Navigated a flash flood on the Tonto Trail last month

I was about 4 miles east of Horseshoe Mesa on the Tonto Trail in Grand Canyon when a sudden downpour turned a normally dry wash into a knee-deep torrent. Water came up fast, like within 10 minutes, and I had to scramble up a rocky slope to higher ground with my pack half open. I ended up waiting it out for about 45 minutes, watching the water drop back down, and then found a way around the muddy mess by cutting up to a higher bench. The route was totally different than what I had on my map, but it worked out without losing too much time. Has anyone else had to bail on a marked trail because of surprise weather?

2 comments

2 Comments

thomas_johnson359d ago

Flash floods on the Tonto are no joke. That wash is a death trap. I think your real problem wasn't the rain, it was trusting a map that old. The trail shifts every monsoon season. That route you found onto the higher bench is probably the new permanent trail now.

the_aaron9d ago

Man, thats the thing that gets me about maps in general these days. People treat them like gospel truth when really they're just someone's best guess from last season. Reminds me of how everyone relies on GPS to get them through a neighborhood that got re-routed three years ago. @thomas_johnson35 you're right about the monsoon thing too. Ive seen trails wash out overnight and suddenly the old route is just a pile of rocks. The real skill isnt reading a map, its knowing when to throw it out the window. That bench you found probably became the trail because water said so. Nature doesnt care about your paper.