As printed on the site

Across the canyon to the Weeping Wall

The last four sections on the route page run from the Nankoweap trailhead to the Weeping Wall in Zion National Park. The mileages are 47.1, 34.9, 87.2, and 69.9. Sections 11, 12, and 13 name Grand Canyon National Park on the permit line. Section 14 names Zion National Park.

The route page's low elevation, 1,800 feet, is placed in the Grand Canyon, which is this part of the route. The high point, 11,419 feet on Mount Ellen, is sections earlier. The page still opens with one warning for all of it.

Section 11, down Nankoweap and across by ferry

The route descends the Nankoweap Trail to the floor of the Grand Canyon, then follows the Colorado downstream to a boat ferry that crosses to the south side near the Little Colorado River. From there the Beamer, Escalante, and Tonto trails lead to Horseshoe Mesa, the end of the section. The mileage is 47.1. The ferry is a means of crossing the river, not a landing with a published clock. No operator is named.

The gallery captions slogging through the Little Colorado, and a separate frame of the Great Unconformity in the Grand Canyon. Surprise Valley overlooking Tapeats Creek is also captioned, but Tapeats Creek is section 13, not this ferry crossing. The Little Colorado caption belongs with section 11's crossing. The Tapeats caption belongs later.

Choi's 2008 note says the Nankoweap Trail was dry to Nankoweap Creek, about ten miles from the trailhead, with excellent springs in the creek. That sentence is dated with his canyon notes, not offered here as the trail's condition. The updates note holds the date.

Section 12, Horseshoe Mesa to the North Rim

From Horseshoe Mesa the route follows the Grand View Trail down to the Tonto Trail, then the Tonto to the South Kaibab Trail. It descends the South Kaibab to a footbridge across the Colorado and to Bright Angel Campground. The North Kaibab Trail is then followed to the North Rim, which ends the section. The mileage is 34.9, the shortest figure on the route page. The permit remains Grand Canyon National Park. Bright Angel Campground is named as the near side of the footbridge, not described as a stay.

The gallery captions the North Kaibab Plateau. Section 12's walking is the trail up from the river to the rim, not the plateau roads of section 10 or section 13. The names sit close on the page and describe different ground.

A 2008 water line on section 12 mentions Cottonwood Creek at the start of the section's notes. Cottonwood Canyon Road, back on section 7, is a different Cottonwood, in the monument, on the way to Round Valley Draw. The route page uses both. Mixing them points a reader at the wrong state.

Section 13, the long walk to Hack Canyon

From the North Rim the route follows dirt roads across the Kaibab Plateau to Swamp Point, then a trail down to the Muav Saddle. It goes down Saddle Canyon and Tapeats Creek to Thunder River, climbs the Thunder River Trail into Surprise Valley, and goes down Deer Creek to the Colorado. The river is followed downstream to the mouth of Kanab Creek. The route goes up Kanab Creek, then up Hack Canyon, which ends the section. The mileage is 87.2, the longest on the page.

This Surprise Valley is the one above Deer Creek. It is not the Surprise Valley of section 7, between Navajo Canyon and Reese Canyon. Kanab Creek is captioned in the gallery. So is a bighorn skeleton in Canyonlands, which is not this section. The Kanab caption is the one that belongs with section 13.

The June 2008 note on this section says Willow Spring is marked and designated as highly alkali and radioactive, and it says do not drink. That is Ryan Choi's sentence, at his mile 77.1, on the updates page. It is not a new test, and it is not deleted here. The route page's own section 13 paragraph does not mention Willow Spring. The warning lives in the note.

Section 14, Hack Canyon to the Weeping Wall

Leaving Hack Canyon, the route follows dirt roads across the Arizona Strip and into the Vermilion Cliffs. It descends into the East Fork of the Virgin River and follows that fork to the Fat Man's Misery route, then through the cleft in Checkerboard Mesa. From there it goes up Jolley Gulch and over Cable Mountain, descends the Echo Canyon Trail and then the East Rim Trail to the bottom of Zion Canyon, and ends at the Weeping Wall. The mileage is 69.9. The permit line names Zion National Park.

The gallery captions a cataract in the East Fork of the Virgin, a slot canyon in the Zion backcountry, and Zion National Park as its own frame. Choi's July 2008 note says to use extreme caution climbing Fat Man's Misery, which he calls very loose and unstable, and he describes getting around a small falls wet. He also writes that bulldozed stock tanks on the way to Yellowstone Spring may hold muddy water, and he asks that a rancher's water system at that spring be respected. Those sentences are the note's. The route page names the route and not the tanks.

The previous note ends at the Nankoweap trailhead, where section 11 starts. The six-parks note ends its park list in Zion, which is this Weeping Wall.

Ferries, footbridges, and what the page does not schedule

Two river crossings are printed, and they are not the same. Section 11 uses a boat ferry near the Little Colorado. Section 12 uses a footbridge at the bottom of the South Kaibab, by Bright Angel Campground. The page does not give a time, a fare, or a backup if either crossing is unavailable. Saying more would be invention.

The maps page links overviews for sections 11 through 14. The drawing files are not being served. The links page points at Grand Canyon National Park and Zion National Park, and at trail journals, for material these paragraphs do not contain.

The mileage table is the place to see 47.1, 34.9, 87.2, and 69.9 beside the earlier sections. Section 12's short mileage includes a descent to the river and a climb to the North Rim. The warning does not exempt it. Section 11's ferry is near the Little Colorado. Section 12's footbridge is by Bright Angel Campground. The page prints both crossings and schedules neither. No fare is printed either.

Questions

How does the route page cross the Colorado?

Section 11 says a boat ferry is used near the Little Colorado. Section 12 says a footbridge crosses the river at the bottom of the South Kaibab, by Bright Angel Campground. No schedule is printed for either.

What does the 2008 note say about Willow Spring?

On section 13, Ryan Choi's June 2008 note says Willow Spring is marked as highly alkali and radioactive, and says do not drink. The route page's section paragraph does not mention the spring. The sentence is the note's, and it is old.

Where does the route page end?

At the Weeping Wall, at the bottom of Zion Canyon, after the Echo Canyon Trail and the East Rim Trail. Section 14 is 69.9 miles from Hack Canyon, and the permit line names Zion National Park.