I have been meaning to write this up for a long time. A looooong time, like several months have passed since I went on this adventure. I briefly mentioned it in my last post, about my hopes to do a separate write-up, but life got in the way and I haven't been able to just sit and write this out from start to finish. I am having to piece this together over several days and hopefully it doesn't come out too disjointed - but since it was such an amazing trip, and since it's possible I may never do it again, I wanted to make sure I got it down forever on the internet.
I don't remember exactly when we decided that we - Kelli and I - would do this, but I believe it was the summer of 2017, and we were both in a running rut. It's hot as heck here during the summer and it's hard not to be in a rut if you do anything outdoors; plus, that summer I was still trying to figure out what was wrong with my thyroid, so I was just kind of depressed about my weight and general fitness decline. A new goal was just what we both needed. We decided to set a date in April of 2018 hoping that it would still be somewhat cooler weather but not so cool that we'd have to worry about hiking in snow. I would say we definitely picked a perfect weekend.
Why rim-to-river, you ask? Why not rim-to-rim, or rim-to-rim-to-rim?! Well, I wanted an achievement that could be accomplished in one day, without having to stay overnight anywhere. I am not a fan of camping, and it is very challenging to get reservations at Phantom Ranch, at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. (That is something we would have had to do close to 2 years in advance, and we were only planning this just shy of a year out.) Logistically I'm not sure how we would do a rim-to-rim as I've never actually been to the north rim. I know there are plenty of blog posts and resources I could look in to but I wanted to stick with something that felt more familiar before venturing into this territory. And away we went!
We all stayed at Yavapai Lodge, inside the park; our significant others came with us for the trip, although they both indicated they had no desire to hike the Canyon with us. So we met inside the park on a Friday evening, had dinner at the Yavapai Lodge Restaurant, and went to bed fairly early since I proposed being at the South Kaibab trailhead at 4:30am. Plan was to hike the South Kaibab trail down to the Colorado River, make a pit stop at Phantom Ranch, and then come back up the Bright Angel trail. From other people we talked to, this seemed to be the preferred way to go; Bright Angel has fresh water stops along the trail (as long as they are operating), SK does not have any water at all. Provided we went down SK first, we'd get the water we needed on our way back up BA.
The Kaibab Rim Route Shuttle, aka The Orange Shuttle, will take you to the South Kaibab trailhead as early as 4am, but it doesn't run from Yavapai Lodge; we convinced Kelli's boyfriend James to drive with us down to the Visitor Center so he could drive my car back to the hotel after we departed on the shuttle. We did not take the time to find the shuttle stop during the daytime because I didn't think it would be that hard; however I'll say, it was SUPER DARK in the park at 4:30-ish and impossible to see much of anything besides the parking lot itself. Grand Canyon National Park participates in the Dark Sky Park program, so there is no light pollution - good OR bad - of any kind. We bailed out of the car and said goodbye to James, and walked around the dark Visitor Center area for a little bit. Thankfully we did end up stumbling upon the shuttle stop shortly thereafter, after seeing a couple of other hikers standing around. We weren't waiting long before the next shuttle arrived, and we were off!
Hiking down South Kaibab, you will come across the following point of interest:
I don't remember exactly when we decided that we - Kelli and I - would do this, but I believe it was the summer of 2017, and we were both in a running rut. It's hot as heck here during the summer and it's hard not to be in a rut if you do anything outdoors; plus, that summer I was still trying to figure out what was wrong with my thyroid, so I was just kind of depressed about my weight and general fitness decline. A new goal was just what we both needed. We decided to set a date in April of 2018 hoping that it would still be somewhat cooler weather but not so cool that we'd have to worry about hiking in snow. I would say we definitely picked a perfect weekend.
Why rim-to-river, you ask? Why not rim-to-rim, or rim-to-rim-to-rim?! Well, I wanted an achievement that could be accomplished in one day, without having to stay overnight anywhere. I am not a fan of camping, and it is very challenging to get reservations at Phantom Ranch, at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. (That is something we would have had to do close to 2 years in advance, and we were only planning this just shy of a year out.) Logistically I'm not sure how we would do a rim-to-rim as I've never actually been to the north rim. I know there are plenty of blog posts and resources I could look in to but I wanted to stick with something that felt more familiar before venturing into this territory. And away we went!
We all stayed at Yavapai Lodge, inside the park; our significant others came with us for the trip, although they both indicated they had no desire to hike the Canyon with us. So we met inside the park on a Friday evening, had dinner at the Yavapai Lodge Restaurant, and went to bed fairly early since I proposed being at the South Kaibab trailhead at 4:30am. Plan was to hike the South Kaibab trail down to the Colorado River, make a pit stop at Phantom Ranch, and then come back up the Bright Angel trail. From other people we talked to, this seemed to be the preferred way to go; Bright Angel has fresh water stops along the trail (as long as they are operating), SK does not have any water at all. Provided we went down SK first, we'd get the water we needed on our way back up BA.
The Kaibab Rim Route Shuttle, aka The Orange Shuttle, will take you to the South Kaibab trailhead as early as 4am, but it doesn't run from Yavapai Lodge; we convinced Kelli's boyfriend James to drive with us down to the Visitor Center so he could drive my car back to the hotel after we departed on the shuttle. We did not take the time to find the shuttle stop during the daytime because I didn't think it would be that hard; however I'll say, it was SUPER DARK in the park at 4:30-ish and impossible to see much of anything besides the parking lot itself. Grand Canyon National Park participates in the Dark Sky Park program, so there is no light pollution - good OR bad - of any kind. We bailed out of the car and said goodbye to James, and walked around the dark Visitor Center area for a little bit. Thankfully we did end up stumbling upon the shuttle stop shortly thereafter, after seeing a couple of other hikers standing around. We weren't waiting long before the next shuttle arrived, and we were off!
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| Yep, it was cold that morning. And dark still. And my eyes are closed because I am a nerd. |
There was some construction going on at the SK trailhead back then, such that the shuttle drops you off ~1/4 mi away from where the actual trail starts. Kelli and I, and about half a dozen other hikers, got off the bus and stood around in the dark waiting for someone else to start walking to the trailhead first. Kelli volunteered to be first, and the rest of us followed her lead.
We got to the general trailhead area, but it was still so dark that none of us could easily see where the actual trail started. We and most of the other hikers took the opportunity to use the last real restroom we would see for a while. While I was doing my business, a mule train came through, which was not only exciting but then we were able to figure out where the trail was, by watching them! After that, we had nothing left to do but get started.
And then, you just start walking! And if you're Kelli, you take a TON of pictures! But to her credit, when am I ever going to do this again?!?
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| It's dark out there, but the trail is easily manageable (with headlamps). |
Hiking down South Kaibab, you will come across the following point of interest:
Ooh Ah Point (about 1 mi in - no, your cell phone will not have service even here)
Cedar Ridge (has a bathroom)
Skeleton Point - I believe our first views of the Colorado River were right after we left this stop.
The Tipoff (has a bathroom - last rest stop, to my knowledge, until you get to the river/Bright Angel Campground/Phantom Ranch)
Along the trail we met several other hikers, some doing S. Kaibab for the first time, but most had done it before. One lady traveling by herself was doing what I think she said was her 99th Rim-to-Rim adventure. I remember her making a comment about our trekking poles, saying that she thought they "get in the way", but I didn't have any issues with them. Personally I was pretty thankful I had them going back up Bright Angel Trail (more on that later).
Just before you get ready to cross Black Bridge over the Colorado River, there is a fairly narrow tunnel you have to go through. Black Bridge is also pretty narrow.
Just before you get ready to cross Black Bridge over the Colorado River, there is a fairly narrow tunnel you have to go through. Black Bridge is also pretty narrow.
We went through the tunnel at first, but then saw another mule train, headed right for us! So we came back out the tunnel on the south side of the River, and waited for the train to pass before going back through.
After that, it is about 1/2 mi to Phantom Ranch. Because we stopped and took lots of pictures (Kelli!!!), it took us about 4 hrs 15 min to reach the bottom. Interestingly, my Tomtom Multisport watch was able to track me the entire trip down, and part of the trip back up Bright Angel until it ran out of battery. Strange, considering cell phones don't seem to work there, but I guess GPS satellites do? Here's the SK stats:
Some pictures of Phantom Ranch, I thought I had more... I would say your must-do list for PR includes:
- Use the restroom.
- Get a glass of the lemonade at the Canteen.
- Check the water availability on the chalkboard in the Canteen, for your trip up Bright Angel. I guess I don't have any pictures of that board, but it will tell you the seasonal water availability for the stops up BA trail. On our trip, there was only water available at Indian Garden (in addition to the spout at Phantom Ranch), so we made sure to top-off in both of those locations. Water is sometimes available at the 3- and 1.5-mile Resthouses (on BA), but it may have been out-of-season or otherwise not working that day.
Leaving Phantom Ranch, I started my Tomtom back up and we headed back out the way we came in, past the Bright Angel Campground and the NPS mule corral. This time you head across Silver Bridge and follow the River Trail until it hooks up with the Bright Angel Trail at the River Resthouse. I made a comment that I wanted to stick my feet in the water, and Kelli said she'd join me. Really, when else was I going to be at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, close enough to stick my feet in the Colorado River? As you follow the River Trail, even though it's in full view of the river, you're not really close enough to stop off and play in the water... I was visibly discouraged for a while about this. But once we made it to the River Resthouse, we had the ability to take a short side-trip down to the river's edge, via Pipe Creek Beach. We saw some other people doing it and knew if we wanted to, this would be our last chance before we started heading up Bright Angel. So, away we went again!
If you do decide to make this stop, watch your backpack and gear. The squirrels are ninja (pretty much everywhere in the Canyon), but I made the mistake of putting my backpack on the ground and the squirrels took full advantage of stealing the pistachios I had in a side pocket. They managed to completely destroy the package and eat its contents without me noticing and without any damage to my pack. Impressive!
The oh-so cold water of the Colorado River felt pretty great on our feet after about 8-9 miles of hiking. We just sat around, snacked, and goofed off for a bit. I dried off my feet and put on a new pair of socks (not required but also felt good on the feet), and after taking some great pictures, we were on our way up the Bright Angel trail.
Flashback: Kelli and I took a class at REI in preparation to hike the Grand Canyon. The gal teaching the class made a comment that Bright Angel is a pretty great, manageable trail, "except for the last 4 miles", hiking from the river to the rim. I could not agree MORE. At first we had a couple of stream crossings which were kind of fun, but I did fully submerge a foot at one point (not on purpose) and was annoyed since my dry socks I had put on at the river only lasted like an hour. It is slower going, obviously, but quite pretty. I was able to track the first ~4.5 miles on the Tomtom watch but my battery was on the verge of dying completely, so I turned off the Hike mode so I could at least have a working watch for the rest of the hike. My activity ends right before we made it to Indian Garden. Here's that data.
By the time we made it to Indian Garden, it was FULL of people. For a lot of hikers, this is the only- or the last water stop, so everyone we saw at least made the stop to fill up. One hiker was taking a nap, a lot of people were taking the opportunity to sit for a while or have a snack. We had to wait our turn for a place to sit, but we did, and we both ate something to fuel up. Kelli made friends with the people sitting next to us - somehow the husband had convinced his new wife to go on a "short hike" and then led her on a Rim-to-River expedition through the Canyon. He looked okay, she looked miserable. We offered our support as the four of us plus a bunch of other people slowly made their way out of Indian Garden.
The pictures get far and few between after that, since Kelli and I both started to get tired and cranky. By the time we made it to 3-Mile Resthouse, we weren't talking much. We weren't mad, but we were in a lot of pain and kind of in a dark place. We were taking LOTS of breaks, and leap-frogging positions with the other hikers. THIS is the part where it is nice to have those trekking poles, because you can kind of pull yourself up the trail with your arms instead of having to resort to only tired legs. It's not just walking up an incline, the last 4 miles are like climbing stairs so it wears on you very quickly.
When you're a little less than a mile from the Rim, you can see the Bright Angel Trailhead, and this is where I got my second wind, if you can call it that. But I managed to keep myself going because I was ready to be DONE. The sun was on the decline, it was starting to get colder at the top, and I wanted to not be on my feet any more.
And finally, about 13 hours later, we were finished. We had conquered the Canyon!
It's 6 months post-hike as I write this post. So far neither one of us have made any plans to go back and do it again.
If you do decide to make this stop, watch your backpack and gear. The squirrels are ninja (pretty much everywhere in the Canyon), but I made the mistake of putting my backpack on the ground and the squirrels took full advantage of stealing the pistachios I had in a side pocket. They managed to completely destroy the package and eat its contents without me noticing and without any damage to my pack. Impressive!
The oh-so cold water of the Colorado River felt pretty great on our feet after about 8-9 miles of hiking. We just sat around, snacked, and goofed off for a bit. I dried off my feet and put on a new pair of socks (not required but also felt good on the feet), and after taking some great pictures, we were on our way up the Bright Angel trail.
Flashback: Kelli and I took a class at REI in preparation to hike the Grand Canyon. The gal teaching the class made a comment that Bright Angel is a pretty great, manageable trail, "except for the last 4 miles", hiking from the river to the rim. I could not agree MORE. At first we had a couple of stream crossings which were kind of fun, but I did fully submerge a foot at one point (not on purpose) and was annoyed since my dry socks I had put on at the river only lasted like an hour. It is slower going, obviously, but quite pretty. I was able to track the first ~4.5 miles on the Tomtom watch but my battery was on the verge of dying completely, so I turned off the Hike mode so I could at least have a working watch for the rest of the hike. My activity ends right before we made it to Indian Garden. Here's that data.
By the time we made it to Indian Garden, it was FULL of people. For a lot of hikers, this is the only- or the last water stop, so everyone we saw at least made the stop to fill up. One hiker was taking a nap, a lot of people were taking the opportunity to sit for a while or have a snack. We had to wait our turn for a place to sit, but we did, and we both ate something to fuel up. Kelli made friends with the people sitting next to us - somehow the husband had convinced his new wife to go on a "short hike" and then led her on a Rim-to-River expedition through the Canyon. He looked okay, she looked miserable. We offered our support as the four of us plus a bunch of other people slowly made their way out of Indian Garden.
The pictures get far and few between after that, since Kelli and I both started to get tired and cranky. By the time we made it to 3-Mile Resthouse, we weren't talking much. We weren't mad, but we were in a lot of pain and kind of in a dark place. We were taking LOTS of breaks, and leap-frogging positions with the other hikers. THIS is the part where it is nice to have those trekking poles, because you can kind of pull yourself up the trail with your arms instead of having to resort to only tired legs. It's not just walking up an incline, the last 4 miles are like climbing stairs so it wears on you very quickly.
When you're a little less than a mile from the Rim, you can see the Bright Angel Trailhead, and this is where I got my second wind, if you can call it that. But I managed to keep myself going because I was ready to be DONE. The sun was on the decline, it was starting to get colder at the top, and I wanted to not be on my feet any more.
It's 6 months post-hike as I write this post. So far neither one of us have made any plans to go back and do it again.
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