Grand Canyon MUni

Ben,
Did anyone get back to you on this or did you ride around or in the
grand canyon when you were there?? Lindsey and I will be going to
Arizona next weekend and taking a day or two at the Grand Canyon.

Has anyone hiked down the grand canyon on the south rim side? If you
have, how were the trails, like would they be ridable? Too dangerous?

I called and asked if I could unicycle down the trails of the grand
canyon and he had to ask someone else cause he really had no idea! He
got back to me and said no, but after further researching, all I could
find is that the rules state no bicycles are allowed! So
technically, unicycles are OK!!! Therefore, if that's the case I think
we might take our chances and "ask for forgiveness" vs. "asking for
permission". But I want to make sure that the trails would be ridable
before bringing the Muni's with us on the plane...so please if you've
been there and hiked down, is it a good idea to ride down the trail
into the grand canyon??

I think we'd make it down the trail much faster than riding, then be
able to walk back up the trail pushing/carrying the muni's. What do
people think??


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Sedona and Flagstaff have a bunch of good trails. Check out some of the
descriptions he

http://tinyurl.com/asukf


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The trails down into Grand Canyon would make awesome unicycle descents.
But they are highly illegal and I do not recommend you attempt it. They
are very prone to erosion, and get high traffic from hikers (and/or
mules) all year round. There are lots of ways to fall to your death in
and around the Grand Canyon! Jacquie bought a book when we were there
last, called Death In The Canyon. It chronicles every recorded death
there from the earliest (European) explorers to the tourists, rafters
and hikers of today.

If you hike it use EXTREME CAUTION. The Grand Canyon is like climbing a
mountain in reverse. Tempeeratures are 20 degrees higher below the rim,
and of course the return hike is the hard part. Hiking to the bottom is
a piece of cake, but will beat up your quads pretty good. The hike back
out may kill you. The most common deaths in the canyon are from hikers
to don't bring enough water, eventually hallucenate, get lost and make
other mistakes.

My pictures:
http://unicycling.smugmug.com/gallery/146871/1/5402276


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Wow, it's funny to see this thread that I posted such a long time ago. I
didn't end up bringing my uni on that trip, but I did do a little
mountain biking on a rented bike on some very good trails in Sedona.
Like John said, I wouldn't recommend trying to ride in to the Grand
Canyon, at least on the touristy south rim. They seemed pretty serious
about not letting any wheeled vehicles around there.

But certainly look in to other trails in the area, I'm sure there are
some good ones.

Ben


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That is funny to see a thread from so long ago resurrected. As you found
out, Sedona has great trails. We spent 4 days there doing Muni back in
Nov, 2003. Here are the photos:
http://nhoover.smugmug.com/gallery/1079421

---Nathan


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johnfoss wrote:
The trails down into Grand Canyon would make awesome unicycle descents.
But they are highly illegal and I do not recommend you attempt it. They
are very prone to erosion, and get high traffic from hikers (and/or
mules) all year round.

If you hike it use EXTREME CAUTION. The Grand Canyon is like climbing a
mountain in reverse.



John, thanks for the info. Questions; Did you hike down into the grand
canyon or has anyone else? What is highly illegal??? Don't ya think
mules would erode the trail more than unicycles? We are going in a week
in a half so there shouldn't be a ton of toursists so do you think we
could get away with it??

The reason I posted on this old thread is because I used the search
function first to see if there was anything related to the grand canyon
and found this thread. So instead of creating a new one (like a lot of
people do) I just added to this one!


--
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Jamey (formerly known as tuna6869)

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unicycle6869 wrote:
Did you hike down into the grand canyon or has anyone else? What is
highly illegal??? Don't ya think mules would erode the trail more than
unicycles? We are going in a week in a half so there shouldn't be a ton
of toursists so do you think we could get away with it??


We did a day tour that took us about 1/4 mile down the trail the mules
use. Just a taste. Our guide mentioned that 90% of canyon visitors
never set foot below the rim, so I thought that was pretty cool. Later
on we walked a little bit down one of the steeper trails. Hiking the
whole thing is generally an all-day affair, and I don't recommend it
unless you've hiked up several thousand feet before. Even halfway (to
the mule lunch stop) would be quite the strenuous return.

Yes, not only would mules create more erosion than non-braked
unicycles, they poop as they go. I always like to remind people of this
when campaigning for cyclists rights on horsie trails. Hardly anyone I
know does that.

But erosion isn't the issue. The issue is safety, liability and
legality in America's national parks. If you did try to ride the trails
in the canyon, DO expect to be caught, detained and prosecuted to the
maximum extent of the law. This is one of those situations where "when
in doubt, be a bicycle."

I will back you up if you want to start a campaign to legalize such
trails for cycling (or just unicycling), but please wait until it's
legal. Don't make us look bad!

I think it would be perfectly legal to ride up in the rim areas, but in
general the rule is that cycling is only allowed on pavement. The same
is true in Yellowstone, with a few exceptions. One of which I rode on
so I can say I rode in Yellowstone. While on this deserted (closed
gate) dirt road, I startled a huge elk, and exchanged stares with a
coyote. Pretty cool.



The reason I posted on this old thread is because I used the search
function first to see if there was anything related to the grand canyon
and found this thread.


Kudos to you for setting a good example! When I started reading this I
wondered why Ben was unsure about bringing his unicycle on a plane.
Then when he mentioned 16 it still took me a moment to figure out to
check the date!


--
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John Foss
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I did a double-take on Ben's age too!

What sends you to PA, Ben?


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The Grand Canyon is made for hiking, enjoy it that way. Besides, the
uphill would kill ya. If you are looking for MUni in the area, PM me
and I will get in touch with the hardcore Flagstaff MUni gang.


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aspenmike
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Don't bring your unicycle to ride down the grand canyon, not only is it
against their "don't erode what's left of the trails" policy, but it
would be extremely hard. They have logs in the path every ten feet or
so to stop erosion and each one is followed by a foot drop from all of
the people that have walked on it before you. Just hike it, don't try
to ride it.

If you are going all the way to the bottom though, I suggest you take
the bright angel trail, at least on the way back up. It's awesome.


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