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Grand Canyon April 8 - 14

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    • Grand Canyon April 8 - 14

      The trip was a complete success! We flew into Phoenix and had a rental waiting and we were standing at the rim on Mather Point about 5 pm. Slingshot, having never been, was awestruck. We wandered around Mather Point and the Visitor Center for a while and then went and checked into Yavapai Lodge and did a little store browsing.

      Day 2 we to the rim and checked out Bright Angel Lodge, El Tovar, The Hopi House, the Visitor Center, Lookout Studio, views along the rim and then drove to Desert View to see the Watch Tower and the eastern views. On the way back to GC Village proper we stopped at a little known and unmarked parking lot for Shoshone Point. SP is a mile long walk thru a wonderful Ponderosa Pine forest to a peninsula of land that juts out into the canyon for fantastic 360 degree views.Later that evening we went to Hopi Point for the sunset. We entered the lottery for a walkup permit for one night at the Bright Angel Campground at Phantom Ranch. The ranger said he would call us in the morning to let us know if we were successful- we were 6th in line for Sunday.

      Day 3 my knee was acting up a little so we decided to rent bikes and ride the Greenway and the rode to Hermits Rest along the rim. This turned out to be a most excellent idea. We saw about 12 miles of the canyon from the bikes including checking out the South Kaibab Trailhead where we would descend into the inner gorge and across the Colorado on Sunday. Also the ranger called and asked if we were anywhere near the Backcountry Office, I said as a matter of fact we were right around the corner at Maswick Lodge. He said, come on over and I'll hand you your permit!!!!! The afternoon and evening was spent getting everything together for our trip into the gorge.

      Day 4 we went to the Backcountry Office to catch the 6 am shuttle to the South Kaibab trailhead. It's 6.8 miles down the trail with an elevation drop of over 4800 feet. We did it in 5 hrs- includung the extra mile to the Phantom Ranch and the campground. We took several breaks and stopped for pictures constantly. When we set up camp we didn't see the 4 deer sleeping in the grass surrounding our site until one stood up about 3 feet from me. I was busy setting up my tarp with my back to it, but Slingshot nearly jumped out of his skin- bahahahah!!! The deer just calmly moved about 10 feet and layed back down with the others who watched us set up. Then we headed over to the creek to cool our feet and have a toast with the mini whiskeys that I hiked in :-). That night a young lady guide stopped by and asked if we had eaten yet and would we like some chicken stir fry? Would we? Heck yeah!!! She had prepared a big pot full and her group could only eat half of it. They had their stuff hauled down by mule and she had brought fresh brocolli, peas, carrots, peppers, rice, mushrooms, and chicken for the meal. It was amazing! We ate all of it lol!!! Later that night we enjoyed the dark sky.

      Day 5 we got up at 5 am and hit the trail at 6 am. we crossed over on Silver Bridge and took the River Trail to the Bright Angel and back up the 9.3 miles to the Bright Angel Trailhead with rest stops at the River Rest, Indian Gardens, 3 Mile Rest and Mile and a Half Rest. Good views and we enjoyed thye trail, especially the part along the river and up to Indian Gardens. After Indian Gardens you start running into gobs of day hikers and parents with kids which makes it less enjoyable and more of a Bright Angel highway. We of course celebrated with beer and burgers.

      Day 6 our calves and thighs were screaming so we did another day of rim sightseeing and shopping for t-shirts and stuff.
      I'll post lots of pictures later.
      "Dazed and Confused"
      Recycle, re-use, re-purpose
      Plant a tree
      Take a kid hiking
      Make a difference
    • odd man out wrote:

      I definitely want to do a multi day trip there. Are the walk up permits only good for one night in a corridor campground?
      Also I heard one if the bridges had been closed indefinitely. Has that been opened again?
      No, you can request multiple nights and nights at different campgrounds- on and off corridor. The Silver Bridge actually is open, just closed between 8sm and 5pm M-F for maintenance. Going down we went across the Black Bridge- painted black and with boards on the floor for the mules and going back we crossed on the Silver Bridge- painted silver. You can see the difference in the bridges in my pictures.

      The rangers typically hold back 3-5 camping spot permits for each campground. If the Backcountry Office is open and you talk to a ranger, he can tell you how many spots he has open and where you would be in the queue if you signed up for the walk up waiting list and he would let you know what your chances are. On Friday he told us we could have Saturday permit for Indian Gardens and our chances for a night at Bright Angel were good for Sunday and that if we didn't make the cut Sunday that we would have a permit for Monday.

      A great non corridor hike would be down the Hermit and then east on the Tonto with a night at Monument Creek and then Indian Gardens and out the Bright Angel. With two possible side trips to the river at Hermit Creek and Monument Creek and a possible side trip to Plateau Point.
      "Dazed and Confused"
      Recycle, re-use, re-purpose
      Plant a tree
      Take a kid hiking
      Make a difference
    • I already want to go back. I have now hiked the Bright Angel, the South Kaibab, the Hermit and the Grand View. They are all strenuous- especially the Grand View- and all have great vistas. I would say that the Grand View and South Kaibab are close in terms of having the best views from I've seen. Grand View to Horseshoe Mesa is a great day trip. I've camped there two nights- the bad part is the half mile haul down a wickedly steep and exposed trail to Miner's Spring aka Paige Spring to get water. Also a great multi day hike is down the Grand View and drop off either side of the mesa to the Tonto and take that around to the South Kaibab or Bright Angel and out.
      "Dazed and Confused"
      Recycle, re-use, re-purpose
      Plant a tree
      Take a kid hiking
      Make a difference
    • The hermit loop is definitely on my
      bucket list, but there are so many options. Would also want to go down the SK. Is hiking out Hermit reasonable? Would also want to camp at BA, and drink, eat, and/or sleep at PR (yes I know I am in permit hell territory). Have not considered Grandview Trail or the Tonto from there to SK. Will have to reconsider based on your recommendation. Then there's the RtR option, but the logistics of that are challenging. I was at the NR 10 years ago and it was heavenly.
    • odd man out wrote:

      The hermit loop is definitely on my
      bucket list, but there are so many options. Would also want to go down the SK. Is hiking out Hermit reasonable? Would also want to camp at BA, and drink, eat, and/or sleep at PR (yes I know I am in permit hell territory). Have not considered Grandview Trail or the Tonto from there to SK. Will have to reconsider based on your recommendation. Then there's the RtR option, but the logistics of that are challenging. I was at the NR 10 years ago and it was heavenly.
      Yes, you could go down the SK and take the Tonto to hermit and out. It would require a minimum of two nights below the rim. The logistics of a RTR are really not that bad as long as the South Rim/North Rim shuttle is operating which is usually from mid May to Mid October (when the North Rim is open). It only runs once a day and is I think a 5 hour ride and $75? So it's best to either: 1) ride the shuttle to the NR and camp for the night and then start your hike the next day (16 miles to Phantom, Cottonwood campground about 8 miles )stay at the BA campground at Phantom and hike out the next day or 2) Hike south to north spending the night at BA camp at Phantom and hiking up the North Kaibab the next day and spending the night at the North Rim campground and catching the shuttle back to the South Rim at noonish.
      "Dazed and Confused"
      Recycle, re-use, re-purpose
      Plant a tree
      Take a kid hiking
      Make a difference
    • jimmyjam wrote:

      The logistics of a RTR are really not that bad as long as the South Rim/North Rim shuttle is operating which is usually from mid May to Mid October (when the North Rim is open). It only runs once a day and is I think a 5 hour ride and $75?
      $90.

      But if you can't make a scheduled shuttle, they'll be more than happy to take you for the equivalent of 8 fares -- or $720!

      I think they make a couple trips a day (morning and afternoon) from each rim but I could be wrong about that.
      2,000 miler

      The post was edited 1 time, last by max.patch ().

    • The other problem with RtR is that by the time the NR opens, the bottom is brutally hot (and I'm not available after mid Aug). My best window of opportunity given my work schedule is the first week of March or May. But given the climate change from rim to bottom, I have to get a three season bag, which I don't currently have.
    • We had daytime rim temps of 65 to 70 for a high and night lows of 35-40. In the Inner Gorge it was close to 90 max and at night I'd say upper 40s low 50s. I've seen it snow on the South Rim in late April and there was some snow in the shadows as we descended from the rim
      "Dazed and Confused"
      Recycle, re-use, re-purpose
      Plant a tree
      Take a kid hiking
      Make a difference