Soon after moving to Tucson in 1978 I visited the Grand Canyon and immediately fell in love with it. In the years since then I've backpacked it many times, and this page is a record of those trips.My main hiking buddy Tom Ralston and I ( I'm on the left) have done over 800 miles of backpacking in the Grand Canyon, most of it since 1993. On the South rim we've done every rim to river trail as well as the entire Tonto Plateau from its beginnings near Garnet Creek on the Royal Arch route to where it ends near the Tanner trail. On the North rim we've been to Thunder River, Tapeats Creek, Deer Creek, Kanab, and Clear Creek. We've dragged a few people along with us over the years and haven't lost one yet. People interested in backpacking in this area may find some useful information in my trip reports. I've backpacked in many areas, from the Sierra Nevada's in California to the Adirondack mountains of northern New York State. Nothing compares with the sheer grandeur, immensity, and beauty of the Grand Canyon.

Spring 2006. Havasupai. Trip report

Spring 2005. The Royal Arch Route Trip report:

Spring 2004. South Rim to Cottonwood and beyond Trip report:

Fall 2003. S. Bass to Boucher Trip report:

Spring 2002. Tanner Trail to the River Trip report:

Spring 2001. Bright Angel to the Hermit Trip report:

Spring 2001. Havasupai Trip report:

Fall 2000. Clear Creek. Trip report:

Spring 2000. Thunder River and Tapeats Creek Trip report:

Spring 1999. Havasu Canyon. Trip report

Fall 1998. Havasu Canyon. Trip report

Spring 1998. New Hance Trail west to the South Kaibab Trail. Trip report: (Including Gary Defraia's account of the trip.)

Fall 1997. Thunder River, Tapeats Creek, and Deer Creek Trip report:

Fall 1996. Up and down the Boucher. Trip report:

Spring 1996. Down the Tanner, west along the Escalante Route to the New Hance. Trip Report:

Fall 1995. Down the Bright Angel trail, west on the Tonto plateau to Hermit trail. Trip Report:

Spring 1995. Down the Bright Angel trail and east along the Tonto plateau to Horseshoe Mesa. Trip Report:

Fall 1994. Kaibab trail to Bright Angel campground. Up Bright Angel trail. Trip Report:

Fall 1994. Down the New Hance and west across the Tonto plateau to Horseshoe Mesa. Up the Grandview. Trip Report:

Fall 1993 (no photos yet) - South Bass to the River and back.

1979. The first Grand Canyon Trip. Down the Kaibab to Bright Angel Campgound. Up the Bright Angel Trail. Trip Report:

• Best times to hike the inner canyon
• General guidelines
• Mileage chart of our expeditions
• The official Escalante Route description. This is the description for the Escalante Route, as provided by the Back Country Office. We used it during our Spring 1996 trip and found it very accurate and useful. In a few places I've added editors notes in italics to clarify things a bit. The description makes a lot more sense and is easier to follow if you take the route from east to west.

All images are copyrighted and may not be used without permission of the author.