Kimberly O'Connor

In early May, my husband and I did something the National Park officially warns visitors to the Grand Canyon not to do: hiked from the rim to the river and back in one day.

waiting for the shuttle bus

It all started in early March, when on another, local, hike, we daydreamed aloud about spring trips. We wanted to go somewhere we could drive, and ideally, somewhere new. I’d never been to the Grand Canyon, and the drive was about 12 hours. Planning commenced.

We first thought we’d try to get a spot at the river, where you can camp at Phantom Ranch or at a campsite, but Phantom Ranch spots are awarded in a lottery process over a year in advance, and the camp spots require advance planing on site at the park. Dean suggested we hike down and back in one day, which is a hike of 14-17 miles, depending on the route, with almost 5000 feet of elevation change.

Now, my husband is part mountain goat. I had no doubt that he could do the hike. But I am not part mountain goat. However, I have done some challenging hikes in the past, like Colorado’s Mt. Ouray, and we regularly hike on weekends with our dog Milo. We decided that we’d start upping our hiking game on the weekends to train, and also that when we got to the Grand Canyon, we’d turn around at any point if the hike didn’t feel right.

For about 2 months, we hiked at least 6 miles every Saturday, trying to find hikes with high elevation gains. Two Saturdays before we left, it snowed, and then it snowed again the next Saturday. So the week before we left, I hiked Bear Peak in Boulder with Milo, so I’d have at least one longer hike in (about 9 miles, with about 3000 feet of elevation change).

Now, about that warning from the National Park not to do this hike in a day– there are signs all over telling visitors that hiking down to the river from the rim and back in one day is not a day hike. This is serious, because if you tried to do this hike in hot weather, you could die. And in the winter months, there could be snow or ice on the trail, making the decent dangerous.

We planned our hike for early May, hoping that the weather wouldn’t be too hot. It actually snowed the night before our hike and was in the 40s when we set off at 7 AM. We had spikes in our backpacks in case there was ice on the trail–there wasn’t, though it was pretty muddy in places from the snow melting. (The temperature at the river at noon was around 80.) We trained for our hike, took the recommended amount of food and water, and researched the hike a lot before we did it. There were around 10-15 other people doing the same hike as us on the day we did it, mostly people younger than us but several people who looked to be in their 70s or older–and these are just people we saw who started around the time we did and stayed at around our pace. So, this hike is doable, but only if you’ve trained, researched the hike, have plenty of water and food, know that the weather is safe–and you’re okay walking for 8-12 hours (maybe more).

After catching the shuttle bus to Kaibab trailhead, we began our descent at 6:58 AM and started hiking down. For some reason, I didn’t think I needed to bring gloves, and my hands were COLD for the first mile or so, and it was windy. The Kaibab trail descends to the river in 6.9 miles, so it’s steep. It’s also breathtakingly beautiful. With every turn, there’s a new view.

About halfway down the Kaibab, you see a sign that says “Rim: 3.5 miles. River: 3.8 miles.” We reached this sign at about 10 AM, after hiking down for three hours. In some ways, I think hiking down is harder than going up. It hurts my knees and legs in a way that feels more intolerable than the burn of going up. This halfway down point was probably my low point of the hike. I knew that if I was going to turn around, this was my moment. It was hot and sunny, and the reality of hiking ALL DAY was setting in. But I resolved to keep going.

almost halfway down

A couple of hours later, we saw a black bridge stretching over the river below us. Now, I had read a lot of blog posts about this hike. And not a single one told me that I’d have to cross a narrow, long bridge over the Colorado River. I have a fear of heights. (Yes, I see the irony.)

So, if you’re reading this in preparation for this hike: there’s a bridge.

I gathered my courage and crossed.

It wasn’t that bad.

It was really neat to be down at the river. We walked to Phantom Ranch and bought some lemonade. One side note: the walk to Phantom Ranch adds maybe a mile to this hike, so you could skip it if you wanted. There are outhouses and water close to the river, more along the trail. I decided if I’d come this far, I wanted to see Phantom Ranch and get the lemonade I’d read about. (You can also buy snacks, hiking and first aid items, and beer there.)

After resting at Phantom Ranch and eating our lunch, we refilled our water and found Bright Angel trail, which we’d decided to take back up. It’s a longer trail, about 9 miles, but the elevation gain is stretched out over a few more miles, and after coming down the sunny, relentless Kaibab, I knew my mental state would not be good if I went back that way, passing each landmark I’d seen on the way down. I preferred the unknown of the Bright Angel. (Note: there’s another bridge.)

And the Bright Angel was lovely. It follows the river for a bit, actually going up and back down a few times along the way. Then it turns and meanders though some lush areas–at least, they were lush in May. There is some shade here and there, too.

We stopped for another break at about 4.5 miles back up. It was a refreshing break, but soon after, things got harder. The trail got steeper, and I was getting a blister on one of my toes. My body generally ached. It was fun, though, to leapfrog with our peers, who we’d pass when they’d stop to rest, then they’d pass us when we stopped. We shared guesses of how long we had left and encourage each other.

Around 3 PM, we passed a sign. As I approached the sign, I told Dean if it told us we were less than 2 miles to done, not to tell me. He read the sign and said, “Don’t read it.”

We were 3 miles from the top, at the “Three Mile Resthouse.” We walked a bit more, and then, some mules in front of us stopped. There are mules along the trail–they take supplies, and sometimes people, to Phantom Ranch. These mules were hungry and having a snack. There was a whole traffic jam of hikers hanging out behind them, waiting.

This was my second low point. It was hot and sunny, and I was tired. Mules smell truly horrible. I was imagining how long it would take to climb three more miles. Finally, the mules were ready to go. We followed them, smelling their gross scent.

Then the head rider of the mules stopped to let the hikers pass. I was the last of the bunch in the hikers. It took about 3 minutes for the mules to catch up with me. At that point, it was too narrow for them to pass me back, so I was hiking as fast as I could, trying to keep ahead of the mules. At this point, I had to laugh at the whole situation. Finally, I could step aside and this time, we let the mules get far ahead.

After that, it was one foot in front of the other, up, up, up. It never got so terribly steep that I lost my breath entirely, but it was a steady slog: 2 miles, 1.5 miles, 1 mile. As we rose, we saw more and more people, park visitors who had ventured partway down the trail. Finally one of our trail buddies told us we had 0.3 miles left. I demanded that Dean tell me how many city blocks 0.3 miles was, and I imagined myself strolling the flat, shady streets of our old neighborhood in Denver as I climbed.

almost there (also, look at this cool plant)

When we were almost up, a man paused to ask me how far I’d gone. I think I looked pretty tired.

“To the river,” I said.

“Oh! How long did that take?” he asked.

“We started at 7,” I said. It was almost 5 PM.

“Wow.” he said, though he looked equally skeptical as he did impressed.

And then, at 5:08 PM, we got to the top.

We caught a shuttle bus, planning to go back to the car and get a hotel for the night (we were going to camp, but the rim was still cold and super windy). But when the shuttle bus driver announced that we were approaching a Pizza Pub in Grand Canyon Village, we got off the bus.

In conclusion, I did it. It was 17 miles, and it took 10 hours. I am, I will proclaim, quite impressed with myself. I am proud of the training I did, and of both the physical and mental strength I mustered to not only complete but also truly enjoy the hike.

If you’re here reading this after googling “hiking the Grand Canyon down and back in one day” and wondering if you can do this hike, I hope this post helps you decide! If you do it, it will be a great adventure. One final reminder, though, NOT to do the hike in hot weather, and if you have not intentionally planned and trained to do it.

Thanks for sharing in my adventure!