17 miles.
4,480' elevation gain. (That is 0.85 miles.)
7 hours.
That's the distance, elevation change, and time it took me to hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back up.
It is not even close to the 5.5 hours it took my sister to do the same thing, but I thought, hey, she was just 30 when she did that. I've got a full 14 years on her. And then she politely reminded me that she did the same thing a second time on her 40th birthday. Ha! What can I say? She is a beast of an athlete compared to me!
South Kaibab to Phantom Ranch to Bright Angel
I knew I wanted to hike to the bottom and back up. Thank you to Brianne and Shannan for recommending the Bright Angel Trail! I searched it on AllTrails and found a route that has you go down South Kaibab, a shorter, steeper descent down, and then back up Bright Angel which is longer, but less steep, and has water along the way. The trail spans an elevation of 2,441' at the bottom to 4,207' at the top.
To do this route, you need to park near the Bright Angel Trailhead and take a shuttle to the South Kaibab trailhead to start the hike. I left Flagstaff at 3:45 am (I kept reminding myself that is just 6:45 am east coast time!), arrived at the shuttle at 5:25 am, and there was already a line. I was 31st in line ... I know because the shuttles would take just 15 people each due to COVID, and the second bus that morning squeezed me in. :) Thrilled they were running multiple buses!
Here are the other crazies that morning:
I arrived at the Kaibab South trailhead at 6:15 am and it was COLD -- just 35 degrees! The forecast for that day was a high of 72 at the top and 94 at the bottom. Here I am at the very start:
A crazy thing I noticed is that, as I descended into the canyon, I could feel warm air, like there were occasional heat vents. I thought, maybe it's heat emanating from the rocks? I held my hand to one. Nope! I think it was just heat rising from the bottom of the canyon. The great news is that I was never cold once I started hiking.
About a mile into the hike, you reach "Ohh Ahh Point." Given my early start, Ohh Ahh felt more like I was staring directly into the sun, so I didn't really get the full Ohh Ahh effect. I thought, maybe I'll come back over here when I finish my hike to see this spot when the sun is at a different angle. That definitely did not happen. Still got a pretty cool shot though:
Here is a shot from where I first caught a glimpse of the Colorado River - you can just barely see it!
Ditched the puffy jacket:
Getting closer to the water!
I like the pic below because you can see the Colorado River, plus the bridge (if you look very closely) that I'll be crossing to get to Phantom Ranch on the other side, plus the trail on the other side that follows the river.
Getting closer to that bridge! I know the water looks like a gross shade of algae-ridden green in these photos, but it was actually a beautiful shade of emerald green in real-life and the water was incredibly clear. Once I was on the bridge, you could see quite a ways down into the water.
Once you get to the bottom, you go through a pretty cool cave to get to the bridge.
I stopped at Phantom Ranch, filled up my water bottles, and followed the river to a second bridge to start the REAL hike back up to the top on the Bright Angel Trail. At this point, it was a comfortable temperature - probably around 70 degrees at the bottom.
Here is the second bridge at the bottom of the Bright Angel Trail:
Until now, I had always imagined the Grand Canyon as a huge crevice in the earth, that you walk up to the edge and there is a sharp drop, straight down to the Colorado River a mile below. It wasn't that way at all! The trails were plenty wide, meandering around mountains and through different valleys, and I never felt any risk of "falling over the edge." The scenery and rock formations and vegetation changed drastically along the way. It is truly an incredible place!
Here are some shots to illustrate how different the landscape looks at different spots along the way:
The Mules
The hike up was beautiful. I kept a slow steady pace and stopped once to take a break, drink lots of water, and eat a couple protein bars and a bunch of raisins. Even though I wished I was moving faster, Deb's words from our 8-mile hike at Chiricahua National Monument kept ringing in my ears: it's not a contest, Shana. Just enjoy the hike!
I had nearly convinced myself she was right until I came around a corner and ... there they were.
The mules.
My sister had warned me about them. "Whatever you do, don't get behind the mules."
She was right. They were slow. They smelled bad. And they kicked up a lot of dust.
I realized Deb was wrong. It was definitely a contest!
I asked the guide if I could pass and she said I could when they got to their next stopping point, in a half mile or so.
For the next half mile, I trailed behind a caravan of a dozen mules. We passed other hikers who pulled over to the side of the trail to let the mules pass, snapping pictures of the smelly beasts as they plodded past.
One guy watched as the mules plugged past him, and when he saw me bringing up the rear, he said, "Oh no! Did they run out of mules for you to ride??"
I laughed so hard! That one comment almost made it worth getting stuck behind the mules. :)
Finally, the mules pulled over and I was able to pass. At that point, I realized I was just 1.5 miles from the top and the contest of being the faster hiker was never more real. Even though it was miles 16 and 17, at the highest elevation of the trail, I vowed I wasn't going to get stuck behind those mules again.
I raced up the hill and the time for my last two miles was faster than my first two miles going downhill! By the time I made it to the top, my heart was beating out of my chest, but I was elated to have beaten the mules!
I did turn around long enough to snap one last pic of the Grand Canyon.
I was never more happy to get back to my car. The after photo:
That night, I went to bed at 7:00 pm and I slept until 6:00 am the next morning ... eleven hours! And that's only because I set an alarm. Thank goodness I wasn't sore the next day, but my body was tired in a good way.