By Davy Crockett


This part will cover additional stories found through deeper research, adding to the history shared in found in the new book, Grand Canyon Rim to Rim History.

Overcrowding Concerns

In 1971, because of overcrowding in the inner Canyon, the Park Service started to implement a reservation system for camping. They shared a situation on the Easter weekend when 800 people tried to camp at Phantom Ranch, which only handled 75. Park Superintendent Robert Lovegren (1926-2010), said, “We readily accept quotas on tickets to a theater or sports event. If the performance is sold out, we wait for the next one or the next season. We don’t insist on crowding in to sit on someone’s lap.” Reservations requests were made by mail. In the first month of the system, 1,463 people wanted to reserve 100 camping spots for Easter weekend. They used a lottery system for that weekend.



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Phantom Ranch Chef

John Boggess worked as the chef at Phantom Ranch for ten months and was ready for a new assignment in 1971. But there was a problem, and it looked like he would be trapped at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. “When Boggess showed up here for his cooking job, he weighed 216 pounds. There’s a rigid rule that no one over 200 pounds could ride the mules down the walls of the canyon. Boggess went on a diet, shed 16 pounds and rode down to his job.” But during his ten months down there, he ballooned well above the 200-pound limit. He paid a helicopter pilot to bring him out of the canyon.

1971 Flood Damage

In July 1971, a wall of water washed down Bright Angel Creek and stranded eleven hikers at Phantom Ranch who were on the wrong side of a washout area. They had to spend the night out in the canyon. Rangers came to the rescue the next day, strung ropes across the rain-swollen creek, and helped the hikers on their way.

The washout exposed a 60-foot section of the new trans-canyon water line about a mile above Phantom Ranch. Major breakage points required tools and a giant welder to be brought in by helicopter. The North Kaibab Trail was closed for more than a week to make repairs. Then just a month later, a two-hour storm dumped 1.34 inches on the South Rim and washed out a portion of Bright Angel Trail near Indian Garden and left an inch of water in the Ranger Cabin. Thirty hikers had to go across the Tonto Trail and exit using the Kaibab Trail.

Grand Canyon Noise Pollution

“Noise levels at this once tranquil vacation spot have risen steadily over the years and now rival levels on a busy downtown street, two Northern Arizona University researchers reported.” The 1971 test was conducted on Labor Day weekend and measurements reached as high as 90 decibels in tests on the South Rim, the inner trails and at Phantom Ranch. Most of the noise came from air traffic which was not yet restricted over the corridor region.

Hump to Hole Attempt

On October 26, 1973, Ross Hardwick, age 20, of Anaheim, California, and Scott Baxter, age 27, of San Diego, California, both students at Northern Arizona University started a run from the high point in Arizona, the summit of Mr. Humphreys (12,633 feet) to Phantom Ranch (2,546 feet). They were attempting to complete the run of about 80 miles in less than 24 hours. They didn’t carry food or water, but placed caches along the way and had a support crew on U.S. 180. Unfortunately, they quit less than halfway. Later in 1982, Baxter and Alan Williams accomplished the reverse direction which became known as “Hole to Hump” in 21:26.

Runaway From Inner Canyon

On February 6, 1974, a group of troubled youth from a Texas school went on a hike down Bright Angel Trail, turned west on the Tonto Trail at Indian Garden and camped at Salt Creek three days later.