Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Hiking to the Bottom

Our main objective for this trip south was to organize a backpacking trip to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and the Colorado River.

By the time we arrived in Grand Canyon Village, my cold had subsided enough so I was able to enjoy myself. Accordingly, we got a campsite and headed for the Backcountry Office to see what could be done. We were surprised to be able to get on the wait list as #4 for service the next morning. Friday morning we were able to get our campsites at the Bright Angel Campsite for Saturday and Sunday nights. Having Friday to wait, we hiked part of the Hermit Creek trail, enjoying a nice warm, sunny day.

Saturday morning, we parked the van near the exit trailhead and caught the shuttle bus to the South Kaibab trailhead. We were on the trail by 9:45 am. This trail is one of the shortest (and therefore one of the steepest) routes to the Colorado. It wasn't that bad at all and we were at the river in about 4 hours. As we descended closer to the river, it got warmer and at the bottom, it was somewhat like being in an oven. Hot. Dry. We picked out a campsite and went exploring.

One of the local "attractions" is Phantom Ranch, dating from the early 1900s. Then there is the scenery at the bottom of the canyon.

The next day, our "rest day", we hiked a couple of miles up the Clear Creek Trail for the views down over the Colorado. We also walked several miles up the North Kaibab Trail towards the North Rim (over 13 miles away).

On Monday morning, we were up early to take advantage of shade and cooler weather for the hike back up to the South Rim. A weather system had moved through that evening, leaving some snow on the South Rim and cooler temperatures overall. The hike up the Bright Angel Trail through Indian Gardens was easy and fast, taking only 5.25 hours in total, plus a few rest breaks, and we hardly broke a sweat.

Traveling the Borderlands - Utah & Arizona

One writer commented that this part of the USA should just be turned into a National Park. It's certainly an area that we've visited many times over the past few years and we do enjoy the National Parks that are there: Capital Reef, Canyonlands, Arches, Bryce, Zion, Grand Canyon.... Then there are vast swaths of National Forest in southern Utah. And more reddish sandstone than you can imagine.

On this trip, we visited briefly on our way to the "real" objective: hiking in the Grand Canyon. Unfortunately, I had picked up a massive head cold on the flight back west from New Jersey, so I felt a bit mopey for a couple of days. However, we did spend a night at Bryce Canyon and did a few short walks in that area.

We also spent a day walking up the Paria River valley starting at Lees Ferry, a historical crossing area of the Colorado River. After the snow and cold of our frozen north, the heat and sunshine was most welcome. We also spent a couple of days in Page, AZ and took in a river rafting trip for part of a day and learned more about the Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell than we ever thought we'd learn.