Day 21 - Grand Canyon Rim to River

All the signs at Grand Canyon warn you not to hike down to the river and back in one day , and I wasn't going to attempt it, in fact I was going to leave GC early and not hike down into the canyon at all. Then I read Bills suggestion of the South Kaibab trail and decided I should just go for it. The weather was ideal, this is the perfect time of year, 60s on the rim and 70s in the canyon and fewer tourists to degrade the beauty.

Starting down the trail later than hoped at 8am, I basically ran down the canyon, passing folks left and right. Halfway down I slowed up as my knees began to cry. My hiking poles helped lessen the beating but the banging of knees on the way down was the hardest part of the hike for me-- the up was easier as I've been training and hiking for a while now. But Bill did not lie about the beauty of the South Kaibab. The views were expansive and the trail easy to hike despite being down down down.

If I wasn't feeing strong and my progress slow I was going to hike along the flat Tonto trail (about 2/3 way down) and then go back up the south Kaibab. But I was feeling great and making super time so I went with plan B, hike all the way down to the river, along the river trail for 1.5 miles and then back up the bright angel trail. Bright angel had a water source and ranger station 1/3 the way up so this was the safest full route. I'm glad I made this decision as the south Kaibab trail from the Tonto plateau to the river was magnificent. This picture of me at the river shows some of the ancient dark rock that dominates the last 1500 feet to the water. This rock is far more dense than the upper 3000 feet so the canyon is steeper and sterner.

I started going up at 12 noon and made good time up to the Ranger station 1/3 of the way up and then made the final steep push to the top along switchback after switchback. I stopped every 30 minutes for water and a one minute break and every two hours for food and a ten minute break. I finished the journey in 16 miles in 8.5 hours and felt tired in the knees but fine. This photo captures some of the trail up on Bright Angel.

I now head south back to the Phoenix and Tucson area for preparation for my next canyon experience: the world class and not well known Aravaipa Canyon. 50 people are allowed in every day and I have a permit for Monday Tuesday and Wednesday! Yay.

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