of it. Hit it six out of 6 times. After waiting about 15 minutes more I started to shoot the post again and almost pullet the trigger when Jan fire his pistol instead. He looked tired. He made himself at home and told me he couldn’t make it through the Redwall in Dome Canyon. There was a 60 foot drop, very shear and no way down. So he went upstream along the top of the Redwall and came down the same slot I have described already and 799
then down to here. It soon got dark and cold but not freezing. The usual 6:00pm wind blew about 15 mph in gusts.
December 31, New Year’s Eve, Wednesday, 1969
We woke up late again today and this time I got up and built the fire. It wasn’t as cold as I thought it might be. The morning was clear and it looked as if the sun had been up about 2 hours. It wasn’t shining down here but was almost to the top of the Redwall. I doubt that the sun would get down here today. Today I planned to get as much of the lower cliffs measured as possible for my geology thesis. I wanted to get up through the Devonian if possible and I have allowed myself two days here to do it. Jan didn’t want to spend all his time messing around this area so he decided to go down river and try out his plan which was climbing up through Fern Glen Canyon. On the last river trip here we all camped there at Fern Glen in September and there was a 20 foot waterfall stopping progress up the canyon. It was a travertine waterfall so Jan figured if he could drive some spike nails into that he could climb up them. These nails are similar to what I used to tie the ropes in place down here the first time; 3/8 inch 10 inch long nails. He would camp there at Fern Glen and wait for me. Our plans after that was to go on down to Stairway Canyon and out that and up to Willow Spring and out the Mohawk Fault to the rim. So off he went about 10:00am and I went up Tuckup Canyon starting at the river level and measuring up through the Cambrian rock in Tuckup Canyon.
The river level was at the top of the Bright Angel shale. I went as fast as possible but it takes time to examine the rock with acid and hand lens and then writing down all notes of what you can see in each rock unit. I also collected a sample throughout to make thin sections of later on back at school. I had to go right up Tuckup Canyon because there was no other way possible to measure up through these formations. I’m not sure about the Muav formation and Supra-Muav formation contact zone but I made a distinction on rock type as to the contact zone. Also a physical break is noticeable but in a general sense. The Muav I measured was 170 feet thick and consisted of dolomite that forms a sheer cliff and is thin bedded. The Supra-Muav I measured from where it changed into limestone and formed a steep slope. I measured 387 feet of that. Then the unconformity contact of the Supra-Muav and Devonian was simple to find, but not too easy to measure.
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4. A dripping spring in the upper Muav Limestone with green monkey flower plants, west side of Tuckup Canyon bottom. 12-31-69.
The limestone changed into dolomite of a purple color. But the upper part of the Supra-Muav consisted of 29 feet of almost pure orthoquartzite and then a 6 foot layer of purple red siltstone and then 93 feet of orthoquartzite. That was overlain by the purple dolomite of the Devonian. There was one 7 foot layer of orthoquartzite in the middle of the Devonian (Temple Butte Formation). Sandy dolomite was common. Measured 324 feet of Devonian rock. Got up to Dome Canyon where the contact of the Redwall is and quit.
(Today in Flagstaff, a few days after the hike, I examined the samples I brought out of the canyon so I can make some changes since I’m writing this now a few days after the trip. What I took to be orthoquartzite turned out to be almost pure dolomite. There is some quartz with the dolomite but not more than 30 percent. So now it is dark outside and the temperature today here in Flagstaff has not been over 30 degrees; no snow or clouds).
Back in the canyon. After I got through measuring the Devonian, I sat there looking around for some time just listening. It was extremely quiet with no wind. A bird flew up the canyon which couldn’t have been bigger than 1 and a half inch long and he made quite a bit of noise just flying, at least it seemed so. It was getting late and I figured around 4:00pm so I started back down. It seemed to take forever going back down the canyon to the river and again I thought I heard someone else walking down the gravel bottom besides me. Fantastic echo in here with 1,500 feet of narrow walls each side. I got more done today then I had expected and I was also tired.
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5. Looking downriver at Tuckup Canyon beach near sundown. New Year’s Eve. CR164.4. 12-31-69.
I reached the river and made ready for the nights camp, New Year’s Eve, 1969. I gathered wood more then I needed and got a fire going since it was fairly cold but not freezing. In the canyon though there was ice all day long. The sun was hitting the top of the Supai up the canyon when I started to put some water on to boil. Then when I stood up I caught some movement out of the corner of my eye and grabbed by gun. I couldn’t imagine anything else down here that was large except sheep. It turned out to be two people that just came down Tuckup Canyon. I put my gun away and then they saw me and came over. At first I looked for others but that was all there was as I was thinking they came down the river on boats. So the big one spoke first and introduced himself and I likewise. He had a good start of a beard and looked like they both had been hiking for some time. The boy with him was much smaller. I was surprised to hear such a high voice from him and judged him to be about 15 or so and the older fellow about my size looked about 23 or 25. I was in for a surprise when he later introduced his wife. I had to look some before noticing her whom I thought was a boy. They decided to make camp here at Tuckup Beach and they did about 30 yards upstream. Jo (the wife) did all the work of setting up camp while I jawed with John. Their names were John and Jo McComb, 752 South Forgeus Ave, Tucson, Arizona. They are students at the U of A and he was working on his masters in hydrology in the desert near Tucson. He and his wife do quite a bit of hiking through the Grand Canyon and in fact have done more hiking then me.
Well it looked like it wasn’t going to be a lonely New Years Eve. It didn’t matter to me if there was nobody here or not, tonight seemed like any other night. Last year on New Years Eve, Jim Sears, Susan Varin, and I were camped out in Clear Creek Canyon 802
up from Phantom Ranch and went on east and cross the river below Tanner Rapids and out the Tanner Trail. They were also surprised to see me down here. They saw my tracks and expected more people. I told them that Jan was down at Fern Glen Canyon for the night since he was going to try climbing up Fern glen Canyon today. I was to meet him sometime tomorrow. After supper we swapped tales of hiking in the canyon. He knew Dr. Butchart and Peter Huntoon who I helped so some work in hydrology at Thunder River a couple of years ago. Seems like a small world. They started hiking two days before Christmas in Hacks Canyon. They went down Kanab Canyon to the river then back up to a side canyon which they climbed out to the Esplanade. Then they made there way along the Tuckup Trail to Tuckup Canyon. While Jan and I camped here last night, they were camped at the basalt flow in upper Tuckup. Today they made it down to here. They were going on down to Toroweap and climb out there where a friend was going to meet them. So they had already hiked 9 days and had three more days to go. They mentioned a large black peak sticking up out of the Esplanade near SB Canyon. I assumed it was a basalt plug. They said it looked rather weird and on the map they had its called The Cork. Well we were gonna stay up late which we did by our standards but we all hit the sack before 8:00pm. That’s the latest I’ve stayed up so far this hike and for them as well. I just couldn’t imagine anyone going to the nearest party right now and starting to get plastered. All that seemed so far away. So with the roar of the cold river and a very dark canyon, I fell asleep.
January 1, 1970
New Years Day, Thursday
I slept very well last night since it was fairly warm. A small breeze blew at times but nothing exciting. Even the 6 o’clock wind was very light last night. During the night I heard a scratch on my tarp and was instantly awake. I slowly got my gun into position of the noise and waited for more noises to make identification. I couldn’t see out of the bag. Then I heard some sand being moved around along the head of my bag. I was not frightened but rather real curious. I could think it to be a small animal of some type. I didn’t hear any ripping at the wood pile nearby. Soon I got relaxed and put the gun down still holding onto it and went back to sleep. When I woke up it was near 7:30am or so and I looked around for tracks in the sand upon remembering the critter last night. I saw small feet prints all over the place with toes and claws on the toes. These were small about the size of your small finger nail. These I assumed to belong to a large pack rat. He didn’t disturb my food and everything seemed to be in place. I dressed and cooked breakfast. I then noticed that the rat had helped himself to a good chunk of meat that I had. I remembered that mice and rats ate all of my jerky in Clear Creek Canyon once. I thought that these critters liked bread and stuff like that but I guess not.
The canyon looked cool and very clear. Some clouds were flying over from the north. They looked like there might be snow in the air but not very likely since it was mostly clear. It got down probably to about 40 degrees last night and a little warmer now. I saw the McCombs were just getting up as well. I repacked all that I would need and the rest I offered to the McCombs if they were short or wanted to trade stuff. They were in good shape. I noticed they were cooking on a portable round small stove. The fire they had was just to burn trash and keep warm for they had put cutoffs on thinking it 803
to be a warm day. They mentioned the temperature hardly ever got above freezing since they hit Tuckup Canyon and it seemed like a heat wave now.
Well I rehid my bucket of stuff which has enough food to last at least 9 days. I took off down the river and the McCombs followed after a while. It was a boulder hopping walk along the green clear river. Occasionally a cloud would fly overhead in the narrow strip of sky from the north. A breeze began to blow about 5 to 10 mph in gusts from any direction because of the narrow canyon walls. This hopping from boulder to boulder business is slow going and rougher. Most of the boulders were Cambrian slabs of dolomite and limestone. About a half mile downstream from Tuckup I noticed the green sandy Bright Angel Shale. This would outcrop about river level at the Mouth of Tuckup Canyon. In places, it would form a ledge to walk on along the river level. The river was dropping as usual this time of day in this area and it had already dropped nearly three feet. I noticed numerous ripple marks in places on the bedding surfaces of the rock in the Bright Angel Shale. One place I had to climb up over a boulder pile about 30 feet high. I saw a rock pile there which I knew Jan had built. Just before getting opposite National Canyon I had to climb up again about 30 feet and pass by a small cliff at the river’s edge. I saw two very large rock piles on top of this mess before starting back down to the river level. I know Jan didn’t build these since he makes small rock piles.
National Canyon has a small beach and there is not much of a rapid here. Waves reach as high as one and a half feet. I could see no way down the cliffs up or down from National Canyon. The only way besides river boat to reach the beach on that side (south) is to come down National Canyon if possible. Dr. Butchart said he had gotten very close and was stopped by a large drop off. If you were on the National Canyon beach you could not walk up to and opposite Tuckup Canyon because the small slope I followed down to here appears to peter out on the south side just below Tuckup Rapids into shear walls. I saw no way to walking up river past Tuckup Canyon on the south side. This slope I was on seemed to go all the way to Toroweap, possibly. While gazing at the mouth of National trying to see up as far as possible I noticed movement up river and saw the McCombs coming about half a mile back. Funny that National drains an average direction from the south and then at the last ¼ mile or so it drains from the east into the river. 804
6. View at National Canyon and small beach from the west side of the river. CR66.1. 1-1-70.
I pushed on. At this point the river flows southwest. I gradually rounded a bend and saw Fern Glen Canyon about a mile or so further on west. At this time I heard a terrific smashing of boulders somewhere close. I stopped on a rock and looked in all directions. It sounded like the rock slide was across the canyon high up somewhere. It sounded like a couple of large boulders had just hit a slope or bottom because of the roaring smashing thundering sound. Then silence for about three seconds. I looked up just in time to see two large boulders come spinning over the cliff above me and in front of me some ways. While they were spinning in air about half way down to the river I heard the sound of where they had hit the lip of this large 300 foot cliff I was standing under. Then I saw them hit rocks near the river edge at about the same position as I was standing now. A couple more rocks came over the cliff above. They must weigh about 300 pounds or so. These fragments showered everything around within 30 yards. These boulders would have hit me if I was just 80 yards further. This distance is close to what it was, give or take 5 yards. One large boulder had spun out far enough to land in the river and make a terrific splash, like dropping a small pebble in a bath tub. No more stuff came over the high cliff except some dirt and dust. The McCombs hadn’t seen this but heard it.
I went on and inspected the powder and rock fragments nearby that I found. They made a terrific impact. I saw that the rock was Redwall Limestone. These probably fell off the Redwall cliff near the top since that’s where most of the loose Redwall is. This means these rocks fell about 800 feet or more. One large boulder then hit the Supra Muav and busted into small boulders and rolled and bounced to the edge of the 300 foot cliff above me. Then I realized that if they had come down on me I would have in no 805
way gotten out of the way or taken shelter. I don’t think this sort of thing happens very much. I’ve heard rock falls before but much further away. Its like walking down the highway and a meteorite hits near by. Well I went on to Fern Glen Canyon.
When I reached the first muddy area, I planted an avocado seed. I planted one of these in Tuckup Canyon near Dome Canyon as well. Just for the devil of it if nothing else and they are not likely to grow. I saw Jan’s tracks in the sand and seen where he went up into Fern glen Canyon a couple of times but the wind had nearly wiped out his tracks. I found his gear and stuff on the down river side of the beach right where he slept last September when we camped here on the river trip. I left my stuff there with his and went up Fern Glen. The McCombs were just ahead of me then and we saw where there were nails sticking out of the travertine near the top of the falls. I still couldn’t see how Jan could get up there even with the help of the nails. There was three of em driven almost all the way in. They stuck out about 4 inches. Those were 10 inch nails and 3/8 inch thick.
Well I decided I wasn’t gonna tackle that mess and water was flowing down the travertine fall to a gravel mess below. Not too much more than a garden hose full of water, more than last September though. John and I took pictures and let it go at that. However, Jo had taken more of an interest and began climbing up. It took some doing to reach the nails and then even more doing to get on them and claw for the top or lip of the fall. She kept at it and being small and probably not weighing over 100 pounds she finally made it up. John said she likes to climb like that and he just watches. She said there was a pool of clear water there about knee deep and about 5 feet in diameter. Then she had a time getting around that without getting wet and mentioned that the rock up there was all very slippery. After some considerable struggling, she made it past the pool and went just a few more steps further. There was another slick waterfall about the same size as the one she just came up but it was all very slick walls. She mentioned seeing no tracks of any kind or black streak marks and if Jan did get up there he must be one heck of a good climber. John and I sat there not the slightest bit interested in climbing that fall. As it was, she took about 20 minutes to figure out how to get down without falling. 20 feet may not seem like much but that’s still quite a jump, four times her height. She hung around on the lip of the waterfall trying to find finger holds and still couldn’t reach the first nail by about 6 inches. While hanging there hugging the wet travertine, she commenced to get quite soaked. Finally after reaching the nail she was ok and took her time getting down dumping cups of water out of her sleeve and jacket. It was considerably cooler in this narrow canyon.
The sky stayed clear and as usual the sun didn’t get down in here. In fact it never reached the river at all today that I saw. It was noticeably cooler even at the river on the beach of Fern Glen, about a 10 degree drop in temperature. Must have been about 37 degrees or less. Well they went on down the river to Stairway Canyon. I had shot signals with the gun but no answer. I decided that Jan either did go up Fern Glen or down the river to see if he could make it to Stairway Canyon. I built a fire and warmed up some and settled down to wait. It was about 1:00pm or 2:00pm. Soon Jan came up river and scared away the 4 ducks on the river I was watching. Actually I scared them when I fired my gun again and Jan answered. Earlier I saw 14 ducks, canvas backs, on the river. Strange that the ducks would fly down into here. At any rate, Jan met the McCombs and like me was totally surprised. Found out that he fell asleep at sundown last night and 806
then woke up at some time in the night and fired off a few firecrackers to celebrate New Years weather it was new year’s or not and crawled into his sleeping bag and slept in. So we loaded up and went on down to Stairway Canyon which he said was just boulder hopping most all the way.
7. The bolted wood mass on Stairway Canyon beach. CR171.0. 1-1-70.
We reached Stairway Canyon and couldn’t find the McCombs but their tracks went on down river. Well we made camp on the up river side of the boulder and sand beach. We inspected a large mess of wood that looked like a bridge abutment of some kind. We were now almost opposite Mohawk Canyon and a little upstream. Jim, John, and Susan had described seeing this bolted mass of wood and said it looked like a raft of some sort. I doubt weather that was the case. The 18 inch bolts in the logs and boards had St. Louis stamped on them and the number 3/10. It got dark quick and a wind began blowing very hard from downriver up stream and then from across the canyon and also back downriver. We were trying to cook a meal and sand would fly by coating everything that wasn’t already covered with very fine sand. There was quite a bit of vegetation on this beach then we have seen so far this trip and mostly mesquite and salt cedar tamarisk trees. It was considerably colder tonight then last night. That wind wasn’t helping any. It was about 35 degrees with a 5 to 20 mph wind blowing in variable gusts and directions. The wind seemed normal at this time of day but I was freezing. We ate a sandy meal and then climbed into a sandy sleeping bag about 7:00pm to get warm and out of the flying sand. Not long after that the wind died down as usual. I had figured that a cold front of a weak type had passed over sometime this morning and brought the cold air. It was a clear night. So ends a new year’s day for 1970.
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8. Pools of water in the lower part of Stairway Canyon. 1-2-70.
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January 2, Friday, 1970
We got up late today since it was quite cold or it seemed that way. I don’t think it got below 29 degrees. It was a crisp clear morning. The air on this whole hike so far has been exceptionally clear. We cooked breakfast and finally got underway up Stairway Canyon. The trio said they encountered water most all the way to the Redwall in Stairway. They made it out this canyon and said it was easy until you came to a hard spot in and near the top of the Redwall on the west side near the head of the canyon. Well we found the icy water and kept going up rather rapidly. After all this the canyon climbs 1,800 feet in a mile and a half. We came to a shear waterfall in the Supra Muav where it makes a box like canyon of about 80 feet square. There were deep pools of water here. Just before reaching this is a 10 foot waterfall which we could climb up and around. Than a large rock made sort of a bridge to walk under. Sure were lots of big horn sheep tracks.
We went back down and tried going up a slope on the east side of the narrow canyon to what looked like a big slope above. This failed since there was 15 to 20 feet of nearly shear walls at the top of the slope. The sheep however had managed to climb up this since their tracks went on up and none had returned. I had about 30 to 35 pounds of bedroll, food and rocks in my pack and it threw me off balance many times. Might have climbed the wall without my pack but it looked pretty sheer and hairy and I don’t have much hair for this. We went back down to the top of the 10 foot fall and I saw the fault crack up the west wall of the canyon which looked ok to climb. We left rock piles up this and gained the large slope above. Then it was just a stroll back down a short distance to the creek bottom and came just above the big fall. The rest of the way up the canyon looked easy until we got to the Redwall. We went through the Devonian section without much trouble until the upper part. I saw a possible way out the west wall about 4 bends from the big 400 foot drop in the Redwall. So instead of using my smarts, I said lets try it. It looked pretty hard. There was a small drainage we started up and we left rock piles. We should have gone on up to the big fall and looked for possible other ways out. The east wall of this canyon is out of the question. Shear walls for 600 feet.
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9. The upper Muav Limestone and Devonian section below the Redwall Limestone cliff in Stairway Canyon. 1-2-70.
We climbed up some pretty hairy ledges in the Devonian and finally gained the Whitmore Wash Member of the Redwall. We climbed up this on a very steep cliff and the sheep had done this so we followed. Then we went up through the Thunder Springs Member and then got hung up. Almost through that banded member we came to a place where travertine had cemented pebbles and crap to form a cliff. 15 feet stopped us from getting to the slope above. I finally got brave enough or stupid enough to try going up the wall without my pack. My gun wasn’t helping matters much. It was finger holds and toe holds all the way up and a slippery gravel upper slope to cling to once up the cliff. Needless to say, I was petrified. I sat there some while trying to stop shaking. This place I climbed up starts from the ledge we stopped on and then goes out over a good 200 feet drop or less. Jan tired coming up a crack or ravine type sort of place which produced an overhang and pulled a boulder loose about the size of a football and it went crashing down on his pack below and smashed it breaking the frame. He gave up that route and began saying a few choice words to the boulder that was nestled on his pack and gave it a might heave which sounded like a monstrous rock slide in these narrow walls.
He threw up an 18 foot rope he was carrying so that I could haul up all the pack gear. It was a ½ inch cotton rope and he didn’t trust his weight on it. He climbed up the same way I did and had to rest some and stop shaking as well. We continued up a short slope and then up another hairy cliff but not as bad. I had to take my pack off and Jan hauled that up. We were now in the Mooney Falls Member of the Redwall and a nice slope greeted us. We scrambled up this to the top but it didn’t look good. There was no way up that fault ravine that we started up. We left rock piles still. Then we gained the top of the slope and my heart sank to the bottom of the canyon. A shear drop off greeted 810
us on the other side of the ridge and it ran into 50 feet of cliff to the top of the Redwall. There was no way to climb that last 50 feet of shear overhanging cliff. My fingers and hands were cut and bloody from climbing up the cliffs and slopes we already came up. Jan was in the same way.
Well we sat down on the knife edge ridge and Jan ate lunch. It was about 1:30 or 2:00pm. I dreaded going back down the 800 feet of cliffs we just came up to get back to the bottom of the canyon. I could see lots of water in pools in the canyon bottom. While sitting there I noticed that a large part or panicle of rock was leaning out from the cliff. This looked possible to climb down behind and then work our way down a crack to the slope on the north side of this ridge. This was the lowest point on the ridge and there was about a 40 foot drop on this north side. The ridge ran east and west. There is a large amphitheater here caused by a side tributary coming in from the west. The water when it runs must be quite spectacular to see dropping over the west wall of Redwall 400 feet to the Whitmore Wash Member and then struggle on down to the main canyon floor. If we could get on this slope we might work our way around to the amphitheater and with luck find a way down to the bottom. Anything was worth a try rather then go back down the way we came up. The sun had just left us and I decided we should make the most of our time while the sun was up. I just realized that we finally seen the sun a short while here.
Jan climbed down about half way and said it’s not too difficult and then I lowered all our gear to him by his 18 foot rope. He crammed the stuff in the crack and went on down while I came on down to the packs. It was not easy. I then knew that Jan was a better climber then me but that was ok with me since I don’t really go in for this kinda thing. I lowered the packs on down to him and he managed to get them on the slope and then I came on down. It was good to get somewhere even if it looked like a dead end. The first thing I noticed was sheep tracks. But they were all over this place. There is hardly a place they haven’t been in this canyon I reckon. Well I took the lead again and followed the steep slope towards the huge amphitheater. The further I went the worse it looked. Finally we came to where the Redwall made a steep slope of about 80 degrees and 150 feet down and this was the only way of reaching the rubble pile at the bottom which we could then scramble down to the bottom. Well if the sheep could do it and I didn’t feel like going back, I could do it. It was a bit shaky but not bad as long as the shoes didn’t slip.
We finally gained the rubble and that was worse since it was loose crap of cat claw trees and boulders which came loose when our weight was put on them. After considerable messing around and falling and ripping cloths and skin on cat claw trees, we made the bottom and a nice pool of water greeted us. It was old bitter tasting water but it was water and the sheep drank it. It seemed dark but it could barely be past 3:00pm. Well rather than dilly dally, I took off with Jan behind and followed a sheep trail or what looked like a sheep trail around a ledge on the north side of this tributary and we happened to be at the Redwall and Devonian contact. Generally there is always a small ledge at this contact zone. It was steep and slidy but we made slow progress and it was better than dropping on down 200 feet more to the canyon bottom. Soon we came to a fault crack in the Redwall that looked like it might go all the way to the top. This crack was about 4 feet wide and a step like very steep way up. 811
10. The Stairway-Mohawk Fault in the upper Redwall of Stairway Canyon; the way out. 1-2-70.
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11. View south down Stairway Canyon from the top of the Redwall looking toward the river and into Mohawk Canyon south of the river. 1-2-70. 813
From the knife ridge we sat on some time ago we could not see this crack but a slope similar to the one we were on, and an obvious way out from there with one small cliff to climb near the top of the Redwall if we could get up that slope again. Well this crack looked like it went up to that slope at least and by now were not very far from the head of the whole canyon, in the Redwall part that is. In fact it was the Mohawk Fault. I saw sheep droppings and tracks again so what the heck, up we went.
We climbed up and up and sure enough we gained that slope again and still had about 200 feet more to the rim. We made our way along a very steep slope to the crack that went to the top. We could see at this point that the slope went all the way to the creek bottom at the very head of the canyon. This must have been the way that Jim, John, and Susan came up. They said they had to use the rope to get up the last little cliff near the top. We climbed up a rock leaning up against the first cliff which wasn’t too bad and then came at last to that cliff. I had a heck of a time getting up that only it was not scary like the others. Once up I grabbed the rope Jan threw me and hauled up the packs and stuff. Then he came up. We scrambled to the top of the Redwall at last and emerged to the west of the big drop in the main drainage. We had to use the rope four times and I was plenty tired of the Redwall Limestone by now and my fingers and hands showed it. The sun was still shining on the Supai Formation so we might have a chance of walking the 4.5 miles to Willow Spring like we planned before dark.
The upper Supai looked pretty shear walled but we could see that the upper end was pretty well broken up by the fault. We actually came up the main fault. In many places I saw it looked much like a very sharp monocline bending towards the east. The relief of this faulted monocline is not more than 60 feet, but it’s the main reason Stairway Canyon is here at all and is certainly the controlling factor in Mohawk Canyon to the south of here. It was just a boulder scramble up the rest of Stairway Canyon and I hate boulder scrambles. At the upper end it got steep and just a matter of going from boulder to boulder up the steep slope. There were three small hills visible and we headed for the first and largest which would be nearest to the main trail on top or the western most hill. I noticed a blackened ledge or overhang in the Supai Sandstone near the top and wondered over to that. I suspected an Indian camp of some sort. I might mention that we found a fire or mescal pit from the Indians right near the big drop in the Redwall and on the west side where we came out. I think it is highly likely that the Indians used that route to reach the river and water. Anyway it turned out to be an Indian ruin under the ledge of the Esplanade and there were red painting on the walls. Looked like dried blood.
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12. Red Indian paintings under the overhand in upper Stairway Canyon. 1-2-70.
13. Sunset on The Dome from the Willow Spring area. 1-2-70.
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Well on up we went and finally we reached the main Tuckup Trail and had about three miles to go to Willow Spring. We had about one hour of light left and the sun was already down behind the Permian cliffs west of us. It was dam cold. There was no wind and a good clear sky but the temperature was about 28 degrees. It was cold in Stairway all day but we climbed so much we were mostly warm but didn’t sweat. We climbed hard and fast up the Supai and still no sweat, just cold. The ground was frozen hard like it never thawed out all day. We followed the trail made by everything in the book that lives in or on this part of the Esplanade. The only wild life we seen was birds and ducks and the sign of big horn sheep. Soon we spotted four Mexican cattle that were very wild. They looked mean. One was a small feller about 3 months old. The cattle ran off a half mile before we came to them. While after crossing the head of the first ravine going north, I ran smack dab into this little feller. He was standing behind a bush along the trail. He sure looked scared and curious. He was brown and half a Brahma type and shaking all over. He may have been cold or scared I’m not sure which. Anyway we went on by him and he followed for a short while then nearly ran over me trying to get by and catch up with the other cattle.
We had two large ravines to go around the head of to get to Willow Spring. We just crossed one of em. We walked about 3 mph and made good time. I was quite cold despite this pace and my hands almost felt frozen. The sun was still shining across the canyon on the Dome and it looked very brilliant, a white and red color that stood out in clear distinctness. No clouds. It was nice to be able to look at a large sky but still limited. We reached the spring just before it got too dark to see and as I expected it was froze almost solid. Two feet of ice and more filled the creek bottom on solid rock. Under the overhangs the water was just starting to freeze so we had a source of water. We gathered wood before anything else. In the upper part of the spring I noticed a large overhang with a hole in the sandstone roof, this was on the south side of the spring. There was still tall green grass growing there. There was also plenty of room for two or three people and so this was home for the night. We gathered our old wood pile from last September that we left then and along with other branches we had plenty of wood for the night. There isn’t much wood left for another night in the area though since trees or wood is very scarce. It got dark and much colder. We stayed up by the fire as long as possible so that when we slept we could get up before our feet froze. It may have gotten down to 15 or so degrees but didn’t seem like it under the overhang. Something about these overhangs that keeps things much warmer and we could have hit the sack early and not worry about getting cold because I kept quite warm most of the night. I was sure wishing I could shower. I hate to get greasy dirty.
January 3, Saturday, 1970
The first thing I remember upon waking up was a whole heard of them pinion jays flew by making a heck of a racket both by fling and squalling. Then while laying there I heard a large number of smaller birds that flew like humming birds and fluttered around the camp site and twittering. How could anyone sleep with this racket? Jan did. I got up and built a fire and judged the time about 8:00am. It was warming up some. The sun was nearly shining on us. We ate and gathered our stuff together. My pack had ripped on one of the cliffs while pulling it up and was barely holding together. Jan had wired and roped his together. A pack is one of your best friends down here weather you hate it 816
or not. We went out the fault route which is the big fault that controls Mohawk and Stairway Canyons. It was a hard climb as usual but we were in shape now. It was cold but not freezing when we reached the top. Then we had a 4 mile walk through the forest to Eden. We could see the San Francisco Peaks 100 miles or so to the southeast along with Kendrick, Sitgraves, and Bill Williams Mountains. To the north we could see clearly the Pine Valley Mountains in Utah about 100 miles to the north and Bryce Canyon over 100 miles. We could see Red Butte and Grand Canyon Village 60 miles to the east and some mountain range down around Kingman. It was a very very clear day and no clouds. It must have been this way all the time we were down in the canyon. I took pictures since these things stood out so vividly clear. The peaks had snow which glistened while the Pine Valley Mountains to the north were bare.
14. George standing by the shelter that Susan, Jim, and John built from discarded lumber left here at the Tuckup Canyon trail head where they stayed 4 days waiting for us last September. They made the sign that says "Eden pop 3, founded 9-24-69." 1-3-70.
We took off for Flagstaff about 1:00pm or so and hit Flagstaff about 9:00pm tonight. Stayed the night at Jan’s house. John and brother, Kathy, and some girl also came out of the canyon after two days on the Tanner Trail and we all stayed in the house that night and the temperature dropped to 0 degrees outside for the low. They said it was like this most of the week and I believed it. Walked about 26 miles this hike.