Grand Canyon part two

Close to camp, sore feet and dreaming of taking our boots off we passed a guy coming up the other way. I don’t know if it’s always like this but because of the ridiculous weather we stopped and had quite a detailed conversation with everyone we came across on the hike. We swapped itineraries and reports of the trail condition further up or down. This guy though - when he saw the forecast for snow he headed over to the Grand Canyon and hiked all the way to the bottom (as the first hiker of the day he was apparently wading through chest deep snow) and then - he was hiking all the way back up that evening. Considering we saw him about 3.30pm he’d be doing a large portion of that hike in the dark. It’s nice to know that there are people crazier than us out there! We were happy to arrived early enough to give our sore feet and knees a quick (emphasis on quick) dip in the chilly creek

It was a surreal night at Bright Angel campground - a collection of 33 sites along the Bright Angel creek. It’s usually wall to wall and sells out months in advance but on that Thursday night it was us; the two other pairs we’d hiked in with and two Mennonite women who’d hiked down in full skirts with no apparent bother and a couple of other people who I didn’t really cross paths with. Given how empty it was we could have picked one of the riverside spots which generally seem preferred but it was set to get quite chilly and windy so we opted for a more sheltered site closer to the Canyon walls. Picking the ideal spot is one of my favourite parts of tent camping so it was a dream to have so much choice! It’s also a really cushy campsite - a box for your food, poles for your backpacks, flushing toilets, running water and a hand dryer! Dreamy.

We were spending two nights at Bright Angel so we’d asked the ranger if there were any day hikes she’d recommend, ideally pretty easy 6 mile trips. She suggested we do an out and back hike to Ribbon Falls - at 12 miles it was a touch longer than we’d planned! The trail goes through the deepest part of the Grand Canyon following the creek and it really felt like stepping through the different geological eras watching the rocks change around us. The plant life was awesome too - my favourite was a little ball cactus growing amidst a carpet of bright green moss. Two plants who seem to have such wildly different needs, both thriving in what feels like the middle of the Earth.

To get to Ribbon Falls we had to make two creek crossings. The first, we probably added at least a mile onto our hike scouting up and down the river to find a spot that wasn’t too deep or too fast. Eventually we found the perfect place with a big sturdy branch spanning the river. It was still scary to feel the power of the chilly water rushing past but we made it over and followed the path made by hikers before us up into the Falls. I can’t really do justice to Ribbon Falls in either words or pictures but suffice to say it was stunning and well worth the mega day (relative to the rest day we were planning on).

As we dragged ourselves back into camp with sore feet I was worrying about the next two days of solid uphill. It was a weird vibe with the new people at the campground - looking back I think it was because they had all started out in -12 degree weather so were probably freaking out about sleeping in a tent. Everyone was a lot friendlier the next morning after surviving the night! One of the things I unexpectedly loved about this trip was the camaraderie with fellow hikers. You will have people on similar itineraries to you who you keep seeing throughout the trip and it was really nice to check in with them and get to know them a bit.

Everything ached the next day despite an extensive stretching session the night before. I’ve also learnt that if you feel blisters - stop immediately and get some blister plasters on. Don’t keep hiking until it hurts too much to walk another step because it’s a bit late for moleskin by then! Part way through the first day of our uphill hike we saw a detour down to the Colorado river and took the chance to feel its freezing cold water and see up close how fast the current flows. It gave me a new bucket list - to go rafting down the river!

Didn’t even attempt to swim in this - the mighty Colorado

It was a long day and we were so glad we’d booked a night at Havasupai Gardens campsite halfway up the Canyon so we only had to cover around 5 miles uphill each day. We had a lovely spot there too - elevated with amazing views in all directions and out of the way of the cottonwood trees that the ranger seemed very worried were about to fall over. People do go from Bright Angel to the top in a day but they’re either incredibly fit or massively wrecked by the end (we encountered both types - often in the same group).

It was weird getting closer and closer back to civilisation. The trails got busier, backpacks of fellow hikers got smaller and the range of footwear branched out from sensible hiking shoes - despite the lingering layer of ice and snow. It was like waking up from a dream. I’d read all the signs and leaflets about how hard hiking the Grand Canyon is but wow it was harder than I expected. Towards the end, after a series of brutal switchbacks we were taking it in turns to lead pacing out 100 steps before we stopped to get our heart rates back down to a somewhat acceptable level. I don’t know how people do day hikes down to the bottom and back. But equally the day hikers we met couldn’t imagine doing it with heavy packs so swings and roundabouts I guess.

Coming over the top the wind was biting and there was still a lot of snow on the ground. We did have to dig our car (Big Buddy) back out of the snow bank we had “parked” on but with a quick push and the help of our car mats we were on our way to get a celebratory steak and head off to Zion for Amy’s belated birthday trip - not before we got to see two huge elk hanging out right by the side of the road as we were leaving the park.

Zion National Park

Into the Grand Canyon