Re: National Park Service Lifting North Kaibab Trail Closure in Grand Canyon National Park

National Park Service Lifting North Kaibab Trail Closure
Date: June 2, 2012
Contact: Maureen Oltrogge, 928-638-7779

Grand Canyon, Ariz. - A trail closure is being lifted between Roaring Springs and Cottonwood Campground on the North Kaibab Trail in Grand Canyon National Park. A temporary route through the damaged section has been established, however it is very narrow and hazardous conditions exist so extreme caution should be used when hiking in that area.

The section of the North Kaibab Trail between Cottonwood Campground and Roaring Springs was closed on May 31 when a ruptured pipeline washed out a 45-foot section of the trail. As trail crews work on the trail and pipeline additional temporary closures will be necessary and delays could occur for hikers on this section of trail. These temporary short-term closures could occur with little or no advance notice.

Potable water will not be available at Roaring Springs or Cottonwood Campground until the pipeline is repaired. Hikers should be prepared to access and chemically treat or filter creek water.

For additional information about trail access, permit changes and water availability in the inner canyon, please contact one of the Backcountry Information Centers within Grand Canyon National Park at 928-638-7875 (South Rim) or 928-638-7868 (North Rim), or visit us on-line at go.nps.gov/grcabackcountry

Thanks for posting this. I am going to be hiking this trail shortly and wasn't aware of these issues. Will definitely hike with a filter now.

It gets hot down there. Be sure you drink plenty of water.

Steve, I tried PM'ing this but got a database error...

I checked out your other website articles on the Owlsheads, and they answered the questions I had. You have a lot of material on that range! Basically...if I were dayhiking I'd take your 'first time Contact Canyon' suggestion, but w/ backpacking for 2 nights I can take Through Canyon to the view of the basin whereas I might not want to lug a pack full of water over dry falls.

eeek, you can be sure that we will take a lot of water!

ttilley, not sure why you can't PM me. But you can still do Contact Canyon with a large pack. The dry falls in Contact Canyon can be bypassed somewhat easily. You could backpack up Contact Cyn all the way to the head where you have a view of the range. On the way back, you can loop back via Granite Canyon. But if you're not good at route finding or cross-country hiking, you should probably stick with Through Canyon. It's just that the scenery is not as exciting. Contact Cyn is somewhat hard to follow past the 4 way junction. You need a good GPS, topo, or google earth print-out.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/15/2012 12:56PM by SteveHall.

Eeek answered the PM thing...there's a 100 character limit on subject lines enforced underneath but perhaps not at the UI layer.

Anyway, thanks, that gives me a nice option to consider. I'm pretty experienced with cross-country in the Sierra, but my desert experience is limited and I know cross-country in the desert is quite different - to me, it seems like fewer features with which to orient my mental map of the landscape, but I'm thinking its really a matter of those features needing to be seen differently.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/15/2012 06:39PM by ttilley.

Trans-canyon Pipeline Repaired: Drinking Water once again Available at all Filling Stations in the Inner Canyon
Date: June 6, 2012
Contact: Shannan Marcak, 928-638-7958

Grand Canyon, Ariz. - Potable water is once again available at all filling stations within the Inner Canyon at Grand Canyon National Park.

On Friday, May 25, two breaks in the park's trans-canyon pipeline were discovered. While the breaks were being repaired, it was not possible to supply potable water to the Roaring Springs and Cottonwood Campground areas along the North Kaibab Trail. Public notification was made that hikers in these areas would need to be prepared to treat or filter creek water.

On Thursday, May 31, an additional break in the pipeline washed out a 45-foot section of the North Kaibab Trail, necessitating the trail's closure to through-travel.

By Saturday, June 2, a temporary route through the damaged section of trail had been established, and the trail closure was lifted; but repair of the third and final break in the pipeline still needed to be completed.

Repairs to the trans-canyon pipeline are now complete and potable water is once again flowing to all areas of the park, including all filling stations on the North Kaibab and Bright Angel Trails.

Repair of the damaged section of the North Kaibab Trail is ongoing. Hikers should be aware that temporary closures may be necessary for repairs to progress, and may occur with little or no notice.

For the most current information on trail conditions and water availability, please contact one of the park's Backcountry Information Centers at: South Rim - 928-638-7875, or North Rim - 928-638-7868. You may also visit us on the web at http://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/trail-closures.htm.

Yay! One week to go until I will be out on this hike. Thanks for the update.

ttilley, you are right that desert cross-country navigation can be quite difficult and is a lot different from other types of hiking. I don't hike with a GPS, but if you do it would probably solve those navigation issues. I usually take topos and Google Earth printouts both from above and ground level which show various features. Off the top of my head, Through Cyn does have some notable features such as colored hillsides, and Contact Cyn has some narrow turns and constrictions, along with junctions and the colorful section. Drop me an email before you do the hike later this year and I can help you with more info regarding canyon specifics.

Yes, I was looking at the topo and figured I'd set a waypoint track up the canyon on the GPS before leaving as the upper canyon appears to have a number of branches. It'll be November when I do this, I'll send email. Thanks.

And have fun in the Grand Canyon. My only trip there was another November trip...went to Clear Creek, the north rim was (as normal in Nov.) closed.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/18/2012 06:37PM by ttilley.