NORTH RIM — WESTERN GRAND CANYON LOOP — APRIL 15-22, 1978 A DPS - SCHEDULED TRIP BY GORDON MACLEOD AND ERIC SCHUMACHER This memorable, challenging backpack was suggested as the very best in the Grand Canyon region by John Vitz, who led it as a private trip in early April, 1971. His trip report was a Vitzian classic -— so good in fact and so close to what we did, in fact, that I have reproduced his report in toto, detracting only with annotating comments so as to identify variations that circumstances suggested to us. John’s text is presented in typewritten script... Early April is a perfect time to go into the Grand Canyon. But getting there from the North Rim is not easy. .The main road is [generally] closed at Jacob Lake [at this time of year], so entry must be made via a loqging road [NPS: 422] which runs southeast from Fredonia along the base of the Kaibab Plateau. Our group of seven and a half (counting the dog) gathered in Fredonia at 9:00 am. We followed the road toward Big Saddle until such time that the snow became so deep that it was impassable even to the four wheel dzive vehicles. Backtracking and taking a poorer road [NPS: 423 & 427] led us to the Indian Hollow Campground, trailhead for Thunder River, about noon. Our plan was to make a loop route to the Colorado by going down Indian Hollow Canyon, Jumpup Canyon, Kanab Canyon to the river, then upstream to Tapeats Creek, Thunder River and out. We knew that once we reached Konab Creek that we would be able to find a route. However, no where in my reading had I encountered anyone who had descended Indian Hollow to Kanab. Day One: I had advised Tom to leave the dog at home as I didn’t know what kind of terrain might be encountered in the descent. In typical fashion, he chose to disregard my advice. The dog would soon regret it. We left the roadhead and walked down Indian Hollow Canyon through the Kaibab limestone, where the canyon was flat and choked with sage. But we knew that the Coconino was somewhere not too far ahead and that it might prove to be impassable. We were planning to descend to the first water far down the canyon so that we wouldn’t have to dry camp. With incredible suddeness the the Coconino appeared. This is a hard, buff-colored sandstone-limestone layer, with a series of fifty foot dry falls. At first glance it appeared that we had reached the end of the trip the first day. I scouted a ridge with the hopes of finding another way down. But there were only 400 foot cliffs in both directions. While I was panicking, Jerry and Larry were finding a route down the canyon bottom. It involved four serious pitches of rock and tree climbing but was passable. The dog went over all four on the end of a rope and enjoyed every minute of it. There were marks on the trees that indicated that someone else had been down the canyon. But the best news was that there was a seep spring at the base of the Coconino, as it was much too late to continue on down the canyon. We sat around the campfire thinking about the Redwall and drinking wine. [DPS: Our trip followed one of the wettest Winter-Spring times recorded in the West, so we (1) departed from the Chapter schedule by re-scheduling from the first to the second week in April, (2) then cancelled the trip on Thursday (April 13th) based on NPS/NFS/BLM advice obtained that afternoon, but reprogramed in Kanab, Utah on Saturday morning (April 15th: on our way to do the Grand Gulch in Eastern Utah: based upon information supplied after breakfast by NFS

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