Hi there. My husband, a friend and I will be backpacking the North Rim to the South Rim in two days, with an overnight at Bright Angel Campground. We've done backpacking before, we've done steep trails before, and we've hiked in the desert before... we just haven't combined all three in one trip until now. We'll be going the beginning of September. Any tips/advice from personal backpacking one rim to the other? Especially advice on trail start times, gear, what worked/didn't work. Thank you!
Reply to this Welcome to Travelblog! I haven't done the rim to rim hike, but I did backpack into Havasupi to the west (highly recommended, BTW). It was hot, exposed, exhausting, and hard as heck. I'd also do it again in an instant.
First, if you don't have campground reservations already, they will be hard to get at this point. The Backcountry Office hands out cancelled reservations the day before; I've read stories of people getting in line before dawn.
Like any desert hike, the earlier you start the better. The Grand Canyon is exposed and gets incredibly hot as the day wears on. You'll need gallons of water plus salty snacks for the hike down. The hike to the South Rim, thankfully, passes a campground and rest areas with water, so its less of an issue on the way up.
Bring the strongest sunscreen you can find. For food I recommend freeze dry and other things that can hold up in a desert.
Lastly, plan on the pace on the way up being half or less than that on the way down.
The trip will be amazing. Looking forward to the blogs.
Reply to this My husband and I hiked Rim to Rim a few years ago with another couple. We started out at the north rim, hiking to the south rim. We took 2 days down, a day at Phantom and 2 days up. We hiked in style! It was early June.
Between us we brought down a bottle of Dom Perignon, a bottle of red wine and a bottle of whisky. Our friend carried glass wine stems wrapped in bubble wrap hanging in a plastic grocery bag on the back of her backpack.
We did eat a meal at Phantom.
We carried freeze dried foods, spices and lots of nuts and raisins. We also found that the drink additives with electrolytes help lots.
Next time I'll arrange for a bag to come down by mule and meet us at the ranch, then will send our empty bottles up by mule. Also, I learned on another backpack trip that a nalgene bottle will hold a bottle of wine which saves lots of weight.
My boots were my biggest complaint. I threw them away at the top of the south rim. Make sure your boots are well fitting.
We did find water along the way coming down from the north rim. Some guy had a place and gave us water.
The hike is amazing. I also carried a 35mm camera with a tripod and was able to capture some great photos.
Reply to this Yay! Finally a response from someone doing the same route! We'll be doing it over two days, tho. What time did you guys start and stop trekking each day? We tried to get a meal at Phantom Ranch but they're already booked up apparently!
Reply to this In response to: Msg #201383
Thankfully, we already have an overnight permit approved at Bright Angel Campground. My original plan was to stay at Phantom Ranch but dear lord are those reservations difficult to get!! We are planning to start our treks 4-5am. Do you think that would be early enough if your experience? Thank you!
Reply to this In response to: Msg #201428
I made the mistake of starting down to Havasupi at midday (the drive to the trailhead required three hours) and regretted it. I started the hike out an hour after dawn and wished I had started earlier. The canyon heats up surprisingly fast, and has little shade.
Reply to this Our friends started hiking at 4am or so but we didn't get going until more like 8am. We took our time, took lots of breaks and were fine. I'm a slow hiker anyway, so we didn't push it.
Reply to this Thank you for your help, guys! I think we'll stick to our 4am plan then. I did some more hiking this week in 90 degree weather and it wasn't much fun (it's been hot this week in California!) thought obviously unavoidable in the Grand Canyon.
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