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Trip Report - September, 2000 - North Bass, Shinumo Amphitheatre, Lancelot Point. |
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Well, this trip certainly went a lot better than last years abomination. There were no cameras diving into creeks, no smashed knees and plenty of time for hunting down disappearing routes. I ended up coming out at Lancelot Point, as planned, and that by itself would have been enough for me to consider the trip a success.
There was still some room for improvement here as I was definitely not as prepared as I could have been. I had some problems packing things up the day before leaving home and somehow managed to forget a few things that I really would have liked to have... like my own driving directions to Swamp Point, which I put together last year. The directions that the Backcountry Office provides are only sufficient for getting yourself lost in the Kaibab National Forest. Having a map of the Forest Service roads would have also proved useful and I forgot that as well. As a result of having forgotten these I wasted about an hour trying to find the correct roads. I also somehow missed packing about 2,000 calories worth of food that I wouldn't miss until I was well down the North Bass Trail.
Another discovery was that emotional preparedness is just as important as physical preparedness and one should not be wandering around the Canyon daydreaming. This may not be as much of an issue on a well-marked and maintained trail but on a wilderness route it's very bad karma. Luckily I figured this out before I got myself into too much trouble but I did manage to loose the burro route a number of times before I did and this probably would not have happened had I been concentrating on the trail and where it was going instead of other things. A surprise encounter with a rattlesnake at my camp at Merlin/Mordred Abyss was the wake-up call that I needed. Note to self: Always check underneath the creek bank for snakes BEFORE stepping down to the creek.
One positive side of the trip was that I think I have finally got the number of miles that I should be doing in a day about right. Last year I planned way too much and didn't get to do half of it. This year, at the recommendation of other Canyon hikers and backpackers, I cut back on mileages and as a result had a much more relaxing trip... after those first few days.
Happy Trails
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Photo map
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