Grand Canyon Backpacking

[Aaron Zagrodnick]

A cheerful pumpkin sun peeks over the Coconino Plateau at dawn. It’s Thanksgiving weekend, and the air is frosty as dad and I join a gaggle of backpackers, clad in billowy down jackets evincing a cornucopia of startling colors, lining up outside Grand Canyon Village’s backcountry information center. It turns out the park’s Phantom Ranch and Indian Garden campgrounds are as jam-packed as pilgrims on the Mayflower which renders my hoped-for rim to rim route unfeasible. A bearded ranger suggests we trek the relatively remote East Tonto trail where site-specific camping permits are not required during the off-season months...

@Daniel Anderson Jr with a report from the Grand Canyon, check out the story in Issue 30:

Encountering Grand Canyon’s East Tonto Trail

Issue 30 Page 1