The Trip – Part 7: The grandest canyon of them all
It was now early November and, with our friends Jack and Merike, we headed south into Arizona. Our goal was the Grand Canyon but we had some business to attend to first. I had noticed that the tires on Jack’s green VW Bug were quite worn. In fact, they were beyond worn; in some places there was no tread left at all — you could see the plies under the tread! When I mentioned this to Jack he was quite surprised. The tires were the ones that had been on the car when he bought it and he never thought about having to replace them.
We drove into Page, Arizona, to get new tires for Jack. Then we found a place to camp for a day or two in the nearby Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and enjoyed a rare hot shower before continuing on to Grand Canyon National Park.
We’ve all seen pictures of the Grand Canyon but seeing it in person is very different from seeing it in a photograph. So, if you’ve never been there, ignore my photos and head on out there. Our first view of this majestic gorge from the South Rim was awesome. Looking to the east, west, or north the canyon just seemed to go on forever.
We spent the first couple of days sight-seeing along the South Rim, obtaining permits to camp in the bottom of the Canyon, and preparing for our hike. The day before we hiked down we went to the mule corral and watched people starting their ride to the bottom. Although it would probably be easier on the feet to ride a mule down, we suspected it would be much easier on the seat to hike down. And that’s what we did.
In order to see more of the canyon, we decided not to hike down and back on the same trail. So, our plan was to descend on the South Kaibab Trail, hike along the river to the Bright Angel Campground where we would camp for one night, and hike back out via the Bright Angel Trail. We woke early and drove to the South Kaibab trailhead in order to start our hike at sunrise. Although night time low temperatures were below freezing on the South Rim, the day time high temperatures in the depths of the canyon could still be quite hot. We wanted to avoid hiking very long in the heat.
Near the trailhead the descent started out moderately steep and then became less and less steep as the trail headed out onto the Tonto plateau. The trail eventually reaches the “tipoff” where it turns into a narrow ledge and becomes very steep as it descends into the inner gorge. At the bottom of the inner gorge it passes through a short tunnel and crosses to the north side of the Colorado River on a suspension bridge. Then we walked about a mile along the river to reach the campground. It took us about 4 hours to make it down.
We hiked over to Phantom Ranch in time to see a group arrive on mules. Based on the moans, groans, and number of people holding their backsides, I think our decision to walk was the right one. However, we would be sleeping on the ground while these folks would be staying indoors at the Ranch. As it turned out we didn’t exactly sleep that night, nor were we on the ground. Shortly after turning in for the night we soon had mice crawling over us and climbing into our packs searching for food. One ate a hole in my pack before I chased it away. To get away from the mice we tried sleeping on top of the picnic tables. Here’s some advice; don’t even bother to try sleeping on top of a picnic table.
After being up all night talking and trying to occasionally doze off, we packed up our gear and started to hike back out at about 4 AM. The first part of the ascent along the Bright Angel Trail was not very steep. After a rest stop at Indian Gardens the trail began to steepen. We hiked for 45-50 minutes and would then rest for 10-15 minutes and try to drink plenty of water. The final stretch of the Bright Angel is very steep and full of switchbacks as it makes its way back to the South Rim. Our intervals between rests and water breaks continued to get shorter as we hiked further. After about 8 hours we reached the top.
According to Park Service literature, we walked 7.1 miles while descending 4780 feet down the South Kaibab, traveled 1.5 miles along the river, and then walked 8.0 miles as we ascended 4380 feet up the Bright Angel Trail. It was definitely worth it. Now that I’m 65 I am very glad that I did this hike when I was 25.