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We arrived at
Jumpup Canyon around 4 pm and started down the canyon looking for
water and campsites. After only a few hundred yards we found a
nice campsite on a bench above creek left. We found water a
hundred yards or so below that. While getting water, we ran
into 3 other backpackers -- a father with his 13 year old son, and
another man. The father was a NOLS instructor who had hiked in
this area over 10 years ago. Apparently they started at Upper
Jumpup and had spent the previous night on the Ranger Trail.
They failed to find a way down into Kanab Creek and so they decided
to return the way they came. They did not have a detailed map
(very odd for a NOLS instructor).
They had found water in some potholes on the Esplanade and decided
to spend the night there, and they had returned to Jumpup today. They pointed out on my map where
they had found water, for which we were grateful. We had been
concerned about finding water and we did not want to haul water for
a dry camp. I gave them a home-printed version of my topo map and
told them how they could have made it down into Kanab if they had
continued on the Ranger Trail another mile or so.
We collected a
few gallons of water and returned to our campsite on the bench above
the canyon bottom. Everyone, except me, set up their shelters
because rain was threatening. I managed to find a nice spot
under a large overhang.
We encountered
two reptiles today, as shown below. I haven't run into a
rattle snake in Grand Canyon in over a year.
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