Our goal was to hike rim to rim in the Grand Canyon in one day. We trained for several months to endure basically one mile elevation drop on the descent from the north rim to the floor of the canyon and the one mile elevation gain on the ascent to the south rim. We planned to follow the North Kaibab Trial to the Bright Angel Trail. Everything and everyone was on plan to reach our goal.
Only one issue: the heat on the floor of the canyon.
We began our adventure on Tuesday, May 28, 2024 from the north rim. This was the earliest all of our schedules would allow for the climb. However, our friend and guide said this was the latest she had ever done the hike. (She usually hikes/runs rim to rim to rim in March or October.) The reason for the other dates we discovered was that the heat on the canyon floor rose to around 100 degrees F during the midday hours. But, I’m getting ahead of myself.
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| Grand Canyon Lodge cabin |
Tuesday afternoon, we took the Trans-Canyon Shuttle from the south rim to the north rim where we stayed at the Grand Canyon Lodge cabins. I was surprised at the length of the 4.5 hour ride around the rim of the canyon with only one bio break stop. That’s one big canyon. We chowed on pizza at the local deli and got to bed to get some sleep for at 0430 alpine start.
The weather was ideal, and the trails were in good condition. I love the picture below because it shows the trails we covered as we descended to the canyon floor. The north rim has more trees and foliage than the south rim. The colorful vistas lit by the rising sun made me pause to take in the beauty and majesty of the scene along the way. I was sure we were on our way to a one-day hike across the canyon as planned.
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| Descending from North Rim |
I soon discovered what I know from descending 14ers—your quads become fried if all you do is descend for 3.5 hours with only brief breaks. I did not do enough leg weight training for this part of the hike. Also, because of the coolness of the morning and the relatively easy pace, I committed the number one mistake on the trail. I did not hydrate enough. By the time we were in full sunlight and nearing the floor of the canyon, I began to feel the effects of heat exhaustion and dehydration. (I knew better. I had been on longer and hotter hikes before.) My friend and angel on the trail, Ed, carried my pack for a couple of miles while I cooled down and hydrated. I recovered, got my pack back, but the hit slowed me down.
By the time we reached ‘The Box,’ I was overheating and needing an extended break. Let me pause to say our guide and veteran rim-to-rim-to-rim friend and guide, Carol, did not suffer like I did. She slowed to our pace and was patient with us all—me especially. As we approached Phantom Ranch, Ed and she backtracked to greet me with a bag of ice and brought relief again by carrying my pack to the ranch. When Amy and Gina first arrived at Phantom Ranch, the ranger looked at them and asked, “Are you just getting here?” “Yes,” they answered. “You need to get in the river and cool off.” (She saw what we all were feeling as we walked slowly into the ranch area two hours behind schedule to finish according to our one-day goal.) And, she added, “we have rooms.” 
Amy and Gina went on to cool down in the river while Carol and Ed came to rescue me with the bag of ice Ed bought at the Phantom Ranch cantina. While we were sitting in the river wondering how we were going to finish, Gina told of her conversation with the park ranger when they arrived. When she said the ranger said, “We have rooms,” Ed sat up from lying down in the rushing waters and said, “What are we sitting here for? Where’s my wallet?” In that moment, our one-day hike turned into two. We gave up our hotel reservations on the south rim by default, but we did not care. We now had an air conditioned room, indoor toilet and showers, and a dinner of stew, cornbread, salad, and a double-chocolate brownie for desert. I have never been more relieved by a turn of events than when I realized we did not need to push on into the night to finish our hike. I think we would have spent the night on the trail or crawled to the top of the south rim about 0200 the next morning if we had not been offered a place to spend the night. We had no tents or gear from camping. It was supposed to be a day hike.I often tell folks that God’s grace comes in many forms. I truly believe the availability of a room at Phantom Ranch that day was God’s gracious gift to us. Getting a room at the ranch involves months of planning and a lottery choice. There should not have been any rooms available that day, but there was. “Now I ain’t too good at prayin, but thanks for everything,” was my prayer as sung by Larry Fleet.
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After breakfast, our guide, Carol, headed back to the North Rim where she met us and left us to complete the hike on our own. She planned to run back to her car after we completed our one-day hike, but since we had rested and were confident we could finish, she headed home Colorado. (She made the climb out of the canyon in half the time it took us to hike into the canyon.)
Our morning hike was mostly flat and led us to the Colorado River that flows through the canyon. The air was cool and dry, and we made good time as we followed the trail to the Havasupai Gardens (formerly Indian Garden), where we cooled off in the stream, rested, fueled, and filled up our water bottles and pack bladders for the next leg of the hike.
The day became increasingly hot as we hiked, but we were acclimated and rested and the pressure to make a deadline was gone. We enjoyed the beauty of the canyon and took our time to rest, fuel, and hydrate as needed.
We began our ascent after lunch. The trail became steeper the farther we climbed, and the number of people on the trail increased. They were mostly day hikers coming from the Village to see what they could see. A mother carried her baby in the heat, and teens wore cutoffs and street shoes. Few had even a water bottle. The forest service does 300 ground rescues and 150 helicopter rescues a year in the canyon. I wanted to tell them how easy it is to get in trouble.
The photos show the trail as I looked back on where we had climbed. The views were spectacular and the heat relented as we ascended to the South Rim. We made the Village about 1500 hours and headed to our vehicle and the RV for a shower and dinner. While we did not reach our initial goal, we shared a memorable adventure I’d do again.
Don’t go alone. Share the adventure with friends. Ed, Gina, Amy, and Carol were the ideal partners. We laughed, suffered, encouraged, and pushed each other on this epic trail together. There is no better way to see and share the wonders of Creation than with friends.
