Grand Canyon Hike

Hiking the Grand Canyon

Travelogue by Sreelaja Nair

Roop and I had been to the Grand Canyon thrice before we got an opportunity and the company to hike the canyon. It was on Arun`s list of things to do before he left the United States to far away England. Besides the three of us, our group included George, Traver and Stephanie. The trip began with George, Roop and me picking up the others from LAX. Roop and George were the designated drivers for the trip, thanks to National tricking us into believing that we could add additional drivers later. We drove into the Holiday Inn in Arizona, a couple of miles from the Grand Canyon National Park entrance at 8:00pm on Nov 19^th 2005. The plan was to start down to the bottom of the canyon on Sunday, Nov 20^th. We planned to take the 6.5 mile South Kaibab trail down and camp that night at the Bright Angel Campground. On the second day, we would hike 4.6 miles of the Bright Angel Trail to our second night of camping at the Indian Garden Campgrounds and then hike the rest of the 4.5 miles of the trail out of the canyon on the third day. We checked into our hotel for the night and trooped out for dinner at the local cafeteria Tusayan that promised omelettes and sandwiches. Dinner conversation was speckled with doubts about our individual ability or lack of it to hike the 16 or so miles that lay ahead of us for the next three days. I was particularly concerned about myself as I had not seen the inside of a gym well enough for a couple of months before this trip and was sure that most of my muscles had relapsed into a state of abject relaxation from which they would be rudely awakened soon. While preparing for the hike, Arun and I had been primarily concerned with the food we would eat as a result of which there was food in excess and we had to take decisions on what we would eat and how much. After dinner we rationed our rations for the trip and made food packets for every meal, which we distributed amongst the 6 of us to carry. We then went back to our rooms to repack our backpacks and rethink about what we could live without for the next few days.

DAY ONE

The morning of the hike began early at 5:30 am. After a long shower (the next one would be in 4 days!) we met in the breakfast lounge of the hotel for our breakfast and made a hearty meal of it. We checked out and left for the park at 7:30 am. We were in high spirits and on schedule, we wanted to begin our hike by 9:00 am and it looked like we would be able to start earlier than planned. At the entrance to the park we were told that the backpackers express that would take us to the South Kaibab Trailhead left on the hour in the mornings and we had missed the 8:00 am one. The next one was at 9, which meant we would start at little later than intended. We parked our car at the parking lot in front of the Backpackers Information and got our packs out. We would be carrying these for the next three days and would develop a love-hate relationship with it soon. As of now, I was scared of mine. We trooped into the Information Center to collect maps and information, weighed our packs and waited till the bus showed up a few minutes after 9:00 am. The bus dropped us at the parking lot for South Kaibab trailhead a little after 9:30 am. We walked to the overlook to take a peep at the immense hole we would be in for the next couple of days. The North Rim stretched before us on the other side of the canyon and we could see the Zoroaster Temple formation directly ahead of us in the distance. Without much ado we strapped our packs on and began the life we would live for the next few days.

The South Kaibab trail began as a steep downward slope almost immediately; to our right was the cold limestone wall of the South Rim and to the left, a drop. In front of us was the North rim of the canyon, every feature clearly outlined against the cloudless sky. Grand Canyon is a mile deep and the 6.5 mile South Kaibab Trail was a series of switchbacks along its southern wall. On previous trips here, Roop and I had seen panoramic views of the canyon from the South Rim. As we began the hike I anticipated seeing the Colorado as every bend revealed a little more of the canyon. I would soon learn to be patient for this view. The trail was mostly in the shade here and a breeze was blowing which made hiking a bit chilly. In about 20 mins, we could see O`Neil`s Butte, the first prominent feature along this trail and the trail itself, leading to and around it on Cedar Ridge. We took our first break at Cedar Ridge overlook, after a 1.5 mile hike along the relatively steep Cedar Ridge. From here onwards, the trail no longer hugged the canyon walls, it wound around O`Neil`s Butte and the switchbacks we could see seemed relatively level. The first slight hitch in the hike occurred as we approached Skeleton point, an hour later. My shoelaces got undone and caught on the log steps leading down to the overlook. My fall was excruciatingly slow and inevitable because of the weight on my back. Thankfully, it looked worse than it actually was and other than my pants and gear getting dusty, I was nonetheless any worse. While waiting for me to recover, the map was consulted to see when we could break for lunch. We estimated that we would reach Tipoff Point in another 45 minutes and lunch could be had at 12:30pm. We had hiked 3 miles and from Skeleton Point we saw the Colorado and the Inner Gorge of the canyon for the first time. The emerald green waters of the river seemed to flow quietly with hardly any ripples. The South Kaibab trail had begun as soft dry soil, every step resulted in a small cloud of dusty wake. As we progressed further down we encountered more gravel than dry soil.

It has been said that the Grand Canyon is a geologist`s paradise. This was obvious to even a non-geologist like me; in three hours we had encountered dark red soil at the very top, sand colored one just before the butte and now pale green soil all of which were interspersed with stretches of granite gravel and more red soil. I was fascinated with the constantly changing scenario underneath my feet. Hiking through gravel was getting to be tough on my legs. I wasnt sure of my footing and my legs were shaking from the constant downward sloping trail. I was hoping to reach Tipoff Point uneventfully. It was not to be. My legs buckled under me and I fell hard on my left knee. Once down, I didnt have the strength to get back on my feet on my own. I think I scared everybody at that point. On a hike like this everyone`s primary goal is to not be a dead weight. I was bruised and hungry, but could walk (limp) on my own. Roop decided enough was enough and despite my protests took away the 2.5 litres of water that I was carrying. We continued down and had to stop occasionally to give way to the mule trains. Big hulks of muscles with their legs so spindly, it made you wonder how it supported their weight. Hiking the trail after a mule party has been through it can be very hard on the nose. We could see the trail further ahead of us, long and thin on the sunlit Tonto Plateau. We had walked for an hour since our last break and Tipoff Point was nowhere to be seen. We decided to break for lunch on the trail itself. My knee was ministered to and bandaged and we lunched on tortillas and precooked Indian subzis. I lunched on some Advils as well; it felt good to eat. We didnt stop for long as we were on the trail itself and as we had been sitting in the shade, Stephanie and I felt quite cold. Each time after a break I felt stiff for the first few minutes and George had by now begun to ask aloud his introspective question: Why? Why am I doing this? About half an hour into hiking after lunch we reached the Tonto Trail junction where there were restrooms and an emergency phone. We had hiked 4.5 miles of the trail and made good time despite the couple of tumbles I took. It was about 1:45 pm and we had a couple more miles to go before we reached our campgrounds. We would reach with plenty of sunlight left to set up tents and have some hot drinks before dinner. The trail continued on Tonto Plateau and reached Tipoff Point, our intended lunch stop. We were now in what is known as the Inner Gorge of the canyon. The Colorado still seemed to flow along quite peacefully for a river that had carved the grandest canyon of them all. We could see the Silver Suspension Bridge spanning the Colorado and Phantom Ranch at the bottom of the canyon. We were very close to the end of our descent and rested briefly on some decaying wood for a final short break before we began the last mile of our descent. Just as I began to think that the trail was relatively easy after Tipoff Point, we came upon the final series of steep switchbacks, which led to the Black or Kaibab suspension bridge, the second of the two bridges on the Colorado. The South Kaibab trail ends in a tunnel, which serves as the entrance onto this bridge and victorious we all gladly posed for pictures here.

Up close from the bridge, the Colorado did not seem that benign. We could see the rip currents in the river and to prevent a possible collapse of the swaying bridge, tried to walk out of phase with each other to avoid creating a resonance effect!! Standing on the bridge I could feel the timelessness of the place. The river even as we watched it was carving the canyon as it had always done. Just off of the Black Bridge, on the other side, there was a small stretch of beach and some Anasazi ruins. As we approached our campground we were very excited to sight the first wild life in our hike, some deer, and it was time for some more pictures. I often feel that the look in the eyes of animals as we photograph them is of mild indulgence at our surprise at encountering them. I hope a time comes when seeing them in their environs will be so natural in our minds that we wont reach for our cameras to capture that moment. After all, we do not marvel at every human we encounter in our travels

The trail wound along the river bed by which time all we wanted to do was get to our campsite and dump the backpacks. About 20 mins later we crossed a small wooden bridge on the Bright Angel creek and reached the Bright Angel campgrounds. We pitched our tents first thing before settling down to hot cups of tea and chocolate. My legs were killing me and weighed like lead and almost everyone with the exception of Roop and to some extent Arun, were walking with a pronounced limp! That night we had couscous for dinner cooked with Indian subzis and of all things, sambar! It was delicious! We sat around warm in our jackets and beanies, drank some hot chocolate laced with Smirnoff and called it a day at around 7pm. All through the night I could hear the river flow and it was a comforting sound.

DAY TWO

We woke up at about 7:00 am the next morning. The night had been cold, but not as cold as I had expected it to be. We had tea and breakfast leisurely and began our hike of 4.6 miles to Indian Gardens at 10:30am. The Bright Angel campground was set amidst lots of trees and our trail began in a surreal setting of sun dappled Cottonwoods lining the Bright Angel Creek. On the South Kaibab trail, there was no water, but on the Bright Angel, we were told we would be able to find water but carried plenty of our own, just in case. Our hike yesterday had been a relentless descent, and since what comes down must go up, the next two days we would be ascending to reach our destination at Bright Angel Trailhead at the south rim. The distance to the rim from the campground was about 9 miles and we had decided to split it in half. We would hike today to the halfway point at Indian Gardens, camp the night and set out the next morning to finish up to the rim. Given a choice, I preferred a descent rather than an ascent as I am usually out of breath when climbing. I was also little apprehensive about my speed and didnt want to slow down our group. We stopped for some pictures and crossed the Silver or Bright Angel Suspension Bridge (which we had seen from Tipoff point) to come back to the south wall. For the first half-mile or so, the trail hugged the canyon wall just above the river, not very steep and offered great views of the Colorado. This time of the year, the water was very clear, a pristine green which reflected the life around it. It occurred to me as I watched the river that I had not touched its waters and that maybe Roop and I could return for a rafting trip down the Colorado. Maybe we will. Up to Indian Gardens, Bright Angel Trail follows Garden Creek, which we hiked along and crossed several times. Garden Creek, I learnt later is a perennial water source which the Havasupai Indians, the original canyon dwellers, depended on for their farming needs at the present day Indian Gardens. The weather was perfect, not too cold or too hot. All of us were in good spirits, our various aches and pains forgotten in the appreciation of the splendor around us. We ambled along at a comfortable pace on the partly sandy trail and chanced upon a cave! Seeing a mule party coming down towards the bottom, we decided to explore the cave to let the mules cross us, as the way ahead seemed narrow and steep. Roop went inside and thankfully did not encounter any bats!

As we proceeded further the Colorado was out of view, we would not see it again for the remainder of the trip. The trail had begun to climb and we could feel it in our legs. Initially, the canyon walls rose around us on either side and as we ascended, the wall was to our left, and the canyon stretched before us on the right. No part of the trail was exposed but a fall would nonetheless be quite debilitating. After a particularly difficult stretch we stopped for some lunch and by now Arun had begun to regret the couple of smokes he had indulged in last night. As we rested, a French hiker overtook us and we learnt that he had descended the South Kaibab that morning and was hoping to make it to the rim by evening. We also encountered an older couple who were also hiking to the rim, and were looking for a shorter alternate route. Our advise to them was the sensible, stay on the trail and do not wander. I hope they made it out ok.

Further up, we could see the trail we had already hiked, especially the section we cleared just before lunch. It was a series of very mean switchbacks, which I learnt later was known as the Devil`s Corkscrew! Measured against this section, the rest of the trail was a piece of cake. Views of the Grand Canyon from the rim can be very misleading. One sees immense barren rock formations, which frighten you into awe with their age and immobility. Indian Gardens is an oasis on the Tonto Plateau and all around me trees and small bushes were in abundance. Though we were going to hike only 4.5 miles, today, I was getting the distinct feeling that it was taking us a long time to reach camp. About 3/4^th of a mile from Indian Gardens, we arrived at rock wall and shortly thereafter at the junction where the Tonto Trail meets the Bright Angel. We were now walking on level ground on a plateau and the trail was covered with fine red soil. When we reached the Indian Gardens Campgrounds about 4 hrs from starting the hike, there was plenty of daylight left and we refreshed ourselves with some tea and coffee. Indian Gardens was also set amidst lots of trees, which offered plenty of shade. The restrooms though were located up a flight of stairs and to get to it was absolute torture for my tired limbs!! As we set up our tents, a ranger came by to check on the sites and informed us about a 3 mile round trip hike to Plateau Point from Indian Gardens, which promised great views of the canyon and the Colorado. There was some discussion about an early morning trip for this, which I summarily opted out of. I wanted to save my energy for the remaining 4.5 miles to the rim. There was no way I would survive an additional 3 miles, atleast not without half a dozen advils! In the end, no decision was reached and by morning, everyone was snug and warm in their tents and all we wanted to do was hike out.

DAY THREE

Today, we would hike the final 4.5 miles of the Bright Angel Trail to the rim. As we started, the weather was quite chilly, cold enough for me to put on gloves, which also seemed damp and cold. About a half-mile from Indian Gardens our trail began to climb quite steeply and we were again navigating some switchbacks known as Jacob`s Ladder. Though our hike for the day had just begun, I was beginning to get the feeling that I was reaching my physical limits when I heard Arun say something about a rest-stop just ahead. We had reached the 3 mile resthouse, which as the name suggests is 3 miles from the rim. Up to the resthouse, we hadnt met anyone else on the trail, except a group of older women heading to Indian Gardens. However, the Bright Angel Trail from the rim up to 3 mile resthouse seemed a popular stretch for day hikers. Soon, the solitude that had been our constant companion for over two days was lost. It is amazing, how much noise there is in the civilized world! The 3 mile resthouse is a small stone shed and we took a brief snack break on the very cold stone benches there. I looked back periodically at the trail we had covered, partly in amazement, partly with satisfaction. As we climbed higher, we could see the trail leading up to Plateau Point, the hike we had opted out of. Though I knew that we had only 3 more miles to go, it seemed to take forever to reach the rim. After the 3 mile resthouse, our next stop was at the 1.5 mile resthouse, where we stopped for a quick lunch. Over the last two days, the food rations from everyone else`s pack except mine had been eaten. There was no way I was going to let my fellow hikers get away with not eating the food I was carrying! Nearing the rim, Roop and I were struck anew with awe at the huge cliff of red stone directly ahead of us. As we passed through a tunnel cut into the canyon wall, we were brought up short by some whispered gathering ahead of us. We had chanced upon a couple of big horn sheep, an ewe and her baby. We watched them for a while and they stay put on their rocky perch probably amused with all the attention they were getting. By this time Arun, Traver and Stephanie had hiked further ahead of us. As we neared the rim, we saw another family of big horn sheep, a male and a female teaching a baby to walk on the sheer vertical canyon wall! George, Roop and I watched this lesson for a while, fascinated. You could see the hesitation of the young sheep and the parents attempts to teach by example. Our hike ended shortly thereafter and I felt a mixture of relief, pride, and exhaustion and of course, pain. It had taken us about 4 hrs. and we had a long drive ahead of us back home. With George behind the wheel, we made the drive back home involved in discussing politics and patriotism. Despite our individual apprehensions, we had done quite well and more than just survived the hike. The Grand Canyon hike was mine and Roop`s first backpacking trip in the United States, against which all our past and future hikes in this country will always be measured.