“In the Grand Canyon, Arizona has a natural wonder which is in kind absolutely unparalleled throughout the rest of the world. … Leave it as it is. You cannot improve on it. The ages have been at work on it, and man can only mar it.” – Theodore Roosevelt
The Grand Canyon is one of my favorite places. Ryan and I have been to the Park a couple of times before, so when we decided to head back on this trip, we knew that we wanted to hike all the way down to the bottom of the canyon, which we hadn’t been able to do before. We had hoped to be able to visit the North Rim, which is the side of the canyon that’s harder to get to and therefore less crowded, but it isn’t open until mid-May, so South Rim it was! We had to get permits for camping down in the canyon (more on that process in the next post), so while we were waiting for our chance to head down to the Colorado River at the bottom, we enjoyed some shorter hikes at the rim and part of the way down into the Canyon. The day before the big hike on the South Kaibab Trail, we hiked part of the Hermit Trail. I had bought a book about the National Parks with recommendations from park rangers and other park officials for hiking and camping that is off the beaten path and out of the way of the main hordes of tourists and this Hermit Trail was one of the recommended hikes.
To get to the trailhead, you have to take the bus all the way out to Hermit’s Rest, the last stop on the western part of the South Rim, and then start the hike from there. In addition to being pretty out of the way of the main throng of people, it’s also less maintained than many of the other trails in the Park so it’s pretty much guaranteed to be less crowded.
We hiked about 2.5 miles down (5 miles round trip) to the Santa Maria Springs – a little spring seeping out of the rock, where there is the loveliest little rest house with a couple of benches and wonderful shade to take a break from the hot sun. The elevation change down to the springs was 1,760 feet, so it was certain a steep hike, but absolutely breathtaking and so nice to be able to hike in peace without too many others on the trail. We maybe saw a total of 5 people in the few hours that we were hiking. We chatted for quite a while with a friendly, gregarious retired psychology professor from Santa Barbara who gave us invaluable recommendations for other hikes and activities in the northern Arizona and southern Utah areas that we’ll be visiting soon.
The trail is definitely not for the novice hiker, since it is pretty steep, and while it may not be so bad getting down, it’s quite another story climbing back up in the glaring sunshine. But if you’re up for an adventure, would like a hike that’s off the beaten path, and don’t mind scrambling over some rougher terrain (though not so bad at all), then this is a great hike.
I highly recommend the Hermit Trail for any of you who are looking for something that’s less traveled and, perhaps because it’s less crowded, more rewarding. You can also follow that trail all the way to the bottom of the canyon to the Hermit Creek campground for an overnight stay down in the depths of the Grand Canyon. Perhaps we’ll do that route the next time we camp down at the bottom, which is certainly going to be a repeat bucket list item. More on our hike down the South Kaibab and Bright Angel Trails in the next post!
BY Jackie
LOCATION Grand Canyon, Arizona, Hermit Trail
