Grand Canyon Part 3: Plateau Point

It’s day two of my backpacking trip in the Grand Canyon. I’ve set up camp at Havasupai Garden, and the rain, hail, and wind that drove me into my tent for an early afternoon nap has passed overhead. I’m heading out for a hike along the Tonto Platform to overlook the inner canyon from Plateau Point, 1.5 miles from the campground.

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Grand Canyon Part 2: Up is Harder

Picking up my backpacking trip to the Grand Canyon: I hiked down the South Kaibab trail in one day and camped by the river at Bright Angel Campground. Now I have to hike back up the 4340 feet and 9.5 miles to the rim on Bright Angel trail.

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Winter wonderland

It took a long time this winter, but finally the White Mountains lived up to their name.

On Friday 18 inches of snow fell in the White Mountains. It was cold during the storm and stayed that way through the weekend, which meant that the snow stayed dry and fluffy- a rare condition in the northeast!

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April showers may bring road walks

Heavy rain over the past couple of days inspired me to make the most of the drier but colder day of the weekend. Rain on Spring trails makes mud, and when you add hikers to that mix you end up with accelerated trail erosion, so I decided to keep to the old logging road that doubles as a winter cross country ski highway and a 3-season hiking trail.

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Breaking trail

I’ll get this out of the way upfront: I’m not a big fan of snowshoes. They’re awkward to wear, cumbersome to carry, and my natural gait places one foot in front of the other, so the side by side snowshoe waddle feels particularly awkward and trip-prone. Nonetheless, I set out with my snowshoes for a hike up Smart’s Brook, and was glad to have them!

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