GC - Tuckup-Stairway 2014
In late March 2014, John Otter and I did the Tuckup-Stairway Loop from the North Rim of Western Grand Canyon, spending 7 nights and 8 days. We started and ended at the Schmutz Spring trailhead. We did the loop clockwise which allowed us to score a boat ride with a rafting group on the day we were walking the 8 miles along the Colorado River. The scenery was spectacular, especially Tuckup Canyon and the Dome. We also saw the Shaman pictograph/petroglyph panel in upper Tuckup which is said to be the best panel in the Grand Canyon. I had some camera battery problems on this trip which kept me from taking lots of photos. I have used some of John's photos in this report.
We had perfect weather. It rained a little on two nights which provided some pothole water. We didn't have to use the notorious Willow Springs and Cottonwood Springs water although there was flowing water at both places. However, I drank some anyway just to check it out. It was clear and although it had a mineral taste, it wasn't obnoxious. I had no reaction to it.There was also good-tasting water available at Schmutz Spring, which we used on night 7. There was lots of water in the canyons, starting ¼ mile above the Cottonwood Junction in Tuckup and almost up to the final 200 foot drywall in Stairway. I think trips in this area in the Spring are unlikely to have water problems.
The technical parts of the canyon didn't cause us any problems. We carried only a 26-foot sling and it was sufficient. No other climbing gear. We lowered our packs quite a bit in Tuckup Canyon and kept our feet dry. There is an iron "nail" driven into the rock at the difficult bypass in lower Tuckup which we used to loop a sling over. Makes the lower part of the down climb trivial. But there were lots of short climbing challenges in both canyons, and along the Esplanade. We had some route finding problems at the end in Stairway, as we started too far south and went up the wrong gully. Luckily, we were able to traverse to the correct gully (the next one north). We finally reached the 40-foot crack we were looking for. The short vertical section at the bottom of the crack worked OK.
Both John and I started with packs weighing 33 pounds, not including water. The water carried varied from ½ quart to as much as 4 quarts for me and 2 ½ for John. I started with 12 pounds of food. We used one 16 oz cartridge and a Pocket Rocket for the 7 breakfasts and dinners. We shared my MSR Hubba Hubba tent. It was a strenuous trip, harder than I anticipated. Heading the many arms of side canyons, especially Fern Glen, while walking along the Esplanade was tiring. Lots of off-trail hiking. It was hard to average more than 1 mph much of the time. Probably would have been easier in our younger days.
Trailhead access was OK but time-consuming in John's Jeep Wrangler. We traveled 32 miles along the Toroweep dirt road (1 hour) before turning east onto the 4WD road at June tanks. The remaining 16.3 miles took 1 hour 40 minutes. The worst road was the last 8 miles after we crossed into the National Park. Finding the trailhead was not difficult. At all the junctions, the other roads were either blocked off or obviously not the main road. On the drive in we saw a badger, the first one I have ever seen.
Our Itinerary follows. Total distance was 48 miles, including 8.1 miles along the river in a raft. The dates were 29 March to 5 April. The mileages were obtained from various trip reports on the web. The route is described in George Steck's book, Grand Canyon Loop Hikes II, 1993.
Day 1 - 7.8 miles - 6 hr 45 min - camp at Tuckup-Cottonwood Junction
Day 2 - 5.4 miles - 6 hr 45 min - camp at Tuckup Beach
Day 3 - 8.1 miles - boat ride - camp at Stairway Beach
Day 4 - 1.8 miles - 7 hr 30 min - dry camp on top of the Redwall
Day 5 - 6 miles - 7 hr 30 min - camp at Willow Spring
Day 6 - 8 miles - 7 hr - dry camp past Tuckup Point
Day 7 - 8.6 miles - 6 hr 30 min - camp at Big Boulder
Day 8 - 2.3 miles - 1 hr 40 min - hike out
Read MoreWe had perfect weather. It rained a little on two nights which provided some pothole water. We didn't have to use the notorious Willow Springs and Cottonwood Springs water although there was flowing water at both places. However, I drank some anyway just to check it out. It was clear and although it had a mineral taste, it wasn't obnoxious. I had no reaction to it.There was also good-tasting water available at Schmutz Spring, which we used on night 7. There was lots of water in the canyons, starting ¼ mile above the Cottonwood Junction in Tuckup and almost up to the final 200 foot drywall in Stairway. I think trips in this area in the Spring are unlikely to have water problems.
The technical parts of the canyon didn't cause us any problems. We carried only a 26-foot sling and it was sufficient. No other climbing gear. We lowered our packs quite a bit in Tuckup Canyon and kept our feet dry. There is an iron "nail" driven into the rock at the difficult bypass in lower Tuckup which we used to loop a sling over. Makes the lower part of the down climb trivial. But there were lots of short climbing challenges in both canyons, and along the Esplanade. We had some route finding problems at the end in Stairway, as we started too far south and went up the wrong gully. Luckily, we were able to traverse to the correct gully (the next one north). We finally reached the 40-foot crack we were looking for. The short vertical section at the bottom of the crack worked OK.
Both John and I started with packs weighing 33 pounds, not including water. The water carried varied from ½ quart to as much as 4 quarts for me and 2 ½ for John. I started with 12 pounds of food. We used one 16 oz cartridge and a Pocket Rocket for the 7 breakfasts and dinners. We shared my MSR Hubba Hubba tent. It was a strenuous trip, harder than I anticipated. Heading the many arms of side canyons, especially Fern Glen, while walking along the Esplanade was tiring. Lots of off-trail hiking. It was hard to average more than 1 mph much of the time. Probably would have been easier in our younger days.
Trailhead access was OK but time-consuming in John's Jeep Wrangler. We traveled 32 miles along the Toroweep dirt road (1 hour) before turning east onto the 4WD road at June tanks. The remaining 16.3 miles took 1 hour 40 minutes. The worst road was the last 8 miles after we crossed into the National Park. Finding the trailhead was not difficult. At all the junctions, the other roads were either blocked off or obviously not the main road. On the drive in we saw a badger, the first one I have ever seen.
Our Itinerary follows. Total distance was 48 miles, including 8.1 miles along the river in a raft. The dates were 29 March to 5 April. The mileages were obtained from various trip reports on the web. The route is described in George Steck's book, Grand Canyon Loop Hikes II, 1993.
Day 1 - 7.8 miles - 6 hr 45 min - camp at Tuckup-Cottonwood Junction
Day 2 - 5.4 miles - 6 hr 45 min - camp at Tuckup Beach
Day 3 - 8.1 miles - boat ride - camp at Stairway Beach
Day 4 - 1.8 miles - 7 hr 30 min - dry camp on top of the Redwall
Day 5 - 6 miles - 7 hr 30 min - camp at Willow Spring
Day 6 - 8 miles - 7 hr - dry camp past Tuckup Point
Day 7 - 8.6 miles - 6 hr 30 min - camp at Big Boulder
Day 8 - 2.3 miles - 1 hr 40 min - hike out
