Joe's Random Ramblings

Over the last weekend I did my 3rd hike from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon to the North Rim and back to the South Rim.
They say the first time you don't know what it's like; if you do it a second time you are crazy.
What does doing it a 3rd time make me? I don't care, I still love it!

This certainly isn't for the faint of heart.
It is 46 miles, with over a mile in elevation change.
From the South Rim to the Colorado River it is 9 miles, from there up to the North Rim the North Kaibab Trail runs for 14 miles.
The elevation change from the South Rim to the Colorado is 1 mile. The elevation change to the North Rim is over 6000 feet.

The whole hike took me 4 1/2 days.
My itinerary and a couple of notes:
Day 1: Hike down Bright Angel trail to Bright Angel camp.
The unusual part: No water at the 1 1/2 and 3 mile resthouses. They say it's for winter only.
Day 2: Hike up the north side to Cottonwood.
Water there, and at Manzanita reststop (also at Roaring Springs, but didn't go there.)
Ribbon Fall was closed for a tribal ceremony, which was announced on flyers all over the place.
Day 3: Hike to the North Rim (YEAH!) and back to Cottonwood. 14 miles.
No water at Supai Tunnel for the winter, which is expected.
There was water at the North Kaibab Trailhead, but only a trickle came out of the faucet.
Day 4: Hike from Cottonwood to Indian Garden.
Had some rain on the hike. Reminder to pack a rain poncho.
When I got the permit, the rangers called this an "agressive intinerary", because it is 11.5 miles or so. Of course, they only see hikes between campgrounds, not if a hike is a round trip which ends up at the same campground, like my day 3...
Day 5: Hike out.
Still cloudy, but no rain. Nice hiking weather.