Mike hiking down the snow at the top of Tanner Trail Overlooking tanner rapids from about halfway down Tanner Trail

Day 1 -- Down Tanner Trail


Mike Hiking through the snow on top of Tanner Trail

Snow and Ice at the top

We started down the trail around 9:40, well behind our 7:00-7:30 planned time due to the problems with the permits. The top switchbacks were covered in old snow that had been packed and refrozen. We found ourselves almost wishing we had crampons. After about 20 minutes, the snow became patchy and a few switchbacks later it dissapeared completely.

Looking down 75 Mile Canyon from the Tanner Trail

The top of 75 Mile Canyon

About 10:30 we crossed over a spiny ridge that was the top of 75 mile Canyon. (approx 111deg50'30"W x 36deg2'30"N, but that's an estimate.) It would be interesting to go back and see if it would be possible to go down the canyon from here.

Lunch

At 12:00 we stopped for lunch at the point where the trail levels out for a bit before switching back toward the south. There is a very large (>1000ft) cliff here that afforded excellent vistas.(Probably around 111deg50'10"Wx36deg3'45"N, a bearing to the Watchtower was 164deg true) A view overlooking Tanner Beach and the Colorado river from about halfway down Tanner Trail
Warning:The full size image of this picture is 2M

The bottom Half

After lunch, we continued on down the trail. This section got very steep in places and my knee began to really bother me. The steep downhills also caused me to blister on every toe, despite the polypropylene liners and heavy outer socks. Around 3:30-4:00 we reached Tanner beach. We had planned on hiking an extra mile downriver to try and shorten the next day's hike, but by this time I was exhausted (probably because I was slightly dehydrated). So we made camp, ate, and crashed since we'd been up since 3:00am.


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