Grand Canyon North Rim to South Rim Trek – May 18, 2019

Reaching the Grand Canyon North Rim – Fri, May 17, 2019

Anu, I, Aditya and Sahil flew in from Washington DC on Thu, May 16 and landed at around 8 pm in Phoenix, AZ. We drove to Flagstaff, AZ, about 2 hours away from the South Rim and stayed there the night of May 16.

We started driving towards the North Rim of the Grand Canyon (about 4.5 hours away) at around 11 am. The scenery was spectacular.

We reached the Marble Canyon through which the Colorado River flows. We could see some people rafting in the river. Marble Canyon is the section of the Colorado River canyon in northern Arizona from Lee’s Ferry to the confluence with the Little Colorado River, which marks the beginning of the Grand Canyon.

We reached the Navajo bridge on Marble Canyon. The original Navajo bridge was a steel arch bridge built in 1929 on Highway 89A on the Colorado River.

On the left is the original Navajo bridge in 1929. Then the traffic increased so much as new bridge was opened in 1995 (on the right).

When we turned from Highway 89A towards the Grand Canyon North Rim on Highway 67 at Jacob Lake, AZ, it started snowing quite heavily. We reached a maximum altitude of almost 9,000 ft. It was surprising to see snow and we were worried that our  trek the next day was in jeopardy.

We reached the Grand Canyon North Rim Lodge at around 3.30 pm on Friday. The lodge was the only accommodation option on the North Rim. It was built in 1928. It was a very classy place with great views of the Grand Canyon.

In the evening, we took a walk around to a couple of view points at the North Rim. In contrast to the snowy weather earlier, the weather at the North Rim was chilly but great. The views were spectacular.

A photo of our team. Anu did not join because she was nursing an ankle injury and she wanted to rest as much as possible before the trek.

We could not get enough of the fantastic views.

We visited the trailhead in the evening to get an idea of the terrain for the next day morning. It was cold enough that there was still snow on the trail. We were expecting it to be very cold next day morning.

Our accommodations at the North Rim had cozy log cabins. The cabins were fully equipped with heaters, hot water, clean beds. Very nice.

Rim-to-Rim Trek, Sat, May 18, 2019

Descend the North Rim (3,840 ft descent, 8.2 km)

We started seeing the light of the day around 4.45 am. We reached the Redwall Bridge.

Interesting formations on the canyon walls.

The canyon views were unfolding as the day became brighter. Due to our early start, the temperature was still bearable. During the day it became hotter.

Descending was easy. We were feeling fresh. However, it was surprising to see some people who were doing rim-to-rim-to-rim hike in 20 hours, about 80 km distance. We were wowed by that fact.

The first rays of sunlight looked spectacular against the canyon walls.

Walk through the Canyon (1,900 ft descent, 13.8 km)

Arun, Ramesh, Jai, Vikas and Sahil had left around 4.45 am, but they had still not caught up with us. I guess Anu was walking fast (though with painkillers).

The views were totally awesome. Worth the trouble.

More cactus flowers.

Interesting cactus flower.

As we neared Phantom Ranch Ranger Station (about 13.7 km from Manzanita), we crossed a few bridges. The trail seemed endless.

We reached Phantom Ranch around 10.20 am. We stopped to eat something and refill our water. Sahil had joined us by that time. Arun, Ramesh, Jai and Vikas came around 11 am. By that time Ramesh had also made a small detour to Ribbon falls (which was officially closed).

We left Phantom Ranch around 11.50 am.

Slight Ascent from Bright Angel Campground to Indian Garden (1,300 ft, 8.1 km)

We crossed the Bright Angel Campground which as 22 km from the North Rim and then reached the bridge on the Colorado River. The river flows very swiftly and we saw rapids.

We were happy that we could do this tough trek as a family. Both Sahil and Aditya showed the mental toughness to do the trek. It felt tough as we got to this stretch, but they kept going.

A minor episode as we were walking towards Indian Garden. Sahil and I were lagging and were almost out of water. I sat down for rest and fainted. When I came to within a few seconds, I noticed about 6-7 people gathered around me. They fed me salt, electrolyte and stuff to eat. I guess I had ran out of calories or salt.

I was able to recover quickly and start walking again. I had no trouble afterwards. It was probably just lack of salts and calories.

Steep Ascent from Indian Garden to South Rim Trailhead (3,040 ft, 7.2 km)

We replenished our water at Indian Garden. We started the toughest part of the trek from Indian Garden to South Rim Trailhead on the Bright Angel trail.

Ramesh, Arun, Jai and Vikas also did a 3 mile additional detour to Plateau Point.

The Bright Angel trail was wide and very well laid out. The trails were built by the National Parks service in 1930s.

The climb up to the South Rim was very tough, but the views were spectacular.

Ramesh reached the South Rim trailhead very early. Arun, Jai, Vikas, Anu and Aditya finished the trek at 6.30 pm on Sat, May 18. Sahil and I were lagging and finished the trek around 7.00 pm. We had walked for a total of 14 hours with about 1.5 hours of rest.

Jai did his customary headstand at the end of the trek.

Our team at the end of the trek (except Ramesh who was so fast that he had finished the trek long ago and gone to the lodge 🙂 )

We celebrated our trek completion with a pizza meal.

These were our accommodations at the Maswik lodge at the South Rim. The accommodations were really nice.

Back from Grand Canyon to Las Vegas, Sun, May 19, 2019

We took a shuttle from the South Rim to the North Rim. John, the shuttle driver, showed up nearly 2.5 hours late, 11 am instead of 8.30 am.

When we arrived at the North Rim, our Jeep Cherokee was covered in snow.

While heading back, the road was snowed out. It was unreal to see that 10 miles from the Grand Canyon, there was so much snow.

The ride back to Las Vegas was an eventful one. We had to drive really quickly so that Ramesh and Arun could make their flights at 9 pm. So there were no stoppages for lunch or restroom.

The roads were covered in snow. Just tracks left to drive on.

Slow traffic till Jacob lake.

Finally after Jacob lake, the snow cleared up. Then the drive to Las Vegas was really quick.

Finally, due to valiant driving efforts by Vikas, Ramesh and Arun did make their flights. Our flights were at 11.45 pm from Las Vegas to Oakland, CA.

We were really happy that everyone completed the Rim to Rim trek.