If you’ve hiked the Grand Canyon rim-to-rim in one day, you can easily find someone who hiked it faster or ran it, went when it was hotter, and trod uphill both ways (in this case that applies to everyone). And then there are the rim-to-rim-to-rimmers. And the 14’ers. And it goes on and on, right up the side of Mount Everest.

The View Looking back While Ascending the South Rim During Sunset

That said, if such things were easy everyone would do them. It requires discipline, hard work and careful planning to successfully prepare for these endeavors, and it’s not inappropriate to congratulate ourselves when things go well. After two backpacking trips into the Grand Canyon (see Issue 52 and Issue 54), my son, Mark, and I decided to take on a rim-to-rim day hike in the fall of 2022. As with all such experiences, it was a learning process. Here’s some of the knowledge we gained:

Logistics

The logistics of doing anything at the Grand Canyon often feel like the hardest part. With backpacking, there is the permitting process, which is required if you want to camp within the canyon, and must be done several months in advance. There is also a significant degree of uncertainty about whether you will get the specific campsites you request. Proposing several alternative itineraries outside of high-traffic areas is a good strategy for getting some kind of permit and, in my opinion, any campsite in the Grand Canyon is better than none.

Day hiking the canyon rim-to-rim does not require a permit, so you can dispense with that complication, but there are plenty of details to consider. Unless you have a friend or family member who will drive around the canyon to the opposite rim to pick you up at the end of the hike, you must figure out where to leave your vehicle, and how to get to the opposite rim to start the hike. Hiking from north to south is commonly recommended, since the elevation on the North Rim is higher, and that’s what we did. We engaged the Trans-Canyon Shuttle for a ride from South Rim to North, leaving our car in the backcountry parking lot, about a quarter-mile from trail’s end.

You’ll want to spend the night near the trailhead for an early start, and like most things at the Grand Canyon, lodging on the North Rim gets booked up way in advance, so I reserved a cabin at the North Rim Lodge as soon as reservations opened up for the season. And, once you get to the North Rim, the dining options are extremely limited. I made a dinner reservation at the North Rim Lodge months in advance as well. Camping at the North Rim Campground is another option, if you have someone carrying your gear around for you. Otherwise, you obviously have to carry all of that camping gear from rim-to-rim, which makes no sense as far as I’m concerned.

Our plan for the day of the hike was to hit the trail at 4 a.m., and the trailhead is 1.7 miles from the lodge. When you’re about to hike all the way across the canyon, you don’t want to add nearly two miles to the start of your day. The North Rim Lodge has a free shuttle, but you cannot reserve a spot until you actually show up at the lodge to check in. The uncertainty of that is disconcerting when you have all your other ducks in a row. The drivers for the Trans-Canyon shuttle know that, and when they are dropping you off the evening before, they may offer to guarantee you a ride the next morning for a reasonable fee, as they spend the night at the North Rim before heading back the next day. We paid $10 a person and it worked out just fine. For all we know, there was plenty of room on the free lodge shuttle, but having that bird in hand gave us a more settled feeling.

When you finish your hike across the canyon, you’ll need lodging as well. Fortunately, rooms and camp sites on the South Rim are more plentiful and the world is unlikely to end even if you have to drive to Flagstaff for the night. I booked a room in Tusayan, just south of the park entrance gate, at a fairly reasonable rate.

Timing Your Trip

Why would you do this in the heat of summer? Many people do, of course, and it works out fine for them. The options are limited, because the North Rim does not open each year until May 15th, and services there close October 15th, although you can still access the rim for some time after that. It varies according to weather, snowfall in particular, which will close the entrance road. I highly recommend doing the rim-to-rim hike as late in the season as possible. We did it on October 10, and heat was not an issue. It was about 90 degrees at Phantom Ranch and that was the highest temperature we saw. That means it was quite cold at the North Rim, so we had to dress for that, but a hat, lightweight down, and gloves kept us comfortable while we were moving until it warmed up after sunrise.

What to Carry

Food and water. Yes, you should carry the usual hiker essentials but, really, those are the two critical ingredients for your rim-to-rim day hike. Actually, it’s more about food because if all the spigots are open along the corridor, you’ll be able to obtain potable water every few miles. Be sure to check on water availability right before you go. I recommend carrying a lightweight water filter to be on the safe side, however. I took my Sawyer squeeze filter, a two-liter hydration bladder, and a half-liter bottle for my powdered electrolytes.

The entire trail in the North Kaibab-Bright Angel corridor is well maintained and scenic.

There is no magic formula for food. I kept looking for one, but discovered the best way to figure it out was to experiment during my training. Salty snacks and other sources of electrolytes are probably the most fundamental thing. I took Clif bars, electrolyte chews, and peanut-butter filled pretzel squares, but the best thing I had all day was a tuna sandwich which I made at Phantom Ranch from a tuna pouch, two small packets of brown mustard, and two slices of bread I carried with me. It’s hard to know how much you will eat. Again, you need to experiment as you train. We ended up with far more food than we could eat.

And, it should go without saying, but I’ll say it anyway. Trekking poles.

How to Train

It’s easy to find training plans online, and you’ll see widely varying opinions. My approach is to maintain a strong cardiovascular base through regular running, and core strength through yoga and strength training at the gym. About twelve weeks before the hike, I begin lengthening my runs, hiking long miles, and walking up and down hills, wherever I can find them. Some people (I even heard this from a ranger at the Backcountry Information Center in Grand Canyon National Park) say that the descent from the North Rim is the worst part. That may be true. The descent was certainly the most difficult part for us when we backpacked the Hermit Trail. But we didn’t find it to be the case on the rim-to-rim hike. Perhaps after descending the Hermit Trail, the North Kaibab was mild in comparison!

The area known as the Box was a pleasant streamside walk but is known for its stifling heat in the summer.

How Our Trip Went

Getting to the Trailhead

We drove to Flagstaff in one day from Oklahoma. The next morning we drove to the Grand Canyon and had some time to figure out parking, find the location for our shuttle pickup, look around and relax before our ride to the North Rim. We boarded the shuttle at the front door of Bright Angel lodge. Packed like sardines into the van, we managed to stay in good humor knowing what lay ahead. And, while the driver’s pace seemed a bit too brisk at times, we were hoping to get to the North Rim before sunset, so we took it in stride.

It happened that we did get there just before the sun set and we took a magical hike along the rim under a bright full moon. We had a good dinner in the lodge and made an early night of it in our small “frontier” cabin, which was just a few feet from the door of the lodge. Awakening at 3 a.m. the next morning, we made oatmeal using water we heated in the cabin’s small coffee maker and then caught the shuttle to the trailhead for our 4 a.m. start.

Descending the North Rim

We estimated it was in the low 30s when we got on the North Kaibab Trail. For the first two miles, we kept a steady pace on the steep switchbacks, the headlamps of other hikers moving below us like a train of fireflies. Just below Supai Tunnel, Mark heard a whistle, then we heard a cry for help. We stopped and looked down. There, about twenty feet below, was a man who had fallen off the trail and was injured. In seconds, Mark was putting his first responder training to work, shedding his backpack and finding a place where he could scramble down to help the man. At first we thought he had broken an ankle but fortunately he had not, and was able to move. Mark helped him crawl up toward the trail and another hiker, Brad, came along, beginning to help from above. Eventually they got the injured man up on the trail and administered first aid. His head and face were bloodied from hitting rocks during his fall and he seemed to have a concussion, but was ambulatory and did not show evidence of other injuries at the time. Brad’s wife, Tanya, had a Garmin InReach and called for help (I was carrying a SPOT tracker which did not work. I now own a Garmin InReach Mini). The injured hiker was eventually flown out and after about two hours, we were able to continue our hike.

Mark crosses the suspension bridge below the spot where we rescued a fallen hiker.

By this time, the sun was up and the day had warmed to a comfortable level. The descent became more gradual, and we stopped for water at Manzanita Springs, continuing through Cottonwood Campground and taking the side trip to Ribbon Falls, which was well worth the effort. Soon we found ourselves in “The Box” which, thanks to the mild temperatures, was a pleasant and beautiful streamside walk. It did seem to go on forever, though, and I can imagine that doing it in the heat would make it seem even more interminable. We reached Phantom Ranch mid-day and stopped for a break. I must confess that after all the hype, I found the place underwhelming. But again, the shade it offers as well as the ice cold lemonade would be more meaningful on a 120-degree day.

Ascending the South Rim

After our break, we crossed the Colorado, traversed on the sandy path along the river to Bright Angel Trail, and started up. Bright Angel is a wonderfully gradual trail but about the time we reached Indian Gardens (now Havasupai Gardens), 4.5 miles from the South Rim, our pace started to slow. Our legs were beginning to tire, and on that last few miles ascending the South Rim, our philosophy was, “slow and steady wins the race.” Night fell as we walked, rested, walked, rested, leapfrogging with other groups of hikers who were doing exactly the same thing. Those last few miles certainly seemed like the longest of the hike, and the moment of completion when we crossed over the lip of the South Rim was one of great elation. If only we didn’t have another quarter-mile to walk to the car!

As we assessed our hike in retrospect, we identified several things we would have done differently and the general theme is, “lighten up.” We were wearing hiking pants and shirt (Mark) and running tights and sun-protective long-sleeved shirt (me) but after the sun came up, we would have been comfortable in shorts and short-sleeved shirts. As mentioned earlier, we took too much food. And we also carried more water than we needed with all the water stops open. We also believe we picked the perfect time of year for the hike.

Grand Canyon Bright Angel Trailhead at Night

Resources

The park is very popular with many people attempting rim-to-rim hikes each year, and many online resources and groups are available for planning purposes, including Grand Canyon Hiking and Backpacking Logistics on the TrailGroove Blog. On the Grand Canyon National Park web site, an important page to monitor is the Backcountry Updates and Closures page, which provides the latest information on trail closures and water availability.

Transportation/Lodging

The Trans-Canyon Shuttle offers transportation and Grand Canyon North Rim Lodge offers lodging options.

Books and Maps

Hiking Grand Canyon National Park by Ben Adkison. National Geographic Trails Illustrated Map and A Complete Guide to the Grand Canyon by Eric Henze are also recommended.

For some less intense day hike recommendations, see Best Easy Day Hikes Grand Canyon National Park by Ben Adkinson.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in Issue 55 of TrailGroove Magazine. You can read the original article here for additional photos and content.