Grand Canyon Bound
One week from today I will be joining Cappuccino for an overnight trip to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. She was able to snag one of the roughly 750 camping lottery permits available every month that allow you to camp down in the Canyon. Considering there are around 5 million people that visit the park every year, 750 slots/month is a tiny number. We feel lucky to have gotten a chance to camp in the Canyon
We will be starting on the South Rim and hiking down the steep South Kaibab Trail to the Colorado River. Then on into the Bright Angel Campground adjacent to Phantom Ranch. We will spend the night in the Campground and probably start before dawn on our return up to the South Rim along the slightly less steep Bright Angel Trail. The temperature yesterday in the bottom of the canyon was 101 and will likely still be in that range next week. The Grand Canyon is a harsh place and 14 people have perished there already this year.
Cappuccino and I are confident in our abilities, but we are approaching this trek with understandable caution. Since it is only one night and it will be pretty warm the whole time, we are bringing a cut down list of gear to lighten our packs. This will make our trip up and out a little easier. For instance, I will not be bringing my sleeping bag, but rather an 11 ounce synthetic quilt I made. We will be sharing a stove, leaving a lot of our cold weather gear, like mitts and heavy jackets, and of course, only carrying food for one day. On the other hand, we will be carrying more water than usual due to the high temperatures. so, there are always trade-offs.
I will be flying out to Albuquerque next Sunday and then we will drive over to the Canyon on Monday. Our trek is on Tuesday and Wednesday, and we return to Albuquerque on Thursday.
I plan to update the blog daily during the trip as usual. I realize this is it short trip, but we were only able to get a permit for a single day. So we will make the most of it.
Until next Sunday, Happy Trails!
Sounds like fun with a wee bit of Dante’s inferno….
(Don’t) Break a leg
Ah, the Inferno. When you and I hiked down in 2017, it was on September 19th and it was much cooler at the bottom. A mere 90 degrees, I believe. Happy Trails my friend!
I hiked up Bright Angel after getting off a private rafting trip drop-off. The biodiversity along the trail was amazing. Some rain is always a possibility in summer so…I got chilled on my hike out. I remember there was a lizard every 10-15 feet all the way up the trail. Let me know if that is still happening. Enjoy!
Thanks for the heads up, OZ. I’ve never done the Bright Angel Trail, so I’m really looking forward to it. I’ll tell the lizards “hello” for you.
Good times ahead, Mark and Cap. In April of 2023, with our 9 and 11 year old grandsons, Hannah and I hiked three miles into the Canyon on the South Kaibab Trail and then back out. The next day we hiked three miles into the Canyon on the Bright Angel Trail. We did not have the high temps that you two will have, but it was hot enough. It’ll be great to relive our trek through your pictures. Fifteen years ago, I hiked to Indian Gardens (it now has a new name Havasupai Gardens) on the Bright Angel Trail. On the way back on this hot day, and as you know with no shade, I drank too much water. Started weaving and slightly hallucinating – Hyponatremia, a common electrolyte abnormality caused by an excess of total body water when compared to total body sodium content. Salty snacks given to me by the trail ranger eventually got me back to normal. Just a caution about drinking too much H2O!
Hey Dan, sounds like a great time with grandkids. Mine are not quite old enough to do that yet.
When Scatman and I crossed the Canyon back in 2017 we had a long talk with a Ranger about hyponatremia. Apparently their recommendation to drink lots of water was taken a little too literally by some people. So, they have backed off that recommendation somewhat and are just telling people to drink when they’re thirsty and carry salty snacks. I used to have a patient with chronic hyponatremia, but that’s another story.
The thru-hiker solution to hyponatremia is “Fritos“. Easy to carry, tasty, salty, carbs, and fats. It’s kind of the complete trail food for this kind of exertion. Anyway, Fritos are always on my list when I go backpacking. Take care and happy trails.
Fritos! That’s wonderful! I’ll spread the word!