Butte Fault/Horsethief Route, Grand Canyon

I stared across the Grand Canyon at the farthest ridge in sight and felt the nerves and excitement coming up again. Dropping my vehicle off at the Tanner Trail on the South Rim, I’d return to it in a week if all went well. This would knock out another big chunk of my project to traverse the length of Grand Canyon.

To jump to a specific day, hold control and click the link to open a new page. Mobile users, just click the link. 

Day 1 Nankoweap Trail
Day 2 Nankoweap to Kwagunt
Day 3 Kwagunt to Awatubi
Day 4 Awatubi to Colorado River at Lava/Chuar
Day 5 Lava/Chuar
Day 6 Beamer Trail to Tanner Trail
Day 7 Tanner Trail

I also wrote an accompanying article for Gossamer Gear with my complete gear list for this trip.

  

Planning and Preparation

The Colorado River through the Canyon is 277 miles long, but once I’m done I will have hiked over 600 miles. The extra miles are from weaving in and out of side canyons, hiking in and out for access, and changing from one layer of travel to another. To date, I’ve completed 71 river miles. One of my favorite parts of this project is that there are often several routes to choose from, depending on what my preferred line of travel is and what I want to see. So the first step is deciding which route to take.

For this week-long solo trip, I hiked from the Nankoweap Trail on the North Rim to the Tanner Trail on the South Rim. I had a couple of options after descending Nankoweap: the river route, which is what the Hayduke Trail uses, or the Horsethief/Butte Fault Route. Each had its challenges.

Overview map of the route

The river route sounds like it might be a stroll along the beaches, but in reality it is often a thrashfest through shoreline tamarisk and thorny mesquite and acacia, combined with travel on the rocky slopes above, contouring in and out of countless small ravines and drainages. The Horsethief/Butte Fault option was more strenuous and logistically challenging due to having to climb and descend numerous passes and a dry camp, but has unique geology on a historic route. Both routes require a boat shuttle across the river (or a packraft if you’re so inclined).

River crossing at Lava/Chuar

The Butte Fault, which contributes to the depth of Grand Canyon, creates a weakness in the layers that allows travel behind a series of buttes and side canyons. This route was used first by Native peoples, then by rustlers moving their stolen horses from one rim to another, and also by miners and cowboys. I used to work as a river guide and had floated by the river route over 20 times, plus I’m a huge geology, archaeology and history geek, so I chose the 41-mile Horsethief/Butte Fault Route.

Historic coffee pot in Awatubi Canyon

There was the added challenge of thumbing a ride across the Colorado River on a boat on day 4. Historically, people had forded at a low-water spot near Palisades Beach – but since the Glen Canyon Dam was put in in 1963, that was no longer an option. Since I had to get a ride across, I opted to have my rafting friends place a cache bucket for me so I would only have to carry four days of food off-trail with a dry camp instead of the whole seven days. I also had the logistics of a shuttle – It was 180 miles and 5 ½ hours between trailheads.

My friend Meg shuttled me to the North Rim and we basked in the warm hospitality of map guru Li Brannfors. I used a variety of resources to research this route and can’t go without thanking Chris Forsyth and Rich Rudow. I actually ran into Rich at the Marble Canyon gas station on our drive. He said, ” If you’re ever in a spot where you’re using your hands to climb too much, you’re off route.” I also really appreciate Doug Nering and Bill Ferris, Bob Bordasch and Rob Jones for their excellent websites. Li sat down with me and went over the route as well and gave me fantastic insight and maps. I also managed to get on a Grand Canyon Helicopters tour before the trip, which gave me a birds-eye view of the route.

View of the Butte Fault, Awatubi Crest and Kwagunt Butte

 

Day 1

On the way to the Saddle Mountain Trailhead we got the Bison sighting Meg and I had been hoping for. The upper trailhead to access the Nankoweap Trail has expansive views up and down canyon. I met trio of hikers who’d just done part of the route and they pointed out some tips and landmarks. I was ready to go a little after 9 am and had a long day ahead.

Upper Saddle Mountain Trailhead

The Nankoweap Trail is billed by the Park Service as the hardest named trail in Grand Canyon. I started out at at 8800 feet at the trailhead off FR 610, and the creek where I was camping was way down at 3300 feet. It was a 3-mile trail through the Saddle Mtn. Wilderness just to access the Nankoweap Trail. There were fantastic views of the Vermillion Cliffs, Navajo Mountain and slope of the Kaibab Monocline in House Rock Valley. Eventually the view opened up to my right and there it was- the buttes, spires and temples of the inner Canyon. I looked waaaay in the distance, back to where I’d left the Jeep and the excitement of having a whole week to make it over there made me do a little dance. I gave the Canyon respect and asked for safe passage.

Edge of the Kaibab Plateau

The trail enters Grand Canyon National Park after a steep dive through the upper layers. The Supai Sandstone extends out toward Marion Point and so begins a lengthy traverse. The trail was a lot better than I had expected in the Supai. The footing was solid and though the trail got narrow at points, it wasn’t alarming. It was not flat and there were tedious work arounds from rockfalls.

First glimpse of the inner Canyon

Nankoweap Trail

Supai Traverse

Nankoweap exposure

After Marion Point there was more of the same until Tilted Mesa. There was a Grand Canyon Field Institute trip that was being led by Christa Sadler. I’m a big fan of hers, she’s a backpacking and Colorado River guide and wrote one of my favorite books- There’s This River. It was nice to meet her and I wished them a good trip. That was at lunch on Monday and was the last time I’d see people for 5 days.

Butte Fault

Nanko Selfie

I could check out the beginning of the route I’d be taking across the canyon while coming down the Nankoweap Trail. After I left Nankoweap Creek, I would be on the Butte Fault/Horsethief Route until I hit the Colorado River, three days away.

The Redwall is steep and then there were traverses on horrible, loose, gravelly ball bearings in the Bright Angel Shale. My least favorite part of the trail, I planted each step carefully and was thankful for my hiking poles. I was happy when the rock layer changed to something more stable. I heard a buzzing sound and stopped – I couldn’t see the rattlesnake but it sounded like it was coming closer! I moved down the trail and finally saw it slither underneath a rock above me.

Thin trail in the Bright Angel Shale

As I neared the creek, my calf threatened to cramp so I stopped and ate some dehydrated green olives and slammed water with electrolytes. I caught it in time and managed to stave off actual cramping. Nankoweap Creek was lush with cottonwood trees and the wonderful sound of running water. I found a spot to camp upstream with great views of Mount Hayden and where I’d come from.

I checked out my options for starting out the route and then settled into camp for some night photography. The Milky Way was gorgeous! So good to be back.

Nankoweap Creek

Day 2

The sunrise turned the cliffs scarlet and it was colder than I had expected, glad I brought what I did. My detailed gear list is on the Gossamer Gear blog. The Horsethief/Butte Fault Route ascends and descends the faultline through a series of six side canyons: Kwagunt, Malgosa, Awatubi, Sixtymile, Carbon, and Lava/Chuar. Climbs and descents range from 500-1600 feet each.

Nankoweap Sunrise

I went south in the side drainage west of where the trail meets the creek and then east up a drainage toward a break in the cliffband. This drainage led to large, dark red slabs that I had seen yesterday from the trail. I took a quick break under a juniper, my favorite tree. The route continued up the drainage with the angled rock providing ramps to get around the small obstacles. I was having so much fun! Looking at Nankoweap Creek, the fantastic geology, the junipers – it was so exciting to see new ground.

Butte Fault

The ramp ended and the drainage entered the Kwagunt formation, which was a mushy yellow slope that was steep and loose but totally doable. Cresting the saddle, the views of Kwagunt Canyon and Butte were amazing. This area looks like nowhere else in the Grand Canyon I’ve ever seen. The fault has twisted the landscape and the palette of colors is so unusual. I traversed over to the eastern saddle nearest to Nankoweap Mesa and found a juniper for a long break.

Nankoweap Butte

I spent two hours in the shade, relaxing, enjoying the view and eating snacks and my Jacob Lake lemon raspberry cookie. I wanted to descend the eastern drainage, so I followed the ridge out and then dropped some elevation and traversed around to a rockfall. I crossed it, testing the footholds, and came back to the ridge that had a break in the cliffs to get into the eastern drainage. The hiking in the drainage was colorful and the route went easily down to Kwagunt Creek.

Jacob Lake cookie, yum!

When I got to the creek, I was worried because there was a white crust in the creek which indicated minerals in the water. I had a terrible experience last year with mineralized water in Grand Canyon making me sick. It turned out to be ok. I visited an archaeological site and found corrugated and painted pottery and stone cores used for making tools.

I had looked at the route out of Kwagunt to the Malgosa divide and chosen what I was calling the “grassy knoll”. It was a little less steep and I liked the looks of it. I made camp above the creek.

Day 3

This was the day where I would walk away from water for two days.  A dry camp always adds extra challenge and weight and I wouldn’t see any water until I hit the Colorado River. I got all ready to go by 9 am, loaded up with 9 liters of water, which weighs 20 pounds. Then I decided to spend another couple of hours by the creek since it wasn’t so hot. This is what I love about solo hiking, being completely on my own schedule.

Nine liters of water – ouch!

Goat cheese, dates and bacon

I started hiking at 11, up the grassy knoll which was manageable and not too loose. There were some flatter terraces on the 1400 foot climb to the saddle. The views up Kwagunt Canyon made for a great distraction while taking breaks.

Looking back at Nankoweap Butte

Kwagunt Canyon

At the Kwagunt-Malgosa saddle, I could see my ridgeline route into the drainage and the impressive upturn of Kwagunt Butte. I also took photos of the route heading up to the next saddle. The ridgeline was good footing for the 500-foot descent.

Kwagunt Butte

Ridgeline route into Malgosa Canyon

What goes down must come back up, so I started hiking in the drainage up to the Malgosa-Awatubi saddle. I had several different route descriptions and one said, near the top, you have two options –  stay to the left for the direct route to the saddle. Well, I went left a little early and ended up in a very steep and loose chute, pulling myself up with my hands. I recalled Rich Rudow’s advice: “If you’re ever in a spot where you’re using your hands to climb too much, you’re off route.” Oops.

I got to a place where I could break out of the chute to get a look around. I definitely didn’t want to go back down the way I came so I looked at the slopes around me. Those looked sketchy, steep and loose too. I pulled out my camera and looked at the picture I’d shot from the other side of the canyon. It looked like the chute I was in would go, it was just a matter of how sketchy it would be to rejoin the saddle. I committed to climbing up the rest of the chute. Finally I reached the top and was met by several ravines to work around. It was a steeply angled traverse on loose shale but not for too long. I placed each foot carefully, digging in with my hiking poles until I reached flatter ground and breathed a sigh of relief.

I took the steep chute to the left of the saddle, don’t go that way.

After a break at the saddle with views of the swoop of the Awatubi Crest, I started down into Awatubi Canyon. The travel was straightforward and I saw an old coffee pot on the grass above the canyon bottom. I had planned on camping at the Awatubi/Sixtymile saddle but I’d burned some time and energy on taking the wrong route earlier, so I decided to stay in the Awatubi drainage instead. The clouds rolled in and I was pondering setting up a tent, but took a chance and slept under the stars (clouds?) again. My bet paid off and there was no rain.

Awatubi Canyon

Day 4

I was up and packed by 7 am. I wanted to get the climb out done while it was cool. I had 4.5 liters left of my 9 that I left with from Kwagunt and miles to go to Lava/Chuar beach on the Colorado River. The climb out of Awatubi was straighforward and took me about 30 minutes, sometimes in the drainage, sometimes on the sides. I looked for deer tracks to help guide my way. The light was dramatic and overcast, glad that it wasn’t too hot.

Awatubi-Sixtymile Saddle

I descended from the saddle into Sixtymile Canyon and took the western bypass route, which shot straight down a rubble-filled hill. In an hour, I was down in the dry creekbed. Downstream of where I crossed looked intriguing, with Redwall narrows and filtered light. The climb out of Sixtymile had routes on the sides of the drainage and a good track on the last climb to the saddle. It took me a little under an hour and a half.

Rubble-filled bypass

Sixtymile Canyon

Cresting the Sixtymile/East Carbon saddle gave view into another world, one where the South Rim was visible and the vistas opened up to familiar temples and buttes. Desert View Watchtower was just a tiny nubbin on the horizon. I took a lengthy break here, enjoying the scenery. As with other parts of the route, helicopter tours buzzed overhead.

Sixtymile-Carbon Saddle

The hike down East Fork Carbon Canyon had a good track and cairns most of the way. It was much more traveled than other parts I’d been on. There was even historic trail construction on a rocky switchback early on. Several bypasses to avoid steep pouroffs in the bed of the drainage were required, typical Grand Canyon. None of these were technical but some were loose and all were rocky. Eventually the obstacles ended and it was just a pleasant walk in a mostly-dry streambed. There were areas where water was flowing but it had the telltale signs of being highly mineralized. No thanks, I’ll wait till the river!

Historic trail construction

Carbon Canyon

I hiked along the tilted strata until I reached the head of the Carbon Canyon narrows. I had last been here on the first river trip I ever worked back in 2012 with Grand Canyon Whitewater. We’d done a dayhike up the narrows and I remember the trip leader Brock saying, “Yeah, I used to backpack but I got into boating – and instead of hauling gear on my back for days, I get to come up here with a daypack and a cold seltzer.” I like both ways of exploring the Canyon myself.

Micro Chicken in the Carbon Canyon narrows

There was a good river runner trail between Carbon and Lava/Chuar Canyon and soon I was heading down the red Dox Sandstone bed of Lava/Chuar. It rained on me for about 5 minutes, just long enough to put my camera away and get my umbrella out. It was super exciting to see the Colorado River and know that my concerns about water were over. It was 2:30 pm and I had 1.5 liters left. I had gotten lucky with the overcast weather today.

Fantastic geology between Carbon and Lava/Chuar

Reached the Colorado River!

The next matter was finding my cache. Since I had to carry so much water and cross the river, I had opted to have a friend cache a bucket with food for my last three days to help lighten the weight of my pack. I had photos of where they had hidden it, but when I looked, it wasn’t there. I had a momentary panic until I found it about five minutes later. It had been moved, but not disturbed and everything was still in the bucket. Whew! I always put some treats in the bucket and got my coconut water and mandarin oranges chilling in the river.

Lava/Chuar beach is a popular river camp and I thought I might have some company. I’d reached the beach with plenty of time for a river trip to come in. I had no idea when a boat would arrive to get a ride across, but I had put extra food in my cache and had all the water I needed from the river. I was able to relax and know that I had the supplies to wait.

Sunset Reflections

The sunset was spectacular, first turning the water golden with fiery cliffs reflected, then the sky became purple and pink. What a time to have the whole place to myself. Doesn’t get much better than an outrageous river sunset after a challenging route, I was ecstatic.

Nighttime brought the star show and I spent hours taking long exposures and light painting, enjoying the sound of the rapids. I spent the night in the mouth of the canyon and the wind picked up during the night.

Me and the Milky Way

Party lights!

Day 5

The next morning, I was up and packed early so I could move upstream to the beach where it would be easiest for someone to pick me up to cross. I organized my cache bucket, it would be given to whomever gave me a ride with my trash and extra food in it. Then I settled in to wait.

Thumbing a ride

The day warmed up and I spent a while sitting with my feet in the river with my umbrella, the cache bucket made a very convenient seat. I moved to the shade under a tamarisk where I could watch for boats and spent time writing, listening to music, and relaxing. Well, relaxing as much as you can when you’re in the middle of a Grand Canyon sandstorm – the wind was relentless. In times like this, you’ve just got to accept your gritty fate and make the best of it.

“Attitude is a little thing that makes a BIG difference”

I was pretty confined to the beach, I didn’t want to spend time in the mouth of the canyon because by that time, the boats are already in the rapid and can’t give me a ride. So I sat on my beach, looking upstream and telling myself, “at some point, you’re going to look up and there will be a boat there”. I did a couple of sewing projects, stared at the river, and thought about castaways. How crazy would it be to look toward the sea for weeks, months, years?

Another backpacker appeared across the rapid, he looked so tiny and really brought home how wide the Colorado River was at this spot. Once it got to be early evening, I realized that I was not going to get a ride across today. How strange to not see a single boat since I hit the beach at 2:30 yesterday! Commercial rafting season had recently ended but there were still private trips on the water. I was just in a spot with no boats. I was glad that I had added a layover day to my itinerary so it wasn’t a problem, only I was supposed to be on the other side of the river. No way to do that safely so I was staying put.

Winds gusted all day long and sand worked itself into every crevice of my world. Still, it was a great day and I really enjoyed having the time to just relax on my own private beach. The last time I stayed here was on my very last river trip that I worked as a guide in 2015, we had a full trip of 28 people. Now, the camp was all mine!

Day 6

I slept on the wet beach to try and minimize the nighttime sandblasting. I still didn’t set up a tent because sometimes that can be even worse. The fine silt gets trapped and whirled around in the noisy tent. Thankfully, when I woke up, the winds had stopped.

I wondered when I’d look up and finally see a boat. I’d been texting and joking about my marooned status (with my Garmin InReach satellite communicator) with my husband and a couple of friends last night, which helped to keep my spirits up. I could see a couple of backpackers coming down the Beamer Trail to Palisades Beach across the way, they looked minuscule.

And then all of a sudden, I looked upstream and there they were! Boats! I waved to get their attention and they started rowing over. I asked for a ride and they said they’d be happy to take me across. There were rafts and kayaks and they asked me where I had come from and I explained my route. It had been 44 hours since I arrived.

I put my pack on the head boat, a cataraft, put on a life jacket and hopped on! The boatman was John Vyrmoed, Vice-President of the Grand Canyon Private Boaters Association and he joked about him being my Uber to get across. We rode through Lava/Chuar rapid, it was fun to be on a boat again! John deposited me at the base of the rapid and now I was finally on the same side of the river as my Jeep. I thanked him profusely, told him I’d rate him 5 stars for the Uber service and they took my bucket with them when they left.

I’m on a boat

I dropped my pack and hiked back to the top of the rapid to connect my line and immediately began to see other backpackers. I found a spot on Palisades Beach to enjoy the afternoon. Funny, I moved only about a half-mile downstream from where I’d been for the past two days. It was a big, gorgeous sandbar that went partway into the river, perfect for relaxing. I only had 3 miles to go to my camp at Tanner Beach that evening.

Lava/Chuar Rapid

About an hour before sunset, I started on the Beamer Trail toward Tanner. The trail was flat and followed the sand for a while, but then cliffs appeared and the trail went up to traverse them. Reached Tanner at sunset and headed to find a spot to camp. As I wandered through the camping area, I heard, “Sirena?” and was pleased to find some folks that I know from the HikeArizona.com website. We had dinner together and shared tales of the trail. I left after dinner and camped on the hill underneath the impressive Comanche Point. Went down to the rapid to take one last round of night photos. Man, I hate the idea of hiking out. If someone would show up regularly with a bucket full of supplies I would never leave!

Tanner Rapid

Day 7

The last several times I’ve hiked out of the Canyon, I’ve taken all day to do it and it makes it so much more enjoyable! Instead of trying to rush out, I leave early and take long breaks at different spots to enjoy the scenery and take it all in before topping out at the rim. I was in the shade for the hike up the Dox hill and feeling strong. After the route I’d been on, the Tanner Trail felt luxurious and fancy. My feet were not so happy, I felt a bunch of hot spots and put some blister bandages on. Realized that I was wearing socks that I hadn’t used in a while and changed them, that solved the problem.

Last night’s camp under Comanche Point

I reached the Redwall Overlook, one of my favorite views, and took a couple of hours to eat and relax. One day I’ll camp here, but today I had to leave eventually. Took another long break on the Supai traverse, tucked under a juniper tree. Had my only injury, a branch at my break got me in the forehead. Bummer, I’d almost made it out without a scratch, and this one was going to scar. Everything scars due to my dark skin – I’d just have to look at it as yet another Grand Canyon souvenir.

I passed beneath the Desert View Watchtower and took another break at the tiny juniper at the 75-Mile Saddle with great views downstream. Then it was all about the final climb to the trailhead. It was steep and the air was thin at 6-7000 ft. Still, I felt great.

My happy place!

I had saved one of my favorite snacks for the climb, a Honey Stinger waffle dipped in a single-serve Nutella packet. So good! I could see the rim but had plenty of water and food to sit on the trail for a while and watch the sunset. What a feeling to look all the way across the Canyon and see the Nankoweap Trail where I’d come from a week ago. I’d been so nervous – it had all worked out better than expected and was one of my best trips ever!

Top of the Tanner Trail – success! I came from the farthest ridge near the left of the the photo.

Sunset from Lipan Point

Thanks to all my readers for another year! I met some folks on the hike out who have used my blog as a resource for their Canyon trips and that made me so happy to hear. I haven’t posted as much this year due to getting my consulting company, Trails Inspire, off the ground but I’ll have a year-end retrospective of my wanderings up soon. Happy holidays!

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