Hiking the Grand Canyon - Rim to River and Back in ONE day!
The morning of our hike down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon we left our motel in Tusayan, AZ at 5:30am. It was dark and cold; it had definitely dropped below freezing the night before. We drove to the Visitor Center, parked the car and got the 6am free hikers' shuttle bus to the start of the South Kaibab Trail. We had a long day ahead of us, planning to hike down to the river and back up in the same day.
We hadn't intended on doing this strenuous 16 mile hike in one day but as it turned out we didn't have much choice. Phantom Ranch, located at the bottom of the canyon has bunk-beds and cabins where we wanted to stay the night but apparently people make reservations up to one year in advance! So when I contacted the National Park Service a couple of months ago I was told they were completely booked on the dates we would be there. We thought maybe there would be a last minute cancellation we could take advantage of but unfortunately it wasn't in the cards for us.
Bright Angel Campground is also located at the bottom of the canyon near Phantom Ranch, but camping means you have to carry a lot of extra gear. So taking that into account, walking down and up in the same day seemed like the better option.
Note: The sign behind us in the picture below is saying that you should not hike down to the river and back up in one day...
It was pretty cold and windy when we started walking so were happy once the sun came up around 6:15am.
The views along the South Kaibab trail were breathtaking and the sunrise really brought out the vibrant pinks and oranges of the canyon. We got lucky with the weather on this day in April but it's important to be prepared since there is no drinking water anywhere on the trail and very little shade.
Supplies (and people) are brought up and down the canyon on a daily basis by mules. This group passed us on the way down at the 4.5 mile mark near Tonto Trail Junction. At this point we had already been walking about 1.5 hours.
After another 2 miles we reached the Colorado River, crossed over the Kaibab suspension bridge and arrived at Phantom Ranch.
Both Phantom Ranch and Bright Angel Campground are found within this desert oasis at the bottom of the Canyon.
It took us close to 2.5 hours to walk the 7 miles down to the Colorado River along the S. Kaibab Trail. Our legs were feeling strong so we took just a short break and then started the climb back up. Here's a view of the Colorado River from another suspension bridge we had to cross to reach the Bright Angel Trail.
The Bright Angel Trail isn't as steep as the S. Kaibab but at 9.3 miles it's slightly longer. This trail sees a lot more traffic so there are several places to stop and you can find drinking water along the way. The halfway point is Indian Gardens, which is a nice shaded spot where we ate our lunch.
Just as we passed Indian Gardens we saw another sign saying that people should NOT attempt to walk down to the bottom of the canyon and back up in one day. This warning should not be taken lightly; people do get seriously (and even fatally) injured each year trying to do this. But we felt confident in our fitness levels and hiking abilities after doing many challenging treks over the last year.
From this point the walk was a steep and steady climb for about 5 miles of switchbacks the rest of the way.
Just after 2pm we made it to back at the top of the canyon! It was a total of 8 hours including rest stops which meant we set a pretty quick pace. Hiking down to the bottom gives you a completely different perspective of the canyon and its immense beauty.
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