The Grand canyon is home to some of the most amazing geological anomalies, features, and rugged landscapes that have ever existed on the planet. The Colorado river carves its way through the rock and continues to bring some of the most adventurous people seeking solitude in a very rugged environment.

Canyoneering has been becoming quite the popular sport in the grand canyon and there are a number of routes that people can visit but they come with quite the ticket of admission. 

There are a number of routes that take days to accomplish while descending over 3000ft. with heavy packs, camping on the route, pack rafting down the Colorado river, and making a hearty exit back to the rim.

Our group decided to go after one of the only " Day trips" in the grand canyon called Tatahoysa Canyon.  It is rated as a 3BIV for its time commitment but the approach will be down a steep chute in 100 degree temps.

We made it to the Trailhead at around 2am after over 20 miles of high clearance dirt roads, that was more like a maze into the darkness, than a road to the trailhead.  Once we made it there, we set up camp and got an early start the following morning.

After about 3 hours of sleep, we were heading down the chute that was filled with loose scrambling and some boulder hopping around a few draws and spurs until we got to the top of Tatahoysa canyon.

The first drop was around 40-50ft into the drainage of the redwall limestone. 

There were a couple small caves in the walls that did not appear to go anywhere and were also in some crumbly layers, so I did not pursue them in detail. 

The following drops were around 30ft 20ft, and 30ft., before the drainage from the original chute came into the canyon.

This would be a good escape and also a good sneak route if anyone wanted to get to the heart of the canyon itself.

As we continued down the canyon the redwall limestone became a bit more interesting with the layers of sediment in between the rock and the drops became a bit more dramatic. 

We encountered a 150 that had some great views over looking the rest of the canyon. 

Then we had another 150 ft. drop that brought us closer to the Colorado river.  This made for some amazing views of the river below. 

Next we had a 90 footer than the final 150 footer to the bottom. 

By the time we got to the last rap, the temperature reading on my watch was 109 degrees!!! It was really hot and the 40 degree temps of the Colorado river sounded so refreshing !!!

It was really freaking hot out and we were fully exposed to the sun when we rapped off the last anchor onto a free hanging 150ft drop to the bottom . 

The last drop was so hot, that I could hear the squrl sizzle on the rope a bit as I descended to the bottom. 

Once we got to the bottom James and Scott carefully placed the rope so that it would not get stuck in the shitty looking crack, with success.  Shortly after, we all worked our way over to the river and had a much needed bath in the freezing cold water. 

Now that water was so cold, that the ambient temp must have dropped a good 10-15 degrees!

We pumped a bunch of water and rested as the sun baked away into the day while we contemplated our escape back tot he rim. 

Our concern was hiking up a 45-55 degree slope in 110 degree heat.  Yes we had water but we would run out of that quickly and could find ourselves in a difficult situation. 

Instead, we timed the shade right and followed the shade up the mountain to take advantage of as much light as possible and to eliminate as much heat as possible. 

We all got freezing cold in the Colorado river before the initial hike up which helped a bit and had coldwater to drink which was even better. 

We continued to hike up and found a great trail on the way out which worked out fantastically. 

Eventually we made it back to the head of the canyon just as night was upon us and headed up and out of the chute to the rim in darkness. 

This was quite the interesting hike as we found ourselves hiking up dry washes where rocks had a high potential to tumble down upon us. 

The end was in site and soon enough, we were at the top! What an incredible day!

Since it was hot out, we spent more time at the Colorado river and went car to car in 10 hours which is not bad at all, knowing the conditions we were in for the day.