Grand Canyon - Rim to River to Rim!

Southwest had some very economical flights to Phoenix in November, so I went ahead and booked a long weekend.  We were planning on going to Petrified Forest National Park, a few National Monuments, and to visit family in the area.  We have wanted to get to the bottom of the Grand Canyon for some time.  Knowing the weather there has been pretty good this winter with minimal snow and ice, I decided to try calling the reservation line for a few weeks before the trip to see if any cancellations occurred at Phantom Ranch at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.  I got lucky about a week before our trip and snagged a male and female dorm spot, steak dinners, and early breakfast spots.

Knowing the weekend would be extremely jammed, we needed everything to go smoothly.  With a horrid weather week in Chicago, we were nervous about the flight getting out.  We lucked out and it left on time; several flights were delayed or cancelled due to freezing rain and fog conditions.

Upon arriving in Phoenix, we got our $44 rental Dodge Charger at about 8:00 pm and headed north.  We knew we needed to be on the trailhead by 12:00 pm Saturday to get checked in before the steak dinner at the bottom of the canyon.

We drove about 1.5 hours, and then stopped at Camp Verde for the night.  We then got up in the morning and started northward again towards the canyon.  We stopped in Williams, AZ at the Safeway to get some sandwiches for lunch.

Upon arriving at the canyon, it was in the 40's quickly rising towards the 50's....we new in the canyon it would be in the 60's.  We stopped in the Bright Angel lodge to let them know we arrived and we would be starting our hike down.  They do ask that you check in so that if you don't arrive at the ranch, they can alert the rangers to possible problems. 


We then drove back to the visitor center where we would park the car and take the orange shuttle over to the South Kaibab trailhead.

Upon arriving at the trailhead, we had our lunch so we could use the trash receptacles.  There is a strict pack-in/pack-out policy.  We walked over to the rim, and had a great view...it was a bit windy, so we kept our coats on.  We had asked a volunteer if there were any picnic tables, but she said that they were put away for the winter.  So, we just sat on some rocks at the edge of the canyon and had lunch.

We walked over to the trailhead.  Took a look at the clock.  Read the warnings...and started our way down.; "What goes DOWN must go back UP".  Many rescues are needed at the Grand Canyon every year; the numbers are much higher in the summer months due to the heat.  Unfortunately though, incidents happen all year round.  

Shortly after our hike began, we saw a huddle of four people coming up the trail very slowly.  One ranger carrying crutches, a female who wasn't walking, and two other hikers assisting.  As they passed, we smiled and offered words of encouragement, and kept going on our way.  At this point, they were above the "Ooh Aah Point" as shown below.

The South Kaibab Trail is 7.0 miles and 4,780 feet in elevation.  We chose to go down this trail for there is no available water, and not much shade.

We saw three trains of mules on their way up.  One train carrying people, and two trains with garbage and duffels.  You can pay to have your pack carried up and down the trail; not a bad option if you would be camping.  Traditionally, the mules go down the Bright Angel trail and up the S. Kaibab trail.  Also, they carry postcards up from Phantom Ranch.  I did send out a handful of these and I apologize that they are short and messy - but there just wasn't time to get them done at the bottom.

There are a number of stops on the S. Kaibab trail (although none with water).  Both Cedar Ridge and Tip Off have out-house style bathrooms.  The bathrooms come into play in the rescue story of the woman mentioned above.  We would first hear a bit about the story at the bottom of the canyon; and then more the following day.

The South Kaibab trail is quite beautiful with sweeping views all the way down.

Skeleton Point is 3,260 feet down and 4.4 miles from the trailhead.

Going downhill is very hard on your joints; we had more difficulty with the down hill, but still made it to the river in a respectable 4 hours.  

We did take several stops to just enjoy our surroundings...and the beautiful weather.  

This picture was taken at Tip Off - Rob was goofing around on the mule steps.

The river didn't look all that huge when we were traveling down.  But once you are on the bridge, you understand the power and size behind it.

There are actually two bridges, one off the Bright Angel trail which we would cross in the darkness in the AM, and the one at the bottom of the S. Kaibab trail.  Both can be considered amazing engineering structures (considering their location).  It didn't say anywhere, but we suspect they have two in case one fails.

Upon arriving at the river, we did walk over to the silver bridge we would cross in the morning so we could see it in the light.  We were lucky enough to see two rafts and a kayak pass by.  The power of the river is amazing.

We walked a bit more (it was level at this point) to the Phantom Ranch ranger station where we were able to get the passport stamp; we also stamped the post cards.

And then traveled to the Phantom Ranch canteen to check in.  We had gotten there just before 4:00 pm when they started preparing for dinner.  We were assigned our bunk houses and went to drop off our things.  There are four total identical bunkhouses (2 women, 2 men) with 10 beds each.  The house I went in was somewhat full and there were only two top bunks available - ick!  Rob's bunk house had only four people, so he got a better pick.  The bunk houses came with a bed, sheets, pillow, towel, shower, toilet, and sink - perfect for a night stop.  Don't expect to get a good nights sleep though - for between 10 beds, there will be some noise.  Anyhow, when speaking with some of the women in the bunkhouse who were staying for a second night, they mentioned that there was a problem with a hiker the day before.  She was walking down when her knee gave out.  Some of her group continued down (which is how they heard about it), and she ended up having to spend the night in a toilet on the trail because of her injury.  Surely enough, I told them we saw her up near the top and she was close to getting out. I had just heard these bits and pieces at this point - and was just horrified...I suppose at least she knew some survival skills and was able to seek shelter in the bathrooms overnight (it is winter there and was getting down under freezing at night).

The dinner started promptly at 5:00 pm and ended promptly at 5:45 pm.  There was steak, potato, cornbread, peas, corn, salad, and cake; it was served family style with 10 people to a table.  We enjoyed talking with others at the table.  We quickly found out that for the majority of the people there, this is an annual trip.  Little did we know, the best kept secret at the Grand Canyon is that winter is the time to go!  Peggy, the woman across from us was one of the only other people to which it was her first time down.  Anyhow, she mentioned to me that there were only three people in their bunkhouse and that I should move over. So after dinner - I did; I suddenly found myself with a bottom bunk - yeah!  At this point, I was tired and not feeling especially well as was also true of my two other bunk mates.  We all got in our beds, chatted a bit, and went to sleep.  Rob went to the canteen and played Scrabble with Patty and her male friend.  They had wine/beer/cocoa/lemonade all available for purchase.  Very nice for the bottom of the canyon.  We are scratching our heads as to why there were no reservations available...as there were at least 8 beds still open; maybe in winter, they do not fill to occupancy - I guess we will never know.

We got up early for the 5:30 am breakfast (we didn't have choice in this matter - this is the time we got).  My bunkmates also got up which was nice.  We turned on the lights, Patti took a shower, and all got ready.  Rob was not so fortunate - half his cabin was still asleep.  Breakfast was smaller than dinner with only 10 people and one table (dinner had 20 - two tables).  Eggs, bacon, pancakes, orange juice, peaches...really, I still wasn't feeling all that well and just had peaches and orange juice.  We sat next to some different people and again enjoyed the company and their stories.  My bunkmates opted out of the breakfast and had brought down oatmeal packets that they made with available hot water - I wish we would have done this as well.  Anyhow - they were going up the trail we came down (we were going up a different trail), so we assumed we wouldn't see them again.  We all said goodbye and thanked each other for the kind company.

Starting the hike before sunrise was amazing.  The stars were incredible.  The walk over the river in the dark was amazing - listening to the power of the river was stunning.

Getting to see the first glimpses of light above the canyon walls reflect off the river was spectacular.

The Bright Angel trail is completely different than the S. Kaibab.  In winter, it is almost entirely in shade.  There is also a creek which provides a better environment for vegetation.  We saw many many deer just on the trail.  As we walked in solitude for about 4.5 miles and were the first ones on the trail - I suspect we were a burden to some of them.

As this trail was in shade, it was more difficult to capture pictures.  The contrast between the light hitting the far canyon and us being in shade just didn't translate to the camera.

The upper part of the trail did have some snow and ice; but nothing too bad.  We wore just long-sleeve t-shirts most of the way, but did put our coats on at about a mile from the top.  As we continued up, the trail did get colder.

We also saw many more people after the 1.5 mile rest house.  Some Europeans asked me to take their picture, and they took this one of us in return.

At the river, we found ourselves warm in 60+ degree weather; even in the morning it was about 40 degrees.  At the top, it was more in the 30's on our second day with the wind making it chilly.  With a coat, hat and gloves - it was fine.

We made it to the trailhead in 5 hours and 45 minutes.  Given this was a last-minute hike and we didn't train for hills - we were very happy with this time.  We went into the Bright Angel lodge to figure out where the shuttle was - and my bunk mates were there!  How nice we got to see them again!  They did terrific going up the other trail; they were also impressed that we got up so quickly.

We ate dinner at a cafeteria on the rim, got on the blue shuttle, and made our way back to our car.  We went to the visitor center, and then said goodbye to the canyon.  We were off to Flagstaff for the night and would drive back to Phoenix to arrive at the airport at noon.  In Flagstaff, we ordered a pizza from a fabulous place we had eaten at many years ago...Ni Marcos.  We slept SO GOOD that night!  Anyhow, in the morning we were checking out when I heard my name - Katie?  I turned around, it was my bunkmate...again!  How funny.  Anyhow, she was sitting with another woman who turned out to be someone in the group of the injured hiker!  We got the whole story.  She was hiking down, when her knee started hurting at some point; she kept going on it for about a mile and a half after it started hurting.  At the point when she had to stop, her body pretty much went into shock.  Had this been summer on the S. Kaibab trail, she would have been in trouble...thankfully, it was winter.  She asked much of her group to continue down without her (this woman continued down); one person stayed with her.  It didn't get any better and at one point, she just stopped all together.  The rangers got over 10 calls about her, but it was too late in the day to do anything.  There was also another man lower on the trail that was having trouble that many people called about - she thought he had a form of food poisoning.  So, the rangers were getting the calls about the "two" parties.  On the trail, they have occasional boxes set up - we saw one, but didn't know what it was for.  Apparently, they have survival tools in them - sleeping bags, water, light, etc.  As this woman couldn't walk, a hiker than came by actually carried her on his back to the Cedar Ridge stop - what generosity.  She was able to get the supplies from the box and they put her in the bathroom for the night.  Not fun at all - but all the survival tools that were in place allowed her to survive - success!  In the morning, a ranger came down with crutches, but she was unable to use them.  They had three people assisting at this point and slowly made their way up.  From what it sounded like, this was probably the worst day of this woman's life - but she made it.  In the summer, she might not have been so lucky.  

I was amazed that the mules didn't help - but this is just not policy.  She was considered a mobile injury and had to get out on her own.  It wasn't pretty, but she did it.  The poor woman in her party that we were speaking to said she ended up just having the most awful trip as well - when they got to the bottom, they couldn't get any information on their friend other than that there were several calls on the "two incidents".  She did not know what happened to the other man.  Lesson learned - be prepared. Second lesson learned - build a little more time into the schedule in case there are problems!  Third lesson learned - if you are not feeling good, time to turn around!  Truly though, after seeing this happen and having hiked the hike - I would not do it in summer...period.  Just wouldn't do it... 

On the way back to the airport, we made a quick stop at Montezuma Castle; a nice set of ruins to observe.

We couldn't have asked for a better hike at the Grand Canyon - Rim to River to Rim!  Cross that one off the list!