Seven Days (plus travel) in late October and early November

Hiker's Notes: It's much cooler and less crowded in late Autumn or Winter than in Summer at Grand Canyon. Lower Canyon temperatures often exceed 100^oF in the summer. Be sure to bring enough water and dress properly!

Day 1. Arrival.
Our group travels from the mid-West to the Grand Canyon by 15-passenger van. The drive takes us through Flagstaff, AZ and we arrive after dark to pick up food supplies at a local supermarket. Fruit, Boboli, cornbread, chili, water, etc.

From Flagstaff, it is about 40 minutes to the Grand Canyon. Inside the National Park, finding our way to the Mather Campground was a bit of a challenge, but we eventually locate the entrance and set up camp. You can reserve campsites online at the National Park Service reservations website. (Also, click HERE for more rim campsite and permit information). It's a chilly 29^oF, but, the sky is clear and full of stars. Out here you can easily see the Milky Way. It is an awesome backdrop to the constellations. Some of us walk out to the Rim to see the Canyon by moonlight. The moon was bright enough to cast a glow and reflect off the Canyon walls. It looks like a perfect black and white photo. Looking over the edge was a bit of a thrill and leaves me will a sense of awe at the expanse and depth of the Canyon. Back in camp, we turn in for the night and a distant pack of coyotes begin to howl. The tent is cold and it is hard to get warm tonight. Down in the canyon it will be warmer.

Day 2. Day hikes.
We awake to frost on the ground and on the trees. As the sunlight hits the trees, little flakes of frost fly around in the air. Beautiful. Breakfast is eggs, cheese, veggies and bacon wrapped in a tortilla. This is our first meal over the camp stoves and out in the open. Everything tastes really good this morning! The ravens and chickadees agree -they keep a close watch for unattended food.

At the moment we are taking a driving tour of the park area -actually we are trying to locate the trailhead for tomorrow. We stopped at Mather Point Lookout for a glimpse of what is to come. Today weather on the rim is windy and cold. The wind is strong enough to make it a treacherous to walk out to the lookout point. A guide for a tour group is talking to his group about the money that gets thrown out from the lookout. He explains that every year they hire experienced mountain climbers to pick up the coins tourists throw out. They get to keep what they find -money, sunglasses, hats, etc. They also risk their lives in the process of cleaning up after other people.

Eventually we park the van and walk to the trailhead for the South Kaibab Trail. We hike down about a mile and stop to look out over the Canyon at the Ooo Ahh point. Going down takes about an hour or so. On our way up we make pretty good time...a bit less than it took to get down.

We return to camp to sort our food out by meals. Everything in a bulky package goes into plastic zip-top bags. Peanuts, raisins, sunflower seeds and M&M's get mixed together for trail mix. Everyone takes a bag of trail mix, 3 cereal bars, candy bars and fruit for their personal snacks. Then we each take a couple of meals, a Sierra cup and utensils to carry in our packs. Everything goes back into the van and we head for the showers!

After showers we head into Grand Canyon Village outside the park for dinner. Our choice is the Steakhouse at the Grand Canyon. It's a real cowboy kind of place. There's fire in the fireplace and rattlesnake on the menu. Back in camp tonight we are full and warm. We get into our mummy sleeping bags and we are quickly out. 

Day 3. South Kaibab Trail.
Our first day on the trail! We ride the Park's free shuttle bus (not available in winter months) from the Market Plaza to the Canyon View Visitors Center. A second bus takes us to the South Kaibab Trail trailhead. Today's 5-1/2 hour hike begins at 6,860' and ends at 2,400', 4,460' of elevation change. We start out around noon and we arrive at the bottom about 5:30PM. Along the trail we were able to stop twice and use solar toilets, once at Cedar Point and then at Tonto Trail Junction. Everything is environmentally protected. Coming down over 4,400 feet we change scenery and trail texture a couple of times. It started out as yellow-like limestone and short pines and evergreens. Then it became rocky, red rocks and finally, desert-like with cactus and yucca. Near the end of the hike, the trail crosses both the Colorado River and Bright Angel Creek. We are camping for the night at Phantom Ranch's Bright Angel Campground.

We are sore and hungry, but excited to be through the toughest day of our trip. Tonight dinner is pizza with summer sausage and cheese. We've packed a stove with a baking unit. After dinner we hang our packs up on something that looks like the support to a playground swing set. The pack flap goes over the bar and fastens to keep animals out.

We are now sitting under a sky full of stars and the moon (about a half moon) is bright enough that we don't need flashlights. The rushing of Bright Angel Creek is a constant in the background. Tonight it is about 65^oF. This morning when we left it was 40 degrees, but it's always warmer at the bottom of the Canyon. You go from mountain conditions to desert conditions.

Day 4. North Kaibab Trail.
Last night we had critters visit the campsite. The first aid kit is missing! Joe saw several ringtail cats (like a small raccoon) climbing up to the packs. Our food was stored in the metal boxes provided at the campground so they did not find much to eat. Earlier in the night a skunk scented the campground and walked through our campsite after we had gone to bed.

Today we hiked up the North Kaibab Trail to Cottonwood Campground (4,065'). It took about 5 hours to hike the 7 miles (by the high road). Our hike took us along the Bright Angel Creek. Most of the trail was in the shade of the canyon, which made it a bit easier to hike. Along the trail there are cactus, yucca and scrubby green plants with tiny white and yellow flowers. Some of the trail is sandy and other parts are red and rocky. The Park Service has groomed the trails well, putting in wood and stone "steps" that actually serve as protection against erosion. (And cause hikers to high step it across them! ugh!) Parts of the trail are built up on rock walls held in place with wire mesh. We crossed Wolf Creek and several wet areas today. Thank goodness for Gore-Tex boots! It was really muddy and wet along the trail.

The temperature was about 80oF while we hiked. At 6:30PM it's still 70^oF. It feels more like 9:00PM! Seven of us are sleeping out under the stars tonight.

Our menu for today was: Breakfast: oatmeal; Lunch: peanut butter tortillas, fruit; Dinner: Teriyaki rice with chicken, banana bread.

Day 5. Ribbon Falls.
Pancakes and bacon for breakfast! We'll soon hike off the sugar. It is 6-1/2 miles to Phantom Ranch from Cottonwood and we are taking the trail that goes by Ribbon Falls. I guess we will by-pass the wet parts we came through yesterday.

At Ribbon Falls we leave our packs behind and hike up around behind the falls. The falls have a cave behind them so that you can crawl up into and then peek out through the water. You may get soaked with water to do this but it is rather refreshing. Up above the water comes down from the canyon, hits a mound of green moss and then rushes down through rock and moss to a stream below. The stream has moss and curly green watercress. The watercress has a spicy biting flavor.

After Ribbon Falls we crossed a larger stream and stopped for lunch and to dry our feet. Tuna and cheese in pitas and fruit is what's for lunch today. Some of us are nursing blistered feet and purple toes. Soon we are back on the trail and coming back down to Phantom Ranch. It is Halloween night and the park rangers are putting on a program "Spooky Stories of the Canyon." After dinner (chili and cornbread), some of us play cards and the rest go to the ranger program.

Day 6. Bright Angel Trail.
Early this morning we saw five deer grazing through camp. We are essentially in their way here and they appear to be very casual about it. Today's hike takes us up towards the Rim on the Bright Angel Trail to Indian Gardens Campground (3,800') -about 4.6 miles. We arrived in a short time compared to the last three days and set up camp. Most of the trail was sandy like walking on the beach. It's amazing how the soil changes so quickly depending on the altitude and the rock layers. We could see the Colorado River most of the time today. At the Silver Bridge we crossed the river. This is a suspension bridge with an open grate for the floor! There was also a slight bounce as you walked across it.

Tonight after dinner (Risotto con Broccoli and strawberry-banana bread) we hiked out 1-1/2 miles to Plateau Point (3,770'). The overlook has a view of both sides of the Canyon as well as the Colorado River below. We actually missed the spectacular sunset tonight -though folks walking back told us we did not miss anything due to the cloud cover. It is very peaceful and quiet. Beyond this overlook it is a straight free fall hundreds of feet to the bottom of the Canyon. It is our last night in the Canyon. Eventually we all wander back to camp and crawl into our sleeping bags. Everyone is sleeping outside tonight.

Day 7. Back to the Rim and Home.
One of our team was awakened early this morning by a bird, we think. Something attacked his face and drew blood. Maybe sleeping in a tent would have been a better idea. After that we all drew the mummy bags tighter around our faces.

Today we hiked up 4.6 miles to the Rim (6,860'). We left camp around 9:15AM and the first group walked out of the Canyon at 12:15PM. The second half walked out about an hour later. A couple of visitors from Wisconsin snapped pictures for us and then we headed to the shuttle bus for a ride to the van. Once we got to the van we re-packed and loaded up the cage. Soon after we were showering and scrubbing off a week's worth of sweat and grime. Then its back to Flagstaff for dinner before the long haul home.

Park Service maintains a website with recommended multi-day backcountry hikes. If you're interested in building a trip of your own, click HERE to visit the site.