By Larry Wayt  larry@live2hike.org

Home   Hike Listing Page

Grand Canyon Rim to Rim Hike Photographs

Since I arranged the hike, I wanted to make sure that when all was done, everyone was safe so I opted to be the last on of the fourteen hikers out of the canyon. In other words I was performing the sweep operation. This worked out well because I wanted to take some photographs to document the hike, I therefore started as sweep, and ended as sweep. Since it was cold when we started I was layered in three layers, with zipoff hiking pants and gloves. I wore my most comfortable hiking boots, which I found out later was a mistake. They were over two years old and had lost their traction and support. That caused me to slip a couple of times, which is not a good thing.

Although the North Kaibab trail is steep, the views and the surrounding terrain are spectacular. The trail is sufficiently wide to accommodate hikers walking side by side. Approximately one mile down the trail we passed through the tunnel and continued down the Roaring Springs canyon. Within another mile the temperature was starting to climb and we all started peeling off our layers of clothing. At approximately three miles we could hear the roar of falling water. We knew we must have been approaching Roaring Springs. Sure enough, we went around a curve and there it was. We could see the water boiling out of the cliff and down the mountain. Although there is a rest area at Roaring Springs, we opted not to stop and continued on. Within a mile we reached the confluence of the Roaring Springs Creek and the Bright Angel Creek. About a mile beyond Manzanita point we came upon Cottonwood Camp. Here we rested and replenished our water supplies. Lori and Ira took the advantage of using the restroom to change into something more comfortable because the temperature was rapidly rising. We had now put the first seven miles of trail behind us and had seven more to go to Phantom Ranch, which we decided would be our next rest and replenishment stop.

The Canyon is relatively wide in the area of Cottonwood Camp and continues that way until we entered The Box, which is below Ribbon Falls. Although the trail is not as steep, it does continue to go up and down enough to slow you down and tire you out. The other problem is that there isn’t much shade. This caused us to drink plenty of fluids. There are even a couple of stretches where we needed to wade across the small creeks crossing the trail. When we entered The Box the canyon walls closed in and for the next four miles or so, we made numerous crossings of the Bright Angel Creek on the bridges. At approximately noon we entered Phantom Ranch. Now we knew that we could rest. We also knew that we had put fourteen miles of the hike behind us and only had ten more to go.

We spent about an hour at the Phantom ranch and enjoyed eating our lunch and drinking lemonade. This was also our opportunity to purchase the Phantom Ranch T-shirts. This is the only location that they can be obtained so almost all hikers take advantage of the store there. After about an hour and a change of socks, we again started out toward the south rim. At the confluence of the Colorado River and the Bright Angel Creek we had the option of either taking the steep South Kaibab trail, where water is scarce, or the longer Bright Angel Trail. We had already decided to take the Bright Angel trail and cross the Silver Bridge to the south side of the river. We then proceeded west along the River trail. This trail is much different than any other trail we encountered. It is rolling hills and we had to hike in deep sand. To make it worse, the temperature had now risen above the 100-degree mark. We found out later that the temperature was about 110 degrees, which saps the fluids from your body. After proceeding west along the River trail for about one mile, we mad a left turn into Pipeline Canyon and worked our way toward The Devil’s Corkscrew. At least there was water in the creek and we took the opportunity to remove our outer clothing and get it wet. It sure felt good when we put it back on! About three miles after leaving Phantom Ranch we started up The Devil’s Corkscrew. The Devil’s Corkscrew is a series of switchbacks that go up the cliff very steep. It was extremely hot and that added to slow our pace to a crawl. We made sure to take advantage of any shady spot on the trail we could to rest and refresh ourselves. We also knew that although we each carried three liters of water it was starting to get scarce. We were never so glad to reach the top of The Devil’s Corkscrew and work our way into Indian Garden. We had now covered another five miles and only had another five miles to go.

The rest at Indian Garden was wonderful. We had made it there with the water we had and could replenish our supply again for the final leg out of the canyon. Again after resting and glad that the temperature was cooling off, we changed our socks and departed Indian Garden toward the south rim. About three-quarters of a mile out of Indian Garden Lori realized that she had left the borrowed trekking pole behind. Where I would have just replaced it with a new one, she decided to return and recover it. She said that she would catch up. Diana and I then continued at a very slow pace until Lori caught up. About a mile and a half from Indian Garden we started up the final switchbacks to the rim. It was now getting on towards sunset but we knew we would be all right. On the switchbacks going up the Bright Angel trail there are two resthouses. The Three Mile and the Mile and a Half. We were very glad to see each of these resthouses as they appeared. We also passed another hiker that was not as nearly prepared as we were and was waiting for medical aid. Although the last quarter of a mile was extremely difficult, when we passed through the last tunnel we knew that we had accomplished what we had set out to do. We had hiked the Grand Canyon, from North Rim to South Rim in a total of fourteen hours and thirty-one minutes. This is a feat that can only be accomplished by the best of hikers and we all knew that we had now graduated to that level.

As a final thought. I do not recommend that anyone ever try this challenge unless you are absolutely certain that you can accomplish the feat. The Park Service doesn’t even recommend anyone attempting to make it to the river and back in one day so they will do anything they need to dissuade you from attempting this hike. It is very grueling and as a hiker you must know what your limits are before you would even attempt this hike. Furthermore, it should never be attempted alone. I was lucky to find a group of the best-experienced hikers to accompany me on this challenging feat.

The Hikers