Yep, I did the same. No brush actually needed to be cleared, but as a 8 or 10 year old, it was a lot of fun hacking stuff down.
It was kinda a big moment for me getting the machete. Trusted with a potentially dangerous tool.
1 Like
Like I said, good parenting.
1 Like
I don’t have an issue with weapons. I think they are fun. I only own two guns, and it isn’t really my thing now, but occasionally I’ll go shooting.
Good parenting is found in the forging of trust, not weaponry per se.
My kid has no real interest in shooting beyond turkey hunting right now, which doesn’t necessarily require rigorous marksmanship training. He knows the basics and that’s adequate, but not adequate enough for me to say, buy him a handgun.
Staying on-topic, I never bought my kid a machete, but he’s had knives and hatchets since he was a small child. I got him a stacked-leather Estwing hatchet for Christmas two years ago. Nice north-woods hiking and wilderness tool. There’s so much cool stuff you can show and teach your kids when you take them hiking, backpacking and send them to a non-pussy summer camp.
4 Likes
A few years back my wife and I did this: Explora Tanama River Body Rafting Hiking | PRDayTrips
It was cool and worth checking out, but there are a bunch of other “adventure” type tours and activities in that area as well.
We didn’t get to do the nightime bioluminescent snorkeling/kayaking but I hear that’s pretty life changing too: https://www.puertoricotravelguide.com/bioluminescent-bays-in-puerto-rico/
Lastly, remember to tip generously if you had a good time. Guides make shit money outside of tips.
1 Like
So I’m kind of at a low point in life and just like my last trip out west, I need to get away.
Thinking about late March to early April 5/6 days total.
Fly into SLC rent a car (possibly a cargo van, more on that later). Then drive to capitol reef national park, hike, then drive to Bryce Canyon, hike, then drive to the Grand Canyon and hike and then head to Phoenix and fly out from there.
I’ll be doing early morning hikes to avoid humans, and some super late/early star gazing as well.
Hoping to find some good long (10+ mile) hikes at each destination that have some gnarly elevation and scenery. I have a bad habit of skipping over any hike in all trails that isn’t rated “hard”. If it has a groomed/paved walking path, I’ll be avoiding it like the plague. The shorter hikes also tend to be more crowded, which is so lame it’s hard to even find the right words.
None of this is set in stone. The only thing guaranteed is I’m going SOMEWHERE out west soon. Id go even sooner but flights go from $300 to $1,000+ just by moving the dates up. Plan is to fly southwest as I have a flight voucher I can use from a canceled flight last year.
I’m debating renting a ford transit van and car camping out of it. I use camping lightly as I’ll basically be sleeping in it and not much else. The thing is $180 to rent for a WEEK! Which is insane. Not only would I save on the rental, but I’d cut massive costs and planning headaches by not using an Airbnb or hotel/lodge at multiple destinations.
Anyone have any idea how to check for road closures? I used google maps to get a rough idea of travel just using the actual parks as destinations and not actual addresses or gps locations. I’m thinning the only place I’ll run into major road closures is around the Grand Canyon, but I have no idea
2 Likes
For checking road conditions, I’d try calling ranger stations in each park you plan to visit.
$180 for a cargo van for that long is a heckuva deal. Do you have an air mattress you could inflate to sleep on? As a dedicated car sleeper during my college years (lived too far to drive home between classes), I can attest to the vast difference in sleep quality between a hard surface (truck bed with carpet) and a soft surface (plush car seat that leans back.)
1 Like
I do not. I was thinking a thick sleeping mat might do the trick combined with a sleeping bag. Both of which I could use of future back packing trips or camping trips
1 Like
Finding day hikes will be easy for Bryce and Grand Canyon.
Bring food and water.
Oh yea. I always have tons of food and water lol I hike with a 40L for day hikes 
1 Like
The best beer I’ve ever had was an ice-cold Tecate at the bottom of the Grand Canyon at Phantom Ranch in 115 degree July heat.
Good views and stuff too.
I really really really want to make it to the phantom ranch but it’s 14miles there. With the elevation gain I’m not sure I could make it back out in a day.
I’ve been thinking about going to the Grand Canyon first and flying into Phoenix so I’ll be fresh and see how far I can push it. Making it to the bridge/river would be what I really want.
I also don’t know (yet) if I can get in their early. Some of the parks I’ve been to in Utah had an opening and closing time, but the gates were always open so I was able to get in way before sunrise.
I might could do ~30 miles in a day. I just don’t know if I could do anything else the rest of the days 
Ok I just realized it’s 14 miles including coming back, that’s nothing. I can totally do that easily in a day
1 Like
Well Bright Angel Trail is a do-able down-and-back in one long day, but then you’re on a groomed trail with nice switchbacks. Plus the trail was packed with yahoos, especially the last 1000 feet or so to the rim. It had water available at regular intervals and overall it is a fantastic hike.
It doesn’t sound like that’s the experience you’re after though. I had a great rim-to-rim hike but it wasn’t a backcountry experience at all. We hiked light, skipped the tents, took four days to do it, spent a lot of time in the shade, did a bunch of little side explorations and stayed on the main arteries close to water the whole time. Kaibab trail on the North Rim and Bright Angel back up.
IMO if you’re going to hike the Grand Canyon, you want to get to the bottom.
1 Like
That’s how I feel about it as well. I wanna get in it and mingle with the rocks. I wish it was already summer, I love when the sun tries to consume me.
I’m hoping the south kaibab to phantom ranch won’t be packed and it doesn’t seem like it’s a well groomed walking path. At least I hope it’s not!!
This sounds amazing!! I’m definitely going to slowly start procuring the items and knowledge for back packing and plan to do it this summer
1 Like
I mingled with the rocks and accidentally shit on an Anasazi rock settlement of some kind. I was so paranoid about shitting on a rattlesnake or scorpion that my eyes were fixated on finding my ideal spot. Once I finished my business I looked up and saw the bronze plaque and signs of human settlement.
Luckily I’m not cursed or anything.
I wouldn’t count on solitude on any of the main south rim treks, but you probably won’t run into too many Clark Griswolds. I think we only saw two people on the north rim leg before we made it to the first camp, but the north rim is REALLY far away from everything and not viable for any kind of day trip.
One of the reasons we opted for the main arteries was access to potable water. It’s literally tap water in spigots placed along the trail. Great for dunking your shirt and hat/bandanna in and letting evaporation do it’s thing too.
I’ve got all of the backcountry equipment I need but I was more concerned with taking in the scenery than any notions of backcountry purism. Knowing that water was ahead meant that we were fine with 3L camelbacks and no filters. With a clear July forecast we even skipped tents and sleeping bags, opting to sleep outside on simple inflatable pads with light blankets.
My pack was probably only 25-30 lbs at the start. Some of my New England hikes are closer to 50 or even more if I go heavy on water.
If I did it again I might opt for more of a backcountry experience, but the simplicity and convenience of the main arteries was really nice for my first experience in the desert.
1 Like
FWIW - I’ve spent many nights sleeping on a standard blow-up backpacking sleeping pad “car camping” in the back of a 4-Runner. Totally doable!
Oh I’ve slept in some horrible places I did do some looking at found some Airbnb’s for $60 a night though! Still undecided if I’ll go that route or or the van route.
I’m really struggling mentally trying to plan which days I’ll stay where and when I’ll leave for the next destination phantom ranch (@twojarslave) actually had some open spots, but it’s weird staying there it seems because it locks me into that small area and I’m not sure what other hikes there are besides getting there and ribbon falls
Edit: I lied about the phantom ranch habing open spots. I was looking at something different. So now I’ve gotta figure out either another stop to spread the time out, or to designate more days to one of the parks I’m thinking about going to…