I want to hike the trail, down and up, in one day. Looking at late September. Anyone done this?
From the South Rim and back? It’s better (shorter) to go down the South Kaibab and then back up on the Bright Angel. I’ve done it a couple of times, it’s tough but doable if you are in shape. (and man does a filet mignon at the El Tovar taste good afterwards!)
It is highly not recommended, unless you are extremely (may I repeat, extremely) fit.
With stops for eating and re-hydrating, it’s about 5 hours each way. Can you hike for 10 hours? You might think the downhill half will be easier, but it ain’t.
You can re-fuel at Phantom Ranch at the bottom, if you think you can do it. The water is free, and the grub is reasonable.
Here’s an alternative thought: call up Phantom Ranch in the morning and see if they have any single beds open that night. The night I spent there, there was one guy who said he did that all the time. Then you can go down one day, and back up the next day.
Anyway, good luck and carry plenty of water, and then carry some more. In September it’s probably very hot and dry (we went in early May last year and it was dry but not very hot). Don’t be a statistic.
Roddy
I did the tour blondebear described in August 2009, although we camped for a night at Bright Angel camp ground. This meant heavier bags, but there is no way any of us could have done up and down in one day, especially since South Kaibab has almost no shade and absolutely no water. It is considerably shorter though, but has more difficult terrain.
The nice thing about Bright Angel is that, going up, you get water every 1.5 miles when you pass about half the way. Still, both hikes took us the better part of the day with our heavier bags.
I can also echo everyone who said that doing the round trip in one day is heavily discouraged for all but the most advanced hikers. I say make a nice experience out of it and do the two trails with a night either at Phantom or on the campground - nothing like it!
I had better post again to agree with the warnings by Roderick Femm and Pitchmeister. There’s a good reason that Rim-to-River-to-Rim dayhikes are discouraged. Even if you’re in excellent shape, heat exhaustion or worse can knock you down and put you in very serious trouble.
It’s not something to be taken lightly. Have you ever done something like this before? If you’ve never done a full dawn-to-dusk hike with this much elevation, and in the desert, this probably isn’t the hike to attempt. People get seriously messed up doing this if they overheat and dehydrate.
If you do decide to do so, start as early as is possible, carry a gallon of water when you leave the top and the bottom, and rest frequently. Having said that, I have friends who do a rim-to-rim-to-rim every couple of years, but they are seasoned ultramarathoners.
I hiked Bright Angel from north to south in May 2004. My advice: make sure your knees are up to the challenge. I had never had any joint problems. I hiked all the way down and then across to Ribbon Falls without a problem. After an hour of relaxing at the waterfall, I was unable to move my knee. The pain was intense (I feel like I’m going to barf even now as I type about it). Hopping across the canyon and up the South Rim on one leg is NOT a fun experience. Two years later I still had occasional sharp stabbing pains. I’ve heard that a nice walking stick for the descent would have saved my knee.
Also, cut your toenails short, as they’ll be bearing a lot of your weight on the descent. My wife lost several toenails on that hike.
Tim, if you are in San Diego, I’d suggest hiking up to Iron Mountain from the Ellie Lane trailhead–twice, back to back and see how you feel. You’ll do about 16.5 miles and get some decent elevation change (quite a few ups and downs). I did that a couple of times to train for my Canyon hike.
Hydration (as others mentioned) and some light weight high calorie snack foods are important. Trail mix, snickers, gatoraide powder for the water can all be good. Loosing too much salt from sweating can be a problem. When resting and it’s hot rest in shade when possible and dip head and clothing into a water for evaporitive cooling. It’s an amazing hike but be conditioned. Hiking poles, ibuprofin, and emergency blister treament can be helpful too. Make sure someone knows your itinerary so if you’re not back at a reasonable time rangers can be notified.
Do you mean “to the river and back” or “as far as is reasonable to do in one day”?
I was in fairly good shape 7 years ago and started from the North Rim at 4-AM finishing just before Noon going up the South Kaibab. Did it last year in not so good shape leaving at midnight and arrived at 8:45-AM. I was 64 and realize I should have left a couple-3 hours earlier.
If I get back in shape by mid-October (before they shut off the water on the North Kaibab), I’ll leave North Rim at 2-PM and attempt a round-trip. The departure time takes into account the time of day and whether I’m climbing or descending (i.e. The hottest time of the round-trip I intend to be descending since to do it in 19-hours I’ll need to be in the hot sun some of the time and may as well not make it during the hardest work). Pace yourself and consider the time of day for your departure.
Use hiking poles!!! You really want to unload your quads; they’ll be working overtime to protect your knees, and will fatigue something fierce, unless you’re in uberathlete shape. And once the quads fatigue, the knees will take a horrible beating. The poles will serve nicely to reduce the effort your quads must put forth, along with reducing impact on the knee joints.
Your ankles will thank you, too.
Don’t try to do it in a day, either.
Excellent advice (Iron Mtn via Ellie Lane) for training. I would also recommend Mt. Woodson from Poway Lake - not as long, but good for steepness and uphill grind. And don’t do these too early in the morning, or too late in the evening. Being in more of the heat of the day will give you a better sense of what the canyon will be like (still pretty toasty once you descend, even in late September).
If you’re planning on doing this hike in late September, you should already have been doing this type of training (or better start asap !)
As to the OP, as others have said, it is all about your conditioning. Down to the river and back in one day is certainly do-able but you do need to consider your condition for doing this.
What is the reason for going to the river ? Just to say you’ve gone “to the bottom” ? Or to see the canyon from “the bottom” ?
I offer a couple alternatives, slightly less taxing:
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(highly recommended) South Kaibab down to the Tonto plateau, west along the Tonto Trail to Indian Gardens. Then up Bright Angel to the south rim. You need to take a (free) shuttle to the Kaibab trailhead so you don’t have to worry about retrieving your car after the hike.
Very do-able as a day hike. Long, but you get a nice reprieve from the downhill when you cross the Tonto. And you see more of the canyon (from below) going down the one trail and then traversing to the other. -
Down Bright Angel to Indian Gardens. Then instead of continuing down to the river, take the hike to Plateau Point for great views of the river. Then back to Indian Gardens, and up the way you came. This is a pretty popular option, and saves you the elevation change going all the way down to the river.
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(hybrid) Down South Kaibab to the Tonto plateau. West along the Tonto trail to Indian Gardens. Then out to Plateau Point and back (1.5 miles each way). Then up Bright Angel back to the south rim.
Effortwise, may be equivalent to going down to the river. But you would see a LOT more of the canyon and get the great views up and down the river (from PP).
Feel free to PM me if you have other questions.
I did a two-day hike across the Canyon, with an overnight at Phantom Ranch, a couple years ago. That was in mid-September. I was exhausted and overheated by the end of the first day. There’s no way I would have made it down and back in one.
Lots of good advice so far. Don’t shrug this off as a bunch of worry-warts; take it seriously and be as prepared as you can.
My wife and I spent part of our honeymoon trip at the Canyon. We went down to the river and back on the Kaibab trail in one day. I was in very good shape at the time, lots of sports and motorcycle racing, but definitely not prepared for that hike.
There’s a reason all the signs say don’t do it. Bright Angel might be easier, relatively speaking, but I wouldn’t really recommend either in one day. Take an extra day and stay at Phantom Ranch if you can. My right knee was about blown out by the time we got to the river, and the hike back up took about 6 hours. Knee surgery shortly afterward.
-JR
I’ve done it. South rim to the river and back up in one day.
Carry an extra gallon of water on the way down and cache it just below the esplanade. On the way back up you’ll need it. You will lose (and then need to retake) about 4500 feet of elevation. The trail is generally exposed and shade is sparse but the esplanade is especially brutal and shade is almost nonexistent there. Start early and take lots of rest breaks. Take cash too because the mule train will not bail you out without it.
Lots of luck.