A Grand (Canyon) Adventure!
I hiked the Grand Canyon!
I had never been out west prior to this trip. I didn’t know what to expect and, to be honest, I wasn’t super excited. This trip has been my mom’s dream for a long time. She wanted to hike down the Grand Canyon, stay at the Phantom Ranch at the bottom and hike back up.
We finally were able to get reservations at Phantom Ranch 13 months out! When my ankle issue came up, we looked into switching dates but that proved impossible. Thankfully, my doctor gave me the go-ahead to “try” it. In the words of master Yoda: “Do or do not; there is no try.” Especially when your reservations are at the bottom of a Canyon!
We flew to Phoenix on Saturday and drove to the Grand Canyon national park from there. We spent the night at the rim. On Sunday morning, we took the complimentary shuttle to the South Kaibab trail where we started our venture. It was quite chilly so we layered up. It was very windy to start but lessened as we went on. This trail was about 8 miles downhill the entire way. I’m actually really slow going downhill because I need to be very careful for the sake of my ankles and knees. I used trekking poles for the first time and I was glad I to have them!
There is no shade and no water stops on this trail but it wasn’t too bad. I had plenty of water still when we got to the bottom. We each carried a 3L bladder and two water bottles.
The bottom of the Canyon is much warmer - it’s comparable to Phoenix weather. We saw the mules down there and a very non-timid deer!
The accommodations were very bare minimum. We stayed in a dorm cabin which had bunk beds and a bathroom. The toilets broke so we had to carry buckets of water to “flush”. There’s no WiFi, no internet, and no phone service. So despite having hiked all day, we went for a walk around the ranch. Everyone in our dorm was very friendly! We opted for the (expensive) steak dinner at the ranch which was a 12 oz steak, baked potato, salad, carrots and chocolate cake for dessert. They sell a few souvenirs and very limited selection of snacks at the ranch’s Canteen.
We went to bed pretty early since there’s not much to do plus hiking all day is pretty tiring! Thank goodness we did because an employee comes by and wakes everyone up at 4:30 am so that anyone who signed up for 5:30 breakfast won’t miss it. Yikes! In retrospect, I wish I had gone outside when she woke us up because that is prime time for seeing the Milky Way! I lay in bed until about 5:30, washed up, repacked my backpack, and headed to the Canteen for breakfast at 6:30. (We opted for the later breakfast). We took our belongings so we were ready to leave right after breakfast.
Breakfast was pancakes, eggs, bacon, and fruit. That fueled us to being our ascent! We headed up the Bright Angel trail. This trail is longer but has a water stop at Indian Garden which is about halfway. It also has two other bathroom stops after that. The entire hike is uphill as you ascend over 4000ft!
We reached Indian Garden in about 3 hours - we were making very good time. However, after that point, it gets much steeper. My mom was getting tired and hot! We slowly but surely made our way up and drank a lot! As we neared the rim, there were more and more tourists who don’t exactly follow hiking etiquette but at least it was a sign we were getting close!
Finally the end was in sight! I finished and looked for my mom! She was not far behind. We both felt tired but accomplished! It was an incredible experience and I’m glad I did it! From there, we drove to Vegas but I’ll continue my western adventure in another post.
Have you been to the Grand Canyon? Would you ever hike it? Let me know!
I had never been out west prior to this trip. I didn’t know what to expect and, to be honest, I wasn’t super excited. This trip has been my mom’s dream for a long time. She wanted to hike down the Grand Canyon, stay at the Phantom Ranch at the bottom and hike back up.
We finally were able to get reservations at Phantom Ranch 13 months out! When my ankle issue came up, we looked into switching dates but that proved impossible. Thankfully, my doctor gave me the go-ahead to “try” it. In the words of master Yoda: “Do or do not; there is no try.” Especially when your reservations are at the bottom of a Canyon!
We flew to Phoenix on Saturday and drove to the Grand Canyon national park from there. We spent the night at the rim. On Sunday morning, we took the complimentary shuttle to the South Kaibab trail where we started our venture. It was quite chilly so we layered up. It was very windy to start but lessened as we went on. This trail was about 8 miles downhill the entire way. I’m actually really slow going downhill because I need to be very careful for the sake of my ankles and knees. I used trekking poles for the first time and I was glad I to have them!
There is no shade and no water stops on this trail but it wasn’t too bad. I had plenty of water still when we got to the bottom. We each carried a 3L bladder and two water bottles.
The bottom of the Canyon is much warmer - it’s comparable to Phoenix weather. We saw the mules down there and a very non-timid deer!
The accommodations were very bare minimum. We stayed in a dorm cabin which had bunk beds and a bathroom. The toilets broke so we had to carry buckets of water to “flush”. There’s no WiFi, no internet, and no phone service. So despite having hiked all day, we went for a walk around the ranch. Everyone in our dorm was very friendly! We opted for the (expensive) steak dinner at the ranch which was a 12 oz steak, baked potato, salad, carrots and chocolate cake for dessert. They sell a few souvenirs and very limited selection of snacks at the ranch’s Canteen.
We went to bed pretty early since there’s not much to do plus hiking all day is pretty tiring! Thank goodness we did because an employee comes by and wakes everyone up at 4:30 am so that anyone who signed up for 5:30 breakfast won’t miss it. Yikes! In retrospect, I wish I had gone outside when she woke us up because that is prime time for seeing the Milky Way! I lay in bed until about 5:30, washed up, repacked my backpack, and headed to the Canteen for breakfast at 6:30. (We opted for the later breakfast). We took our belongings so we were ready to leave right after breakfast.
Breakfast was pancakes, eggs, bacon, and fruit. That fueled us to being our ascent! We headed up the Bright Angel trail. This trail is longer but has a water stop at Indian Garden which is about halfway. It also has two other bathroom stops after that. The entire hike is uphill as you ascend over 4000ft!
We reached Indian Garden in about 3 hours - we were making very good time. However, after that point, it gets much steeper. My mom was getting tired and hot! We slowly but surely made our way up and drank a lot! As we neared the rim, there were more and more tourists who don’t exactly follow hiking etiquette but at least it was a sign we were getting close!
Finally the end was in sight! I finished and looked for my mom! She was not far behind. We both felt tired but accomplished! It was an incredible experience and I’m glad I did it! From there, we drove to Vegas but I’ll continue my western adventure in another post.
Have you been to the Grand Canyon? Would you ever hike it? Let me know!
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