We made it!
There are few things in life that feel as good as the first stretch the morning after a particularly invigorating yoga class. What does not feel so good is the wake up stretch the morning after climbing from the bottom of the Grand Canyon to the top – ouch! But to say that the hike is worth it is a gross understatement. It is more than worth it. After a night down at the Bright Angel Campground (see the post here about our hike down the South Kaibab Trail to the campground at the bottom of the Grand Canyon!), we were headed back up to climb out of the canyon.
Wake up time was 5:15am, we packed up the tent and our packs, brushed our teeth, said our goodbyes to the campsite and headed off on the trail at a 6am start. The first stop was to cross the suspension bridge over the Colorado River to get to the Bright Angel trailhead and start the long climb. What a climb it was – 4,380 feet of elevation gained over 9.5 miles. There are two really killer parts of this hike – Devil’s Corkscrew fairly early in the hike and the last four miles of the hike up endless switchbacks to get to the rim. Slow and steady we trudged up Devil’s Corkscrew and were rewarded time and again with such beautiful views of the canyon below that we’d just climbed.
While it was definitely a tough climb, we actually didn’t think Devil’s Corkscrew was too bad. I suppose it’s good to set your expectations low and be rewarded! We just took the trudging slow and soaked in all the beautiful views.
About halfway up the hike is Indian Garden, a campground surrounding a spring, which is so lovingly shaded by huge trees – heaven in the middle of the long climb. We refueled with a powerbar, filled up our water, and were off again to climb up the second part of the hike.
Indian Garden
You gain a new respect for yourself on a hike like this. It is an indescribable feeling to reach the rim of the canyon and peer back down toward its floor (though you can’t actually see the bottom of the canyon from the rim) and know that you just climbed your way out of there – 4,400 feet of elevation climbed, inch by inch, dragging your feet along and willing yourself not to look up at all the steps you still have to take.
Beautiful rocks along the trail.
Happy to be about halfway through the hike!
We passed a few people along the trail, had a few people pass us, and stopped to chat with a handful of particularly friendly hikers. But mostly we were on our own to absorb the beauty of the place and enjoy the hike to the sounds of the Canyon Wren chirping and the Ravens’ crows echoing against the walls of the canyon.
We ran into our friends Kate and Jake about 3/4 of the way up the trail! They are on their honeymoon, roadtripping around northern Arizona and southern Utah, and we were lucky enough to run into their smiling faces in the Grand Canyon!
Looking up to the wall that we would have to scale.
The last 4 miles are KILLER. Aside from summiting Kilimanjaro, I have never walked a mile so slow in my entire life as I did that last mile. Switchback after switchback after switchback, it was tortuous to look up to the rim and convince yourself that somehow we were going to make it up there.
But make it we did, and we sped up a little bit once we realized that we were just about on track to hike it in under 6 hours. The competitive crazy person in me somehow found a little bit more energy to pick up the pace at the very end. The beer that was waiting for us probably also had something to do with the newfound energy. And we made it just before noon – just under 6 hours after we’d started. What an amazing feeling it was when we reached the rim and peered back to the bottom of the canyon to marvel at the fact that we had just climbed our way out. The human body is capable of some pretty amazing things, and this is one of my favorite feats so far.
Bright Angel Campground on the banks of the Colorado River and Bright Angel Stream
The Bright Angel Campgrounds are lovely – the sites sit along the banks of the Bright Angel Stream, in two rows of closely situated campsites. You won’t have any privacy in your campsite, but the location is beautiful and well situated for exploring the inner canyons. Beware the many pudgy squirrels darting from backpack to backpack trying to steal some water and snacks. The bathrooms are basic but have flush toilets, hand soap and a couple small mirrors, so that’s about all you need. If you choose to go a bit more luxurious, you can try to get a spot in the Phantom Ranch bunkhouses or cabins – I’ve heard you need reservations a year in advance, but we did run into two lucky guys who happened to slip in the day before in a cancelled reservation spot. We enjoyed a beer in the little cantina in Phantom Ranch (that Tecate never tasted so good!), and sent a postcard to our niece and nephew by mule. Phantom Ranch also serves up breakfast and dinner (though at very steep prices) and packed lunches, and if you simply can’t stand to carry your pack out of the canyon, you can send it by mule up the trail at a rate of $77 for a 30 lb. pack. Probably worth it to many who packed too much for the trip!
Lunch after an arduous hike down the South Kaibab Trail
Hiking to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back is a spiritual experience. It forces you to your physical limits, encourages you to exceed expectations, and rewards you with breathtakingly beautiful views into the very core of the Earth. The rocks in the Grand Canyon are some of the oldest exposed rocks on the planet, which is difficult to fully comprehend. Our hike out of the Grand Canyon on the Bright Angel Trail happened to be on Earth Day, what an inspiring and humbling way to celebrate the Earth. And now we’ve decided that we need to do the Rim to Rim hike – just added it to our list of things to do and places to visit. Funny how the more things we check off our list, the more we add to it. Somehow it keeps getting longer.
BY Jackie
LOCATION Grand Canyon, Arizona
