In 2023, I decided that I wanted to hike the Grand Canyon from rim to rim. I have visited the Grand Canyon a few times in my life including short hikes from the South Rim and to Coconino Overlook from the North Rim with Wendy, Tyler, and Jeffrey. Since looking over the canyon from the rims I’ve had a growing desire to hike across it. I knew I would need support, and I invited my family to participate. Tyler, Ashley, and Caz were on board and when Megan heard about it she wanted to join us as well.
I knew that I would need to overnight along the way. It was nearly impossible to get a room at the Phantom Ranch, and so I decided to try to get a backcountry permit in order to camp overnight at the Bright Angel Campground. This required that we participate in a lottery system. Each of us entered the lottery, but only Megan was able to reserve a spot. When her time arrived to login in and capture a spot we were able to reserve a campsite for six people on Wednesday, June 12, 2024. It was the earliest date we could find, and I was hoping that it would still avoid the extremely hot days of summer.
I started planning our trip around that date. I reserved cabins at the Kaibab Resort about 30 miles from the North Rim for Tuesday, June 11th. Then I reserved a shuttle from the North Rim to the Kaibab Resort for 9:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 11th. Next, I reserved a shuttle from the Kaibab Resort to the South Rim at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, I made dining reservations for the Grand Canyon Lodge Dining Room at the North Rim for Tuesday, June 11th, at 6:30 p.m.
My plan was to park our vehicle at the North Rim Kaibab Trailhead on Tuesday night, eat dinner at the lodge, take the shuttle back to our cabins at the Kaibab Resort and spend the night. On Wednesday morning we would take the shuttle to the South Rim which would take about five hours, and then hike from the South Rim to Bright Angel Campground. We would camp overnight on Wednesday night, and then leave in the early morning hours to hike from Bright Angel Campground to the North Rim Kaibab Trailhead where our car would be waiting for us. Then we could simply drive home. I thought it was a good plan.
I started using the elliptical machine to strengthen my legs, and the others started exercising as well. I started gathering my gear into my backpack and planning for food, snacks, and water. As the weeks went by my enthusiasm for exercising waned, and I thought that I would be able to complete the hike without too much more conditioning. Megan was not able to find child care and decided it would be best to cancel. She transferred the backcountry permit to my name, and it was now just the four of us. I extended invitations to others, but I realized that it is difficult to find people who could take time off at short notice to complete a challenging hike.
The week before we were scheduled to go we received bad news. A heat wave was moving through Arizona, and the National Park Service was warning hikers to not go below 4,000 feet before 4:00 p.m. The floor of the canyon was reaching temperatures above 110 degrees during the day. I was disappointed to see such high temperatures, and my anxiety about the trip increased a bit.
On Monday, June 10th, I finished packing. I filled my Camelback and water bottles to see how heavy my backpack was, and I realized that it was pretty heavy. I would discover that the others had managed to pack more efficiently. I rented a minivan for us to drive, and it worked out well for us and for our backpacks. I was nervous and excited when I tried to go to sleep.
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