I did it with my dad in 1972 when I was 9 years old. We camped only one night with not so much as a blanket. We finished off our food for breakfast and had nothing but water until we reached the other side.
Thanks for the correction re: N rim water.
As a wise man once said, that hurts just lookin’ at.
You’ve reminded me of a friend who disregarded my advice about the descent. He felt so good at the start that he ran part of the way down the S Kaibab. By the time he was climbing the N Kaibab his knees were swollen and it took him forever to finish. In no shape to hike back 2 days later, he booked a seat in the van.
My wife and I went to the Grand Canyon in April and we barely made it to the 1.5 mile marker and back on the Bright Angel trail. I’m getting tired just thinking about going any further!
I did rim-to-rim with my wife and a couple friends back in May 2004. The friends planned the trip and got the camping permits.
We dropped off a vehicle at the South Rim, and then drove back to the North Rim. Hiked all the way down and halfway across the first day, then hiked halfway up the second day and finished on the third.
We carried MREs, a tiny stove, a kiddie tent (it was cheaper and lighter than a backpacking tent), and some foam pads.
@Capn_Carl says “the descent is hard on the joints.” This is godsdamn important. The descent is hard on the joints. We walked down, stomp-stomp-stomp-stomp, for hours, then walked across to splash around at Ribbon Falls and wait for our friends to catch up. As I was climbing up out of the water, I had a stabbing pain in my knee. The rest of the day I screamed, cried, and limped my way to the campground. 20 years later I can’t even type about it without my eyes full of tears. It felt much better in the morning, but the pain came back throughout the day on day 2 and day 3.
My knee feels fine now for a few years at a time, but occasionally the injury flares up again and I won’t be able to touch it or walk down stairs for a year or so.
Those hiking sticks that look like ski poles are essential. My friend had recommended them, but I was too cheap. Get the poles, go slow, and do not stomp your way down.
Also cut your toenails short. My wife lost all of hers, and I lost a few, because they’d pluck against the inside of the boots with every step.
So far I’m leaning to a package service that provides the tents, backpacks, food, campsites arrangements, so on. Unless my most hiking knowledgeable kid volunteers to take a co-organizing lead.
All four adult kids have said they’d be interested. 
I am impressed at how much knowledge and experience about this there is here! And appreciative!
There’s a well reviewed company that provides a complete package, taking care of providing the permits, a guide, the tents, sleeping bags, backpacks, food, virtually everything, spreading the hike over four days (which I feel my least fitness focused adult child could handle, and that gives time to enjoy) … for about $2000 per.
Is that a complete ripoff?
You know the answer to that. If you have the $ to spend and it would be worth the value to you, that is the only answer you need.
It is hard to compare it to any other options, because you’d need to figure in costs to buy/rent and transport gear/food, and your time. Only direct comparisons would be other similar services.
Do they haul the gear between sites and set it up/break it down for you?
Viewed one way, 10k isn't cheap. Viewed another, if you have the and don’t need it earmarked for something else, it will be something you and your kids will remember for the rest of your lives.
My wife and I recently began booking full-service tours. They cost a premium, but trip planning - and managing details during the trip - are not things we greatly enjoy. And we have the $ to spend.
Plus your tip for the guide.
It is what it us, you won’t find much for less than that. I would prefer a self-guided option if going that route, but it doesn’t seem like it’s a common offering.
Only you can say if it’s worth it to you, but I think it’s an amazing trip that everyone capable and interested in should do.
Update.
Doing the trip. The dates came in more to end of June than early and two of the four kids, the older two, decided the predicted 110 at the base end of June would make it not fun and backed out. So it’s my two youngest and me in about two months.
Now questions!
Packing list from the service is adamant on cotton t shirts. Short and or long sleeve. Logic being that retaining the moisture helps cool the body down in the heat. They are the professionals but dang. I am usually so much more comfortable in my dry wick tees when it is crazy hot. Thoughts?
Their training guide is unrealistic. They suggest working up to four hikes a week with one 7 hours long. Wearing a pack of the expected weight (likely 35 pounds). That’s a big time commitment.
Wish us luck!
I didnt read every reply, but dont underestimate the hike back up. Repeat, dont underestimate the hike back up. I speak from experience and was in very good shape at the time. It’s easy enough down to the river.
Try to get some altitude pre-hiking in as well. Stay hydrated
Cotton and linen is often recommended in desert environments because of the ‘breathability’ and because it will retain sweat for evaporation. However, my experience in the Grand Canyon (in November or December) was that the air was generally still at the bottom (you get plenty of wind on the way up and down); not sure about the summertime humidity. At summer temps perspiration should evaporate pretty quickly assuming you are not at 80%+ relative humidity. I would wear non-cotton baselayers and ‘breathable’ hiking pants (not jeans), and be prepared to take it easy at that temperature.
The Rim-2-Rim hike is no joke; not sure if you are planning to do this in one day but the downhill is steep and the uphill is somehow steeper. You will need to carry all of the water necessary to get to Phantom Ranch, and then from there all the water you need to hike out; in summer count on 1 liter for every 5 km/3 mi plus electrolytes. I would keep the pack as light as possible; I carried about 30 lbm down to Phantom from the South Rim on the Kaibab Trail and then back up on Bright Angel, which wasn’t terrible but again I was doing this in Winter.
If you are already in good shape and an experienced hiker four hikes a week is probably overkill but I’d definitely make sure you are good doing a several hour hike up and down elevation. Rather than spend the time training by doing hikes or plodding along on a treadmill or elliptical trainer, you are probably better off doing some strength conditioning like kettlebell swings or sandbag training, plus some moderate impact (box jumps, jump rope), and flexibility and bodyweight (yoga, Pilates, primal movement, whatever you fancy). You can do that in 30-45 minutes a day and get a much better investment in both general fitness and preparation to deal with any obstacles or challenges on the trail.
Honestly, I’d be somewhat concerned about those 110 ℉ predicted temperatures; there will be no escaping them, even at night (if you are doing a two-day trip) so make you you are really comfortable with heat. I’ve done desert treks in early/late summer but there you could get some relief by bringing shade and starting before daybreak while it is pleasantly cool and planning to stop around noon before you really get baked; that probably won’t be an option for you in the canyon because the heat just never ends.
Stranger
Yeah a very different experience than in late June.
This is a four day organized trip with a guide. Not one day. Our toughest day is apparently the third because of some work being done -
Due to extended closures of Silver Bridge and River Trail, Day 3 of this trip will be modified. The group will need to hike Up South Kaibab Trail and over on the Tonto Trail to get to Havasupai Gardens - making the mileage for the day ~7 miles and ~1500 of elevation gain.
The stress is more heat related than anything else. Low humidity.
That’s my general baseline. For this specific event I am also slow jogging with. 50 pound pack to a local six story parking structure a mile and a half away and going up and down the stairs six or seven times then back home, (takes about an hour ten to fifteen), and doing my six to seven mile runs including hills and those same stairs. My daughter I am a little concerned about as she is getting some mild patellar tendinitis as she does more stairs. But she dusted me in a marathon a year ago so I think she’ll be ready. She also does strength and Pilates. The other kid regularly hikes.
Thanks.
Sorry, I missed your 24 June post. That sounds doable as long as you can tolerate the heat. Honestly, the $2k per person isn’t bad if they are hauling all of the gear and food for you. Frankly, that time of year you don’t even need a sleeping bag, just a pad and a net-bivvy but carrying four days worth of food down is a big plus and guides presumably are experienced with the conditions at this time of year and prepared to deal with anything that comes up.
I haven’t done the Tonto trail but I can’t imagine it is much worse than the switchbacks going up from the River Trail (although perhaps not as pleasant along the river).
I’m guessing this will make you better conditioned than ~95% of the people doing this hike. Rucking a 50 pound pack for three miles at a fast march/“slow jog” and going up and down stairs will certainly get you prepared for all of the up and down. If you already have a baseline of strength conditioning and mobility training then you’re probably well set already.
Stranger
Not. We each take our share. But that still comes to only 25 to 35 pound packs. But it comes with them doing all the planning and thinking. No worries that I am doing something dumb out of not knowing. Especially with two of my adult kids along.
We did 1 day down, one day at the bottom, and 1 day back up. I’m pretty sure back then I was wearing cotton no-sleeve tees, but I bought a lightweight, SPF, long-sleeved shirt from REI that I wore over them. Good socks and boots. Hat with a big brim.
At the time I biked 20-35 miles 3+ times a week. Didn’t need any special practice hiking with weight. Carried a backpack with a couple of bladders of water and my wife wore a camel. The hike up had water available, so not a big deal. Had our gear hauled down and up on mules. Neither down nor up was all that tough - just long. My wife’s BP tends to hike with exertion, so she needed to take more frequent breaks on the way up.
My biggest mistake was when we got to the bottom. I thought we were done, so we didn’t wet down and fill our bladders at the river. From there it was a further hike than we expected - in 110+ heat. remember that last mile as the toughest part down or up.
IIRC, you are pretty fit. I think the 4 weekly hikes of up to 7 hrs is for folk who are totally out of shape. I don’t think you can really find hills - or stairs - around Chicago to prepare you.
In genera’ the Parks Service recommends not drinking from untreated water sources in the Park as there are often high bacteria counts and many of the spring sources have a lot of total dissolved solids (TDS):
https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/nature/waterquality.htm
Treating water from the Colorado with filtration or iodine tablets is probably okay bit it is less than a mile to Phantom Ranch and it is a pretty easy walk.
Stranger
I assume first night at Cottonwood, second at Phantom Ranch / Bright Angel campground?
That stretch of the Tonto Trail between South Kaibab and Havasupai Gardens is pretty pleasant - you’ll stay mostly at the same elevation. There may be some water on the way from a spring or two (be sure to filter) but once you get out of the inner canyon, the really rough elevation gain is over.
It will be pretty hot towards the end of the hike, but you can take frequent breaks and even hole up in shade during the worst of it, if you feel the need. But if you start around five in the morning, you’ll likely roll into HG well before noon and have the rest of the day to rehydrate and rest up for the next day’s hike up Bright Angel trail.
If you still have some energy and the weather isn’t too oppressive, a quick packless jaunt out to Plateau Point from HG is a nice way to get a good view of the beauty of the canyon. Just leave yourself enough in the tank for a 3000-foot vertical gain the next day over 4.5 miles, though you may have water available at the rest houses on Bright Angel trail and, again, starting early will be your friend in the June heat.
Sorry for not writing more:
“filling our bladders AT THE WATER STATION at the river”.
As I recall, right after the bridge there was a water station. I believe at the boat beach. We did not avail ourselves of it, because we thought the ranch was right there. At that point in our day, less than a mile was not a pretty easy walk.