Story:
Loren and I caught the 4:30 shuttle to start out hike down Kaibab trail to the Bright Angel Campground at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. A park ranger told us it would stay so hot down in the canyon that we wouldn't even use sleeping bags, and that there weren't any bugs, so we decided to pack VERY light (water, some cliff bars, jerkey and dried fruit, and our sleeping pads). It took us about 3 hours to get down, so we spent the day sitting in the cold creek and reading Steinbeck and Hemingway. We also listened to the ranger talks about the new Dam and Bats.
Instead of being warm the entire night, it decided to rain, and Loren and I may have had about 30 minutes of solid sleep if we were lucky. After getting tired of curling up under a tree to avoid as many raindrops as possible, we left camp around 3:30am to head back up to the top. We had to refill our water a few times, and made it up in just under 4 hours. We then hurried over to the lodge for some breakfast burritos and coffee before driving out of the park on on to our next destination: Arches National Park.
Loren and I caught the 4:30 shuttle to start out hike down Kaibab trail to the Bright Angel Campground at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. A park ranger told us it would stay so hot down in the canyon that we wouldn't even use sleeping bags, and that there weren't any bugs, so we decided to pack VERY light (water, some cliff bars, jerkey and dried fruit, and our sleeping pads). It took us about 3 hours to get down, so we spent the day sitting in the cold creek and reading Steinbeck and Hemingway. We also listened to the ranger talks about the new Dam and Bats.
Instead of being warm the entire night, it decided to rain, and Loren and I may have had about 30 minutes of solid sleep if we were lucky. After getting tired of curling up under a tree to avoid as many raindrops as possible, we left camp around 3:30am to head back up to the top. We had to refill our water a few times, and made it up in just under 4 hours. We then hurried over to the lodge for some breakfast burritos and coffee before driving out of the park on on to our next destination: Arches National Park.
Read more about hiking the Kaibab Trail into the Grand Canyon on my travel blog
Comments (14)
This hike was a celebration of the repair of my aortic valve and aortic anuerysm at the age of 39. Great memory with my husband and 12 year old son.
by nkalamaya on May 10, 2013
The exact route I was looking for and have documentation for. Thanks for filling in the gabs in my planned trip!
by jkeylon on Nov 13, 2012
There were several times that I wished I had a mule to ride--especially on the hike back up!
by chris on Jan 10, 2011
I'm glad I could help out, and I look forward to see your trips on EveryTrail sometime in July.
by chris on Jun 14, 2010
Dont worry Chris, I have that Guide bookmarked!!
Ive narrowed my US holiday hikes down to 3.
Bright Angel trail on the 5th July, Half Dome on the 10th July and Echo Lake to Aloha lake on the 13th July. Taking in Vegas, Death Valley, Sequoia Nat Park etc in between. Ive pretty much used all your own guides and trails to plan my hikes.
by burly on Jun 14, 2010
Ive narrowed my US holiday hikes down to 3.
Bright Angel trail on the 5th July, Half Dome on the 10th July and Echo Lake to Aloha lake on the 13th July. Taking in Vegas, Death Valley, Sequoia Nat Park etc in between. Ive pretty much used all your own guides and trails to plan my hikes.
@burly, you may want to check out this guide for more information if you are planning on doing this trip as well: http://www.everytrail.com/guide/the-grand-canyon-kaibab-to-bright-angel-trail
by chris on Jun 14, 2010
Great photos! Most people don't carry a tent in, but I always do. Had rain one night on a 2008 rim-to-rim, and it made it worth carrying. Plus, Bright Angel is sometimes buggy in the summer, and the tent without the rain fly takes care of that problem nicely.
by LagunaHiker on Feb 13, 2010
I may have adjusted the white balance just a bit to bring out the colors a little more, but the early morning lighting made it look really amazing.
by chris on Jul 03, 2009
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