Royal Arch Loop - Grand Canyon

For my Birthday, I got to go to the Grand Canyon with my Dad. When I got back, Beth informed me what a sacrifice it was for her that I got to go. She had two papers do while I was gone, and the girls have gone to one room. Good thing Mima came to help! We'll post pictures of that later.

My Dad is an expert canyoneer (and Mountaineer for that matter!) and we chose one of the most difficult hikes in the Canyon. The Royal Arch Loop is a very difficult trail, but well worth it: as you will see from the photos!

Here is the Map of the trail.

The trail starts down the South Bass Trail, then at the fork it departs the S. Bass for the Royal Arch route. We stashed water at the junction just in case we needed it on the way out. Just past the Junction is Mt. Huethawali, which is an impressive temple jutting up from one of the plateaus in the Canyon.

Dad and I taking a break.

At the end of the first day we took a dry creek bed, which would lead us to Royal Arch. 

But the trail after we left the S. Bass was rough. And it got worse. 

Chicken Breast and Mashed potatoes from Mountain House is THE BEST freeze dried meal I have ever had. 

Royal Arch was amazing. Its huge. And it is beautiful. 

Behind the arch is a beautiful spire. 

Technically, the arch is actually a natural bridge. Anywhere there is water in the desert it is beautiful. These springs also feed into Elves Chasm, which As you shall see is absolutely amazing. 

After we climbed out of Royal Arch we got on the main trail, and got a view of Royal Arch from above. 

Like I said. It wasn't much of a trail. 

My Boots didn't like the trail and at the end of the second day, I noticed the sole of my boots was coming off. So my Dad and I tried to fix it. 

Here is the first fix. 

After we fixed my boots, we thought we would just take the mile and a half jaunt up to Elves chasm. Well, that's what the description said. The Trail to Elves Chasm is much longer than 1.5 rive miles, and that is even more brutal trail than the photos above!  But Elves Chasm is amazing. Absolutely gorgeous. 

I couldn't get enough of this falls. 

Another picture with different settings :)

That night was my Birthday! And my Dad packed a Blueberry Muffin and a candle for me! It was awesome. 

When we got back to camp from Elves Chasm it was late. and here is the rim and the stars from our camp site. 

Well the first patch didn't last through the Elves Chasm trail (like I said, it was brutal), so the next morning, we tried a second fix. 

The trail was actually much better, but this is still what it looked like. 

Here is my Dad, the trail goes up through the opening behind him. 

The Colorado River down below us. 

The sun set on the cliffs of the Grand Canyon on our third night. 

We finally made it back to Bass Trail, and this is all that remains of Bass's cabin for tourists. He built this sometime in the late 1800s. 

Ahoy Matey! This boat was abandoned in the 1920s. The Park service chained it to the rocks to make sure it wasn't going anywhere else. This is where the S. Bass Trail meets the Colorado River. 

This is the sunset on the fourth night. My Dad and I intended to camp, but it was much to cold for our sleeping bags. So we hiked out that night in order to get to the warmer sleeping bags we had in the truck! 

The moon light on Mt, Hulawathai as we climbed the final assent from the Grand Canyon. We finally arrived at the truck at midnight. It was a beautiful, but difficult trip.

It was a great trip, and here are pictures of all of the flowers we saw in the canyon. It might have been colder than we were prepared for, but spring time in the Canyon is incredible!