South Kaibab Trail, Bright Angel Campground, Phantom Ranch, Bright Angel Trail

In the last two days we hiked for 14.5 hour covering 17 miles with a total altitude gain and loss of approximately 14,000 feet. We are EXHAUSTED!

On Tuesday, June 19 we got up at three a.m. to catch the bus to South Kaibab trailhead. We were in a hurry and didn’t eat breakfast. After sone nerve inducing bathroom brakes we got on the trail around five or five thirty.

The views! This trail is known for the breathtaking views of the Grand Canyon.

Early in the hike I slid twice, landing on my backside. The trail had large amounts of pea sized gravel and fist sized stones that made for poor footing. There were several composting toilets on the trail but no water. The trail itself was blasted out of stone to create a passable route.

We met a mule tour group and their pack train on our way down. I would love to try the mule option one day. It looked much easier than what we were doing!

Esther was a faster hiker than Stephen and I, perhaps due to her shoes having more tread than ours. She made it of the trail fifteen or twenty minutes before we did. It took us four and a half hours to hike down. Finally the bridge over the Colorado river came into view.

After a long and exhausting walk the campground was close. We found Esther soaking her head in water from a water station for rafters located between the trail and the river. She had gotten very hot and sick feeling on the trail. It was around one hundred degrees when we arrived at camp and as the day progressed it got hotter, reaching one hundred degrees in the shade.

Bright Angel Campground is located between two tall rock cliff faces in the inner canyon. A cold stream runs down the middle of the space with campground on one side and a path from the Colorado to Phantom Ranch on the other.

The sites were first come first serve so most of the sites with shade had already been chosen. We found one close to the bridge across the stream that led to Phantom Ranch. It had a picnic table and food storage locker to keep out animals like mice.

After resting for a while and trying to work up energy to walk, we headed one the .2 mile walk to the ranch.

Tucked against rock walls, Phantom Ranch is a collection of small cabins, a dining hall/kitchen, a a barn with corrals for miles.

We bought snacks such as bagels , chips, and snickers bars to hold us over till the dinner we had reserved in the dining hall. After eating and cooling off a bit in the air conditioning we headed back to our site.

The heat kept pressing in, exhausting us further.

The only cool place was the stream so that is where we went.

The day dragged on and on, the heat pressing in. Finally it was time to go to our six-thirty dinner. On the way over we saw a deer.

Our meal was excellent. Fresh salad, cornbread, stew or veggie chili, and a brownie for dessert. We had multiple servings, making up for eating so little on the trail. (Somehow hiking in the heat made me not hungry) The dining room was quaint and friendly.

Our waitress for the evening took questions and the end of dinner. She said that all employees have to hike in for their interviews and after signing up for a year they work ten days and are off four days, hike in and out of the canyon for days off.

After dinner we went back to camp, which had mercifully cooled off as the sun set. To save weight we only packed in tarps and sleeping bags to sleep under the stars.

Stephen and I slept surprisingly well, completely missing the sounds of an animal trying to get into the food box and stealing something. Esther heard it and thought it was a raccoon. She took her shoes into her sleeping bag and hung onto her hiking poles because she thought it might steal something and leave her stranded in the canyon, and she was determined to hike out the next day. The heat had soured us all a bit on the adventure and we wanted out as fast as possible.

We had the alarm set for three a.m. but I woke up at 1:30 and stared at the stars. They were beautiful. So clear and bright, and so many! I saw six or seven shooting stars. Esther also woke up and we decided to walk to the restroom together. Esther noticed the food box was actually open. Something had opened it but nothing appeared to be missing.

I might have slept some more but it didn’t feel like it. When the alarm was supposed to go off I turned off the sound and woke Esther and Stephen. We packed and used the restroom. I got out the food and set it on the table to await packing. Esther went over to get something off the table bit jumped back saying “there’s a squirrel on the table!” We heard it rustling, trying to get at the food. I didn’t want it to get the snacks we needed for the hike so I took my hiking poles and ran to the table swatting at the creature on the table, which turned out to be… a spotted skunk! My poles never touched it but it ducked and ran dragging something from the food box as it fled. Thankfully it did not spray. It was small so it may have been young. We could hear it in the bushes tearing apart the packaging of its prize. It appeared to have taken a granola bar and Esther’s chocolate teddy grams. She called it the “evil skunk” and wondered why it couldn’t have take something else. The memory of me swatting at a skunk and its choice of items to steal gave us several laughs on our hike out.

It took a while to get going but we finally hit the trail before sunrise, trying beat the heat. All of us were still tired from the heat and hiking. We made good time for the first mile or two, then Esther started feeling sick and unable to move her legs well. After some urging she ate some of her snacks and kept drinking water. She was able to keep going and felt a bit better.

After walking for what seemed an eternity we finally reached Indian Garden, which has a campground, water station, toilets, and ranger station.

A rest and water refill gave us renewed energy and the feeling that we were getting somewhere. Unfortunately that feeling soon evaporated. It took just over three hours to do the first half and over six hours for the second half.

Shortly after Indian Garden the trail started getting more and more sun. It also became much steeper. It seemed every step was harder. A sign reminded us that going down is optional but going up was mandatory.

We started resting at just about every shady rock. Half miles took forty-five minutes. We reached the rest house one and a half miles from the top and all of us were beat. It could easily take us more than two hours to get there, and we couldn’t keep going.

The Bible verse for the day was Hebrews 4:16: “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. We found grace for our need when God sent another hiker who gave us two electrolyte tablets. After drinking the electrolyte water and pouring cool water all over us we were able to keep walking. We continued to rest in every patch of shade.

Shortly before we got to the top a juvenile mountain goat darted across the trail, made goat bleating sounds and then darted back into the cliffs on the face of the rock wall. It was cool to see it up close.

The last mile was vicious. We got down to the last half mile and the idea of being done gave us determination and speed. We finally made it to the top after eight+ hours of hiking.

After reaching the top we bought our trail patches and hat pins, then we bought gator aid and went to find the bus back to our car. Every step hurt but we were done! We bought lunch at Macdonald and I enjoyed ever bite. We all smelled pretty rank after no baths, drenching ourselves in water and sweating more than we ever had before so we got baths, made and ate dinner and slept like the dead. We made it!