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| Gordon's Grand Canyon Adventure - Rim to Rim |
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| by Gordon Hart the AgouraCharger |
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It has long been my dream to hike from the North Rim to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Now that I am retired, I finally had the time to accomplish this goal. My hiking adventure to the Grand Canyon required a lot of planning, conditioning and reservations. The road and accommodations to the North Rim are not open until May 15 each year due to snow. (The South Rim is open all year.) I decided that I wanted to stay at the Phantom Ranch at the bottom of the canyon. They only have eleven (four-person) cabins and two dorms that sleep ten. Of the eleven cabins only one is available to hikers, the rest are reserved for mule riders. In order to get a reservation you have to call at 6 A.M. on the first day of the month, exactly 23 months ahead. To get the cabin you have to be very lucky, we got the cabin. When you make your reservation you must also order all of your meals. A stew dinner is
$23 and a steak dinner is $32. Once you have your Phantom Ranch reservation you can make the rest of your reservations.
Three of us, Dan Morgan, Roger Cline and myself left Newbury Park on June 18th for our six-day adventure. Our trip consisted of a nine-hour drive to the Grand Canyon, a one night stay on the South Rim, a five-hour 215 mile shuttle ride to the North Rim, a one night stay at the Grand Canyon Lodge on the North Rim, and a 5 A.M. shuttle ride to the start of the hiking trail. The shuttle saved walking two miles in 33-degree weather before the sun was up.
On our first hiking day we descended 5600 feet and walked 14.2 miles. The North Rim trail, named the Kaibab Trail is definitely the most beautiful part of the canyon. Every turn in the trail gives a breathtaking view of dozens of switchbacks stretching thousands of feet below you. You have to wonder how anyone could make a trail in such a near vertical landscape. The first six miles are the fastest descent (3600 feet). It is also the most highly eroded area with the greatest range of colors and the most vegetation.
As the elevation decreases, the temperature dramatically increases to 104 degrees in the shade. I didn't ask what the temperature was in the sun, even though I had a digital thermometer on the back of my pack. I just knew it was hot. There are just two water stops on the North Kaibab Trail before reaching Phantom Ranch. The final five miles of the hike are relatively flat, hot and dusty, however you are hiking next to a cool stream. We checked into our cabin at 3:30 P.M. and headed off to the showers. Dinner is at 5 P.M. for stew and 6:30 P.M. for steak. If you are late, you are out of luck. A most enjoyable ranger talk on the building of the trails into the Grand Canyon was highlighted by the appearance of a gray fox and two deer.
After a good night's sleep in our air-conditioned cabin we spent our rest day doing local hikes and finding the only two virtual geocaches at the bottom of the canyon. The following morning we were up early. Breakfast was at 5 A.M. and by 6 A.M. we had started our hike out of the canyon. We went up the Bright Angel Trail 9.3 miles and gained 4400 feet of elevation. This trail has three excellent water stops. The first is Indian Garden, 4.5 miles from the top (a nice campground for backpackers). At this point the air temperature was 104 degrees. The other two water stops are 3 Mile Resthouse and Mile-and-a-Half Resthouse. Between those two points my thermometer read 112 degrees in the sun. All of my conditioning hikes really paid off at this point as I was able to charge up the trail without any difficulty. About the only time I slowed up was to try to persuade several out of condition hikers not to attempt going the bottom of the canyon. I reminded them that it costs about $5000 to be helicopter evacuated from Phantom Ranch. Less than a mile from the top I was stopped on the trail when a bighorn sheep bounded onto the trail and walked directly at me. He was only ten feet from me when he saw me go for my camera and leaped over the side of the trail. I will never forget his massive horns and the intense yellow eyes. Too bad he was so camera shy.
The real shock of the trip came when I reached the top and rejoined civilization and the hundreds of tourists. Most of them would never venture below the rim. I did join them in watching the local condors riding the air currents at the edge. The Grand Canyon is now home to 45 California Condors and 21 of them have made the South Rim visitor area their home.
I would definitely recommend a trans Grand Canyon hike to anyone who has the time, but plan well in advance. I would suggest doing it in May or October to avoid the heat. (July and August have warm rain almost every day). The one thing that I would never suggest is riding a mule to the bottom. I talked with many of the riders and none of them ever said that they were enjoying the trip.
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