Oct 13, 2022
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Etymology |
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Grandview BM later climbed Oct 15, 2022 |
It had gotten a little too warm in Sedona, so we decided to head to the Grand Canyon where the temperatures were expected to be cooler. This worked out surprisingly well, and Eric and I got our first taste of fine scrambling in this Wonder of the Natural World. All of the summits are found in Purcell's Rambles & Scrambles, one of the motivators that had gotten me out to Sedona in the first place.
We left the main trail here, traversing around the east side of the butte, all the way around to the north side where the easier climbing is found. When we reached a tree where the class 2 ended, we left our poles, donned our helmets and went up a short class 3 slab to a ledge, aided by the tree. We then traversed west to what we guessed was the class 4 crack/ramp leading to the second ledge. We let Tom go up first, after which he dropped a line of webbing to use as a handline, then Eric and I followed. More traversing to the west leads to the start of the roped climbing, a 5.4 awkward dihedral. Tom once again led this, then up a squeeze chimney, atop of which he set up a belay. Favoring the middle position so he has help from above and below, Eric went up next, and finally me. More scrambling leads to the second rope section, a wider chimney with a huge chockstone above, and an awkward exit going either left or right. Tom chose to exit to the right, while Eric and I did the more standard exit to the left after Tom had put us on belay. There was a pause here as I realized my camera had been left below while I was belaying Tom. I had to rap down, retrieve it, then climb the chimney a second time. Fun. Once past this, it's only a few minutes of easy scrambling to the summit.
The views today were quite outstanding, even by Grand Canyon standards, very clear, with unlimited visibility. The views of the canyon were, well, grand. A very busy register dated to 2002, and included Purcell's 2nd ascent in 2010 with a few Las Vegas friends from where he hailed. After a rest at the summit, we returned back down, all rappelling the two roped sections. Eric and I then rappelled the class 4 section, Tom downclimbing it to save having to leave any gear. We retrieved our poles and other gear we'd left at the tree, then hiked back out to the trail to reascend the 1,500ft of gain we'd lost in the early morning. We were joined by hundreds of visitors, and even a few bighorn sheep, showing only slight concern for the folks taking pictures and walking by them. It was just after 11a when we returned to the TH.
Starting out on the very busy trail with The Battleship visible below, Tom and I descended the elaborate switchbacks blasted through two tunnels for about 45min, including pauses to allow a mule train and a later pack train to go by in the uphill direction. We left the trail at a switchback around the 5,500-foot level, picking up a ducked cross-country route that traverses along the east side of some cliffs for about a mile. This leads to a saddle on the south side of The Battleship. We took a short break here, then continued on the use trail as it goes around the east side of The Battleship, before starting to ascend in earnest when about due east of the summit. The route is very convoluted, up a series of slots and ramps on the East Face, then traversing back towards the south under a cliff band, then finally scrambling up to the summit - great scrambling, airy exposure, splendiferous views, a highly recommended bit of fun. And well-ducked, too. We signed the busy register, took in views looking up, down, and across the canyon, then reversed our route back off the summit. It would take us until 4:20p before we found our way back to the TH, the vehicles, and Eric reading his book on one of the nearby benches. About four and a quarter hours for the roundtrip effort.
Continued...
This page last updated: Tue Jan 17 10:17:36 2023
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