Hiking the Grand Canyon over Christmas break was a little risky, because the park looked like this. Icy, snowy roads when everything goes dark at 5pm. We flew into Phoenix, drove through Flagstaff to the Grand Canyon, about 3 hours from Phoenix. Somehow we avoided the road-closing snow by one day.
We were nervous that we wouldn't even be able to drive to Bright Angel trail head with all the snow. And then I was VERY NERVOUS after our experience last spring of walking on sheer ice on Bright Angel trail. But all the fresh snow actually gave us a lot of traction. Colleen Geffe-Dahle, me, Jodi Dirk and Cathy Villella.
Very snowy at the top. We went down Bright Angel trail.
7.8 miles rim to river.
Descending into the fog.
I felt very sorry for anyone that had been at the top of the canyon for two days and had nothing to look at but fog.
In the fog, 1/2 mile down.
3/4 mile down.
And then the snow started to disappear. Maybe 1 mile of snow,
1/2 mile of mud/ice. Then this.
From winter to fall. The top snowy area is where we came from.
Views were similar for miles and miles, and then you come around a corner and there's the river! I was solo for hours by this time, because I have an inability to be polite and wait.
So I took a selfie.
And then we must almost be there, right? At least 2 miles to phantom ranch yet.
You enter to stay at Phantom Ranch by a lottery, 15 mos in advance. You can stay in a cabin if you have 3-4 people. Or there are men's and women's dorms. There was also a campground FULL of people staying in tents. Temp was about 32 degrees around 5pm. Reached 7 degrees one night we were there.
There are two meals at the Canteen that are offered: Steak Dinner at 5:00 and beef stew at 6:30. Not cheap, since everything is brought in by mule. You eat family style on long tables. It's like summer camp. The canteen is not super large; 5 tables that sit 12 each? But they did have wine and beer. My pack felt heavy enough without bringing wine in it.
Prices at the canteen.
The canteen reopens at 8-10pm for drinks and games and chatting. The place was packed; I went the first night with someone I had met in the dorms. The tenters weren't allowed to have fires, so they filled the canteen because I'm guessing there was really nothing to do besides attempt to fall asleep while you're trying not to freeze; It was pitch black by 5:30. It was very fun. And I didn't have a flashlight. And I went into the cabin on the right instead of on the left and woke someone up that I thought was sleeping in MY bed. Until I looked around and didn't see anything familiar, and realized my mistake and quickly ran out of there before I died of embarrassment.
The next day, the soreness set in. But Cathy and I wanted to hike as far towards the North Rim as we could (we stayed at Phantom Ranch two nights.) So off we went.
Many, many rock slides on this trail called "North Kaibab." We were heading Phantom Ranch to Ribbon Falls, about a 10.5 mile trek round trip. The fog had cleared, and we had sun when we weren't in the shadow. My understanding is that this stretch is called "the Box." In the summer, there is no water another 5 miles north until Phantom Ranch and temps are 100 degrees. It's very different from any other terrain we were on.
Ribbon Falls (mid upper right, just a small ribbon) The bridge was out and we weren't willing to walk in the river to cross.
We saw these fish-busters in the creek. They were pulling out brown trout and keeping these native, sucker fish. From what I read, the National Park service pays fisherman to remove the invasive species of the brown trout, that were stocked near the Hoover dam in the 20's and 30's. They are removing the brown trout by electroshock. I guess there is an endangered fish called the chub a bit further downstream that are likely to be killed off by the brown trout. It was quite cool to see.
We stopped for lunch. And I stopped for pain. I have never felt a soreness like that in my soleus (lower calves) ever, ever. And then the blisters. My nice husband had given me a "hiking care package" for Christmas before I left. I looked and the blister care items and thought "I never get blisters?!!? I won't need these. I'll bring them for others..." And then due to the wine and cabin mishap the night before, and didn't think to dry out my sweaty boots. That did not help the blisters. So I was attempting to do that here. But the moment you stop moving on these hikes, you are freezing!
I took a shower. To feel something other than pain in my calves, hips, blisters. So happy to have an entire camp full of nerds like me that want to listen to the park ranger talk. Retired Erika=park ranger. Phantom Ranch park ranger will be my goal.
These are the dorms we stayed in. Simple bedding and towel provided, so we didn't have to carry any of that. We could've gotten a small cabin that sleeps 4, but we didn't really know that. And it was very fun to meet everyone that we met in the dorms (they sleep 10). I have never laid in a bed that long as on night 2...since I was pregnant maybe? I crawled in at 5pm, excruciatingly hobbled to the bathroom 1-2x from the top bunk, and got out at 6:30am. We didn't eat in the canteen that night. We ate sack lunches and some drinks from the flasks we had brought. But I was not prepared for how hungry I'd be. Luckily, Cathy is a diabetic and had brought snacks for days. I ate her food. And I ate the food Colleen couldn't eat. And the food Jodi didn't want. And everyone in our dorm was so tired that lights were out by 8pm.
On the trail by 7:30am after breakfast in the canteen. Again, kind of spendy. But sausage, eggs, pancakes, coffee. It was simply a must before hiking out.
Came in on Bright Angel. Went out on South Kaibab; pronounced KIE (rhymes with pie) -BAB (rhymes with dab.)
First we walked over this bridge and
watched the sun come over the peaks.
This is the view of Phantom Ranch and the silver, suspension bridge we came in on.
A view of the black bridge we went out on.
All the switch backs from the bridge for the first mile or so. Phantom Ranch to the rim on South Kaibab is 7.1 miles, with an elevation change of about 5000 feet.
Some people choose to ride mules down and up.
The little friends we saw at the start of our day.
I had to take a photo of this rock, because you walk under it and I'm certain we'll hear about it falling on some hikers at some point?
Last spring break, I dragged Eva and Travis half way down South Kaibab with me to skeleton point. So I was happy when I made it to the halfway point! But again, no stopping or it was freezing.
I was wondering if I'd know when to put my crampons back on? I remembered taking them off when I was walking in more mud than snow?
But these snow and ice covered stairs on a cliff answered the question for me. It was actually a lot less scary in December than it had been last March. There hadn't been any melting or run-off, plus I didn't have the kids with me, so I wasn't worried at all. These crampons also made a world of difference. NEVER would I do these icy, snowy trails without them again.
I thought I'd leave some notes for the people I left on the trail about 1/2 mile in. I was on my own.
Because I'm an impatient-non-waiter.
It was a beautiful, sunny day. The last mile of switch backs looked like a snowy wonderland.
I caught the shuttle back to our car, watched a the Grand Canyon movie in the visitor center and did some shopping, and waited for the other hikes to arrive. We drove back to Phoenix that night, and flew out the next day. Next time, we'll go North to South Rim.
Could you hike Bright Angel to the river and up South Kaibab in a day? Are you someone that says "I need to (physically) rest?" Then no. If you have a lot of endurance, you could certainly do it when the days are longer. I have good endurance; It took me 5 hours to hike down and 4 to hike up. I went faster on the way up because I had a very light layer of clothes on and got cold whenever I slowed down. And also to just run over the top of the soreness I didn't want to feel. I had more layers on when going down. So if you were on Bright Angel Trail at 7am, you'd be to Phantom Ranch by noon, and could easily go back up. And then you wouldn't have time for the soreness to set in so deep? I didn't get any additional soreness from climbing up; only down. HOWEVER, I did not have to deal with HEAT. There is NO WATER on the entire South Kaibab trail. So you'd have to be prepared for that. And I don't know if you'd start to cramp up from the heat? And I really didn't stop to eat going up or down; you'd have to add time for that. I can see doing this if you've been there multiple times and just wanted the physical challenge and weren't really interested in enjoying the views and scenery and taking photos. Otherwise, I'm not sure why you'd just want to rush it and not enjoy Phantom Ranch for at least a night or two? It's magical.
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