Ever since the boys we old enough to ‘leave alone’ Kimberly and I have tried to make sure we get away (just the two of us) for our anniversary. We have had many great get-aways’ – our Mexico Cruise and the Catalina Island excursion come to mind. This year for our 24th (yes we are getting old), however was really special. We hiked on down and stayed at the bottom of the Grand Canyon for a couple of nights. It was amazing for a lot of reasons: Of course it was our anniversary, it included some amazing hikes which is becoming quite a passion for us, the location is one of the most incredible on the planet, and just the overall challenge of what it takes to ‘accomplish’ the trip was really fulfilling – and our ‘hotel bill’ per night was only $5!
We got a fairly early start out on Friday morning. We stopped in Flagstaff for lunch and to pick up some Yaktrax. Yaktrax are these attachments that cover the bottom of your shoes and have little spirals that grip snow and ice. We had heard that the top couple of miles heading down (and of course up to) of the Canyon trails were quite icy as the area had a nice snow the week prior to our trip. Boy were we happy we got those as it turned out. The trails did have ice, and for anyone that has been on the Canyon’s corridor trails will tell you, it’s not the kind of place where you want to be slipping – one boo-boo there is about all it takes.
We arrived at Grand Canyon National Park mid afternoon on Friday. I sometimes forget we are only about 3.5 hours of drive time from this amazing place. We immediately checked into our room at the Kachina Lodge (right on the South Rim) and dropped our all our gear. The Kachina is right next to the famous El Tovar in the Grand Canyon Village. While not a fancy place by any stretch, it’s a decent place considering you are right there on the Rim. In fact, right out our room window we had an excellent view of the Canyon bottom that would be our home for the next couple of nights.
After doing the obligatory walk around to Kolb’s Studio, Hopi House, and Verkamps – we plopped down for a cocktail and some chips and salsa in the El Tovar lounge while taking in the view from the historic venue. It was starting to get dark (and cold by the way) and seeing we had quite a long day coming, we headed back to the room quite early. Knowing that the dining options were limited in the Village as it related to something healthy and nutritious, we had planned ahead and brought our own dinner for the night. Seeing it was Friday anyway, we stuck with our usual homemade French Bread Pizza’s we had packed in a cooler. They were a perfect meal with lot’s of carbs and protein we would need for the next day’s hike, and nothing greasy or rich that we would pay for when on the trail.
We rested in bed that night and did turn out the lights fairly early in an attempt to get some good sleep knowing that the following two nights would be spent sleeping on the ground in a tent the size of a bathtub. I did scoot outside for a few minutes later to check the weather and wind as the forecast called for clear skies, but cold and very high winds for the next couple of days. The winds were starting to pick up that night, and it sure was cold, but what was amazing to me was when I looked up at the sky. Some non city dwellers may get to experience this nightly, but for us who have the sky mostly illuminated by city lights every night – the sight was something to behold. It seemed like there were a billion stars I could make out. I even got a falling star. Just seemed really cool, and I got that ‘enormity of the universe’ vibe in a special way.
We of course were awake well before the 5:45 alarm went off. After sticking all our stuff that we would not be packing down the Canyon in the car, we headed over to the Bright Angel to grab breakfast. We were first in line as they opened at 6:30 and we had an 8:00 hikers express shuttle bus to make that would take us to the trail. Breakfast was really good, maybe it was the fact we knew we would be living mostly off protein bars, nuts, and dehydrated food from a bag for our next few meals – but either way, excellent breakfast and really good coffee.
After breakfast and a quick shuttle ride, we were at the S. Kaibab Trailhead by 8:30 am where the weather was a not so balmy 28F degrees. We put on the Yaktrax, slapped on the packs (Kimberly had 22 lbs or so and I had close to 50 lb), took a picture or two and down we headed. The S. Kaibab is one of two ‘corridor trails’ down to River – ending close to Phantom Ranch and the Bright Angel Campground (our destination). Our plan was to head down the Canyon on the S. Kaibab and up the Bright Angel Trail Monday morning. The S. Kaibab is a little shorter (about 7.5 miles to the campground) than the Bright Angel (about 10.3 miles from campground to Rim) but it is also much stepper in that it does the same elevation drop in less miles. The trail is also a true ridgeline trail so it offers much more 360 degree views as you descend.
The icy prediction proved true the first mile or so until the trail was in full sun exposure. While the views right from the start were stunning, we spent more time looking down at our feet. The going was quite slow, as we navigated the steep downs and icy switchbacks. With the ice and the steep drop-offs I was a little nervous. I of course worry for Kimberly too much, but she is a true hiker and with the Yaktrax, she (and I) had no real issues with slipping – unlike a couple of others who had a scary spill that landed them in the err… shall we say… mule reprocessing material.
Within a mile or so down the trail the ice and snow was gone and it was already warming up. By the time we reached Cedar Point, the sun was shining bright and with our packs on, even though it was still maybe only 48 degrees or so, we were pealing layers. We took our first little break (they have a pit toilet – but no water as there is none on the whole trail you must carry your own – which is very relevant – in particular Summer months) and woofed a energy bar and got back at it. Heading further down a trail that is pretty rough from the erosion and mules and requires a whole lot of ‘step up to step down’ we reached Skeleton Point. Skeleton Point is at the top f a series of switchbacks that are a true brutal stretch of trail. They were bad enough heading down, I can only imagine that stretch heading up.
Another hour or so of hiking and we reached Tipoff Point and the first really good view of the Colorado River below. By the way, it was now at least in the mid 60’s and I was peeled down to just a t-shirt (and was still sweating). From Tipoff Point to the River has the best views of the inner Canyon on the whole trail. It’s really something seeing this area with all the various formations, layers of rock you know are billions of years old, and the green colors coming through the contrasting red and brown hues of the rock. Sadly the pictures we took in this section while really cool, do not paint a good picture.
With knees feeling the decent of over a mile down and 7 total, we reached Black Bridge and the Colorado in about 4 hours. Another little hike on the River Trail and we had reached the Bright Angel Campground and Phantom Ranch. The campground has a total of 30 spots, and about half are right on Bright Angel Creek (about where it meets the Colorado). We could have picked a spot right on the creek, but knowing that we likely were going to have a cold and windy night ahead, we took a spot just off as it had at least some protection more from with a sheer rock wall behind us. For perspective this spot is maybe still only 50 feet from the Creek and 25 from a spot on the Creek.
We happily took off our packs (YES!!) and setup camp. I pitched the tent, got our bags tucked inside, and put all the food in the ‘critter proof’ boxes the park provides (essentially a steel container so that the various vermin down there don’t sneak in and snag your grub). The weather was perfect, maybe mid 70’s and no wind. After enjoying a brief little respite at the campsite, we took the little stroll over to check out Phantom Ranch. The Ranch is right next to the campground (maybe 1/3 mile) and consists of a few cabins (all booked a year in advance and used mostly by the folks who ride the Mules down), a couple of buildings for the Rangers and staff that work there, and a Canteen that sells various little odds and ends and serves meals (which are also booked well in advance – but we were able to reserve our Anniversary dinner) (more on this later). The Ranch does sell beer and wine too, which is a nice little celebration for the folks who have ventured down. It’s also a pretty cool luxury considering everything, and I mean everything that comes down to the Ranch must be brought in by Mule or Man. Kimberly ordered a vino and I sipped on one of the famous lemonades. We got a few postcards and started filling them out. The Ranch also offers the only place in the US that delivers mail “By Mule train from the bottom of the Grand Canyon”.
We then did a little more walking around to check out the area including hanging out on the River for a bit, had a quick little wash up (running water in the sink but NO SHOWERS are available) and headed back to our site for dinner. Dinner that night consisted of our dehydrated Beef Stroganoff and Lasagna. I gotta’ say, the food wasn’t bad – though after the day we had, and old shoe would have probably tasted like steak.
We hit the tent by about 9:00 and settled in. Planning ahead we had downloaded a couple of rental movies to Kimberly’s iPhone. I had also packed some nice Anjeo Tequila. So here we are at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, the night before our 24th anniversary, snuggled up in sleeping bags (it was getting cold quick) sipping tequila and watching Game Plan on an iPhone hung from a carabineer to the top of the tent thinking…does it get any better than this?
Considering we are none too young anymore and hadn’t camped in 14 years, we slept half way decent. We awoke a little sore in the calves, but the pounding the knees took the day before didn’t seem to be much of an issue. This was good news, it was Saturday and our Anniversary and we have more hiking planned today our only full day at the bottom. We had talked about it, and wanted to make sure we got at least 24 miles of hiking in (a cool representation of our 24 years together) ( BTW: we ended up with over 30 miles in the 54 hours from the time we left the top to when we made it back up). After cooking up some Oatmeal ..mmm good, we started out with a day of hiking the bottom of the Canyon. We had talked about doing Ribbon falls, but that would have been another 12 miles of hiking, and considering we had the climb out the next day, we thought it might be best to save that for our next trip. So we ended up doing the Phantom Overlook (which is a piece of the Clear Creek Trail), took a lunch break and then did the River Trail.
The Phantom Overlook while a little hike of only about 1.5 miles each way from Phantom Ranch (more from our site of course), is a decent little hike considering you gain 1000 ft. elevation in a short time. The hike heads North up the N. Kaibab Trail, then cuts off on the Clear Creek Trail where after a short distance and nice climb you reach the overlook point. The lookout offers some pretty cool views of Phantom Ranch below and Kimberly and I took a few pictures, and enjoyed the views. While there, we got a gust of wind that must have been 40 plus MPH. We knew the winds were coming that day but this was the first experience with them. What was odd, it you would have these huge gusts (hold the tripod and turn away) and then completely calm. Normally if you have gusts that strong, the winds are pretty high. But this was like ‘huge gust-then totally calm’ – very weird. On the way back down we got to see a several Mule Deer enjoying a spot close to the Ranch and stopped for some video (so now we had seem a shooting star, Mule Deer and a Bald Eagle – but no Condor).
After our lunch of tuna in foil and kids ‘add water’ mac and cheese we then did the River Trail Loop. The loop basically starts at the Colorado and connects the Black Bridge (to the S Kaibab Trail) and the Silver Bridge (to the Bright Angel Trail). On the trail you have a cutoff that goes down to Boat Beach. It really is a beach with sand and a spot the River Rafters can dock. There is also a old Native American (Hopi) Ruin right off the trail, and a burial site for one of the early Trail builders (and of course the Bridges across the Colorado). The loop is pretty nice, had a waterfall which was dry but you could tell gets a lot of activity whenever it’s raining, some neat geology and some great spots for picture taking – which we took advantage of and got one that proved to be my favorite from the whole trip.
By the time we finished the two hikes it was darn near time for dinner. Dinner was early that night. As I mentioned we were lucky enough to be able to reserve a meal at Phantom Ranch for that night. It was nice because it was our Anniversary and we were able to have a steak dinner with all the fixins’. The rub is, meals at the Ranch are all served family style and you have to be there at 5:30 or you do not get to eat (they even close the Canteen to everyone else during dinner). The meal was great, and we really enjoyed the chocolate desert and good coffee that concluded the experience.
Knowing we had a super long day coming (packing up the camp, and hiking 11 miles total and 1 mile up with our packs) we finished up and headed back to camp. It was much colder this night, but we again snuggled up and enjoyed watching another movie in the tent. The movie this night was made even better by the Jiffy popcorn I popped up for us on the stove and the Reese’s candy I had packed it.
A colder night, tent sleeping, no showers, and all the hiking made the second night’s sleep a little harder. We were both awake on and off throughout the night, and I was up for good before the sun rose (about 5:40 am). It was cold as all get out, and I couldn’t wait for the sun to rise so I could brew up some coffee (needed to be quite still as you don’t want to disturb the other hikers who likely have a long day coming themselves). I will say though, that the price we paid for the early rise in the cold was proven well worth it when we looked up. There were those stars again, so dense that it almost seemed like there were areas of clouds. Also there was this amazing crescent moon that was sitting there on top of the Canyon hills painting the perfect picture. I did take a couple of shots of this which you can see in our pictures of the trip – but again, just doesn’t do the experience justice.
As the sun rose, we went and washed up as best we could, packed up the tent and all the gear (pack it in – pack it out – all trash even micro trash), and had another Oatmeal breakfast. By the time we were done with breakfast and packing up, it was 8:00 or so when we hit the trail. Ahead of us, those 11 miles of and 4500 ft up.
Right away we were happy that we had chosen to use the S Kaibab going down and the Bright Angel going up. They are two totally different style trails allowing you to experience the Canyon in different ways (and views). The Bright Angel Trail from the campground basically follows along the River for a mile or so after you cross over the Silver Bridge. We were maybe ½ mile down the Trail still doing the ups and downs of the trail (BTW: 4500 ft. climb my behind – with all the ups and downs I think you actually do 11K ft vertical on this trail) when looking in front of us here comes running down the trail in front of us a female Bighorn Sheep. Headed right at us, she must have came within 8 ft before she veered off and took the side road. I did whip out the camera (never easy even though I had it handing from my pack in the front) and grabbed some shots that didn’t come out to good. Oh well, a pretty cool start to our hike.
Finally the trail leaves the Colorado and begins the accent up to Indian Gardens and finally the Rim (about 8 miles left). As soon as you begin the trail away from the Colorado River you follow Pipe Creek up and have several crossings along the way. We were able to manage these without getting too wet, but I would think there are a few times in the Spring when the rain is hard, that you have no choice but to get a soaker. For the most part the hike to (what is close to) the halfway point of Indian Gardens the trail is really enjoyable and not too tough (it’s all relative of course). When you leave Pipe Creek there is one section of switchbacks that are quite steep, but they only last a mile or so. As you approach Indian Gardens and Plateau Point (the view everyone sees from the S Rim) there is this very cool section where the formations of rock are like these 8 inch layers stacked one on top of another for 200 feet – it’s pretty cool.
We reached Indian Gardens in a little over 2 hours. This was humping it. We wanted to make good time because we knew the ‘real hike’ begins after Indian Gardens as while it is the half way point in miles, it is only about ¼ of the elevation rise to the that point. The last 4.7 miles would gain the majority of the elevation and the last 3 miles were 3000 ft themselves. At India Gardens we rested up, had an early lunch (or calorie replenish as the whole hike would be 2000 calorie burn for me), took a health break (err.. pit toilet) and headed out. The steep part is soon to come as we are about ½ mile up from IG. We continue however to be blazing the trail. Even with the weight of our packs, and calves getting a little sore, we reach the ‘3 Mile Rest House’ in a little over 3 hours hiking time (not counting the IG break). The 3 mile and 1.5 mile rest houses are stops on the trial that offer pit toilets and water in the Summer (not now). We take quick little 5 minute break and head out and up again.
About half way from the 3 Mile Rest House and the 1.5 Mile Rest House we start to hit the snow and ice on the trail, so we pull up a rock and put on the trusty Yaktrax for our final accent. The trail is fairly brutal in its climb from the 3 Mile Rest House. A never ending (it seems) series of switchbacks that climb out from the Tonto formation all the way up to the Rim. When there is ice on the trail, its cold, your tired, you have weight on your back and funky Yaktrax things on your feet – it’s none too easy. Kimberly and I are fairly experienced hikers, I could only imagine some of the tourists who try this in the Summer!
Within another hour or so we were at the 1.5 Mile Rest House (it was cold here in the shade) and were only one and a half miles from the Rim. We stopped here climbed up to the rest house, had a protein bar, took a couple of pics and prepared for the final accent. Soon we passed under the first ‘tunnel’ on the trail, then not too long after we passed under the final famous tunnel – we were getting close. Switchback after switchback, a couple that seemed like we were about there only to see many more to come, and we finally spotted Kolb Studio and the trailhead for the Bright Angel. One last step.. yeah… can we get somebody to take a picture so we can take these packs off???
What an amazing adventure. We did the hike up in under 5 hours of total hike time (even with the slow going on the ice). We were spent, but we did it. 30 plus miles in 54 hours, countless feet of elevation gains and knee pounding descents and we were done. Not too shabby for some folks who were celebrating their 24th.
Lastly, for braggin’ rights (actually becuase we had to) we made it home just in time to quickly answer a couple of business emails, shower (thankfully!!) and head off to Tae Kwon Do practice. Let’s just say that ‘climbing’ our stairs that night our calves felt like we were doing the Kaibab again (the calves were indeed felling it).
Now for the major hike I’m thinking….
For the Pictures: CLICK HERE
For a GPS and info on our S. Kaibab hike CLICK HERE
For a GPS and info on our Phantom Overlook hike CLICK HERE
For a GPS and info on our River Trail hike CLICK HERE
For a GPS and info on our Bright Angel hike CLICK HERE:
). You start from a parking lot and quickly descend down into a wash riparian area. The trail follows the wash/creek for a couple miles before you head up and out. There were 4 creek crossings and several spots where you had to duck under the trees. Heading out of the creek, you climb up a service road that gains a thousand feet or so elevation in about a mile - a nice painful stretch for this old man. After the climb you head toward the New Wadell Dam (hence the name of the race). The Dam is an earthen Dam and what holds the Aguia Fria to make the lake. As far as I know this is the only day of the year us regular folks can be on the Damn. So pretty cool you get to cross it and then head back. After coming back on the Dam you have another mile or so of trail run.
