The Grand Canyon
16.5 miles. 9,160ft elevation change. 2 days.
My first backpacking experience to the bottom of the Grand Canyon is now complete.
Katelin, Lupita, and I left Flagstaff Friday around 4:30 headed North toward to the Grand Canyon. We found a free place to camp just outside the park boundaries. Then it started raining while we were setting up our tents but stopped in time for us to start a fire. We sat around the fire talking and making smores all night. The low was in the 20s that night and I had all my clothes on to stay warm.
Katelin and I by the fire
We woke up early in order to be at the backcountry office at 8 to see if we could get a permit for that night. When I had called earlier in the week they said the 2 campgrounds I was looking at were full. So we hoped that there might be a cancellation due to the expected cloudy weather. We were lucky and there was an opening that night at Bright Angel Campground! So after making some breakfast and repacking we took the free shuttle to the South Kaibab trailhead. We started hiking about 10:30, and the sky was clearing and turning out to be a beautiful day!
Katelin, me, and Lupita at the South Kaibab trailhead
It was very windy that day and my hat flew off several times but I was always able to retrive it. We took our time descending 4,780ft and enjoyed the view, constantly stopping and saying "wow, look at that!"
Switchbacks on the South Kaibab
The trail with a view
Hiking down
Once in sight of the Colorado River, we knew we were getting closer to the bottom. Later we crossed a bridge over the river to the North side and walked along to Phantom Ranch.
Lupita with the CO River below
Crossing the CO River
We set up our camp at Bright Angel Campground on a nice sandy spot right near a creek. It was like going back in time because the trees were just starting to turn yellow (the bottom is usually about 20 degrees warmer than at the rim). We saw several deer and even a fox that night. After an early dinner, we called it a night and fell asleep before 8, on a warmer night with a low in the 40s.
Bright Angel Campground
View outside my tent in the morning
We woke up early, had breakfast, and packed up. We were on the Bright Angel trail by 8:30 headed back up the canyon. My calves were like rocks and super tight from going down all day so it was quite painful but luckily we had to go up and not down so it didn't hurt as much.
Colorado River from the 2nd bridge
Start of the 2nd day
We took a rest break about halfway at Indian Garden Campground. Then we started climbing up and up and up. We took breaks at each rest house and finally made it to the top around 3.
Near Indian Garden Campground
More switchbacks
Hiking along the river
Crossing a stream
Finished at the top!
We were pretty tired once we got to the rim so we found our way back to the car and headed back to Flagstaff. I had an amazing time and am so glad I was able to finally backpack down into the canyon. I am also so happy that I had two friends to accompany me!
North Rim to South Rim next?!
Here's a video taken in the canyon,
