The Lava Boys

For me, the problem with living in Southern Utah is that there is too much to do. I love to hike and explore and I spend way too much time toggling between Google Earth and AllTrails trying to narrow down the next hike.

Recently, I became infatuated with the Lava Falls trail located along the north rim of the Grand Canyon National Park. From the various hiking apps I researched, it looked fairly doable for a guy approaching his mid-sixties. The trail is 2.6 miles round trip and includes a healthy 2,500 foot descent ending along the shore of the majestic Colorado River. I read all the reviews I could find on the trail. The reviews were, at times, informative, at other times, frustrating. One guy indicated it was pretty easy, another wrote "not today". Overall, I thought, not very helpful. But the reviews did help me with one decision; this is not a trail I should tackle by myself.

On our appointed day in November, 2021, my friends Eric and Rick arrived at our house in Kanab, Utah and we drove south toward Toroweap overlook and the Tuweep campground. We had made the decision to camp at Tuweep so we could get an earlier start to the Lava Falls trailhead. I drove as I have a Jeep Wrangler with high clearance, the off-road tires and knowledge of the long haul to Toroweap.

A few miles from the Tuweep campground we stopped at the Grand Canyon National Park ranger station. This is one of the most remote stations I know of and I always stop to say hello to the staff or volunteers. And, of course, I always bring my homemade banana bread. The full-time ranger Todd was on patrol that day but we met two very nice volunteers who were happy with my gift. We told them our plans, including our Lava Falls trip, and they told us a few horror stories about recent hiking incidents on the trail to keep us humble. We got back in the Jeep well reminded that the Grand Canyon is not to being taking lightly.

We set up camp at Tuweep, had a great dinner, gazed at the stars which are incomparable at Tuweep, and got a fairly good night sleep. In the morning we packed up, headed to the trailhead a half an hour from our campsite and started our trip down to the Colorado River. As I started walking, two thoughts came to mind. The first was that one of the reviewers said it took him one hour to get to the river. As we hiked, I look across the canyon to the south side. We were clearly a long way from the river; it was going to take us a lot longer to hike than one hour. Secondly, I remembered that the topography at the beginning of the trail was not very steep. It looked pretty steep to me. We hiked for a while on the rocky terrain seeing nothing green except the numerous cactus on either side of the trail. I made a mental note not to slip and accidentally land with my butt or hands on the cactus. A week later, I was still picking spines from my hands and knees.

Just before the deep descent into the canyon, we came across an alarming sign.

When I first read it, I got the impression that this sign was not vetted by the higher ups in the park service. It seemed unusually direct and ominous. My favorite (thinking back now, but not at the time) was the part the read, "If you choose to continue, please consider and accept the significant chance of death or serious injury and the burden it places on others". At least the incredibly scary statement included the word "please". After the sign, the trail gets serious. It is marked fairly well with painted blazes and cairns, but it is obvious the trail is not often used. As I slipped and slid down the trail, I could see why. This is the quickest descent from the north rim to the Colorado River. I haven't been on the other routes, but I can certainly believe it. It is steep, with lots of loose rocks and not as many switchbacks as I would expect. Sometimes, the trail seemed to defy logic and certainly common sense. I tried not to think too much about the return trip. We only got lost once, and it was a fun adventure for me. I had taken the lead on the way down, the trip was my idea after all, and as the trail descended, we stopped at the top of a narrow spine with a very steep drop off to the right and a fairly step drop off on the left. I volunteered to scrambled down the spine until I could descend to the left to find what I hoped would be a cairn or a blaze marking the trail. Forty-five minutes later I returned, winded and with the first of many cactus spines in my hand. After my return, we immediately found a blaze just feet from where we had stopped directing us down a steep but climbable rock face. This was the only challenging part of our hike but we worked together and made it down safely.

The trail is less than a mile and a half to the Colorado River. I tried to keep that in mind as we hiked and slid down the trail waiting for our first sight of the river. Rick and I slipped more than once, but Erik somehow kept his footing. I kept our pace slow and deliberate, a serious fall here would be disastrous. Finally the river came in view, but by this time I knew not to get too excited as we needed to stay focused on the path directly in front of us.

When we finally reached the river edge we followed a path to the right. We had seen some rafts before our final trail descent and were hopeful to see some rafting action on Lava Falls. We were not disappointed. The rafters were waiting just before the falls and we passed them and found a great viewing point. We ate our lunch and watched the rafts successfully navigate the rapids, one by one.

On the way back, I knew the thrill of the destination was behind us and that now our only goal was to return safely to the Jeep. Erik took the lead now, he is an experienced hiker and I was happy to have him on this trip. When I was planning this trip, I looked carefully for the best time of year to tackle Lava Falls. We had picked the perfect weather. The temperature during our ascent was in the mid fifties, and we were now hiking in the early afternoon. The hike from the river is demanding. It is constantly uphill and with few switchbacks. I had carried three liters in my day-pack and carried another liter as well, but ran out at about the half-way point on the way back up. I had read that it was important to cache water on the way down but decided that was only necessary for summertime hikes. I was wrong. Dropping off at least four liters would have easy and smart. Lesson learned. At just past the half way mark I started feeling my legs cramp. When I stopped and rested, the cramps disappeared, but it slowed our ascent. Three hours and forty-five minutes after we left the Colorado River we arrived at the trailhead. The Jeep was certainly a welcome sight. As we left the park, we stopped at the ranger station to let the women volunteers to know we were safe. It was around 4 pm and I could tell they were very happy to see us. We chatted for a while and learned that they had nicknamed us "The Lava Boys". As we drove the two hour drive back toward Kanab, I saw a small sign pointing toward Hack Canyon. Looks like I just figured out my next hike.