Hiking in Grand Canyon National Park

On 17 October 2009, I visited Grand Canyon National Park with three friends. The expansive views of the canyon are breath-taking. The canyon is 277 miles long and is said to have been carved by Colorado River over millions of years.

We hiked 16.8 miles with 4800+ ft elevation change (from South Kaibab Trailhead → Phantom Ranch → Bright Angel Trailhead) in a single day.

Details of our Trip: We parked our car at Mather Point. We then boarded a shuttle at 6:00am to reach South Kaibab Trailhead on the rim. At around 6:30am, we started hiking. After 7.3 miles and 4800 ft elevation drop, we reached Phantom Ranch by 9:45am. We then spent some 2 hours having lunch and having fun at the river. At 11:45am, we started the uphill hike along Bright Angel Trail. After 9.5 miles and an elevation gain of 4500+ ft, I reached the rim at 4:45pm. Two of my friends were faster, reaching the rim at 3:30pm and 4:00pm respectively. Finally, a park shuttle took us to our car at Mather Point.

Difficulty Level: The hike to Half Dome in Yosemite is 15.7 miles round-trip, 4800 ft elevation gain. In contrast, the South Kaibab Trail → Phantom Ranch → Bright Angel Trail route is 16.8 miles long with 4800+ ft elevation gain. Although the distance and elevation gain numbers are quite comparable, I found the Grand Canyon hike tougher for the following reasons:

* Down and Up: In Grand Canyon, any route from the South rim to the river first takes you down by 4500+ ft. Then you climb back up. Most hikes first ascend, then descend. So muscles accustomed to regular hikes face a new situation in Grand Canyon. In the bay area, CA, there are hikes in Mt Tamalpais and Muir Woods that first descend — some practice here might be helpful.

* Gradient: There are virtually no flat stretches along the Bright Angel or South Kaibab trails. On the way back, the trail seemed to go on and on forever! :-)

* Heat: Trails are mostly in the open. We went in mid-October, which is the most convenient month for hiking in Grand Canyon. Still, I felt that the sun was quite intense — I could feel salt on my face towards the end of the hike. The straw hat I wore was very helpful. I can only imagine how hot the sun feels in May thru September! Single-day round trip hikes from rim-to-river should definitely not be attempted from May to September.

Helpful Links: Official website has loads of information. Shuttle schedules. Trail maps. Elevation profiles: South Kaibab — Bright Angel — other trails. Details of Bright Angel Trail: Part 1 — Part 2. An excellent article on day-hikes in Grand Canyon. Maps and high quality details of various trails: South Rim — North Rim. Finally, mileage and elevation profiles of popular trails.

Pictures: Taken on 17 October 2009. I shot 200+ pictures along the trail. Please click on any thumbnail below to get an idea of what the entire hike looks like.

Pictures: Taken on 12 April 2009 during an earlier trip: