Grand Canyon- South Rim

In April of 2024 we took a two week trip through Arizona and Utah to visit the national parks in the area. The only park on the list I had been to before was the Grand Canyon, but that would have been 20 years ago (ouch that hurts to type out loud) on a high school extra credit class trip called the “Great Western Experience”. Eric had never been and neither of us had gone to any of the other parks we hit along the way so we were very excited to see what we would find.

As any good “dirt bag car camper” (can we trademark this phrase please?) would do after flying halfway across the continent with only a carry-on, we stopped to get supplies and stay the night at a hipcamp. If you are wondering what the heck hipcamp is you can find a link on our resources page and check it out, it is basically AirBnB but for camping.

While flying with only carry-on luggage is far more convenient than having your bags end up damaged or in a different city, it does mean no tent stakes or camp fuel allowed. Also, we definitely aren’t getting a full sized chair (we have since added some affordable ultralight camp chairs to our gear list that will actually fit in our carry-on packs), or cooler in there so first stop has to be a quick supply run. After landing and getting our rental car in Phoenix we located a Big 5 sporting goods store in Flagstaff where we grabbed a couple camp chairs (may not have been needed since most campsites had picnic tables), a small cooler, fuel for the backpacking stove and tent stakes all for less than the price of checking one bag at the airport, now that’s using your noodle. We later donated the camp chairs and cooler to a local camping resale store before leaving town and handed off our remaining fuel reserves to fellow campers we met along the way. Conveniently, there was a Sprouts Farmers Market right next to the sporting goods store where belly filling supplies were procured and then we headed to our camp for the night. Little side note, the Sprouts organic instant coffee has been the best we have found so far and it appears that it’s a local store brand that can’t be found elsewhere.

On our way to the Grand Canyon we decided to break up the drive with a quick stop near Williams Arizona for a “warm-up hike” (spoiler: it was cold as s***). After a frosty wake up and our standard camp breakfast of the oatmeal-fruit-coffee variety, we headed into Williams Arizona, the “Gateway to the Grand Canyon”. Williams main drag is a section of the historic Route 66 complete with classic cars, service stations, and diners with waitresses you wish were named Flo serving fantastic pie and coffee. We stopped into the visitor’s center and were directed to a hike on the south side of Bill Williams Mountain where supposedly the snow had all melted off by now…it had not, but we persevered and tried not to hold it against volunteer Bob at the visitor center. The route we landed on was the Benham trail #38 which was about an eight mile round trip hike and boasted an old fire lookout tower that sits at 9,256’.

The wind was absolutely beastly at the top and we had to capture at least a moment of the chaos in a video, I was clutching on to my phone with all the power I could muster. The wind literally almost blew the glasses off our faces, fun times! Beginning in the ponderosa pine forest of the Kaibab Plateau and with vistas of distant snow tipped peaks, this particular hike was more reminiscent of Rocky Mountain National Park than the desert landscapes we would soon be seeing on this trip. As we ventured on to the Grand Canyon and later through Utah the landscape changed, seemingly by the minute, from forest to desert to immense rock formations and multitudes of color pallets each one unique in its own way. Just when we thought there couldn’t be another kind of rock, a different canyon, or a new color, there was.

After the day in Williams it was time to move on to the Grand Canyon. It is aptly named, that is for sure. It is impossible to express in either words or photographs the magnitude, beauty and well, grandeur, of this other worldly place. We snapped this picture right from the Rim Trail upon arrival, it was our very first look at the canyon and little did we know how this whopper of a wonder would set the tone for the whole trip. We purchased an America the Beautiful pass before taking this trip which grants access to all national parks and monuments and is really a big savings if you are going to multiple parks in one year. It is worth noting that you should allow three weeks to get the pass as it is mailed to you after purchase online, so you need to grab that puppy in the early planning stages of your trip. We also booked a site in advance at a campground within the park using the recreation app for the national parks which can also be found on our resources page here. I was amazed that here on the Rim Trail, mere yards from the parking lot, there were no guardrails basically anywhere. We walked right over and let our feet dangle over the edge whenever the urge arose. Pure magic.

That urge arose a lot in our case. On the off chance these photos make you wonder how many people a year die in the Grand Canyon, I can tell you from a quick online search it looks like 12-15 a year, but only two to three of those are a result of falling from the rim. It seems that although contrary to some of the scenes we witnessed while visiting, like a toddler running full speed toward the edge with a haggard parent trailing behind them, that the human race does still have at least some instinct of self preservation (less those two or three a year I suppose). These really are not bad odds considering over 4.7 million people visited the park in 2023 alone.

Eric is definitely a bit of a mountain goat and can’t be kept from getting as close to the edge of an abyss as possible, but his sense of adventure comes with a healthy dose of street smarts (cliff smarts? Rock smarts? Just dumb luck? I dunno, he didn’t die.) In any case, he would never actually risk life nor limb as he and I put ourselves in some of the more complicated outdoor exploration scenarios. There is always careful consideration of the surroundings that takes place, a look for foot/handholds, loose rocks/surfaces, bail outs and of course a scan for any “nope” critters or plants that could hurt us. The last thing we would want is an injury or worse putting a damper on our adventure! It really is very important to be aware at all times when exploring our beautiful world, even when in a seemingly “safe” place like a national park, accidents can happen anywhere. It is nobody’s responsibility but your own to look after yourself, so please do.

After snapping a few pics and wandering the rim trail completely slack jawed the entire time, we set up camp and went about fixing a bit of dinner before heading to catch sunset where we were joined by a few rather large and unbothered residents of the park’s elk population. Although mid April was expected to reach no less than 40 degrees, we did experience temps dipping down into the 30’s at night so please excuse my bulging appearance as I wore every piece of clothing I had with me all day and all night for the duration of our stay, complete with some fleece gloves purchased from the Canyon Village Market!

Aside from it being a bit nippier than anticipated, the easily accessible park maps, shuttle service, store and information were all spectacular. We took the shuttle to watch sunset at Hopi point.The shuttle busses run every 15 minutes and have a number of stops that are easy to find by picking up a map upon entering the park. From Hopi point we could see our first glimpse of the Colorado river which you can see here about dead center of the photo.

We huddled together on the windy rim watching the sun go down over a national icon and I couldn’t help but think, “how can this get any better?” (If someone could turn up the heat i suppose, but that’s April on the rim) After returning to our rental car and then camp via the shuttle we proceeded to get half a nights sleep in a frosty tent. I was a bit too chilled by 4am so got in the car to try and warm up a bit. Eric came with and we drove around the sleeping park, heat on full blast with our down quilts over our laps gazing at the stars and appreciating the quiet roads. We ended up in the main parking lot near the entrance and visitor center which was pleasantly empty and decided to have breakfast at one of the picnic tables there. One upside to waking up at 4am is that we were at the rim in plenty of time to catch sunrise. Boy were we glad to have been chased out of the tent by cold.

This is my favorite picture from the Grand Canyon portion of this trip and we wouldn’t have been able to get this shot if we had slept in at the campsite. Yikes, am I actually saying thank you universe for freezing me out of the tent? yes, yes I am. It was so incredible that only a few hours separated our first shots of the canyon and the next morning’s. It looked like an entirely different place than the day before. I sat on a rock, on the edge of the canyon letting the rising sun warm my face while Eric mountain-goated around a bit, both of us greeting the new day in our own way.

With temperatures threatening low 30’s again for the coming night we decided to forego a second night in the park and leave a day earlier than anticipated in hopes of finding a warmer climate. This meant we needed to take our Grand Canyon hike first thing today. We loaded up our day packs with snacks and water (from the potable water source in the campground) and selected a manageable day hike that required no passes or permits in advance, the South Kaibab trail. Typically the National Parks Service provides information regarding what trails are open during the season in which you are visiting as well as all trail stats, any closure or construction alerts and pass requirements. A lot of the back country trails aka overnight backpacking require permits that need to be obtained well in advance. We knew we were only there a short time so we just hiked open trails that required no permits.

We took the “long way” to the trailhead walking along the rest of the rim trail that we hadn’t already traversed the previous day. You may notice the loss of layers in our attire as we started to descend into the canyon. The temperature can RISE by as much as 20-25 degrees as you DESCEND into the canyon. I know, I know, “but how can this be? Heat rises right?” I won’t bore you with a whole long science lesson as to why and how this happens right now, you lucked out. Just be prepared and know that while it may be freezing on the rim, you will still need to manage your water and layers as you enter the canyon. It is posted everywhere that only you can protect yourself and look out for your own wellbeing, this is not the park’s responsibility. So although it may seem backwards, trust us, it gets hotter as you go down into the canyon.

As far as gear goes on a day hike like this, we took our day packs which I would highly recommend. Here is a link for the packs we have. These are a very affordable option that include a reflective insulated main compartment with a 2L water bladder and plenty of space for everything we need. We normally take snacks like protein bars and pretzels, jerky, first aid, water, sunscreen, our layers we shed along the way, chapstick, maps and our phones. These packs are also water resistant and have held up very well on our journeys so far. Only disclaimer is that the lap or hip belt pockets prove slightly difficult when trying to get a phone out of them due to where the straps connect, but I hike with my phone in my pants pocket usually for super quick access for photos anyways so not a fatal flaw just something to note. We hiked to the hilariously named “ooh aah” point and then continued on to Cedar Ridge.

This was a fairly populated hike, lots of people going just to “ooh aah” slightly less to Cedar Ridge and there were a few runners, yes you read that right people literally running downhill into the Grand Canyon at frightening speeds on some of the more narrow switch backs. I have a habit of dragging my feet when I walk which sometimes results in a stumble or toe stubber accompanied by some expletives. Eric is always instinctively putting an arm out (like a Mom arm bar seatbelt in the car) to try to stop me from falling face first into everything. Eric may have “mom armed” a random runner due to this endearing habit he acquired to help keep me safe. The runner sounded like a falling Jo when they were coming in hot without warning on the way down and I looked up to see Eric’s arm shoot out to try to catch me and smack right into the runners lower abdomen. The look on Eric’s face as he realized he just basically gut punched a stranger was very amusing. I can report the runner seemed mostly unfazed and continued on with his bad self.

When we got to Cedar Ridge a team of pack mules showed up as we were having a sit and a snack. No riders atop, just equipment and one guide, likely to supply some guided tour further on down the canyon. We definitely overheard some amusing anecdotes from guided tours on this hike. One of my favorites being a middle aged woman with two walking poles in hand and a very sweaty brow who honest to Pete said to her guide with a hopeful chuckle “I heard there was an elevator but haven’t seen it, how would that even work here, hehe?”. You could see the guides face pale even in the shade of his sun hat, his shoulders slumped a little when as he realized this was going to be a long day of hiking back up with this particularly oblivious ward. Speaking of the hike, the way down was fairly easy going, just needed to be mindful of your feet and loose rocks. The way back out of course took a bit more effort because what goes down must come back up and can confirm, no elevator available.

We stopped to have some water, shed a few layers and bandage a little blister that I noticed was just starting to form. Luckily we had our first aid kit and I was able to get some moleskin on it right away. No matter what footwear you prefer, blisters can happen. I personally like to hike in my Altra trail runners (no I am not sponsored by Altra but if they see this and want to throw some love my way, I am right here friends). Altras are a zero drop type of shoe meaning that the heel and toe have the same lift allowing for a more natural gait. I really like that they allow me to feel the terrain more than I would in say, a heavy hiking boot. My brother is a serious hiker who swears by these shoes and he pointed me in their direction to begin with. We have additionally talked to thru hikers that won’t wear anything else so if you are opposed to hiking boots and are looking for an alternative, maybe check them out.

We made it down and back on this 3.1 mile hike in a reasonable amount of time, 2.5 hours no worse for wear besides that small blister. I wouldn’t consider us seasoned hikers just yet, but I can say with full confidence that feet management is very important if you are trying to do any sort of walking/hiking. If you let the start of a blister go too long you are going to be a miserable mess in no time. This goes for body management in general as well, meaning you need to eat, you need to drink water and you need to listen to your body to make sure you are doing what you need to keep operating efficiently. This continues to be a hard learned lesson for me as we become more active and I am sure I could have been saved some suffering if I had learned this earlier on.

After climbing back out and finally getting warm for the first time since entering the park, we headed off toward Moab, Utah. On our way out we stopped to see this tower along the rim where there was also a coffee and ice cream shop. I will say, as far as the bathroom report goes, all things U.S. National Park we encountered on this trip had bathrooms of one kind or another. We are talking at all trailheads, visitor centers and campgrounds and they weren’t even all just pit toilets. This was a luxury we didn’t even know we were taking for granted until experiencing camping and traveling in Spain. Although we could probably have spent a solid week or two just at the Grand Canyon, this was more of a scouting trip where we tried to get a taste of each park and take notes for future visits. The GC is definitely on our list for an extended stay and back country hiking trip in the future, maybe a little later in the season though to enjoy slightly less frigid nights on the rim. All in all a fantastic first stop on our “out west” trip. This adventure most definitely sparked an intense love affair in both Eric and myself for the desert and the national parks that we visited. Eric says he thinks about the desert every day since coming back, and it is easy to see why.