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Foot Traction Device needed for winter Grand Canyon?
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Home › Forums › Gear Forums › Gear (General) › Foot Traction Device needed for winter Grand Canyon?
- This topic has 34 replies, 17 voices, and was last updated 2 years, 2 months ago by Jon Fong / Flat Cat Gear.
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Jan 23, 2022 at 11:26 am #3737796
I am taking my three kids ages 15/13/10 down the south Kaibab trail to Bright Angel Campground and then up Bright Angel trail – Jan 16th/27th.
I know the rangers like to say have traction device as a standard line. Question is how needed are they?
All of us will have trekking poles and the 13/10 year old won’t be carrying much so I don’t like the idea of having the extra weight of 4 pairs of microspikes. Ideally I bring none and we make it work. A middle ground is to bring two pairs – the same microspikes work on my 15 year old son and my shoes and the 10/13 old use the same size – so we each have traction device on one foot (if the conditions warrant), and I cut down half the weight.
thoughts?
Jan 23, 2022 at 12:00 pm #3737798You probably won’t know until you get there…. unless you can find someone who did the trial a day or two prior to your departure. Sun is low in the sky, so South Rim gets a lot of shady spots this time of year… and you will likely be starting in the morning, when it is coldest. Me? I would take them because I own them and don’t have to buy.
Jan 23, 2022 at 12:10 pm #3737799I’d personally prefer carrying a few pounds of gear I don’t need than taking three kids out for a trip I have to abort because I don’t have the right gear…
Jan 23, 2022 at 12:12 pm #3737800IMO, the trail can be slick and icy at the top due to all of the foot traffic. It can be slicker than an iced over splayground slide (that and the frozen mule urine).  In that case, I would advise traction and poles for stability. It usually only is icy for no more than a mile.
If you are going down the Bright Angel, you can stash your gear around Indian Garden and pick it up on the way back. My 2 cents.
Jan 23, 2022 at 5:28 pm #3737851If you have them, mircospikes are best.  If you don’t, get something like these: https://www.hikingshack.com/instep-crampons.html
Having taken Boy Scouts on several winter Grand Canyon hikes these work well enough and are inexpensive.
Jan 23, 2022 at 5:59 pm #3737855Thanks all for the advice. I wish I would of posted earlier and I could of purchased the cheaper/lighter hiking shack version.
I already have microspike/equivalent for everybody but I’ll check the general store in the village to see if they have those same spikes.
Jan 23, 2022 at 7:35 pm #3737863From what I have recently learned of Micro-spikes: they’re not an item one can use in half-measures. Use a pair of them, or use a pair of something else.
Jan 23, 2022 at 9:13 pm #3737866Yep. We have been there in February and March, and each time the top 1/2 miles of every trail leaving the rim was icy and slick as snot. Not fun at all if you don’t have something to help with the traction.
Jan 24, 2022 at 12:20 am #3737869+1 to the first mile or so is typically very slippery and you really want micro spikes or something similar. Â We have typically removed ours after just a couple of miles and them put them back on at the very end of the return ascent.
Jan 24, 2022 at 8:39 am #3737888“I don’t need no stinkin’ spikes!”
Jan 24, 2022 at 10:27 am #3737913Great picture, that. I wouldn’t want to be sharing a set with someone on that little slope…
Jan 24, 2022 at 10:38 am #3737914Get some cardboard and the first section will go by quickly!
Jan 24, 2022 at 5:59 pm #3738020How’s that old saying go? Something about a picture and a thousand words?
That’s like the Shot Heard ‘Round the World of pictures explaining a situation
Jan 25, 2022 at 6:48 pm #3738122@ Ken
yup. That is what it looks like.
@ Jon
The cardboard works until you need to turn at the switchback. Then you are airborne!
Jan 26, 2022 at 3:12 pm #3738200Darwinian evolution.
Jan 26, 2022 at 5:06 pm #3738208^^ Brings back a memory. I was able to drive the family out to the North Rim one time in February. The new superintendent at the time allowed you to give it a go if you wanted to try so…. It was beautiful driving out there through all those big parks (Utah term for open mountain meadows). No one around anywhere. The Lodge deserted and it was kind of eerie like the Shining. My youngest was @ 4 and LOVED snow (still does) so she was running all around with reckless abandon when we walked the snow covered paved paths behind the Lodge out along the rim to check out the views so we had to literally leash her up to make sure she didn’t do what those guys in Ken’s photo look like they could easily do.
Jan 27, 2022 at 11:47 am #3738283The old standby…screw shoes.
Jan 30, 2022 at 12:58 am #3738523trip went well. Didn’t bother taking out the spikes for south kaibab. Probably could of managed on Bright Angel without (as going uphill), though it was much icier. However, since we got there in the dark, it was a lot safer and we were able to hike quickly and confidently with the spikes on.  So good call to bring.
Jan 30, 2022 at 12:59 am #3738524Jan 30, 2022 at 1:00 am #3738526Jan 30, 2022 at 1:02 am #3738527Jan 30, 2022 at 6:35 am #3738540Thanks for the photos and I’m glad your trip went well (and everyone was safe).
Jan 30, 2022 at 8:25 am #3738545Nice views!! Looks like a fun time.
Feb 1, 2022 at 2:40 pm #3738746Love the South Kaibab views. Glad you had a safe and enjoyable hike.
Feb 2, 2022 at 11:31 am #3738807Looks like your trip is done by now, but for future reference by others: I was there 10 days ago and the first kilometer of the South Kaibab was a lovely packed powder and I had absolutely no need for anything on my Merrill Moab low-cut hiking shoes:Then, as is almost always the case, that seep at a eastern switchback 1 km in had a clear ice layer that got me onto all fours to transverse it and then I relented, sat down on a rock and put on a 10-stud rubber overshoe thing ($9 on Amazon):Which was exactly right (for me, on that day) – I could walk upright (with a smaller stride where the ice was), they stayed on, and gave plenty on traction in that zone that thaws and refreezes into solid ice. I felt no need for trekking poles (I had them back in the rental car, but had scoped the trail the night before).
Most people were wearing more Yak Trak style devices, but those are heaver and sometimes less secure. A few people had four point instep crampons and I’ve brought and used those at times, but they rarely stay snug on your boot for long. Very few people had full, 10- or 12-point crampons which is always overkill for that very substantial, modestly-sloped trail.I suppose you could get a big dump followed by several freeze-thaw cycles and have the first 1.5 miles to traverse with some traction aid, but I usually find the upper km is fine and then there’s 500-800 m of transitional icy trail and below that, it’s slushy and muddy until it’s not.
The grocery store at the Market Plaza inside the park is usually well-stocked on traction devices (and fuel canisters) although shortages can arise. I always bring a few styles with me and then always scope the trail the day before as I stretch my legs after the flight down.
Even if you don’t normally bring trekking poles (I don’t) – it wouldn’t be wrong to bring one set between you so if a particular hiker wants that reassurance or their traction devices aren’t working for them, you’ve got an option.
Remember, there’s no water at 1.5- and 3-mile huts in the winter. No water until you get to Indian Garden which is more of an issue on the way back up, or if you go part way in and back out without getting that far.
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