It was a bummer, most definitely, but what else would you do about it? Probably not pleading your case with the manager, nor bugging random guests of the ranch? The next hot meal was just a few miles away, too accessible to justify any desperate measures :)
Isn't there a "psychological" issue involved in doing a trip of
this magnitude and distance ???
Did you see anybody other than the caretaker and the staff people
at Phantom Ranch?
The last time I did a solo trip at GC, I felt a feeling of utter
emptiness and desolation. For some reason, I celebrated at the
sight of civilization upon my return to Flagstaff. (Even if it
was just a fast food joint!)
This just boggles my mind when I think of the planning and
endurance you put into this. Did you see any cougar tracks???
People? Also two hikers on upper N Kaibab, and rangers at the N Rim Unit Office, and two rangers on snowmobiles, and one moonlight runner on S Kaibab, and of course scores of people on S Rim & both Bright Angel and lower N Kaibab trails. Still it was a case of dozens of miles without seeing anybody, that's correct.
Trip prep involved some rummaging in the garage and the kitchen, and a little shopping run for whatever was still missing, all completed on one Thursday night before the trip.
Cougar tracks is an interesting question. I saw lots of predator tracks and I thought they were coyote's. But I am not sure I can tell apart feline tracks from canine ... could you explain me how to do it?
Well, I'm not sure ... I'm still trying to explain the "duffersitz" maneuver. : ))))
A Mountain Lion track would be TWICE (2X) as large as the coyote track. Also, the separate toes of a cougar are spread much
further apart than the coyotes. If you saw their "scat," the
coyote's droppings are dog-like, while the cougar's droppings
are (of course) cat-like.
A bobcat track could quite possibly resemble a small coyote
track, with both the badger and Ringtail tracks looking similar.
A mature gray fox track is about the same size as a bobcat track.
Confused? So am I, but I'm trying not to show it. : ))
I tried googling various images of tracks and scat, and no, these were no cats just like I thought all along. Besides the creature also marked territory, I don't think cougars pee-mark anything, being cats.
Canine prints will often show claws. Felines like mountain lions have retractable claws that won't show in tracks.
Thanks for the good read and congrats!
Dmitry Pruss - Jan 23, 2009 9:07 am - Hasn't voted
Re: claws
Thanks Anya! My mental picture doesn't show too pronounced claws but perhaps some, but I also I remember the base of each pawprint being narrow, not wide like a bobcat's paw should be. I really should have stopped to mess with the camera ... hindsight is 20/20 :)
Another thing about tracks which surprised me in hindsight is that there wasn't much prey tracks on the surface, just a few hares and squirrels. Of course the coyote must be getting munchies from under the snow ... and then more than a few scats were chock full of white rabbit hair.
Thoroughly enjoyed this... Good job on the trip and on the report. I could picture the places you mentioned having done r2r a couple of times. I couldn't help but think about my last x-country ski outing - when my boot sole separated from my boot in deep fresh powder and I had to make my way back carefully applying weight and pressure to boot sole still clamped to my ski with the 3-pin binding. The under-my-foot gaitor strap helped me from losing my ski a couple of times. What would you have done if yout boot did that half-way between Jacobs Lake and the North Rim entrance station?
Dmitry Pruss - Jan 23, 2009 9:17 am - Hasn't voted
Re: Fun Read!
Thanks Tracy! The repair kit was one of the weak points of my preparation. I had a multitool and a few replacement screws and duct tape, and kept the fingers crossed. I was mostly concerned about bindings, these are oldies, they were already discontinued by Salomon when I bought the set at a swap more than a decade ago... But in the worse case, I thing slogging out back to Jacob Lake might have taken me an extra day in your scenario.
Greg Enright - Jan 23, 2009 12:50 am - Hasn't voted
Thanks
for taking the time to write about your trip. I am impressed that you were able to travel so far each day, and it sounds like you even enjoyed it.
Of course it was enjoyable overall ... great weather, great terrain, satisfying pace. Not without a few moments of "negative fun" as they say though (numbing extremities in Pleasant Valley, empty stomach at Phantom, and roof runoff scare at the North Entrance come into mind). And of course it would have been more enjoyable with a companion to share both the gear and the impressions with!
You set a high bar with this one, Dmitri! Let's see what other crazies there are out there who will follow your lead. Very nice report. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Grizz, I am actually surprised why this isn't done more often, the route looks a lot more logical now that I've been there. I absolutely look forward to someone besting my time :)
In five days you did twice what Dan and I did in three and a half days in our trip in 2001! And you did it solo! And half-naked some of the time! YOU DA MAN! It was a very entertaining trip report. Thanks for sharing.
The tracks you thought were coyote tracks certainly could have been cougar. Cougar inhabit the Kaibab Plateau. They have much larger tracks than coyote and hunt solo. I saw cougar tracks in my 2001 trip.
Thanks Barry and welcome to SP, it's pretty cool to hear from the author of the original 2001/2 trip report :) (Until I think 1998 the matters must have been quite different on Kaibab Plateau, because Kaibab Lodge was still trying to operate in winter; nowadays they leave it pristine and wild for anyone willing to ski across).
Thanks Yatsek. Puma? Would anybody ever be quite prepared to a cougar ambush from a tree (the whole reason of ambush is to catch unaware)? If that ever happens of course. But most of the forest roads are too wide for some bad cat to ambush a skier from a tree :)
cp0915 - Jan 22, 2009 9:34 am - Voted 10/10
Terrific!Nice job. I love the GC.
Dmitry Pruss - Jan 22, 2009 3:57 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: Terrific!Thanks, it is a truly enchanted place & I was sure glad to see it without the heat and the crowds :)
ZeeJay - Jan 22, 2009 11:09 am - Voted 10/10
OMG!What a trip! I would have been in tears at Phantom Ranch at the missing steak dinner.
Dmitry Pruss - Jan 22, 2009 6:10 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: OMG!It was a bummer, most definitely, but what else would you do about it? Probably not pleading your case with the manager, nor bugging random guests of the ranch? The next hot meal was just a few miles away, too accessible to justify any desperate measures :)
lcarreau - Jan 22, 2009 2:00 pm - Voted 10/10
OMG again!Isn't there a "psychological" issue involved in doing a trip of
this magnitude and distance ???
Did you see anybody other than the caretaker and the staff people
at Phantom Ranch?
The last time I did a solo trip at GC, I felt a feeling of utter
emptiness and desolation. For some reason, I celebrated at the
sight of civilization upon my return to Flagstaff. (Even if it
was just a fast food joint!)
This just boggles my mind when I think of the planning and
endurance you put into this. Did you see any cougar tracks???
Dmitry Pruss - Jan 22, 2009 7:00 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: OMG again!People? Also two hikers on upper N Kaibab, and rangers at the N Rim Unit Office, and two rangers on snowmobiles, and one moonlight runner on S Kaibab, and of course scores of people on S Rim & both Bright Angel and lower N Kaibab trails. Still it was a case of dozens of miles without seeing anybody, that's correct.
Trip prep involved some rummaging in the garage and the kitchen, and a little shopping run for whatever was still missing, all completed on one Thursday night before the trip.
Cougar tracks is an interesting question. I saw lots of predator tracks and I thought they were coyote's. But I am not sure I can tell apart feline tracks from canine ... could you explain me how to do it?
lcarreau - Jan 22, 2009 9:22 pm - Voted 10/10
Re: OMG again!Well, I'm not sure ... I'm still trying to explain the "duffersitz" maneuver. : ))))
A Mountain Lion track would be TWICE (2X) as large as the coyote track. Also, the separate toes of a cougar are spread much
further apart than the coyotes. If you saw their "scat," the
coyote's droppings are dog-like, while the cougar's droppings
are (of course) cat-like.
A bobcat track could quite possibly resemble a small coyote
track, with both the badger and Ringtail tracks looking similar.
A mature gray fox track is about the same size as a bobcat track.
Confused? So am I, but I'm trying not to show it. : ))
Dmitry Pruss - Jan 22, 2009 10:16 pm - Hasn't voted
Not a catI tried googling various images of tracks and scat, and no, these were no cats just like I thought all along. Besides the creature also marked territory, I don't think cougars pee-mark anything, being cats.
Anya Jingle - Jan 22, 2009 11:17 pm - Voted 10/10
Re: OMG again!Canine prints will often show claws. Felines like mountain lions have retractable claws that won't show in tracks.
Thanks for the good read and congrats!
Dmitry Pruss - Jan 23, 2009 9:07 am - Hasn't voted
Re: clawsThanks Anya! My mental picture doesn't show too pronounced claws but perhaps some, but I also I remember the base of each pawprint being narrow, not wide like a bobcat's paw should be. I really should have stopped to mess with the camera ... hindsight is 20/20 :)
Another thing about tracks which surprised me in hindsight is that there wasn't much prey tracks on the surface, just a few hares and squirrels. Of course the coyote must be getting munchies from under the snow ... and then more than a few scats were chock full of white rabbit hair.
Tracy - Jan 22, 2009 10:49 pm - Voted 10/10
Fun Read!Thoroughly enjoyed this... Good job on the trip and on the report. I could picture the places you mentioned having done r2r a couple of times. I couldn't help but think about my last x-country ski outing - when my boot sole separated from my boot in deep fresh powder and I had to make my way back carefully applying weight and pressure to boot sole still clamped to my ski with the 3-pin binding. The under-my-foot gaitor strap helped me from losing my ski a couple of times. What would you have done if yout boot did that half-way between Jacobs Lake and the North Rim entrance station?
Dmitry Pruss - Jan 23, 2009 9:17 am - Hasn't voted
Re: Fun Read!Thanks Tracy! The repair kit was one of the weak points of my preparation. I had a multitool and a few replacement screws and duct tape, and kept the fingers crossed. I was mostly concerned about bindings, these are oldies, they were already discontinued by Salomon when I bought the set at a swap more than a decade ago... But in the worse case, I thing slogging out back to Jacob Lake might have taken me an extra day in your scenario.
Greg Enright - Jan 23, 2009 12:50 am - Hasn't voted
Thanksfor taking the time to write about your trip. I am impressed that you were able to travel so far each day, and it sounds like you even enjoyed it.
Dmitry Pruss - Jan 23, 2009 1:21 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: ThanksOf course it was enjoyable overall ... great weather, great terrain, satisfying pace. Not without a few moments of "negative fun" as they say though (numbing extremities in Pleasant Valley, empty stomach at Phantom, and roof runoff scare at the North Entrance come into mind). And of course it would have been more enjoyable with a companion to share both the gear and the impressions with!
mtn runr - Jan 23, 2009 11:36 am - Voted 10/10
Classic!You set a high bar with this one, Dmitri! Let's see what other crazies there are out there who will follow your lead. Very nice report. Thanks for sharing.
Dmitry Pruss - Jan 23, 2009 4:57 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: Classic!Thanks Grizz, I am actually surprised why this isn't done more often, the route looks a lot more logical now that I've been there. I absolutely look forward to someone besting my time :)
BarryDale - Jan 23, 2009 3:22 pm - Voted 10/10
You Da MAN:!In five days you did twice what Dan and I did in three and a half days in our trip in 2001! And you did it solo! And half-naked some of the time! YOU DA MAN! It was a very entertaining trip report. Thanks for sharing.
The tracks you thought were coyote tracks certainly could have been cougar. Cougar inhabit the Kaibab Plateau. They have much larger tracks than coyote and hunt solo. I saw cougar tracks in my 2001 trip.
Dmitry Pruss - Jan 23, 2009 5:41 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: You Da MAN:!Thanks Barry and welcome to SP, it's pretty cool to hear from the author of the original 2001/2 trip report :) (Until I think 1998 the matters must have been quite different on Kaibab Plateau, because Kaibab Lodge was still trying to operate in winter; nowadays they leave it pristine and wild for anyone willing to ski across).
yatsek - Jan 23, 2009 3:55 pm - Voted 10/10
BrilliantBoth idea & realization. And there's this TR - congratulations!!! BTW Were you ready to run into a puma?
Dmitry Pruss - Jan 24, 2009 8:30 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: BrilliantThanks Yatsek. Puma? Would anybody ever be quite prepared to a cougar ambush from a tree (the whole reason of ambush is to catch unaware)? If that ever happens of course. But most of the forest roads are too wide for some bad cat to ambush a skier from a tree :)