Day 8 - Stops: Grand Canyon National Park.
Hikes:
South Kaibab to Phantom Ranch (8 miles one way, Descent: 4780 feet) +
River trail (1.7 miles) to Bright Angel (7.8 miles, Ascent: 4460 feet).
South Kaibab to Phantom Ranch (8 miles one way, Descent: 4780 feet) +
River trail (1.7 miles) to Bright Angel (7.8 miles, Ascent: 4460 feet).
After being sick the evening before with gastrointestinal
distress and intense abdominal pain which I initially thought might be a
partial bowel obstruction, I was exhausted even after 9 hours of sleep the next
day, so our hike started a little later than we had hoped for, 6:45am. For
breakfast we ate bananas with peanut butter. It was pretty cold outside,
probably around 40 degrees. Now I don’t claim to have the best circulation but
after washing my face my hands were painfully cold and for the moment I thought
I was suffering from a bout of Raynaud’s. We managed to get ourselves dressed
and head out to the shuttles.
We wore: hiking pants with zip off legs, sock
liners and thick hiking socks, hiking boots, underarmour long sleeve
compression shirts and light weight running shirts (white T for Jeremy), a
fleece, a handkerchief, a winter hat, gloves, and a hiking hat for protection
from the hot sun in the canyon.
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| Awaiting the Shuttle to South Kaibab Trailhead |
We headed out to the shuttle which was packed
with mainly serious hikers- you could tell by their gear. Many of them were
clearly planning to spend the night at Bright Angel Campground next to the
Colorado River, 7 miles into the canyon and 4000 feet down. Of course we
planned to do the same, but then come back up in the same day. We hit the South
Kaibab trailhead and took a bathroom break. There is no water on this trail
until you hit Bright Angel Campground. There were a few bathrooms at a few
points on the trail: Cedar Ridge and Tipoff. Most suggest that you stop 3 miles
down at Skeleton’s point and head back, but we wanted to make it at least to
the South Kaibab Suspension bridge (7 miles down). They say that however long
it takes you to get down to the bottom, it will take you 2-4x that to get back
up. So you could see that we were on a tight time schedule. Sunset is at 6:54pm
in the Canyon and we began our hike at 8:00am. The temperature was 40 degrees.
As we began our descent into the canyon we quickly began to
comprehend the increased time in coming back up as it is very steep on the way
down. We encountered two girls that had
started ahead of us and were turning back after only a 5 minute hike. There
were 2 Indian men that were ahead of us and we quickly passed them. And there
was a family of 5 that just were going as far as they could make it as a group.
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| View of the canyon at initial descent |
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| View looking up at the rim. |
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| Looking down into the Canyon |
As we hit Ooh Ahh point and Cedar Ridge we stripped down layers of clothing til we were down to just shorts and a t-shirt.
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| Ooh Aah Point |
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| Still pretty cold |
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| Stripping down |
There were a bunch of runners carrying little to no gear making their way down
passed us. We enjoyed scenic switchbacks
for miles. Then after Skeleton Point we stopped seeing the families with the
exception of a few riding some mules up and down the trail. The switch backs
got steeper after Tipoff point and we got our first up close view of the
Colorado River.
Four Indian boys moved quickly down the canyon passed us at an impressive pace. And I started to become concerned about coming back out of the Canyon using South Kaibab’s trail due to the steepness and lack of shade. As we saw the suspension bridge some of the runners were making their way back out of the canyon, I was jealous of their lightness without a day pack and their comfortable running shoes as compared to my heavy boots. I can only assume they were Ultra marathon runners that apparently use this as a training run. They were exhausted running up South Kaibab which brought more doubt to my mind about the route we would take back.
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| Mules on the trail |
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| Toes hurting from all the downhill hiking |
Four Indian boys moved quickly down the canyon passed us at an impressive pace. And I started to become concerned about coming back out of the Canyon using South Kaibab’s trail due to the steepness and lack of shade. As we saw the suspension bridge some of the runners were making their way back out of the canyon, I was jealous of their lightness without a day pack and their comfortable running shoes as compared to my heavy boots. I can only assume they were Ultra marathon runners that apparently use this as a training run. They were exhausted running up South Kaibab which brought more doubt to my mind about the route we would take back.
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| Switchbacks down to the Suspension bridge. Colorado river visible in the distance. |
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| We're almost at the river here! |
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| We touched the Colorado River! |
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| Bright Angel Campground and Phantom Ranch lie at the bottom of the Canyon |
We started our way back and I was concerned that it was
already 1:00pm. We had wasted too much time at Bright Angel and it was getting
hotter. We passed a man that suggested taking Bright Angel Trail back, noting
that it has more shade and is a less steep grade though it would be up to 2
miles longer. We said we would take South Kaibab because we knew the trail and
he shook his head saying we would probably be okay since we looked young and
fit. This was not reassuring. As we started up South Kaibab the incline was
ridiculous and at this point shade sounded amazing. We checked the map, deciding to take the
River trail that connected to Bright Angel instead. This brought more fantastic
up close views of the Colorado River.
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| Turning up Bright Angel Trail. |
As we turned into the Bright Angel
rest stop we learned that the trail followed a stream which was reassuring
since we had a water purifier. It was now getting extremely hot, probably 85
degrees after already 9-10 miles of hiking. Then we started the uphill
switchbacks which were devastating. We passed a delirious hiker on the side of
the trail, but since he was in a group and getting shade and rest we figured
there wasn’t much more we had to offer the young man without cold water or ice.
We later passed more cold streams of water and thought about returning to tell
him to make his way to the stream and cool himself. But it was over a mile
away. The Indian Campground was a long 3 miles from that first rest stop, but
as we made it we caught up with a young Indian man who we would pass and be
passed by many times along the trail. We refilled our bladders with water, ate
jerky, took some gel packs along the way and headed back out on the trail. Some
of those ultrarunners were discussing their training run which started at 5am.
They seriously looked so light without a dayback and hiking boots, I wanted to
swap clothes and packs.
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| River Trail view |
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| Looking back on the switchbacks we just climbed |
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| A change in scenery before Indian Campground |
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| Nearly at Indian Campground |
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| 4 miles to go |
At first it was an easy incline but it soon turned to
endless uphill switchbacks for the last 4 miles of the trail. I don’t think I
can explain how disheartening it is to look up to the ridge of the canyon after
13 miles of hiking and not even be able to see how many switchbacks remain to
get to the top. If I had to estimate the number of switchbacks we did, it must
have been well over 120 just going up.
As we reached the end some British
travelers took our picture, “Wow you two look like you came from all the way
down at the bottom”. “Yes, we did! Except
first we went down and then we came back up.”
We passed the Indian boy that
walked the trail solo the entire way and finished with him. He took our picture
and we high fived. We took his picture, but he asked for us to wait just a
moment. With dirt all over his shirt, face, pants, and drool on his face, he combed
his hair using his phone. Then he was ready for the photo. “But wait, one more “,
he asked– and then he put up two fingers for the F.O.B pose. I’ll never forget
that young man. We reached the top of the Canyon at 6:20pm and stayed until
Sunset.
17.5 miles in just over 10 hours. Over 4500 feet of descent
and ascent, carrying 1 daypack and 1 full pack and 7 liters of water.
You would think someone would give up their seat on the
shuttle for us. You would be wrong. Then again we didn’t smell very clean.
On the shuttle ride back to our car we passed by the mules
again and I could not believe the excitement that this elicited from the
Hispanics aboard the bus who screamed out “Los Caballos, los caballos!” It made
me giggle. Almost too tired to cook, I ate a burger and some veggies and a beer.
While Jeremy actually ate 1 burger, 1 bratwurst, 1 hot dog, veggies, and a
beer.
My conclusion: this hike should probably be done in two days, but can be done in one if you're crazy.
Suggestions for a hike into the Canyon:
1.
You must hike into the Canyon because it is
completely different from the Rim.
2.
Go in April/May or September/October . In June/July
temperatures reach 110 degrees in the Canyon. Also there is less risk of
snowfall during these times.
3.
Start early. 8am or before. If you’re slow –
earlier.
4.
Bring 2-3L of water per person. Drink off. Refill at stations.
5.
Wear a
Hat.
6.
Wear good shoes (water proof is better).
7.
Bring blister pads- the Glacier Gel that I put
on before the hike lasted me the entire 17 miles without any pain.
8.
Bring a first aid kit
9.
South Kaibab offers the best views on the way
down. I would not suggest taking it back up.
10.
Bright Angel offers significant shade and many
more water stops.
Must Do: Hike into the Canyon – South Kaibab down and take
Bright Angel back up (1-2 day hike)
