A January Hike

17 January 1987.  Grand Canyon, Arizona.  Hiked down to Horseshoe Mesa with Gary.  Our original plan was a with a club trip down the Old Hance Trail, looping back up to the mesa and climbing out on the Grandview Trail.  A winter storm led everyone else to drop out.  Gary and I took off early this morning from Phoenix to see if we could get on to the mesa walking  the Grandview Trail.  The road from Flagstaff to the South Rim was snowy in places but the weather was otherwise okay. 

The day is bright, sunny and cold as we head down Grandview.  We break new snow--slow going but  fairly easy otherwise.  We have the mesa to ourselves and spend the afternoon exploring.  The Cave of the Dome is located on the western rim of the mesa. We crawl trough the entrance and explore the interior.  It's warm inside.  Our lights do not provide much illumination.  Later on we poke about the old mine on the eastern side.  The entrance is blocked; we can get through but we don't go far since the shaft is unstable with unmarked vertical drops.  We eat an early dinner and dive into our sleeping bags in the last light of day.  The temperature is 29 degrees and falling at sundown.

 (from the journals)