Grand Canyon backpack: Tanner and Beamer trails to the Confluence

The auguries were decidedly propitious when the Grand Canyon Park Authority, in consultation with the Navajo Nation, opened the East Entrance after a year of Covid closure on the precise day we were arriving for our backpacking trip, saving us hours of driving time from St George, Utah. A friend’s cancellation left a spot on Lynda’s 5 day, 4 night permit, which I did not hesitate to take advantage of. Cutting short my recovery from patellar tendinitis by a couple of days, I braced myself (quite literally) for the 4700 ft descent from the South Kaibab plateau to the Colorado River. The following photos highlight a bit of this magical place. Enjoy!

Grand Canyon vista from Lipan Point, 7200 ft elevation. A few miles west of Devil’s Tower, the Tanner trailhead is nearby. Escalante Butte is in the right foreground. The weather was perfect the entire trip, with overnight lows in the 50’s and afternoon highs in the upper 80’s in the canyon.

Lynda at a view point on the Tanner trail descent

A collared lizard. Unlike many we saw, this fellow was quite bold.

Rafters at Tanner camp, sunset day 1. Our descent of 8 miles and 4700 ft took us about 6 hours at a gentle pace.

Beavertail cactus (*Opuntia basilaris*) along the Beamer trail to Palisades camp. Our second day was an easy 4 miles along the Colorado River.

Lynda hiking on the Beamer trail, early morning of day 3. In contrast to day 2, our third day demanded an early start for the 12-14 mile round trip hike beyond the confluence of the Colorado and Little Colorado Rivers. Despite online reviews and official park information suggesting a difficult trail, in fact it was an easy walk along a bench several hundred feet above the river.

Temple Butte at sunrise. The bench along which the Beamer trail runs is on the right above the river-level cliffs. Admittedly, we enjoyed a bit of exposure in places.

View approaching the confluence with the Little Colorado River

The Confluence. The bright turquoise color of the Little Colorado is from high levels of dissolved solids, mostly naturally occurring salts. In addition, the radium content of the LCR is very high, rendering it non-potable.

Federally protected Humpback chub (*Gila cypha*) at the Confluence. Although their humps are not clear in this zoom shot, their deeply forked tails are noticeable. Habitat destruction – not least the construction of the Glen Canyon dam – has dramatically reduced their population in the last half-century.

Lynda floating in the Little Colorado, much warmer than the main stem of the river, which exits Gen Canyon dam at 52F.

Vista of the Colorado looking downstream from the Beamer trail on day 3. Some afternoon overcast provided a respite from the intense sun.

Sunrise from Palisades camp, day 4. Staying two nights at the same camp had meant light loads on our day hike to the Confluence.

Dories on the Colorado River. A 16-18 day dory trip from Lees Ferry to Diamond Creek is definitely on my bucket list!

Another view of the Colorado River. A portion of Tanner Rapids is visible here.

Rather than having a leisurely day 4 and making the complete ascent back to the rim on day 5, we climbed up to a great campsite at about 4800 ft elevation for the final night.

Looking up at the South Rim at sunset from our camp. The small finger of Devil’s Tower is visible.

Scarlet Hedgehog (*Echinocereus coccineus*) cactus on the Tanner trail, day 5

View towards the Tabernacle, Rama Shrine, and Vishnu Temple. This fantastic viewpoint provided a great snack stop before the steep final ascent to the canyon’s rim.

Although I will surely struggle to match the dramatic beauty this trip offered is future blog posts , this year I will endeavor to convey a bit of the amazing western United States. Stay tuned!

The Vagabond Hiker

Grand Canyon backpack: Tanner and Beamer trails to the Confluence

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