Southwest Hiking Tours: Canyons and Color Country

	Grand Canyon/ Havasupai	Big Bend National Park
		Big Bend Extender NEW
		Canyonlands/Arches
		Grand Canyon: Rim-to-River-to-Rim
		Bryce/Zion
		Capitol Reef and The Grand Staircase

Dates: (6 days, 5 nights)
April 19-24 (Mon-Sat);
Oct 26-31 (Tues-Sun)

Assembly Point:
Grand Canyon Village
(airline, rail & bus service to Flagstaff; Timberline van shuttle between Flagstaff and South Rim prior to tour and from Havasupai to Flagstaff following tour)

Tour Cost: $1,995
(includes all lodging, all meals, park entrance fees, van shuttles, leaders, trail maps & narratives)

Itinerary

     At some point during our earliest years when Timberline was primarily a bicycle touring organization, we proclaimed that “you’ve never seen the West until you’ve done so by bicycle.” But if we learned anything from our first hike into the Grand Canyon as part of a Biker/Hiker 25 years ago, the only way to experience the Grand Canyon is on foot. For sure, one can float the Canyon on the Colorado, or lumber to the river’s edge on the back of a mule, but the reality is — if you really want to see and feel the Canyon — HIKE IT!

    Our Grand Canyon/Havasupai Hike assembles at the Grand Canyon Village on the South Rim (we’ll provide shuttle service from Flagstaff to the Canyon early-morning of Day 1). Shortly after our arrival at the Canyon, we’ll hike along the West Rim, with its awesome view into the canyon, as a preview of what lies ahead for the next two days (4 miles). Following an evening at the Maswik Lodge on the rim, we’ll shuttle to the South Kaibab trailhead early the next morning and begin an 8-mile, 4,800-foot descent to the floor of the Canyon.

    The variety within the Canyon is overwhelming. The land forms, the colors, the spectacular vistas, that first sighting of the Colorado—every switchback along the trail is its own visual and sensual adventure. We’ll descend from the ponderosa forests at the Rim through the desert scrub of the Tonto Platform to the Colorado at the base of the Canyon.

    We’ll spend the evening at Phantom Ranch and greet the rising sun as we begin our ascent up the Bright Angel Trail, to the South Rim (10 miles).

    Another night on the South Rim at Maswik and an awesome dinner at El Tovar precedes a van shuttle from the village to the Havasu Canyon trailhead at the Hualapai Hilltop. An 8-mile trek into Havasu Canyon leads to Supai Village on the Havasupai Indian Reservation, and we’ll spend our first of two nights at the Havasupai Lodge. The magnificent waterfalls of Havasu provide the adventure for Day 5. We’ll hike from the lodge along Havasu Creek, with an opportunity to visit Havasu’s two newest falls, creations of the flood of 2008. It’s then on to Havasu Falls with its drop of nearly 100 feet. Another mile downstream, we’ll visit legendary Mooney Falls, where the waters of Havasu plunge 196 feet in a dramatic descent to the Colorado.

    A final evening at the Havasupai Lodge precedes our hike from the canyon and return to Flagstaff.

E-Mail: timber@earthnet.net