“In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.” – John Muir
Ryan and I have been to the Grand Canyon a couple of times before and have hiked down partway into the canyon, but the experience of hiking all the way to the bottom, popping a tent and exploring the banks of the Colorado River and the other myriad canyons that are inside of the Grand Canyon, and then climbing step by step back up to the rim has changed my perspective on something that I already loved.
There comes a new respect and a new outlook, a changed attitude and appreciation for such a special and unique part of the world. Particularly when you stop to think that those stones that you’re meandering by, touching every once in a while, are some of the oldest exposed stones in the entire world. On the entire planet. It’s pretty mind blowing if you take the time to truly think about it. The problem is that few people do take the time.
And we’re off!
We hiked down the South Kaibab Trail from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, camped at the Bright Angel Campgrounds for one night and then hiked back up the Bright Angel Trail the next day – this is a fairly common route for those adventurous few who actually hike to the bottom. And the lucky few because it’s not easy to get a permit to hike down there, and it’s even harder to get a room or a bunk at the Phantom Ranch at the bottom. It it likely slightly easier to get a camping permit at one of the other campsites at the bottom of the canyon (Indian Garden, Hermit’s Creek, etc.), but not much so.
Ooh-Aah Point
We did not have advance reservations so as soon as we arrived at the Grand Canyon, we went to the Backcountry Office to put our name in the hat for a permit. On the first morning, we pulled #20 in line (Ryan got up and headed over to the office super early, before it even opened, to get in line), and they doled out 18 campsites that day, so we were #2 in line for the next day. That meant that we were awarded a permit to camp at Bright Angel the third day that we were there – and luckily for us we can afford to wait around a few days for this opportunity. In the meantime we enjoyed the Rim Trail and wandering around the visitor centers and the taking in all the interpretive and informational signs (love those informative signs!). I was also fighting off a pretty bad cold so it was nice to have a couple of days to rest up and get better before we did our big hike to the bottom.
The South Kaibab Trail is something else – quite tough (especially on the knees!) but so rewarding. It’s a steep trail (with total elevation loss of 4,860 feet) and there is nowhere to refill your water along the way, so you’ve got to fill up at the top and make sure you have enough for the entire trek, especially on a hot day. They recommend 2-3 liters of water per person on this hike and they mean business. We met a park ranger on the way down the trail who was checking in with everyone who hiked down to make sure they had enough water, food and experience to hike the trail, particularly those folks who were going to hike part of the way down and then turn around to ascend back to the rim the same day. Because remember – hiking down is the easy part, it’s that climb back to the top that is killer, and often underestimated. The ranger was turning people around if they weren’t properly prepared for the hike, and good for them – I’m sure that act saves not a few helicopter rescues for those hikers who get exhausted or dehydrated and can’t make it back.
On the hike, you pass by a few really beautiful view points, Ooh Aah Point and Skeleton Point, and the views of the canyon somehow get better and better as you descend into the canyon – it’s hard to believe that’s possible. The colors become more vibrant from inside the canyon; the reds, greens, oranges, yellows, purples all become more vivid and stunning. It’s a peaceful hike, particularly once you get down below Skeleton Point, where the other hikers start to disappear as most of them will turn back to head up to the rim instead of going the full distance to the river. You do have to step aside sometimes for the mules to pass by – they are sometimes carrying passengers down to the bottom, and other times carrying supplies and mail to and from Phantom Ranch at the bottom of the Canyon.
Finally – the Colorado is in view and the campgrounds are in sight!
Rafters heading under the Black Bridge near the Bright Angel Campgrounds
We hiked for 7 miles to get to the campground, and were so thankful to have arrived at the bottom. The hike was really tough on the knees (and the toes – no matter how well your boots fit, when you’re heading down such a steep trail inevitably your toes get jammed up against the front of your boots!). My legs were getting pretty unsteady towards the end of the hike, so I was glad to cross over the Black Bridge and head down into the campgrounds. We arrived fairly early in the day because we started pretty early, and the hike down took about 3.5 hours. So we unlaced our boots (hallelujah!), threw off our packs and pitched a tent in our campsite. The campsites are first come first served so we chose a spot close-ish to the bathrooms, but not too close, and a spot with some shade since it was so hot and sunny down at the bottom. We changed out of our sweaty hiking gear and into shorts and headed out to explore a bit.
Phantom Ranch bunkhouses
Ryan trying to catch an elusive trout in the Bright Angel Stream
We chatted with the rangers for a while and grabbed our fishing gear to see if we could catch anything in the Bright Angel Stream. We hiked another mile or so into Phantom Canyon upstream where the ranger had said we may have a good shot at catching a trout, though they hadn’t heard of anyone catching any trout in the last 2 months. We needed to avoid catching the Flannel-mouthed Suckerfish that are a threatened species, but which were all over the place in the stream. Threatened or not, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t want to catch a flannel-mouthed suckerfish, sounds like a terrible fish.
Little known fact (to me, at least): there are gemstones at the bottom of the Grand Canyon – all over the place! And certainly up in the Phantom Canyon along the banks of the Bright Angel Stream. Quartz, Hematite, Calcite – all glittering up at me in the afternoon sunshine. The nerdy 8-year old rock collector/geologist wannabe in me who had a rock tumbler and tackle boxes full of rocks in the garage was really having a moment.
Phantom Canyon is a beautiful stroll up the North Kaibab Trail and we headed down to the banks of the stream where I wandered around soaking up the sun and soaking my very sore feet in the freezing water of the stream while Ryan tried his luck with the fly rod. We also wandered over to the Colorado River to see if we could catch anything here. No luck in either spot, but my feet were very thankful for the cold water to soothe away some of the soreness, and my soul was thankful for the beautiful and peaceful afternoon.
Sunset over the Colorado River
After an afternoon of wandering, we were ready for a quick dinner of ramen noodles (hey – we needed to replenish the sodium we’d lost through sweating, ok?!) and an early bedtime to prepare for the Bright Angel hike out of the canyon the next day. But first we wandered over to the bridge to enjoy the sun setting through the canyons over the Colorado. More on the Bright Angel campground and hike in the next post!
BY Jackie
LOCATION Grand Canyon, Arizona
