Grand Canyon: South Kaibab Trail + Bright Angel Trail

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Having an extra day to kill between leaving SLO and getting to Chandler, AZ for Thanksgiving, I decided to explore the Grand Canyon. I had been there once before but had never done much more than look over the edge of the south rim and take some photos. A week beforehand I mapped out a ~20 mile route, all on a trail, that I could dayhike and booked a campsite at the Mather Campground. There were plenty of available sites. My planned route would take me down the South Kaibab trail from the south rim to the Colorado River then back up the Bright Angel trail to the rim again, making sort of a "V" shape with my campsite lying halfway between the open ends of the V. It would be possible to take the free shuttle from my campsite to the starting point and/or from the ending point to my campsite. 

Gas stop in Needles

After a 10 hour drive from SLO I got to my campsite around 7:00 p.m. on Monday night. I parked, pitched my tent, then walked down to the store to pick up a few things that I had forgotten. The south rim feels a lot like the Yosemite Valley as far as population density and conveniences. I got to bed by 10:00 figuring I'd take the second shuttle to the South Kaibab trailhead at 5:30 a.m. and be hiking around 6:00. If I could do it over again I would have started later since I missed some of the best views in the dark and the entire trip only took about 5 hours. 

Sunrise on the South Kaibab Trail

The next morning I caught the bus as planned and got dropped off at the trailhead just before 6:00 in ~25 degree weather. I drank a Red Bull then some water then started jogging down the trail in the dark. It had rained pretty hard the day before so there were a lot of slick areas where I had to take my time. Because of the dark I couldn't tell how much exposure there really was. I disappointedly passed Ooh Aah Point in the dark then kept descending as the sun started to come out. I past a group of 8-10 backpackers just before I got to Skeleton Point. 

Sunrise from just below Skeleton Point

Skeleton Point View

Looking back up to the South Kaibab trailhead from Skeleton Point

Almost to the Colorado River

I took a break at Skeleton Point and enjoyed the views. I jogged most of the rest of the way down to the Colorado River arriving two hours from the time I started. I passed a few parties on the way down. When I caught my first views of the river I was suprised that I had already made it. Once at the river I turned left onto the River Trail instead of continuing straight across the first bridge. At the second bridge (Silver Bridge) I took a break to walk across and check out the livestock area. Given the crowds higher up on the Bright Angel trail I'm surprised they are even able to get livestock down to the river. I had thoughts of continuing the ~0.5 mile up to Phantom Ranch but decided against it. I just sat, at something and watched backpackers walk by and across the bridge. 

By around 8:00 I was headed back across the bridge myself. I jogged the rest of the River Trail then turned inland up the Bright Angel Trail. I knew I had about 9 miles and 4,500' of unrelenting uphill ahead of me so I slowed my jog to a brisk walk. I passed about 40 people going in both directions between the river and Indian Garden. Indian Garden is a camp/day use area that's about halfway between the Colorado River and the Bright Angel trailhead at the rim. During the spring/summer/fall there is fresh drinking water available there but it had been turned off earlier in the day. In fact the helicopter I watched land may have been there to turn it off. 

Mules (?) on the Bright Angel Trail

The 4.5 miles from Indian Garden to the top the trail was packed with tourists too scared to go any further than Indian Garden on account of the alarmingly graphic signs warning hikers not to continue to the Colorado River on a dayhike. I took a quick break at each of the resthouses (3 mile and 1.5 mile) between Indian Garden and the top finding the water turned off in each case. The tourist density increased with each step closer to the rim, and my pace slowed accordingly. The views got better and better though as I closed in on the end. I got to the top just over 5 hours after I had started. I paused for a bit then walked the couple of miles back to my campsite.

Mohave Point View

Mohave Point Panorama

After that I took the free bus around the rim to take photos and see some of the tourist sites. My favorite view was from Mohave Point on the road to Hermit's Rest, though I never saw the view from Yaki Point near my starting point for the day. My guess is that that would have been better since, in general, views from the South Kaibab Trail were more striking than those from the Bright Angel Trail. Like I said, if I could do it over again I would have started late enough to see the sunrise from the South Kaibab Trail. 

I camped at the same site then drove ~4 hours to Chandler the next morning.