- Buckskin Gulch, Paria Wilderness Canyon, UT
- Sangre De Cristo, CO
- Snowy Range, Medicine Bow National Forest
Backpacking the Grand Canyon Rim to Rim
Thursday, June 20, 2013 by Katherine M. Coleman
Descent down the North Rim of the Grand Canyon!
Happy summer solstice friends! It's been a great week getting back into the swing of things. Monday marked my first full week back at work and what a journey the past two weeks were for me! On Monday, June 3rd, a group of four of us began our ten day excursion backpacking, day hiking, and over-nighting throughout the Grand Canyon and Antelope Canyons of Arizona and Buckskin Gulch of Utah. I'm excited to share and for this post to be my first backpacking blog post for Biophilia!
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We started with an 11-hour drive from Denver to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Upon arrival, we had dinner at the lodge and stayed in one of the log cabins overnight. In the morning we began our four-day three-night trek hiking rim to rim, ending up at the South Rim Bright Angel trailhead. Hiking from higher North Rim to South Rim means less of an uphill climb at the end of the trail and choosing the Bright Angel Trail over the South Kaibab Trail means more shade to hike in. The North Kaibab trailhead (TH), where we began on the North Rim, is a sky-scraping 8,200 feet in elevation, while the Bright Angel TH is about 6,800 feet in elevation.
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Pool at Cottonwood Campground
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Day one was definitely the most grueling for the group. While only an eight-mile hike to our first campground, Cottonwood Campground, the steep and sandy downhill made the day seem long and the heat exhausted us. However, our descent down into the Canyon on N. Kaibob TH (at 8241' elevation) was exciting! The descent into the Canyon is impressive to say the least. As motivated and excited as we were, we only took one longer break for lunch at Roaring Springs (5200' in elevation) where we had a view of some outstanding cliffs. With the home stretch in front of us and the hot sun overhead it didn't take us long to get back on our feet and head to Cottonwood Campground (CC) resting at 4080’. CC is a smaller campground without a whole lot of shade but it does offer a cool and refreshing pool to relax in and rinse off (see above right pic). The pool offered a sweet escape from the sun and while the water was absolutely freezing, it was a highlight to be able to massage our feet and cool off in the running water before settling in for the evening.
Day two began at sunrise. 75 minutes of packing up camp and eating a hearty breakfast set us up to hike 8.8 miles to Bright Angel Campground (BAC) at Phantom Ranch. While it was our longest day of hiking, it was also our easiest. The trail now follows along the eastern side of Bright Angel Creek and after a half-mile from Cottonwood Campground the trail crosses Wall Creek. After a mile of hiking, we made a short .25 mile detour to Ribbon Falls (3,720'), one of the most outstanding views of the four day trip. Tucked away in the canyon walls is a beautiful 100' waterfall said to resemble ribbons blowing in the breeze. There is a huge moss covered cone where water beats down on the green vision. The area is lush with fern, columbine and other flowers taking advantage of the wet and cool location. The four of us were extremely surprised to find something so refreshing in the middle of the desertscape.
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Ribbon Falls
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Hiking through "The Box"
Once we made our way back to North Kaibab Trail, we stumbled upon a mother deer and baby buck nibbling on greens alongside the trail. They were so serene, two of us walked right by them without taking notice. The next section of the trail is known as "The Box" because the walls of the Bright Angel Canyon close in and create a four-mile corridor with 1000' walls. We were lucky to have shade nearly the entire time we hiked, even with having to cross a series of bridges back and forth the canyon. There's something to be said for getting up early to avoid direct sunlight.
As you approach Phantom Ranch, the last .75 miles of the trail the land opens up. We made great time, hiking the entire distance in just over three hours. Members of the group looked forward to settling in and relaxing at our campsite. It didn't hurt that Phantom Ranch has a little cafeteria offering lemonade, wine and beer—lemonade never tasted so good to me! We killed some of the afternoon doing yin yoga at the local amphitheater and while there wasn't quite as nice and quiet of a pool as there was at Cottonwood Campground, as temperatures reached a scorching 130 degrees F, we were happy to be able to sit in the creek and cool off frequently. At this point, we had hiked just over 16 miles from the top of North Rim. The whole BAC was in bed by sun down, everyone even more exhausted from the heat than yesterday. I woke up once in the middle of the night to use the restrooms and was elated to see the sky boasting unbelievably bright stars and the Milky Way.
As you approach Phantom Ranch, the last .75 miles of the trail the land opens up. We made great time, hiking the entire distance in just over three hours. Members of the group looked forward to settling in and relaxing at our campsite. It didn't hurt that Phantom Ranch has a little cafeteria offering lemonade, wine and beer—lemonade never tasted so good to me! We killed some of the afternoon doing yin yoga at the local amphitheater and while there wasn't quite as nice and quiet of a pool as there was at Cottonwood Campground, as temperatures reached a scorching 130 degrees F, we were happy to be able to sit in the creek and cool off frequently. At this point, we had hiked just over 16 miles from the top of North Rim. The whole BAC was in bed by sun down, everyone even more exhausted from the heat than yesterday. I woke up once in the middle of the night to use the restrooms and was elated to see the sky boasting unbelievably bright stars and the Milky Way.
Day three also began at sunrise. Another 75 minutes of packing up/eating breakfast started our day before we began our departure from the depths of the Grand Canyon and trekked up the South Rim. Leaving behind all that's manmade at Phantom Ranch and the BAC, we hiked five miles to Indian Garden Campground (IGC). The Colorado River is .25 miles from BAC and you cross the river on Silver Bridge before starting to hike again on the Bright Angel Trail at the river rest house. The trail begins a steady uphill climb following and crossing Garden Creek before reaching IGC where we found camp for one more night. We got lucky again with little direct sun and we managed to avoid the mules that use the trail frequently.
View of the Colorado from Silver Bridge
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Few people were at IGC when we arrived and the sites didn't fill up, unlike BAC at Phantom Ranch. Our IGC neighbors were primarily families of deer resting in shade or eating greens. So calm and content with our quiet nature, they hung out in the next site over almost the entire day. As we'd gotten to IGC very early, the day was spent trying watching the deer, finding shade to read and meditate in and eating to keep up with our metabolism. We did some yin yoga in our tents to stretch out the legs, hips, and back to prepare for our final day. As sunset approached, we took the 1.5 mile (one way) trail to Plateau Point to welcome dusk. The views of the canyon and Colorado River were spectacular. As we stood on the overlook, we speculated where exactly we'd traveled from in the past three days and how funny it was to not be able to see the North Rim form where we now stood.
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View of the Canyon from Plateau Point -- looking towards the North Room and at the Colorado River
Day four began before sunrise. With our travel alarm clocks set for 4 A.M. we were eager to get an early start, not only avoid the mules again, but the day hikers as well (who can be less-than-courteous to backpackers [the Ranger at IGC said so himself]). Climbing up the South Rim from IGC is 3000' in 4.5 miles. The hike is steep (although significantly easier than hiking up the North Rim) and switchbacks as it ascends. There are two manmade tunnels along the trail that are carved into the limestone. We looked for known pictographs along the way, however we were unable to spot any and more determined to finish the last hike of our adventure. While we did stop for a snack, it was short and sweet, as more people started to descend the trail. The ending elevation at the South Rim is 6860' and we made the final trek in exactly 2.5 hours putting us at the top by 7:40 A.M.--just in time to avoid the hoards of day hikers.
View from Bright Angel TH, about 1.5mi from the top of the South Rim
What a relief it was to take our packs and shoes off at the end of hike! We all stunk like heck and were hungry, again, but had huge smiles on our faces. What an accomplishment and hands down the best way to visit the Grand Canyon.
There is a certain feeling we all know--a mixture of surprise and delight, caused by perceiving something marvelous. We want to learn more, stay there, and drink it in. This is wonder, and the body responds by saying Ahhh and Oooh and Mmmm, or perhaps our hair stands on end, tears come to our eyes, or we laugh. In the yoga of emotion, wonder is one of the rasas, the essential ways of tasting life. Rasa is a word that seems to have started out meaning "the sap or juice of plants, the best or finest part of anything, nectar, elixir," and then expanded its semantic range to include "taste, flavor," or "aesthetic relish," the process of savoring life as art. As we said our goodbyes to the Grand Canyon, I stood in astonishment of it's vastness and how it had opened by senses and my heart, how it had let me experience rasa and let me walk as if I was absorbing healing energy with every step. We drove away, dissolved in wonder, heading towards Page, AZ and Buckskin Gulch in UT.
Stay tuned for next weeks post to read about our next adventures in Antelope Canyons and Buckskin! More pictures to come, thanks for reading!
There is a certain feeling we all know--a mixture of surprise and delight, caused by perceiving something marvelous. We want to learn more, stay there, and drink it in. This is wonder, and the body responds by saying Ahhh and Oooh and Mmmm, or perhaps our hair stands on end, tears come to our eyes, or we laugh. In the yoga of emotion, wonder is one of the rasas, the essential ways of tasting life. Rasa is a word that seems to have started out meaning "the sap or juice of plants, the best or finest part of anything, nectar, elixir," and then expanded its semantic range to include "taste, flavor," or "aesthetic relish," the process of savoring life as art. As we said our goodbyes to the Grand Canyon, I stood in astonishment of it's vastness and how it had opened by senses and my heart, how it had let me experience rasa and let me walk as if I was absorbing healing energy with every step. We drove away, dissolved in wonder, heading towards Page, AZ and Buckskin Gulch in UT.
Stay tuned for next weeks post to read about our next adventures in Antelope Canyons and Buckskin! More pictures to come, thanks for reading!
Katherine M. Coleman E-RYT & MNT // biophilia, LLC : yoga & holisitc nutrition therapy
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