Grand Canyon Trust Volunteers, a program to help restore ecological and archeological resources on eh Colorado Plateau
Grand Canyon Volunteers : Connect, discover, conserve, restore

General Info

Sponsors: Grand Canyon Trust, Grand Canyon Field Institute
Dates: October 2 - 9, 2008
Leader: Kate Watters, Wendy Hodgson
Difficulty: Strenuous

Accommodations

Camping

Gear

You provide camping and hiking gear.

We provide transportation.

Comments

This trip is a partnership with Grand Canyon Field Institute and costs $595. Click here to sign up.

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Nankoweap Creek Botanical Backpack Trip
October 2 - 9

Overview

Nankoweap Creek is one of the foremost tributaries in the Grand Canyon, traveling some 12 miles from the north rim to the Colorado River. The Nankoweap area harbors a unique flora with influences from the Great Basin and Mohave/Sonoran deserts colliding in a narrow canyon. This amazing riparian ecosystem was once overrun with tamarisk (Tamarisk ramosissima), an invasive tree that robs water from native plants and dominates western watersheds.

Join staff from the Grand Canyon Trust and the Desert Botanical Garden to complete tamarisk follow-up removal work in Nankoweap's main creek and many distinctive tributaries. Take part in botanical inventory and collecting activities to expand current knowledge of Grand Canyon's unique flora.

Explore the botanical gems that reside in remote springs and tributaries of Nankoweap Creek while protecting this riparian refuge from tamarisk.

This trip is a partnership with Grand Canyon Field Institute (GCFI) and costs $595. You need to register with GCFI; click here to sign up.

Itinerary

Pre-trip: Friday night (Optional) Meet at 5pm at Kane Ranch Headquarters in House Rock Valley for dinner and orientation. Spend the night.
Day 1: Thursday Meet at Kane Ranch Headquarters. Introductions and classroom orientation, carpool to trailhead. Hike to Marion Point.
Day 2: Friday Descend remaining distance on trail to Nankoweap Creek. Establish 1st basecamp.
Day 3: Saturday Tamarisk control/botanical inventory and dayhike to the Colorado River.
Day 4: Sunday Tamarisk control/botanical inventory and relocate to 2nd basecamp.
Day 5: Monday Exploratory hike upstream with tamarisk control/botanical inventory along the way.
Day 6:Tuesday Exploratory hike upstream with tamarisk control/botanical inventory along the way.
Day 7:Wednesday Begin acsent of the Nankoweap Trail to Tilted Mesa.
Day 8:Thursday Ascend the remaining distance on the Nankoweap Trail to the rim and wrap up session.
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