The Most Overhyped Section of the Hayduke - Hayduke Trail Thru Hike 15

The Hayduke Trail is an 850 mile hiking route across Utah and Northern Arizona, spanning from Arches National Park all the way to Zion National Park! In the process of this multi month thru hike you get to spend more than 250 miles within the Grand Canyon. One of the most spectacular places on earth, and home to the hardest conditions and sections of this entire trip

Hayduke Trail Gear List:
Shorts - http://tinyurl.com/ykdx7fwe
Hat - http://tinyurl.com/5bwua2cy
Shirt - https://amzn.to/4a9cRaU
Shoes - https://amzn.to/3wvKKnm
Watch - https://amzn.to/3mz7ePp

Backpack - http://tinyurl.com/ykhnu4fh
Pack Liner - http://tinyurl.com/2p8uvn7w
Quilt - https://tinyurl.com/yc2h5d54
Shelter - https://tinyurl.com/mv9f66r2
Foam Pad - http://tinyurl.com/3wn5zuh2
Ground Sheet - http://tinyurl.com/3yxhhbbn
Stakes - https://amzn.to/3TXTMTF

Rain Jacket - http://tinyurl.com/bdadk452
Fleece - http://tinyurl.com/4hxdpden
Beanie - http://tinyurl.com/3ynkyca3
Wind Pants - https://tinyurl.com/mtdxxztb
Socks - https://amzn.to/3DDlk73
Sunglasses - https://tinyurl.com/mrx785s6

Water Bladder - https://amzn.to/3V5zskj (Carrying 6L)
Water Filter - https://amzn.to/3UQXI9t
Spoon - https://amzn.to/3cA3mVG

Flashlight - http://tinyurl.com/5n6jkrmd
Battery - Ravpower PD Pioneer 20,000mah 60w
Charger - Ravpower PD Pioneer 30w 2-port
Camera - https://amzn.to/3wjb6sG
Lens - https://amzn.to/3IRQV8q
Microphone - https://amzn.to/4cBW6GY
Camera Clip - https://amzn.to/4cvIgpT
Watch Charger - https://amzn.to/3PJ5zm3

Bidet - https://tinyurl.com/5hav84xd
Toothbrush - https://amzn.to/3tkN4GY
Knife - https://amzn.to/3r3psb7
Trowel - https://amzn.to/3u6VIMr
Blister Tape - https://amzn.to/3qZ55f9
Chaffe Cream - https://amzn.to/3bNorNu
Wallet - http://tinyurl.com/3bbsup83

Our route takes us across the Grand Canyon three times total, from rim to rim. For our second crossing we are going from the south rim of the grand canyon to the north on the popular trails, about 27 miles with roughly 6,000 feet of elevation gain. Taking the bright angel trail down to phantom ranch where temperatures are about 30 degrees hotter than up on the rim, for us it was 120 degrees! A short side trip to Ribbon Falls, one of the most beautiful waterfalls ever. Then a not so quick hike up the north kaibab trail to the north rim of the grand canyon. We grab our resupply from the small store, and continue west on dirt roads before descending into the canyon for a third time

Saddle Canyon is known as the hardest section of the entire 850 mile Hayduke Trail. It is only 11 miles in length but many report that they were only able to hike 5 or 6 miles in a full hiking day while going through it. It is said that it combines every difficult thing from every past section of this thru hike all into one condensed monster of a canyon. Many people just outright skip saddle canyon because of this, and many have had to turn around and come back up it entirely because it was too difficult!

As you can tell this section is highly talked about, feared, and maybe.... extremely overhyped. In the end I feel like if you've made it this far on trail, saddle canyon should be no problem. It's very slow, 1mph at most, but I never felt like it was too difficult. Take your time, come prepared with trip reports and beta saved on your phone, and you'll be fine! It is hard, it is slow, and it is very tricky, but so is the entire hayduke. Embrace it and have fun

One big thing of note though is the section to immediately follow saddle, the tapeats creek. Saddle canyon intersects the tapeats which is named a creek... but early in the season it can be a raging river flowing down a tight canyon, which you have to cross many times! It can be totally impossible to do safely early in the year or after a heavy winter. So that is what truly makes this section a problem, the tapeats, and not saddle. Unfortunately there is no way to know for sure if tapeats is crossable unless someone else has already tried it, and there is no bailout point. So if you were to go all the way down to see for yourself, you may find yourself having to turn around and go all the way back! BEWARE! Ask rangers if they know anything, see if any other haydukers have been down there.

I will say that saddle canyon would be more difficult as an east bounder than it is for those who are on their way west to zion. Many of the bypasses around big obstacles are obvious for the west bounder, but not while traveling east. Some obstacles like the plunge pools would also be much harder to go up, than it was for us going down.

If you'd like more info about me, my hiking, or painting:
https://www.jupiterhikes.com
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