Backpacking Across the Grand Canyon (Rim to Rim)

Hey everyone it's me Tim and today I am so stoked to be sharing this adventure with you that I just took recently going from rim to rim on the Grand Canyon. A total of 22 miles and about 5,000 feet of elevation gain and loss. It was absolutely epic and I am so excited to share that with you guys today and go over a little bit of what happened, how it went, some of the trip stats and things of that nature. So let's jump right in. I'm not gonna lie it was a tad cold starting at the north rim. It was actually in the 30s and we even saw snow falling on the drive to the trailhead and there was a little dusting of snow on the ground during the first part of the hike. It warmed up quickly though especially while moving and I started losing layers of clothes. I was a little worried we were in for a cold night at the bottom of the canyon where we would be camping at Bright Angel Campground. The views were truly breathtaking. Right out of the gate this trail did not disappoint. Here you can see the first overlook of many more to come. The trail is extremely well maintained and easy to follow. The north rim is the less popular side of the Grand Canyon but the North Kaibab Trail was well worn. We did this hike on Halloween Eve on the 30th of October and the leaves were a nice added bonus to the scenery. This was the first waypoint on the map the Supai Tunnel and it was a mark of our progress so far at a little more than a mile and a half. On the North Kaibab Trail heading to the bottom we were averaging a 26 minute mile which I thought was pretty good. It was a little rough on the knees going downhill for so long but I knew the real challenge lay ahead of us. Here we encountered the first of many bridges along the trail. The infrastructure on this trail was impressive. It's interesting to consider what it took to get the materials needed for a bridge into such a large canyon. I'm not gonna lie some of the trail had pretty steep drop-offs and sometimes a straight cliff so my fear of heights was driving my anxiety at certain points but I just hugged the inside of the wall and focused on my steps. It was challenging mentally but the views were so worth it. Along the trail we spotted a baby rattlesnake. It's hard to tell here but the little black tip on the tail was a rattle. They are super dangerous if provoked but they really keep to themselves as long as you give them space and show them respect. Here we catch the first glimpse of the Bright Angel Creek that we would follow for a while. Another bridge that I wondered how they built it with no roads to truck in materials. This phantom ranch sign meant we were heading in the right direction to our final destination of the day. Just a bit past the ranch was our campground and it was a relief to be seeing signs of getting close to the end of this long day. It was still a ways away at this point but this sign meant we had done about seven or eight miles which was about halfway. We were extremely lucky to get a permit for a campsite down there and we had originally talked about doing the hike in one day as a lot of people do that but I was glad we were doing it in two days instead. This next section in particular was my favorite so far. Maybe it was the way the setting sun lit the canyon walls above but this stretch of trail was really beautiful. The creek was a nice touch too. This was a sign I was happy to see. Just three quarters of a mile to camp. It had been a long day and I was ready to crawl into my tent and rest for a while after a lot of food of course. Here was the campground. It was first come first serve but we were guaranteed a spot with the permit. A lot of the sites directly on the creek were already taken but we found a good spot for the night. It was close quarters but everyone was nice, polite, and considerate with noise levels. This first day of our trek was a total of 15 miles and I was definitely feeling it. We were awake before 4am but the sun came up around 6. We took our time in the morning and made sure to have a good breakfast but once the sun was up it was time to start heading to the South Rim on the South Kaibab Trail as it would be another long day and we would need all the daylight we could get. Here is the first sighting of the Colorado River. It was a bit murky but still cool to see. It was still a little cold but it would warm up quickly as we made our ascent up the canyon. The views continued to amaze as we made our way up. The incline was a challenge but we took a lot of breaks. On the way up we averaged a 49 minute mile which I don't think was too bad considering the incline of 4,800 feet. Our first mule train of the day carrying supplies down to the bottom of the canyon. Here's the mule train on its way back up moving a lot quicker than us but I think they were taking less breaks. It was cool to look back and see the switchbacks and the twists and turns of the trail. This was a very challenging day but I was impressed with our progress and it was going to be quite an accomplishment to complete this journey. Today's mileage was a little less than eight miles. My legs were getting sore and I was tired but it was almost over and I was excited to get some real food at the end and also take a shower and get some rest and recover. I was going to be sore for the next few days after this hike for sure. The final little bit was a series of steep switchbacks which were challenging after all we had already done but the end was near and we pushed on. Anyways that's it for today. I hope you enjoyed this video. Thanks so much for stopping by and I will see you in the next one.