Dropping into Cove Canyon

While thousands of boaters float down the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon every year, dozens of side canyons branching off the river receive much less attention. During my recent float trip, we explored several technical canyons. Because of the small amount of daylight in late November and December in the Canyon, side trips required an early start and several ended by headlamp in the dark. My favorite side trip was in Cove Canyon which comes into the Colorado around river mile 175. From our camp at the mouth of Cove Canyon six of us departed before first light. A bit over 12 hours later we made our way back into camp after navigating the final plunge pool and rappell via headlamp.

Ryan Audett trekking upslope from the Colorado River towards the canyon rim early in the morning.

One of the many cliff bands we passed through to reach the canyon rim before we could traverse to the head of Cove Canyon.

A view from the top. Cove Canyon falls away on the right. After reaching the rim we traversed several miles of beautiful slickrock to reach the entrance to Cove Canyon.

After several weeks on the river at a much lower elevation, the sight of juniper trees was a novel one.

Looking down into Cove Canyon during our approach to its head from the rim.

Ian Mallinson on one of the first rappells of the day which dropped over a series of undercut ledges before a free hanging section into a dry plung pool below.

A tricky rappell for canyoneer Ryan Audett in Cove Canyon, which feeds into the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon, Arizona.

Stephanie Williams rappelling next two a hanging garden in Cove Canyon, a tributary of the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon, Arizona.

Ian on a free handing section of a rappell which took us down next to a trickling waterfall and beautiful hanging garden.

Stephanie setting up to lower past an undercut section of a rappell.

Marion Biddle looks on from the far right as Stephanie descends past the lip.

Canyoneer descending a deep limestone slot in Cove Canyon, Arizona.

Stephanie Williams descending a step section of limestone. Cove Canyon, Arizona.

Ryan descending a steep step into a plung pool (hidden by the lip in front of it) while Lesley McClurg looks on.

Canyoneer Lesley McClurg on rappell in Cove Canyon, Arizona.

Marion, geared up in a dry suit for this rappell which ended in a pool of water below.

Descending a deep slot in a limestone layer towards a pool of water in Cove Canyon, a tributary of the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon, Arizona.

Downclimbing via headlamp light, Ian eases his way into the last pool of water, his dry bag floating nearby.

Ryan and Marion placing a nut as a back up to the existing rappell anchor for the last rappell of the route--two rocks jammed into horizontal crevise close to the lip of the drop. We backed up many of the exisiting natural rappell anchors on the route, sending one of our lighter members down last who would clean the extra gear before descending themselves.

A campfire, cold beers, and dinner prepared by our expedition mates waited for us back at camp along the river. All and all an amazing day!

The book GRAND CANYONEERING, by Todd Martin, was an invaluable resource for all our canyoneering adventures on the river. I highly recomend this book for anyone looking for some awesome canyon adventures while floating the Grand Canyon! It is extremely well researched and organized. The writing is both clear and engaging.

Grand Canyon Wildlife, Birds, and Tracks

Wildlife and signs of wild animals abound along the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon. The silty banks of the river hold the tracks of many species large and small while birds, from tiny canyon wrens to California Condors can be spotted on the water, in the brush or soaring above the canyon walls. Here is a little bit of what I found on my recent float trip down the river.

Animal Tracks in the Grand Canyon

Footprints of a wild animals were abundant along the banks of the Colorado river. Here are a bunch of wildlife tracks I took while on the river along with a few clues on how to tell what they are!

 Grand Canyon Birds

Though I am not much of a birder I amassed a species list of about 35 birds during my November-December trip down the Canyon. The abundance and diversity of birds definately increased towards the end of the trip. Here are a few I managed to snap a photo of.

A great blue heron takes flight along the Colorado River. Grand Canyon, Arizona.

Ross’s x Snow goose hybrid. We saw a single pair on the river. They had probably stopped during their southern fall migration.

Canyon Wrens were one of the most common birds to see or hear along much of the river. Their beatiful lyrical song echoeing off the canyon walls was one of the most amazing sounds on the river. Grand Canyon, Arizona.

A common raven looks out from a perch on a sandstone ledge. Grand Canyon, Arizona.

A first winter white-crowned sparrow. Grand Canyon, Arizona.

Rock wren. Grand Canyon, Arizona.

Patience and careful observation revealed this ruby-crowned kinglet in the brush up a side canyon. Grand Canyon, Arizona.

See more of my Bird Photography here!

Grand Canyon Mammals

While footprints revealed the presence of a great many more species of mammals than we actually had live sightings of our party saw bighorn sheep on several occasions and had some notable interactions with ringtails. Perhaps most unusual was the discovery of a ringtail in one of our party's tent when he retired for the evening!

A bighorn sheep ram foraging along the shore of the Colorado River. Grand Canyon, Arizona.

A group of bighorn sheep ewes in Tuckup Canyon, a tributary to the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon, Arizona.

Check out more of my mammal photography here!