Horsethief “Loop”, Grand Canyon

18. to 22. September 2020

A Grand Canyon sampler trip that lets you try a bit of the many things the Grand Canyon has to offer. It will also show you how hard and harsh this place can be.

We hiked down and up the Nankoweap Trail. There is some cool exposure with extensive views into the canyon.
Then we followed the along the Colorado (river right) on the unofficial Hayduke Trail. It was brutally hot that day. It probably hit around 100°F (38°C). The trail is often overgrown and sometimes disappears. It is very sandy at times and it’s a lot of little ups and downs so going was really slow here.
The next morning we made much better progress. From Sixtymile Canyon to the boat hitching point, you can often walk on solid rock shelfs. We were lucky enough to only have to wait about 20 min for a boat ride. On top, they ferried us all the way down to the Little Colorado River. Crossing the LCR was fun and beautiful. We had to try a couple of different spots before we found a way across that would keep or upper bodies dry.

The Beamer Trail is straightforward with beautiful views. We hiked it in the middle of the day so again the heat took its toll on us.
We got to Lava Rapids around 2 p.m. and were hopeful to get a boat ride across the same day. However, the day went by with no boats in sight. We had given up hope by 5 p.m. and started flattening some sand for camp. I at first didn’t trust my eyes when I saw a whole slew of boats coming down the river towards us.
We didn’t only get a ride but also an invite to beer and dinner.
The Horse Thief Route from Lava Rapids started out pretty good and we made good time up Lava Canyon and most of the way up Carbon Canyon. We climbed up into the wrong ravine near the pass into Sixtymile Canyon, which did cost us some time and energy to get back on track. After that, the going over all of the other passes was slow. Lots of growth and rugged terrain wore us down. Route finding however was not too difficult.  Our water bottles (4l) were almost empty when we neared Kwagunt Creek. The last pass into Nankoweap creek dragged on forever and by the time we reached camp we had been on the go for 13.5 hours. The hike up and out of the canyon on the last day was uneventful.

A word of advice: Don’t be fooled by the numbers for this trip. Going can be very slow and the heat really wears you down. If I were to do the same trip again I would definitely give it an extra day.

Also I think we were really lucky with the boat shuttles across the river. This could easily delay your trip by a half or a whole day.

The Horse Thief Route from Lava Beach to Nankoweap Creek in a day was one of the hardest days of backpacking I have ever done.

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