The permits now cost $5/person.
Don't forward the flyer for this. I have a full outing!
The Blue Springs hike will be May 3. Let me know if you are interested. It is a little-used route into the Little Colorado River gorge to a spring of carbonated water, big & deep enough for splashing around in. It is located at the East end of the South rim of Grand Canyon Park. You get there on a dirt road going east from Desert View into the Indian reservation.
We will drive up May 2 (Friday). Be sure to top off your tanks in Cameron.
We'll camp at a campsite east of the Grand Canyon NP.
We will drive out to the trail head at some horrible hour (5am) of the morning May 3. The drive is long (2 hours), harsh, 4x4, high clearance type road.
The trailhead is difficult to find, but at least I'll recognize it when we do find it.
The trail is class 4 in places. We'll bring a rope to raise & lower packs thru hard places and even possibly some hikers. The trail is only 1.5 miles one way, but it took us 8 hours for the round trip last year. Elevation change is 5400' to 3200'. For more info, I found this hike in "The Hiker's Guide to Arizona" by Aitchison/Grubbs
Note: Please read my message carefully. This is a dangerous hike. Parts of it are vertical. There's lots of loose rock.
I'd recommend the following for this hike:
You'll also need camping gear & food for Friday night, unless you are coming up Saturday morning. Some of us may camp Saturday night also. Technically we need a permit, as the trail is on the Navajo Reservation, but I may not be able to get up there when a permit place is open. If someone else is going up there, let me know. You could get us a permit.
Blue Springs (office is open 8-5; hiking/back country permits 1/$5, 2-9/$10, 10+/$20, 20+/$40; $2/person camping permit)
I'm limiting the party size to 12 people for safety reasons.
Camping directions: After you cross the reservation/NF boundary, turn right at the 2nd right after entering the NF. The 1st right is a closed road, the 2nd right is FR 6140. We will camp less than .5 miles down the road. Perry says that FR 6140 also goes through to Blue Springs and is not as rough as our usual route. We'll look into going that way.
Just let you know, I finally contacted the Cameron Visitor center & they are sending me a permit.
Camping directions coming from Cameron: After you cross the reservation/NF boundary, turn right at the 2nd right after entering the NF. The 1st right is a closed road, the 2nd right is FR 6140. We will camp less than .5 miles down the road. Perry says that FR 6140 also goes through to Blue Springs and is not as rough as our usual route. We'll look into going that way.
In answer to Charlene's questions:
A harness is not necessary. If it becomes difficult enough that you feel you want to be belayed, we can tie the rope directly to you. Your choice. It's not likely you'll need a belay though.
A helmet would probably be a good idea for the first 1/2 mile.
Hiking boots are what I intend to wear. I played in the river barefoot last time, but plan to bring sandals for that this time.
I will be carrying at least 1 gal water and lunch.
We meet at 5PM Friday at Denny's at I-17 & Bell. We will stop briefly in Flag for Fazoli's & again in Cameron to top off tanks.
The drive to the trailhead will start at 5AM Sat. We will take a minimum # of vehicles out there.