Living in Ely, Nevada at the time, our hike across began on the North Rim—that seemed the most economical direction. Besides, the North Rim is about 1,000 feet higher in elevation than the South Rim. Going north to south saved an extra thousand feet of climbing.

Our itinerary called for four days to complete the 25 miles. We wanted to take our time, be able to rest a lot, and enjoy the scenery and the experience. We didn’t want to beat ourselves.

Equipment

To accommodate our equipment and supplies, we purchased Coleman Peak 1 type backpacks for Arla and me, and a smaller Campmor pack for Chris. The Coleman packs were of a new design. They had an external frame, with the usual bag attached, but the frame was fabricated from a new material called RAMFLEX, which looked similar to plastic. The concept behind the design was that the frame was rigid enough to easily support the weight placed in the pack, yet flexible enough to bend with the movement of the body. This was Coleman’s attempt to provide the best features from each type of pack. With its wide variety of strap and belt adjustments we found the packs to be quite comfortable, although the shoulder and hip straps could have been a bit thicker.

Chris used a less expensive aluminum external frame pack that worked well for this hike. At the time he was just a bit too small for a full sized pack, and we didn’t want to spend big bucks on a smaller expensive pack that he would outgrow within a year or two. His pack seemed to do just fine.

Preparation

In preparation for our cross Canyon trek, we had done as much hiking as we could get in, considering the cold climate and elevation around Ely. Among those hikes, we squeezed in two or three overnight pack trips to shake out any equipment problems we might encounter. We had also been exercising and using our exercycle all winter long, trying to get our legs and lungs into shape, of course. I had an advantage over Arla and Chris, in that my job at the time required a significant amount of climbing up and down mountains. But, by whatever means, the three of us were ready to go by mid-June.

North Rim Campground

Our first night on the North Rim we camped in the campground. In preparation for the next day’s journey I filled our red Sigg bottles from a one gallon can of white gasoline. There was still about a half gallon left in the can. I didn’t want to leave that potential bomb in the car for five days, so I offered it to some campers nearby who, we had noted, were using a Coleman stove. They turned out to be foreigners and didn’t understand English any better than I understood their language. However, with a bit of sign language and a few common words, I was able to convince them that the gas was a gift and that they would owe me nothing. One of the fellows took the can, smiled, and we waved our farewells.

Next > Friday, June 22, 1984 (North Rim to Cottonwood Camp)