Grand Canyon area from Las Vegas

I have a conference to attend in Vegas in November and was thinking about combining it with a visit to the Grand Canyon. Anyone have any recommendations or resources?

I plan to arrive late in the day Saturday and have to be back for conference Tuesday AM (Monday evening, really.)

Tim

Hi Tim,

I would recommend hitting on 15 and sticking on 17.

SINGLE DECK - BASIC STRATEGY


Your Hand vs Dealer's Upcard

8 Double on 5 to 6. Otherwise hit.
9 Double on 2 to 6. Otherwise hit.
10 Double on 2 to 9. Otherwise hit.
11 Always double.
12 Stand on 4 to 6. Otherwise hit.
13 to 16 Stand on 2 to 6. Otherwise hit.
17 to 21 Always stand.
A,2 to A,5 Double on 4 to 6. Otherwise hit.
A,6 Double on 2 to 6. Otherwise hit.
A,7 Double on 3 to 6. Stand on 2,7,8 or A.
Hit on 9 or 10.
A,8 Double on 6. Otherwise stand.
A,9 Always stand.
A,A Always split.
2,2 Split on 3 to 7. Otherwise hit.
3,3 Split on 4 to 7. Otherwise hit.
4,4 Same as 8 above.
5,5 Same as 10 above.
6,6 Split on 2 to 6. Otherwise hit.
7,7 Split on 2 to 7. Stand on 10. Otherwise hit.
8,8 Always split.
9,9 Split on 2 to 9 except 7. Stand on 7,10 or A.
10,10 Always stand.

Sorry, no actual resources or tips.
Z

You'll surely be doing a couple of day hikes at the south rim area I imagine. Here are a few links that might help:

1. Grand Canyon National Park The official web site for the GC NPS

2. Bird & Hike For someone who's never visited, I'd suggest these from his list, in the order that I think you'd enjoy them. All will be out and back routes. Grandview trail down to Horseshoe Mesa, Plateau Point via Bright Angel trail, Hermit trail down to Breezy Point and back as going further beyond Cathedral Stairs would be a long day. If you're up for 13.5 miles, you could also descend the South Kaibab trail to the junction of the Tonto trail, follow that westward (left) over to Bright Angel near Indian Gardens and then back to the south rim. A description of that hike can be found HERE

3. Dripping Springs and back as a day hike. Not as expansive view-wise as a lot of it is tucked back into slot canyons, but still an interesting out and back route. Description HERE

4. Another hike down the Grandview trail and thence out to O'Neill Springs and return is described HERE

5. Various trail descriptions with links for maps can be found HERE


Have fun! I live 2 hours from GC in Prescott and hike there quite frequently.

bikehikeskifish said:

I have a conference to attend in Vegas in November and was thinking about combining it with a visit to the Grand Canyon. Anyone have any recommendations or resources?

I plan to arrive late in the day Saturday and have to be back for conference Tuesday AM (Monday evening, really.)

Tim

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I hope you aren't going to the NextGen UGM.

bikehikeskifish said:

I have a conference to attend in Vegas in November and was thinking about combining it with a visit to the Grand Canyon. Anyone have any recommendations or resources?

I plan to arrive late in the day Saturday and have to be back for conference Tuesday AM (Monday evening, really.)

Tim

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I40 is 75MPH in Az after Kingman so they say its a little over 4 hours to the south rim, but there is always traffic in Boulder City.

Seligman is a nice rest stop. There are cheap hotels in Williams but even some of the better chains are 2 star or less ..if that matters

There are good hikes down to the Colorado river and all over the Mojave desert if you find yourself delayed...try not to fly through O'Hare.

Or if you find yourself short of time, Red Rocks is very close to the west, and Valley of Fire is quite close to the north. Short run up to Mt. Charleston as well. Lots to see outside Vegas.

If you want the classic long GC excursion, and given good conditions, a Rim to Rim to Rim is well within your capabilities, Tim. (Just sayin')

My favorite is to descend the South Kaibab at O dark thirty, then up/down North Kaibab, finishing with the Bright Angel. It's nice to have a cabin at Bright Angel Lodge so you don't have far to go to collapse at the end.

November is getting a bit on the late in the season with much less daylight, but temps should be good. Of 4 completions, I once did the R2R2R in late October and conditions were perfect.

Sue

I imagine that November is just about the best time to hit GC. From Vegas, definitely doable. I like the North Rim better, because of greater solitude and wilderness feel, but things may be closed then and the drives may be a bit sketchy if snowy. Also not sure if any North Rim resources (food, camping/lodging) will still be open. But if they are, it's gorgeous.

Think about making time to hit Zion on the way there or back if you do the North Rim route. And there is one very cranky AZ state trooper in the last town in AZ before you hit Utah, so stay 5 mph BELOW the speed limit.

From the nps site:

The North Rim has a short season. Lodging and food services within the park are open from May 15th through October 15th each year.

North Rim off-season:
After October 15, there is a period when the North Rim is open for day use - through December 1, or until snow closes Highway 67. Limited facilities are available during the North Rim's off-season.

If you can tack the Canyon onto your conference trip I would absolutely do so. Completely worth it.

Some resources:

Best map Kent Schulte Sky Terrain

Nice trip reports with extensive photo's http://www.downthetrail.com/hiking-the-grand-canyon/

Lots more info with topo maps on this site http://www.kaibab.org/kaibab.org/hiking.htm

Routes:

I have done and would recommend doing Grandview trail to the tip of Horseshoe Mesa, which brings you over a knife edge ridge (more like durand ridge/ franconia ridge than katahdin type knife edge) with a 1500 foot straight drop to cottonwood creek. that is about 8.8 miles, but there is a way to drop off the western arm (I noticed the cairns for the route, its on the sky terrain map too), pick up the tonto west, then come back up to horseshoe mesa by what I think is called the cottonwood creek trail. That's about 11.5-12 miles.

Have done Hermit to dripping Springs and would recommend that too. You wind around some crazy side canyons with impressive straight drops. That was like 7.5 miles, but you have to take a 45 minute shuttle each way and can't drive, so factor that in. Can extend outing by exploring some more of hermit trail. Trail towards dripping spring had nice more remote feel.

More power to you if go for the 44 mile, 11,000 gain R2R2R with less than 10 hours of daylight. R2R with the shuttle would be like 17 miles (south kaibab and bright angel loop) might fit the schedule better.

The trails are generally all dirt and smooth, so its easier than the whites in my opinion, though elevation gains and grades can be similar. Probably count on same pace as whites if you factor in a little extra time to enjoy the views.

John in NH said:

I have done and would recommend doing Grandview trail to the tip of Horseshoe Mesa, which brings you over a knife edge ridge (more like durand ridge/ franconia ridge than katahdin type knife edge) with a 1500 foot straight drop to cottonwood creek. that is about 8.8 miles, but there is a way to drop off the western arm (I noticed the cairns for the route, its on the sky terrain map too), pick up the tonto west, then come back up to horseshoe mesa by what I think is called the cottonwood creek trail. That's about 11.5-12 miles.

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This is a good day trip, have done it a few times. You do drop off the western arm, right at the point where it narrows and goes out to the tip. The trail switchbacks down from there to the junction of the Tonto. There is a steel rod stuck in the ground in the middle of a cairn at that point. You can go either way from there, westward as noted above, to Cottonwood Creek and then back up to the mesa, or eastward around the bulk of the mesa, past Miner Spring (aka Page Spring) and up the eastern flank. This option is probably about a mile longer than the western option.

Photos above: Drop off point of the mesa to the Tonto below / Cairn with steel bar at Tonto trail junction / View of horseshoe mesa from below / Page (Miner) spring junction...5 minute side trip to spring

TCD said:

Or if you find yourself short of time, Red Rocks is very close to the west, and Valley of Fire is quite close to the north. Short run up to Mt. Charleston as well. Lots to see outside Vegas.

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Turns out we have most of Tuesday free - have to be at the convention ~4:30 - Red Rocks looks quite interesting - and it is free on Tuesday (Veteran's Day). Any specific loops / trails / sights to recommend?

Tim

Turtle Head was a nice climb.

"Sunday, we went to Red Rock again and tackled Turtlehead Peak. It's about 6300', with 2000' of climbing over about 2.5 miles. It starts off easy but gets very steep and becomes a scramble at times. The 'trail' is very gravelly so we had to pick our way with care. 'Trail' here means a huge network of herd paths, that all lead to the same place. The only things impeding your view around these parts are a few scrubby bushes, so basically you can always see in every direction that a mountain is not blocking you. Sometimes this is a few feet, but at the top of Turtlehead, it was probably over 100 miles! A large part of the view from here is of the sprawl of Las Vegas, but it's still a magnificent site. There was still just a trace of snow in the surrounding higher peaks. It started out in the high 40's but quickly warmed up to around 85. This peak had a couple visitors before we summitted and seemingly a LOT more heading up around 11:00."

bikehikeskifish said:

Turns out we have most of Tuesday free - have to be at the convention ~4:30 - Red Rocks looks quite interesting - and it is free on Tuesday (Veteran's Day). Any specific loops / trails / sights to recommend?

Tim

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A nice shorter hike at Red Rocks is Calico tanks - pretty sandstone and if you follow the path after the tanks for 5 minutes you'll get a view down to the valley and the city. There are also some short hikes and scrambling opportunities in the Calico Hills area.

Another option that is more scenic (IMHO), is to head east an hour from the city to Valley of Fire State Park. There are lots of short hikes there. If you go there, you should check in advance and make sure roads/trails are accessible after the flood damage from September storms (I know I-15 was washed out somewhere near the exit to VOF, but I'm not sure about the exact area and current state of things).

bikehikeskifish said:

Turns out we have most of Tuesday free - have to be at the convention ~4:30 - Red Rocks looks quite interesting - and it is free on Tuesday (Veteran's Day). Any specific loops / trails / sights to recommend?

Tim

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They lock the gate on the 'scenic road' ($7 per car) at 5pm this time of year, and I think it's a $120 fine if you get locked in without a 'late exit' permit. I think the late exit permits are limited to people doing the longer routes, so they probably won't hand one out at 5pm (especially since the visitor center closes at 4:30).

There is trail head parking by the exit gate to access the main part of the area, but there are a couple of trail heads on 159 just south of there. We've done Oak Creek and First Creek. Both are nice for out and backs without fear of getting locked in! We saw the full moon rise tonight from the First Creek trail and it was magnificent! (Not the GC as we hoped, but going to Zion tomorrow so don't feel to bad for me.)