Grand Canyon Top to Bottom to Top

Grand Canyon- Top to Bottom & Back Up Again

The National Park does not recommend hiking to the Colorado River and back up to the top of the Grand Canyon in one day.  The elevation change is 4800 ft from the South Kaibob Trail to the foot of the Colorado River.  That said, when you have your heart set on going to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, and you can’t get a permit to stay the night, sometimes recommendation are just that, someone else’s opinion.

 My plan was to start from South Kaibob at 5 am, and get down to the river, and a third of the way up the Bright Angel Trail at Indian Garden before midday, so that I could get exposed, non-shaded hiking done during the cooler hours. Plans are kind of like recommendations, sometimes you just got to throw them out the window.  I missed my alarm, got lost on way to trail head and didn’t start my descent until 7:30 am.  Paranoid by rangers insistence that I be a good way up the canyon by midday,  I decided to do a slight jog down the canyon.  Don’t cringe; the trail is quite wide on the South Kaibob side (its where they bring up visitors on mules).  So as I jogged down the canyon, the light was magnificent in the mid morning.  I stopped to take pictures as this trip would probably be my only opportunity to relish the inner canyon.  I was feeling pretty strong, and it's easy to feel like a running god when you are doing approximately a mile of descending.  However, at the bottom of my trail, a hunk of a man, was beginning his shirtless run up the trail.  Life has a way of grounding us in reality when our head gets too big. 

Nonetheless, I made it to the canyon bottom in 1.5 hours.

I have never loved the Colorado River as much as I did on this day.  Blue and green clear water, gentle rapids with the world’s largest canyon as its back drop, made this view truly spectacular.  I got a little lost at the river, so  I couldn’t linger too long as I wasn’t sure how challenging the ascent up Bright Angel Trail would be.  I hauled up the canyon like a mountain goat, and I made it the Indian Garden at 11:30.  After refilling water, I began the challenging ascent up the remainder of Bright Angel, 3000 ft of vertical gain left.  The views from this trail were night and day to the South Kaibob Trail.  The Kaibob Trail had sweeping views, large, open panoramas.  This side of the canyon had tight, rocky views interspersed with spectacularly green vegetation.  I made it from bottom to top in 3.5 hours, which I am pretty sure is hella fast.  Nonetheless, I would strongly recommend doing this trip as a two day venture.  I was exhausted and had to do a fair amount of hiking in the midday heat.  It is definitely manageable as a one day hike, but if you are not living at 8500 ft, it may be more enjoyable as a two day hike.

I would say if you are in decent shape this hike is a must when visiting the Grand Canyon, and I would suggest doing it in the same order I did, down South Kaibab and up Bright Angel.  Old folks and kiddos were doing the hike all the way to the bottom.  If you are really apprehensive about your physical limitations, consider at least hiking down the canyon a mile or two to get a one of a kind glimpse of the inner canyon.