Grand Canyon

JerryN · Post by **JerryN** » Tue Oct 07, 2014 3:32 pm

This weekend myself and two hiking buddies headed out to the Grand Canyon. We began at the North Rim. Our objective was to hike to the South Rim and back. At 2:30 a.m. we headed down the Kaibab Trail. Surprisingly a group of runners passed us about an hour later. They were not prepared for anything to go wrong and hence were only carrying water bottles.

We ended up hiking through Bright Angel Canyon as the sun was coming up and were treated to an awesome view of the soaring canyon walls and the South Rim in new daylight through the mouth of the Canyon.

Our breakfast break was at Phantom Ranch and after that we proceeded up the Bright Angel Trail to the South Rim. The thought was that if we were toast by then we would overnight at the South Rim and then take the shuttle (or hike) back the next morning. It was not to be. After an hour rest and some lunch we moved to the trailhead and headed back into the canyon (3:15 p.m.)

Reaching Phantom Ranch by 6:45 we were in good shape to sit and have dinner (this is mile 33 of the hike). There was some discussion about catching a nap for a few hours there, but we ultimately decided to push on and hike out. The moon was quite bright and the Canyon by moonlight was awesome.

As we ascended back to the North Rim the temps dropped below freezing and a relatively strong biting wind came up. So the last couple of hours do not go down as the most fun hiking hours.

6 a.m crested the North Rim to complete our hike.

27.5 hours, 47 miles, 11,000' of elevation gain, and a totally amazing time.

Post by **Uncle Rico** » Tue Oct 07, 2014 7:45 pm

Holy crap Jerry, that's a good day. Well done. Now show us your damn pictures.

Post by **Hikin_Jim** » Tue Oct 07, 2014 8:28 pm

Sounds like a pretty amazing enduro-hike.

Got photos?

HJ

JerryN · Post by **JerryN** » Tue Oct 07, 2014 10:17 pm

Yep I have some photos and I'll post them as soon as I up load them -- probably this weekend. It was so coool!

Jerry

JerryN · Post by **JerryN** » Thu Oct 09, 2014 4:07 pm

okay…I am going to plead lamo

I have tried to upload my Grand Canyon pictures using the attach-file at the bottom of this dialog box with no success.

Jerry

Post by **Hikin_Jim** » Thu Oct 09, 2014 5:50 pm

Do you have them posted anywhere like Facebook or Picasaweb? I just link to my photos from there.

HJ

Post by **tekewin** » Thu Oct 09, 2014 7:56 pm

What a huge hike, well done! And you did the more difficult direction at the end (south to north).

JerryN · Post by **JerryN** » Sun Oct 12, 2014 3:39 pm

0230 and time to get on the trail

First light in Bright Angel Canyon

First view of the South Rim with morning light

South Rim comes into view

South Rim approaching Phantom Ranch

Selfie with Daniel as we get ready for breakfast and our hike out to the South Rim

Crossing the Colorado River

JerryN · Post by **JerryN** » Sun Oct 12, 2014 3:43 pm

Looking at the North Rim from the South Rim … our car is way over theeere!

Time to head back down to the river

looking back at the South Wall as we descend back into the canyon

End of daylight in the canyon. In about a 1/2 hour it became dark. We hiked on to Phantom Ranch and through the night to the North Rim

VermillionPearlGirl · Post by **VermillionPearlGirl** » Mon Oct 13, 2014 8:17 am

Cool Jerry! I had a Rim To Rim (but certainly not back again!) hike planned last year but it got canceled by work (work!). I know ultrarunners do rim to rim and back, but I've never heard of anyone hiking it. You kept up a pretty serious pace to make that kind of time.

Would you mind providing some logistical details? What did you do for water?

And doesn't Phantom Ranch have limited hours sometimes? Did you plan around that? (Since you seemed to hit breakfast and dinner!)

Thanks!

Post by **Uncle Rico** » Mon Oct 13, 2014 8:40 am

Nice Jerry. I like that pic of South Rim from Phantom.

JerryN · Post by **JerryN** » Mon Oct 13, 2014 7:19 pm

Hi VermillionPearlGirl

We did not buy anything at Phantom Ranch -- except a cup of coffee to go with breakfast. I carried trail mix and a couple of sandwiches with me on the descent. We stopped at Phantom to eat breakfast (sandwich No. 1). I expected to do both sandwiches there but ate the other for dinner. At the South Rim we re-supplied a little (though not much, just snacks and a bite for dinner for my buddies who did not have a sandwich left over and we carried them down to PR). Water was available the entire way. There were three water sources on the North Kaibab and three on the Bright Angel. We also carried a water filter just in case.

Jerry

VermillionPearlGirl · Post by **VermillionPearlGirl** » Tue Oct 21, 2014 9:32 pm

Awesome Jerry, thanks for the info!

neverwashasbeen · Post by **neverwashasbeen** » Tue Oct 21, 2014 10:02 pm

A quick update on conditions. I did the trip this past weekend and when consulting with Park Service staff at the Backcountry Ranger Station, they said that the water would be shut off this week, for the winter.

JerryN · Post by **JerryN** » Wed Oct 22, 2014 5:56 am

All services on the North Rim are closed for the winter including the campground as well.

VermillionPearlGirl · Thu Oct 23, 2014 10:02 pm

Yeah, this was another problem I ran into planning this trip last year. It seems like you want to go as late in the year as possible but before the North Rim closure which evidently happens vaguely when it snows but not necessarily on a set date. I've heard up to about Oct 15th is usually safe. But it makes it tricky to plan.