Shelter decisions for Mid February in Grand Canyon

[drew doty]

I’ve been to the Grand Canyon to backpack before but not so much in winter.  I usually like to take a tarptent rainbow and was thinking of still taking it but part of me thinks I should bring my 1 person free standing tent that weighs more but is seemingly better at handling harsher weather. What are your experiences with winter in the canyon?  Thanks for any input.

[Brian W]

I’ve only ever car camped close to winter in the GC, and that was late October, not February. I used my old Hubba, and it was good for an AZ down pour. I’d want a fly that I’m confident can handle an AZ rain storm. I relegate my old backpacking gear to car camping. And it did better than my friends car camping tents, half of our group had leaky tents.

In winter I’d be more worried about available water. There has been issues with water reliability in the canyon on top of some water sources being turned off in the winter.  It also iced up early this year on the south rim, so I’d want some type of micro spike / crampon if the trail is icy. Finally, I’d probably want to stay in a hotel the night before hiking down to avoid needing rim warm gear since the bottom is warmer anyway.

Good luck with your trip. I’m going to try to get permits for Sept or Oct next year.

I haven’t decided on my tent yet. I have a solomid, but if I can get two nights at Bright Angel, I’d like my trek poles to explore the extra day down there, so I want to get something lighter than my old Hubba that doesn’t require my trek poles.

[Eric Blumensaadt]

I took my TT Moment DW on a November rim-to-rim and would do it again on a February thru hike. Your TT Rainbow will do just fine. Henry Shires says it will handle wind better than the Moment design so you are safe on that point. you may need the Rainbow’s available fly extended to shelter your cooling in foul weather.

[drew doty]

Thanks for your input. I’ll try to bring the rainbow!

[Greg Mihalik]

It depends where you’re headed.

In the Corridor anything will work. The campgrounds are protected.

At Grapevine tent-flying winds are always possible.

[drew doty]

Greg!  Curious about the grapevine…  Are the winds usually higher around grapevine canyon?  I was hoping to start at Grandview and hike out to The Gems then up Hermit trail.

[Greg Mihalik]

n=1

Grapevine and Lonetree are situated along transverse canyons heading to the Colorado.

Anything can happen.  Not saying it will, but personal experience says it can.

[Author]

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