For my last major hike of the 2007 season, I wanted to do something special. I got the chance this month to do a rare hike with my brother in Arizona. This is definitely one of those off-the-map specials: a rim-to-river scramble deep in the remote, rugged wilderness of the eastern Grand Canyon.

During the landmark 1869 Powell expedition through the Grand Canyon, Walter Powell (brother of John Wesley) scrambled up from the confluence of the Little Colorado and Colorado Rivers to the Canyon’s rim, some 3400 vertical feet above.

While it is likely native peoples used this route to access the river before Walter Powell, his is the first recorded passage, and thus the way is known as the Walter Powell Route.

I have to say, after seeing the Grand Canyon, I think I need to get back to my home state of Arizona a little more often. This was truly a memorable hike: savage, challenging, and more spectacular than I can possibly describe.

This comes courtesy of the Backcountry.com Newsletter:

Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing — Helen Keller, 1957

Our thoughts are with the evacuees and those who’ve lost their homes and lives during this week’s wildfires in Southern California.

How light is Osprey’s new Talon backpack? I keep typing the wrong weight because my brain can’t seem to believe a 44 liter pack can actually weigh three two and half pounds.

In addition to its unbelievably low weight, the Talon brings two major strengths to the table. First, the innovative frame handles heavy loads without a framesheet. Second, the pack’s ‘Airspace’ system does a marvelous job circulating air around your back to prevent sweating/overheating.

I’m going to try to push this pack into winter duty and see how it holds up. If I can carry overnight winter loads plus skis with the Talon, I’ll be saving more than two pounds in pack weight! Here’s the Review.

One of the more popular trip reports over this summer has been my Mount Langley Loop hike, a summer climb up Langley’s East-Southeast Ridge and down Army Pass to Cottonwood Lakes.

Unfortunately, I never finished converting the report to my site’s newer format (with expandable photos), so things looked a little out of sorts. I’ve finally updated the pages—better late than never—as part of a furious site housekeeping run I’ve been on the past few weeks. Hopefully, I’ll have everything in top shape for the upcoming Winter season.

In the mean time, if you haven’t read the Langley climb, now is a good time. Despite last week’s snow storm, this hike should stay in condition through October. Or at least until the next blizzard arrives.

Also freshly updated is my long-lost Tuttle Creek Shakedown trip. I can’t help but recall this one fondly, as the (many!) mistakes I made on this tour paved the way for future winter camping and skiing successes on Mounts Langley, Williamson, and Shasta in short order.

Funny thing about this one is how few photos I took. Things were going so poorly in the Tuttle Drainage (and it was so cold) I didn’t stop for the usual photo ops. This made the trip report a little more challenging than usual to put together, but I managed to borrow a few images from later Tuttle visits, and I must say I’m happy with the result.