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Grand Canyon Rim to Rim: A Traveler’s Experience

Posted by Boelk, Amy Sue - October 23, 2017 - Featured, Grand Canyon, Tours

The bucket list…A number of experiences or achievement that a person hopes to have or accomplish during their lifetime, as defined by Siri of iPhone fame.

My (Garth’s) bucket list for 2017:

  1. Do back-to-back to back Century (100 mile) rides on a bicycle
  2. Bike at least 150 miles in one day on a bicycle
  3. Hike in the Grand Canyon
  4. Mountain bike and hike in Utah

I have been going with a group of kayakers from the Stevens Point area this year on various trips around the Central Wisconsin area. On one of those trips I got to talking with a gentleman who told me that he and his wife had just gotten back from a trip to Iceland with a group that was organized by this travel outfit from UW-Stevens Point called UWSP Adventure Tours. I thought that sounded pretty neat! Then he told me that he had to cancel on a trip that was coming up in October to hike in the Grand Canyon. My ears popped up immediately as I had wanted to do that for some time. Upon getting back home, I immediately got online and found their website, emailed them and said that I heard that there might be an opening for the trip to the Grand Canyon. I got an email back saying that the trip was already filled … bummer!! So I told them to put me on a waiting list if an opening should become available. Low and behold, a short while later I received an email saying that an opening was now available and asked if I was still interested … Hallelujah!! – Of course I was! I went online, filled out the application, paid the down payment and just like that I was signed up.

Since I was signed up so close to the departure date for the tour, Trevor Roark, the UWSP Adventure Tours program manager, got me up-to-date with the emails that had been previously sent out to those going. I read through all of the emails and got an understanding of what was needed and how to approach the trip regarding fitness and such.

The tour begins….
The trip was scheduled from October 2-7, so I decided to go down on Saturday, Sept. 30 to visit and hike around Williams, Arizona. I got into Williams late on Saturday and then hiked up Buck Williams Mountain on Sunday. I had done some hiking beforehand when I started my “after life” (as in my retirement) in Sedona, Arizona, in February 2016 but here the trail was not as improved and was a great deal steeper. Anyway, it was a neat trail and not many hikers were out. I finished the 15 miles up and down in some 5+ hours.

I drove back to Flagstaff on Monday, dropped the rental car off at the airport and waited to get picked up at 1 p.m. by the Adventure Tour group. Prof. Corey Huck was the group leader and I received a text message from him mentioning that another member of the group was waiting at the airport also. When I received the text, I was eating a salad at the restaurant and as I looked across the corridor and spotted a lady sitting with a backpack. Must be the fellow hiker! So I asked and of course she was so the next hour passed fast as we exchanged thoughts.

The van did finally get there; we loaded our things, met Corey and our hiking partners and drove the back roads up to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. We got checked in to the Maswik Lodge and then met for dinner at the Bright Angel Lodge. We got to know members of the group over a great meal. There were eight for dinner that night–four ladies, a married couple, Corey and myself. There was another couple on the trip that came in later so we met them the next day.

On Oct. 3, we were on our own. I walked up to the South Rim, took a bunch of photographs and then had breakfast at the Bright Angel Lodge. The breakfast selection and food were excellent and very reasonably priced. I am not sure exactly what others did all day, but I hiked the South Rim Trail for about seven miles to the West to Hermits Rest witnessing the vastness that is the Grand Canyon along the way. Toward the end of the trail, one can better see the Colorado River and light colored spots on it that were rafts. There are free transportation buses that run about every 15 minute along this portion of the rim so I hopped on one and rode back to Maswik Lodge. A group dinner was included in our trip cost so we enjoyed another delightful meal and fellowship at the Bright Angel Lodge. Corey went over the itinerary for the next day along with what we should have in our backpacks and what to expect.

Let the real adventure begin…
We met at the Maswik Lodge reception desk at 3:45 a.m., got into the van at 4 a.m. and rode the 4+ hours to the North Rim. Along the way, I again witnessed the vastness of this area of our great United States.

After arriving at the North Rim Lodge, Corey indicated what we could see there, where the facilities (as in toilet rooms) were, and pointed out the snack bar. I walked through the lodge, marveling at the architecture, and found a stairway that went to a platform overlooking the canyon. The scenery looking back toward the South Rim is spectacular. I had a breakfast burrito which was pricey but very good and filled up my water bottles. We got on the van for the short ride to the trail head of the North Kaibab Trail.

After a group photo, we put on the backpacks and headed down. The North Kaibab Trail is not used as much as the Bright Angel Trail so it is not as wide and has more rocks and other things that need to be considered when hiking. This portion of the trip was 13 miles long with a descent of 5,600 feet.

Our goal was the Phantom Ranch where we would have meals and overnight. We were treated to a vast variety of majestic views of rocks, trees and shrubs in full fall colors, vistas and valleys. As with any group, some were faster and some were slower which would describe our group of 10. At the beginning of the trip, the faster would hike ahead and wait at times for the slower.

We had a group lunch about 11:30 a.m. Corey had made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches the day before and we sampled his culinary skills during our break. He does make a “mean” sandwich! After our lunch, the groups began to separate more. The faster group did wait for the others at the Roaring Springs rest stop (elevation 5,040 feet) which is at the bottom of the steepest part of the trail. After that, the trail has less elevation change and so hiking speeds picked up. Corey cautioned us to make sure our water bladders and bottles were full as the water stations would be farther apart. We were in the heat of the day and hiking mostly in full sun so we used a lot of water. One of the travelers was affected by the heat and was urged to eat an apple to get some energy and overcome the heat. That was effective and after a short rest she looked and felt much better. If anyone else decides to do this hike, please be sure to heed the warning signs and be cognizant of the temperature and water stations availability. Corey had described what type of terrain we could expect and one of the areas that he came back to repeatedly was the rock canyon and the shear height of the walls. It was unbelievable and was a welcomed relief from the sun. We walked along the Roaring Spring Stream, witnessed a male and female deer eating, and marveled again at the variety of rock formations.

Arriving at Phantom Ranch…
I think that the first group (which included three ladies and myself) got to Phantom Ranch about 3:30 p.m., found where to check in and got to our cabin. The cabin very serviceable and had one room with three bunk beds and another room with two bunks with internal wash sink and separate toilet room. The ladies got the three-bunk room and us men the two-bunk room. Showers were in another building and the mess hall in a separate structure. Showers were great! The last of the group arrived at about 5 p.m. A few travelers in the group had trouble with heat exhaustion and one had stubbed her toe on a boulder, but Corey attended to them both. Nice to have someone along that knows about those things! Dinner consisted of a choice of beef or vegan stew along with salad and dessert. All very good considering everything needs to be transported by mules from the South Rim.

After dinner, several people hiked some more to the Colorado River and had beers that had been cooled in the river. Others of us took in a presentation by a park ranger on bird brains. Neat talk and we learned more on how intelligent birds can be. Some birds are being investigated for use in locating hikers needing rescue rather than having to send out helicopters.

The next morning…
On Thursday, Oct. 4 we were up in time to have breakfast at 5 a.m. in the mess hall. It was a great breakfast with everything anyone would want to eat. We were furnished a very ample sack lunch and started out for the South Rim shortly after 6 a.m. The trip today would be nine miles with 4,200 feet of elevation rise. Lots of water stations so no problem with needing a full bladder and water bottles. We were now on the Bright Angel Trail which is much improved from the North Kaibab Trail. We had short, fairly level hike to the Colorado River, crossed over on the Bright Angel Suspension Bridge and started the ascent to Indian Garden rest stop which is five miles from Phantom Ranch. It’s all uphill from here to South Rim folks!

The first of us got to Indian Gardens about 45 minutes before the last of the group. We waited for them and then started hiking the last 4.5 miles to the South Rim. Did I say it was all uphill from here?! We were very fortunate in that the temperature was ideal being in the 70s and the quickest of us were in the shade for almost the whole trip up from Indian Gardens. Lots of hikers were on this portion and even a mule train passed us. Again, the scenery is fantastic but as I have said, it’s all uphill! It was a neat trip though and I would recommend it.

That night, we had an (included) group meal at El Tovar Hotel and everyone celebrated the completion of the hike. Someone said that they had been told that of the five million yearly visitors to the Grand Canyon, only 1% do the hike and most only go to Phantom Ranch, overnight and then back up the next day. We are in a select group that did rim-to-rim. Several of us bought T-shirts that said that – Neat!

Our last day on Oct. 6 was on our own. I hiked east from the Bright Angel Trail Head for 2.5 hours on the Rim Trail to the Kaibab Trail Head and then caught the bus back to the lodge again. We had a group picture at 4 p.m. near the Bright Angel Trail Head and then had another excellent meal at the El Tovar hotel. Our waiter was originally from Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, so we felt like kindred spirits.

On Saturday, Oct. 7 we were again at the Maswik Lodge reception area at 4 a.m. for a van ride to Flagstaff airport and the flights back home.

Some thoughts of the experience…
UWSP Adventure Tours had everything very well organized and Corey is an experienced tour and hiking guide. He taught us all many things, made sure we knew what was happening and what to expect. Thanks Corey! This was a challenging hike which neither I nor most of us had done before. I have been blessed with good genes, am very healthy and do work out at the Y three days a week (plus a lot of bike riding), so I was ready for the challenge and found that I had very little difficulty with the hike other than my toes were sore. I have put on my bucket list for 2018 to hike rim-to-rim in one day. Anyone out there want to come with? Let’s do it.

So back to my bucket list for 2017:

  1. Do back to back-to-back Century rides on a bicycle: DONE – actually six consecutive Century rides on a Hab500 trip (Habitat for Humanity fund raiser) in Minnesota in July
  2. Bike at least 150 miles in one day on a bicycle: DONE – actually 176.7 miles over 13 hours from Dubuque, Iowas, to Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Aug. 26
  3. Hike in the Grand Canyon: DONE – see above
  4. Mountain bike and hike in Utah: Coming up in November

Written by Garth Larson (2017 Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim Traveler)

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