Grand Canyon Backpacking - detailed log

Finally I experienced it! I've been to Grand Canyon and surrounding areas about 5 times, but never went much below the rim. This week, finally I did my first backpacking experience in Grand Canyon - hiking from North Rim to South Rim. It was an excellent experience - I don't know how much I would be able to describe it in words...


The day before


Me and my friends - Kamal and Vandana - flew to Phoenix, AZ on the evening of Friday, June 6th (2008, for completeness). We chose direct flight to avoid the possibility of lost luggage in flight connections. We stayed at a friend's place and re-arranged the backpacks, weighed it the last time. It was a little over 31 lbs in my case, which was ok. The next day, Saturday June 7th, we left from Phoenix at 6:30 am by car and reached at South Rim of Grand Canyon around 11:30ish. We visited the backcountry office for any last minute update on trail status, parked the car and took the "Trans-Canyon Shuttle" to North Rim. There were 10 hikers in the shuttle - two groups who finished their rim-to-rim hike and were going back to their cars in N Rim, and another group like us, who were to start their hike from the N Rim. It was fun talking those guys and exchange stories about our prior experiences and such. Five hours of journey finished in a blink!


Fortunately, we couldn't secure the camp site at N Rim, so we were to stay at a motel room. It was fortunate, because minimum temperature at night would fall to 28 F (-2 C) that night. There were still some patches of snow under thick trees on this side of Kaibab national forest. We enjoyed the pizza dinner and did some last minutes preps before sleeping.


The First Day


The trail head of the North Kaibab Trail was 2.8 miles from the lodge. Our initial plan was to start early and hike that distance. However, we concluded later that time taken in hiking those miles would even out the early start - and that would be added 3 miles on the already planned 14 miles downhill journey. So, we took the shuttle and reached the trail head right around 6 am.


And thus, we began! The beginning of the trail was covered with thick forest - douglas fir, ponderosa pine, aspen -- almost felt like any Santa Cruz mountain trail. We were starting in a valley opening up in South, but the glimpses of the canyon were really rare. It was cold, but not freezing cold - temperature would be around 45-50 F, however it was very windy. Despite the thick forest cover, we put on jackets / wind cheaters and woolen hats / hand gloves. After hiking about an hour, the first layer of rock formation became apparent - the yellow Coconino rocks, dating 270 million years old.


Hiking in Grand Canyon is a journey in time. Reverse history if you go down and fast forwards from 1.7 billion years ago to 'now' if you go all the way from Colorado river to the rim. Every layer has its own color, tells the story of that age, hiding some pieces of the puzzle to keep us always curious.


In an hour or so, we descended about 1000 feet, 40 million years, and reached the Supai formation group - brown / red rocks. This group of rocks is responsible for mainly reddish color of the canyon - the color erodes from this layer and it paints the rocks below. Supai tunnel was the attraction in this part of the hike. After crossing the small tunnel, we saw the trail winding down steeply in the valley, with a small bridge visible "way down". This trail is supposed to go in parallel with Bright Angle creek. I read that Bright Angle creek is perennial, but water was not visible anywhere. I saw some "weeping rocks" along the way though.


After two hours, we crosses the first wooden bridge, met an elderly couple who left from Cottonwood camp ground around 4:30 in the morning. It was about 8 am at that time - so we figured that we were going slower than expected. The trails is not mile marked, so we couldn't tell exactly how much we traveled - but our gut feelings told us that we were slow. So, we increased the speed on the down hill. The trail was really steep -- after hiking another hour, we saw the first sign of flowing water - I should say gushing water! It was Roaring Springs, deserving its name, rushing out from a large hole in the rocks. We descended a lot by this time, the thick forest was almost gone. Douglas Firs were gone for sure - however there were still trees with occasional desert type vegetation. We examined the map at the Roaring Spring and discovered that it will soon meet the Bright Angle creek.


And soon we were hiking on the left side of the Bright Angle creek. Descent was almost over when we reached the creek around 9:45 am. Rest of the hike was along the creek, still going down, but not as sharply as the initial 6 miles. At 10/10:30 we reached Cottonwood campground. This was the last source of water along the trail, so we refilled our water bags, wet the hats / handkerchiefs and moved on.


Now the hike was in the side canyon of the creek - the constant music of the water flowing in the creek had a very good effect on our moods and thoughts. Thick vegetation of N Kaibab forest is long gone - now there are some shrubs and cactus and other thorny vegetations. Lizards were abundant! The typical view of Grand Canyon was not always visible, as we were still far from the Colorado river. Side canyons were still very imposing! Around this time, I had my first glimpse of diverse fauna of the canyon. A snake rushed from the shrubs on left side of the trail to right side, triggering relocation of couple of lizards. The snake moved so fast that Kamal, walking few feet behind me couldn't see it. The stomping of hiking sticks must have stimulated it.


We reached at Ribbon Falls at 11 am. It was a blessing in the heat of the desert / canyon. I never experienced a water fall so up, close and personal before. We freed our feet from the hiking boots and socks and soaked in the water. We also climbed up and went behind the fall. The fall was not huge, but it was big enough to enjoy the shower underneath it. We cooked our lunch in the vicinity and enjoyed the 2 hour stay.


At 1:00 pm we started the journey of last 6 miles to the Colorado river. It was the hottest time of the day and its not advised to hike at that time, but we took the chance, as we were going downhill and we really wanted some more time at the river. So, we continued. The heat was really terrible with 30 lbs on the back. We took every chance to wet our T-shirt / hats in the creek. Moving on, the canyon became narrower and there were box canyons at times. Fortunately, that provided much needed shade and it was still windy, which diluted the heat effect. Vandana was feeling some heat exhaustion at this time.


We were about 2 miles from the camp ground at 3 pm. I was ahead of Kamal/Vandana, and went down to the creek at an accessible point. I spent some time there, wetting my face, head, hat and cooling down and waited for few minutes. And I think I waited for a few minutes, but there was no sign of Kamal or Vandana. It was possible that they might have missed me, and continued passing me. With the sound of flowing water so close, I might have missed them too. Thinking that, I continued towards Phantom Ranch, with increase pace. I crossed a bridge and was able to see the trail ahead, but didn’t find them. So, left my backpack there and hiked to find them. I reached the spot where I accessed the creek and went a couple of switchbacks beyond that point, but still there was no sign. I waited at that point for them about 5 minutes. Officially, I lost them.
I knew I was less than 2 miles away from the camp ground, where I can find a lot of help. So, I decided to reach the Phantom Ranch and consult the ranger. It would take me less than an hour to reach there – so again, with increased pace, I started my hike towards the campground. One big thing that I missed was my wrist watch! So, I reached the camp ground, asked few people whether they saw any Indian couple or not and took the digicam to note the time. I reached the Bright Angle campground at 3:55pm. I decided to wait for half an hour before I go search for Kamal / Vandana. I started replenishing myself with mixed nuts, water and Gatorade. Meanwhile, I thought that I will consult ranger if I don’t find Kamal or Vandana in half an hour.


Fortunately, they came in about 15 minutes. Vandana was having trouble breathing in Sun – and so they waited for about 15-20 minutes in the shade. It must be a point before I went to the creek. It’s that easy in the wilderness to lose somebody, even if you follow the same trail. I had a whistle, but they didn’t have it. Lesson learnt – everybody must carry a whistle while backpacking, and define a protocol (3 short whistle means help me, 1 long means OK? / OK etc).
Anyways – at last we were together again. We setup the tent, emptied our backpacks and hung them on a post provided by the forest services. Then we went to pay the visit to the legendary Colorado River. We went to the boat beach and I quickly changed to my swimming costume. There was a whirlpool formed near the beach. The water was cold as expected. My feet really thanked me for going in the water. Swimming was difficult though – not because of the force of the water, but due to the cold. I couldn’t keep my head in the water for more than a few seconds. After enjoying the river for a while, Kamal and I went to visit the Black Bridge – the path to South Rim via the South Kaibab Trail. The name Black Bridge reminded me the Black Gate of Mordor from the Lord of the Rings. The landscape and the weather definitely reminded the Mordor at times. Black Bridge is also special because it ends in a tunnel on the south side. On the way back, we visited the archeological site of Anasazi natives. They were built some 800 years ago. The Anasazi people adjusted to the living in the canyons, but in 1350AD, they abandoned the canyons due to some “climate change”.


We reached the camp site at around 6PM, and were really deprived of sugar. So, made some hot chocolate and enjoyed it. Right around that time, a rattle snake was spotted just next to our camp site. We were excited and took the pictures. However, few minutes later, it ended up in the campsite of our neighbor, who brutally killed it. I felt very bad about it. I don’t think it was really necessary to kill it – after all we were in their territory.


Anyways, we were a bit more cautious after the snake incidence. Moved the hiking shoes on the bench, and quickly moved all the food in the metal food container to prepare for crash. It turned out that Kamal took kid’s tent by mistake – and we 3 couldn’t fit in it. So, I decided to sleep outside – on the table. Just after I slept, I spotted a small furry animal next to the tent. The next day, I came to know that it was Ringtail cat. pan>I moved the food container, which was too close to me, to as far as possible. I listened to many other creatures at night, but didn’t pay much attention.


The Second Day


We woke up at 5 AM on Monday – the second day of our voyage. We started the hike at around 6:30 – and crossed the mighty Colorado River over the Silver Bridge. The trail continued along the south side of the river for a while. Its pretty amazing to imagine that such a small river has carved up so huge canyons. The trail was mostly sandy along the river – though we were roughly 40 to 60 feet above it. We spot two rafts, probably waiting for their buddies. And after hiking about a mile and half, we said good bye to the river and started climbing along a small creek towards south. As Sun was low on the east, the canyon walls protected us from its rays. Unlike Bright Angle creek in the north, the creek along which we were hiking was not perennial, but it was still flowing as were early in the summer.


We quickly gained some elevation. The views of the canyon were much prettier from the south. We met a guy from Estonia along the way. And in no time, we reached the Indian Garden camp ground – at 9:45 AM. This was a very short hike – 4.5 miles, compared to the 14 miles of previous day. Indian Garden is on the Tonto Plateau, and unlike my expectations, it was full of shade. We found a nice camp side on the west side of the camp ground. There was an imposing canyon wall on the west of our camp site – almost looked like a red fort. We took a nap and woke up around noon to have a long lunch, starting with tomato soup. I don’t know when I was so relaxed and free before. There was absolutely nothing on my “to do list” for the rest of the day! And all three of us felt that our minds were almost blank – not thinking about any project or task or work or issue. That was a great feeling.
In the evening, we had a short walk along the Tonto Trail towards Plateau Point – didn’t go all the way to the end of the trail though. Saw a few deer on the trail. There were many squirrels and lizards at the camp site too. Again, we had a long dinner and enjoyed star gazing before going to sleep. The Milky Way was not visible yet, but still it was fun to see the night sky after a long time.


The Third Day


On the last day, again we started around 6:30 in the morning. Applying the mole-skin was the process before we start the hike everyday. Without that, the experience would have been bad.


The trail started going south with a little gradient – giving us the feeling that we were still in the plateau. But soon the imposing walls of the canyon were next to us and the ascent began. The trail was very scenic, facing north – we can see the side canyon carved by the Bright Angle canyon – the path we took two days back.
Today, we had to cover the same distance, about 4.5 miles. There were two water stops along the way. I was already missing the canyons by the time we reached second water stop. As we approached the south rim, more and more visitors were on the trail. Given that, there were many signs warning people about the extremes of the canyon. Canyon is like an inverted mountain – it’s easy to go down, but it becomes difficult to go back up. The extreme heat of the south rim makes the ascent more difficult, and many visitors of the south rim are unprepared and underestimate these conditions. However, it was nice to see more people. I especially felt good when somebody congratulated me when she came to know that I left north rim two days ago.


I was at high after the second water stop. My speed was increased and I was comparing this with the last hour of the marathons. I parted from Kamal and Vandana. The views of the canyon made me think that the visionaries of Upnishads must be inspired by the similar views in Himalayan range…


And around 10:15 am, I was at the top. Few minutes later Kamal /Vandana also showed up. The ice-cream on the south rim tasted very good – followed by a nice lunch. And thus, our first backpacking experience was ended – very successfully. It was really a very fulfilling experience.