A Week in Basalt & Lava
With a spill in the Colorado River

Friday-Saturday, March 9-17, 2012

by Dennis Foster

 

Part II:  In Lava and Back Out (Day 5 to Day 9)


Old mine site in Basalt with view
of Desert View (see annotated).


Click on any picture to see a larger image.

Basalt & Lava - Part I: Getting to Lava Rapids
Basalt & Lava - Part II: In Lava and Back Again

Appendix: Deciphering Walcott
Daily Sun Article: Copper, the Colorado - and a capsize

See Bill Ferris' trip report at his website - Grand Canyon Adventure

Day 5 - Investigating another route back to Basalt  (Tuesday, March 13) - It was colder last night, but no wind.  We were up at about 6:45 a.m. and ready to go two hours later.  There were still lots of mosquitoes plaguing us this morning.  For the day, Bill was heading up the canyon to see the Juno ruins.  I've been there before and I had another objective for the day involving my interest in Charles Walcott's 1882-1883 foray through this part of the canyon.  In 1984 I first passed through Chuar and my buddy Duane and I made a beeline to the top of the ridge separating us from Basalt.  As you look up there is only one obvious route.  We took it and as best I recall (not having taken notes back then!!) we found a talus slope that dropped us down into Basalt, which we followed to the river.  Years later when I was researching Walcott's trek, I came to the conclusion that he must have used the same route to the top of the ridge, which is on the Tonto level, and then followed it around into Unkar.

     But, Doug Nering suggested that an alternative route, just a little west of the obvious break, was not only an old miners' trail but was also Walcott's route.  I wanted to check this out and after some consideration I agree with Doug's interpretation here, even though we may still differ on the exact track that this old trail took - see the competing photos below.  I have addressed this issue more completely in the appendix below.

     It only took me about 25 minutes to hike up from our camp to the spot I had been the previous day, where you really get a great 360° view of Chuar.  There is definitely an old trail up through the hillside to where the terrace starts to level out.  I thought that this route may be faster than the one Bill and I used, but after having to cross two very large drainages I changed my mind on that score.  Still, the hiking was just fantastic.  Steep sections would often lead to grassy hanging valleys that were quite idyllic.

     I kept my focus on the old miners' route, which was also quite obvious.  I found myself following deer tracks as I got closer and up at the base of the crumbing cliff I was able to follow a discernable, if faint, trail that switchbacked its way to the top of the ridge, which I reached just before noon.  While I agree that this is likely the Walcott route, I did not see any definitive signs of trail construction; instead there was a beaten down path that looked well used.  I did go over to the more obvious break and had no trouble getting down below the Tapeats cliff.  But, from this break it is a bit sketchy along the top of this ridge heading up the canyon, while from the old miners' route it is clear sailing heading back towards the Lava-Basalt saddle.  The ridge area here is rather narrow - it is only about twenty yards across.  At 1:25 p.m. I was on my way to check out another Walcott issue.

Click on any picture to see a larger image.

Faint trail above campsite that heads towards the ridge leading to Basalt.  I was able to follow this pretty well to a higher viewpoint.
Looking back down to Lava spring.
Our route into Lava from Basalt.
 
Looking across Lava to Chuar Butte.
Two routes to Lava/Basalt ridge.


Close-up of "miners' route."
As I neared the base of the cliff for the "miners' route" I could discern the faint traces of a trail through here.  It probably was used by miners and still by animals passing through.
Atop the ridge via "miners' route."

Getting close to these routes.
Looking into upper Basalt from ridge.

Doug Nering's guess on trail/route.
I picked a different route from Doug based on parts that looked like this.  Here you can see a nice upward sloping track that heads for the top.
A false slope near the "miners' route."

My guess on this old trail/route.
The top of the "miners' route."

"Walcott's route?" follows cliff base.
The top of "Walcott's route?"
An obstacle for "Walcott's route?"

     My next objective was to follow the Tonto around the head of Basalt and investigate the first major ravine on the other side of this canyon for signs that Walcott used it as a temporary camp.  I have written more thoroughly on this point in my appendix at the end of this page.  Following their departure from Chuar, Walcott and Hamblin spent two nights on the Tonto "in a little canon beside a few shallow water-pockets."  I am convinced that this was somewhere along the west side of Basalt.  There are at least three good choices here - between Juno and Jupiter, out in front of Jupiter and between Jupiter and Venus.  I had come up between Venus and Apollo in 2008 with Chris Forsyth and nothing seemed obvious as a camping spot, but that certainly would have been as far as Walcott would have traveled on the day they left Chuar.

     I knew I wouldn't have time to check out the whole area of interest, but I did have time to check out the first drainage past the head of Basalt, that runs between Juno and Jupiter Temples.  It took me an hour to reach that little side canyon, with a bit of a shortcut across the top of Basalt.  It looked like a good place to camp - the trees here would provide firewood for the men and there was a flat spot more than suitable for setting up camp.  But, nothing definitive.  I did see a big tree stump that looked like it might have been hacked off with an axe of some sort, but I can't be sure.  I do not think that any miners roaming around this area in the years after Walcott would have spent any time on this side of Basalt.  Although Walcott used it as a route to Unkar, it is faster/easier to follow at/near the river between Basalt and Unkar or to use the high pass from Lava into Unkar directly.  I spent about 25 minutes looking around here and at 2:45 p.m. started heading back to Chuar.


Panorama of west side of Basalt from Lava/Basalt ridge.  Walcott camped somewhere over that way in 1883.

The upper end of Basalt.
A possible camp site?
Natural, or not, severed stump?

Looking across this possible site of one of Walcott's 1883 camps.

     On my way back, I decided to cache a liter of water at a solitary tree, for the return trip tomorrow.  Having covered this Walcott/miners route, I was sure that the route Bill and I followed into Chuar would be the best way to exit.  It was 3:30 p.m. when I cached the water, 3:45 p.m. when I was down through the Tapeats, 4:45 p.m. when I was on the final slope that would go all the way to the creek, and 6 p.m. when I reached camp.  It had been a full day.


Upper Basalt, where I cached water.
Self-portrait at one of the cliff breaks from the head of Basalt that leads down into Lava.
One of the little cliff breaks that you must navigate on the way down into Lava from the head of Basalt.

Butchart Butte and the moon.

Day 6 - Back to Basalt  (Wednesday, March 14) - We were up at 6:15 a.m. and on our way by 9 a.m.  Hiking up to the saddle was still a bit buggy, but at least it was cool.  It took us two hours to reach the bottom of the Tapeats, which we ascended in about twenty minutes.  It was 11:30 a.m. when we reached my water cache tree, where we stopped for about an hour for an early lunch.

     We followed the bed down until 2 p.m. to a place where we could descend into the middle valley.  Instead of going down the steep tilted rock slope we opted to head for the treed ravine, cross it and stay closer to the bottom of the Tapeats and descend to the bed further downstream.  Well, it was a good idea, but fighting our way through the brush was fairly awful.  And, the final descent was more tricky than we had imagined.  We got down right near the upper falls (near the mine site) at 3:30 p.m.

     It took us another hour and a half to reach our old campsite.  It was a bit warm in the sun, but we enjoyed the clear blue skies and the relatively easy walking.  After the sun set we had some bugs but they were not as bad as back in Lava.


Bill heads up to Lava/Basalt break.
Cliff break near the top of route.
Cactus.

More cactus.		  
Yucca, which is kind of like cactus!
Rest break at my water cache tree.

Getting in and out of middle Basalt.
The high falls that mark the end of lower Basalt and the beginning of the middle section of Basalt.  The old copper mine is just above these falls.
Smooth hiking in lower Basalt.

High route in middle Basalt.
Camp on Basalt bluffs.

Day 7 - Crossing the Colorado River ... Again  (Thursday, March 15) - The early part of the evening last night was warm, but eventually it cooled down.  We were up at 6:30 a.m. and ready to head up the river to the cached kayak at 9:30 a.m.  It only took us a half hour to get everything ready for our first crossing.  All went well.  We got out into the river and quickly angled our way across, landing on the same beach we had started from!  That was nice - we didn't have to haul the kayak back here to make our next crossing.  Of course, we did have to carry our packs to our campsite, but that was an easier task.

     We crossed back without incident and loaded up the rest of our gear.  This time, we stayed in the river longer and landed the kayak on the beach near to our camp site.  We were all done with this by 11 a.m.  We got set up, had lunch and then just kicked around for the afternoon.  Bill's thermometer read 88 degrees and it felt hotter in the sun.  I packed up the kayak and took a late afternoon walk back to our launch beach to snap some pictures that would closely replicate the drawings made by B. L Young back in 1883 while he was on the Walcott survey.  I couldn't get it exactly right, but then they were on the north side of the river and it was a drawing that he made.


Early morning at Basalt camp.
Garbage bag serves as packing mat.
Cactus.

B. L. Young drawing (1883) ...		  
... compared to my photo (2012) ...
... and along the beach below Tanner.

Dennis and the Emma Dean.
Tanner camp.
Bill and the Emma Dean.

Tanner rapids.
Tent and Comanche Point.
Bill tries on the kayak pack.

Day 8 - Two men and 3 packs to the top of the Redwall  (Friday, March 16) - We were up at 6:15 a.m. and on our way by 8:30 a.m.  Now the work really begins as the two of us have to haul up three packs - ours and the kayak.  Bill took the first shift with the kayak.  We hiked together up to the trail and then he dropped the kayak and returned to camp to get his pack.  I hiked up to the top of the Redwall, where we would camp and then returned to meet up with Bill and take over the chore.  We had reached the Tanner Trail at 9 a.m. and I had reached the Redwall camp at noon.  I got back to Bill at 1 p.m. at the bottom of the Tapeats where he was having lunch and not doing well with the pack and the heat.  I started the shuttling of the packs from here and was atop the Redwall at 4:45 p.m.  Since we don't need the kayak with us, I hiked along the trail to the top of the next hill and then hung it up in a tree.

     It was windy and overcast late in the day and it was challenging to get the tents set up without them blowing away.  We were both quite beat from the day's hiking and I was in my sleeping bag before dark.


Back on the Tanner Trail.
Kayak pack in bush.
Up in the BA shale.

Day 9 - Out  (Saturday, March 17) - The morning light was quite a sight.  Bill was up and taking photos well before I crawled out of my tent.  For this day I will do the shuttling of the packs and Bill will hike up to the trailhead and then come back to relieve me.  I was on my way at 8:40 a.m. with some dark ominous clouds overhead.  But, that didn't last and it was a fine day for our hiking.

     I picked up the kayak at 9 a.m. and hiked it to the giant rock campsite on the Esplanade by 10 a.m.  Then it was back to my pack.  Forty minutes later I had returned to the giant rock with my pack.  I carried the kayak to a rest stop just past 75 Mile saddle and dropped it there.  I returned with my pack by 12:30 p.m. and took a fifteen minute break.  At about 1:30 p.m., while I was up in the Supai, Bill returned and took over on the kayak.  Of course, now we can hike together since his pack was up at his car.  We reached the top of the trail at 3 p.m. and fifteen minutes later we were in his car and heading home.


The sunrise lights up eastern part of the Grand Canyon.


Redwall camp.
View of the Watchtower from camp.
Vishnu Temple at sunrise.

Looking down trail canyon.		  
Bill w/kayak pack on Coconino steps.
Looking back - Walcott Butte?
     Once home I weighed the packs.  My pack was 36 pounds and included 28 ounces of water.  The kayak pack was 46 pounds and included about 20 ounces of water.

Basalt & Lava - Part I: Getting to Lava Rapids
Basalt & Lava - Part II: In Lava and Back Again

Appendix: Deciphering Walcott
Daily Sun Article: Copper, the Colorado - and a capsize

See Bill Ferris' trip report at his website - Grand Canyon Adventure

Appendix - My Experiences in Chuar & Basalt and Deciphering Walcott

The Ascent to the Lava/Basalt Ridge
When I first passed through Chuar Valley in 1984 I am quite sure I had no idea about who Walcott was, nor that he had visited this part of the canyon a hundred years earlier to do extensive geologic research.  I was hiking with my buddy Duane Ott and a backcountry ranger (who wanted to come along), Ralph Moore.  We had come down the Nankoweap trail and followed the Colorado River to the confluence with the Little Colorado River.  From here we ascended to the Tonto level to contour around Chuar and Temple Buttes, which dumped us out into Carbon Creek.  We followed the fault over to Lava and that's where Duane and I camped.  Ralph went down to the river to camp.  The next day was an idle day in our itinerary.  Ralph came back up and wanted to camp way up Lava in order to be well-prepared to hop over into Basalt, and get over to Unkar.  Duane and I stayed put and the next day we climbed up to the very obvious break in the cliff that forms the ridge between Lava and Basalt, which years later I decided must have been Walcott's route.  I don't remember how we got into Basalt, but I am pretty sure that we found a slope we could descend so we didn't have to hike back up to the head of the canyon.

Well, when I did read of Walcott's journey, here is what he wrote in the 1882-1883 4th Annual Report of the USGS (p. 47):

Moving back into the lower end of Chuar valley, a trail was made up on to the ridge next south, advantage being taken of the one break in the Tonto cliff, up through which a trail could be built.

I interpreted his "one break" to be the same break that Duane and I had hiked up through.  And, it is just an easy hike.  When Doug Nering noted that a break further up the canyon (northwest, I guess) had signs of a trail, he came to the conclusion that this must be both Walcott's route and the route used by various miners (e.g., Harry McDonald) in the years following Walcott.

Now that I've had a chance to see this route and think on it for a while, I have decided that Doug is right.  As shown in the photos I've posted, coming up to the ridge via the obvious break is simple, but following the ridge up the canyon presents a challenge over the first hundred yards or so.  The "miners' route" solves this problem.  And, so I've reinterpreted Walcott as writing not about the "one break" but writing about the one where "a trail could be built."

And, upon a more careful reading of Walcott's journal, I think this interpretation is strengthened.  Here is what he wrote:

1/11/83 - Packed up & Joe took outfit to new camp at lower end of Chuar valley.  Worked on Chuar lava butte.  Usually read & study a little if not too tired in the evening.

1/12/83 - With Joe fixed trail up on ride south of Chuar valley & followed along on top of the Tonto sandstone several miles.  Came down from the Tonto after dark.  A rough ride.

Their route up to this ridge was not done on the spur of the moment.  In fact, Walcott had already been in Chuar for a month, so he (or, Joe Hamblin) would have had plenty of time to scout around for a good route out of the canyon.

One final note - it appeared to me that this old miners' route is opposite the sloping hillside route into Basalt that I recall using.  I didn't spend the time to check it out, but since that is what I remember from my 1984 trip, it would sure make sense for the miners who used this route to get from Chuar to Basalt without having to head the canyon.

Camping along the Tonto between Basalt and Unkar
This issue is more than a little convoluted, at least in my mind.  In the USGS report, Walcott wrote:

When on the Tonto terrace ..., we followed along its edge for several miles, camping the first night in a little canon beside a few shallow water-pockets.

The most obvious interpretation is that they traveled for several miles before stopping to camp.  But, when reading the section after this passage, and knowing something about the terrain, gives the impression that these are two separate statements - they did follow along the Tonto for several miles in order to get to Unkar, while the first night along the way they camped in this little canyon.  Here is the relevant portion of Walcott's report:

The following day a heavy wind, accompanied by snow, compelled our remaining near camp, as the danger of falling off the cliff was greatly increased by the light, loose snow covering the crumbling debris.  The wind quieted down and I went up to the summit of the Tonto Group and was delighted to find a narrow belt of Devonian sandstone and limestone between it and the Carboniferous ... [T]he return to camp was hastily made, as the temperature rapidly lowered with the clearing away of the clouds.  During the night the water in the sandstone water-pockets was frozen solid, and we were compelled to build large fires and pile the ice about them in order to obtain water for the animals.
     "Starting out, a trail was cleared as we proceeded, sometimes along the level terrace and again on the brink of the cliff, where a stumble or a false step would have sent man or animal over a cliff of from 300 to 800 feet in height and down a terraced slope a thousand feet or more.  Heading the canon of Un-kar Valley a broken place in the Tonto cliff permitted a trail to be worked zigzag down to the canon bed, and as night closed in we camped at the upper end of the narrow, dark inner canon through which the Colorado flows in the Kaibab division of the Grand Canyon."

Having covered this stretch with Chris Forsyth in 2008 I can well appreciate Walcott's concern about falling over the edge.  He is certainly referring to the section in front of Apollo Temple.  It is steep and treacherous.  We had hiked up here from Basalt rapids, after having crossed the river in my inflatable kayak.  We camped on the west side of Apollo, where the Tonto opened up quite a bit.  The next day we continued on and found the same break as Walcott, although we got down to the river well before sunset, although it should be noted that we did this trip in May and not January.

All that considered, I believe that Walcott camped somewhere on the western side of Basalt.  There are really only three choices here - the ravine I've pointed out in the photos above, between Juno and Jupiter Temples; the ravine between Jupiter and Venus Temples; the ravine between Venus and Apollo Temples.  Chris and I came up to the Tonto between Venus and Apollo and there wasn't really much there to suggest a camp, although we didn't look around.  I haven't covered all the ground here, so maybe the Jupiter/Venus ravine is better.

Walcott's journal tends to support my conclusion that they didn't travel several miles along the Tonto before stopping:

Monday, January 15, 1883 - Measured section of Lower Aubry on Chuar Butte.  800 feet.  Climbed 2900 ft. Above camp.  Cldy & snow squalls.  Hard day.

1/16/83 - Camp moved up on Tonto terrace south of Chuar valley 2000 feet above old.  Collected a lot of fine Tonto fucoids [?] before night.

1/17/83 - Stormy bad night.  Breakfast late.  Cold.  Went up to top of Tonto gp...

If they moved their camp up on January 16th and the weather had been bad the day before, I certainly don't see them making much progress.  Unless someone finds some camp trash we'll probably never know where they stopped, although I am certain it was along this section of the Tonto above Basalt.  [Indeed, when Chris and I did our hike I thought that Walcott's camp may have been in the very large ravine/canyon that heads into Jupiter Temple from Unkar.  We looked around briefly, but as I read Walcott's comments more carefully, that possibility can be dismissed.]

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