Trip Reports

• Grand Canyon 2012

  Len, Ben, Joel, John, and Mike do a 6 night backpacking trip in the Grand Canyon. Initial trailhead is Hermit’s Rest, nights at Hermit’s Creek, Granite Rapids, Salt Creek, Horn Creek, and 2 nights at Bright Angel before hiking out via the South Kaibab Trail. Awesome trip, great weather, a little bit of radioactive water, a cool dayhike down Phantom Creek/Phantom Canyon, the hike out via the South Kaibab, and a tailgate waiting for our room in Maswik Lodge. Photos on Flickr.

  
  
• High Sierra Trail / Mt. Whitney 2010

  Len, Ben, Mike, Tony, and Jeff’s first trip includes a traverse of the High Sierra Trail from Crescent Meadow to the Mt. Whitney Portal.  Regular hikers Joel and John are not on this trip because of previous commitments and back problems, respectively.  70 miles from west to east in 6 days and 5 nights with the first night at the Bearpaw Meadow High Sierra Camp.  Backcountry sites included Big Arroyo, Upper Funston Meadow, Junction Meadow, and Guitar Lake.  The trip culminated with a push to the summit of Mt. Whitney, [...]

  
  
• Buckskin Gulch / Paria Canyon 2009

  Len, Ben, John, Tony, and Mike fly into Vegas, spend some time in Zion National Park and head to the Vermillion Cliffs Wilderness.  They leave the Wire Pass trailhead  and hike Buckskin Gulch, the longest contiguous slot canyon in the US, at 14 miles, in one day;  4 more days along the Paria River in the Paria River Canyon before exiting at Lee’s Ferry, AZ.  Mud, water, a little bit of snow, tight canyons, and more water, as the trail crosses the Paria River hundreds of times, makes for an [...]

  
  
• Grand Canyon 2007

  Len, Joel, Tony, John, and Mike head to the Grand Canyon for an October backcountry trip from Grandview Point, along the Tonto Trail, to Phantom Ranch and then up to the South Rim via the Bright Angel Trail. Two nights at Phantom Ranch before the climb out to relax, dayhike, and drink some Tecante in the Phantom Ranch Cantina. A rest day in Vegas to round out the trip. Pictures via Flickr.

  
  
• Glacier National Park, Roadtrip IV, 2006

  This year, we arrived at GNP from the east on Thursday, 7/27, and were staying for three nights at Cut Bank. Our plans called for a couple of day hikes, hiking in to the Granite Park Chalet via the Highline Trail, out over Swiftcurrent Pass to Many Glacier, and then a backcountry trip from Goat Haunt to Many Glacier coming out via the Ptarmigan Tunnel. The Red Eagle fire started at 1:15pm on Friday, 7/28, according to the Incident Command website. Trip pictures here.

  
  
• Yellowstone 2005, the Thorofare

  Len, John, Joel, and Ben will be driving non-stop from the Chicago suburbs to Yellowstone National Park, 22 hours of sheer highway excitement. Two nights at Slough Creek to start the trip, followed by a 6 day, 5 night trek through the Thorofare. This trip starts with a boat ride from Bridge Bay to Columbine Creek and ends on the South Entrance Road near Lewis Lake. Photos from this trip via Flickr

  
  
• Yosemite, 2004

  Len, John, Joel, Tony, Chris, and Ben fly from Chicago to Reno, rent a couple of cars and drive to Yosemite National Park. A couple of day hikes, a night at the Merced Lake High Sierra Camp, and a 4 night backpack in the southern section of the park are on tap. Photos from this trip via Flickr

  
  
• Glacier Roadtrip II, 2003

  24 hour roadtrip in a van from the Chicago area to Glacier National park, followed by 10 days of dayhiking and backpacking. Len, John, Joel, and Joe-joe do the cross-country van trip, Tony flys out and meets everyone in Glacier. The trip report is narrated by John, and is still a work in progress, not all pictures have been integrated. Trip Report with Pictures

  
  
• Yellowstone Roadtrip I, 2002

  6 guys, a rented van, a 22 hour drive, and an Xbox to play Madden Football make this roadtrip memorable. This trip consisted of several dayhikes, a disappearing gray house, and a wrong turn at Bighorn Peak. The trip report is narrated by John. Trip Report with Pictures

  
  
• GNP, Y2K

  Year 2000 trip to Glacier National Park. Dayhiking, a trip to the Granite Park Chalet and a backcountry trek over Boulder Pass, complete with a forest fire, make this an unforgettable trip! Pictures with Captions

  
  
• YNP, 1999

  Speciman Ridge and 7-mile Hole dayhiking and an overnight trip on the Yellowstone River Trail with Len, Joel, and Ben. Ben’s first backcountry trip, a shirt lost forever in the raging Yellowstone, and a dip in the ice-cold Yellowstone River make this trip memorable. Trip Report with Pictures