South Kaibab to Cottonwood Campgrounds and back

With a side trip to the north rim for some of us.

April 11-15, 2004

Editors Note: This down and back trip on one of the most popular trails in the canyon was scheduled to coincide with my niece's spring break and to accommodate a wide variety of ages and skills. Other than some trips to Havasupai, this was the largest group we had ever taken into the canyon, numbering 10. There was a wide range of Canyon experience, including a first time Canyon novice and a wide range of ages, from 16 to 76. And since I personally had never been to the north rim on the Kaibab, it included some new territory for me.

The Hikers

April 11, 2004

With a full contingent driving in from Las Vegas and another from Tucson, the plan was to meet in the general store parking lot at about 9am and take the shuttle to the South Kaibab trailhead. Coming in from Vegas were John, Sue, Emily, Jesse and Gary. John and Gary are regulars on many of our trips, my sister Sue and niece Emily have been to Havasupai with us, and Jesse, Emily's friend, was the first timer. Gary took Jesse under his wing and helped her pack, or should I say repack her stuff. He explained, very gently of course, that a hair dryer, while it might seem a necessity to a teenager in the real world, wasn't really the best idea in the Canyon. And she probably didn't need 4 pair of pajamas. Once she got the hang of it, her pack became much slimmer and lighter, and she thanked Gary many times over the course of the hike. The Tucson crew was Tom, Rob (henceforth known as "Rock Hard"), Bill, Ginny and myself. Ginny is Tom's mom and was celebrating her 76th birthday the week after this trip. She carried her own pack and expected no favors. Bill is Tom's cousin and Rob had hiked with us before, on the Clear Creek trip in October 2000.

As is normal, we got on the trail much later than we had anticipated. However, it would be a relatively short hike down the Kaibab to the Bright Angel campground and so we weren't concerned that we did not head down the trail until close to 1pm.

Images going down the South Kaibab Rest stop on the South Kaibab Emily and Jesse on the switchbacks More of us on the trail Sue, Emily and Jesse on the trail A great shot of the South Kaibab Tom and Ginnie View from the bridge

We crossed the suspension bridge, followed the trail downriver to the Bright Angel Creek and followed the creek up the east side to the campground. Since we were officially a "Large Group" one of the two group campsites was ours. It is on the west side of the creek, the very last site before the Park Service house. The group site immediately to the north of us had a large shelter in case of rain but it had already been claimed by the time we got there. Our spot was large and flat, and we set up camp before it got dark. It took us about 5 hours to do the 7.5 miles from the rim. That evening we went to a ranger talk on the geology of the Grand Canyon.

Some images of the Bright Angel camp Bright Angel What a mess Jesse and Emily

April 12, 2004

We were to spend the next two nights at Cottonwood campground and so after eating breakfast and breaking camp we headed north past Phantom Ranch. We soon passed the junction to the Clear Creek trail and continued on the North Kaibab trail as it followd Bright Angel Creek. This is a very pretty section of trail. The canyon narrows and the trail crosses a bridge or two as it meanders north. We passed the junction to Ribbon Falls but continued on, planning to set up camp and then go back on a day hike to the falls. The distance from Bright Angel campground to Cottonwood campground is a relatively flat 7 miles, making for a leisurely hike.

Images of Ribbon Falls Ribbon Falls Behind the falls Jesse enters the base

At Cottonwood camp we found a large site which easily fit all of us. It was mostly shaded by scrub oak but it still got a little warm during the hotter parts of the day. We also shared the site with a lot of flys. Some of the group trekked back to Ribbon Falls and some decided to lay low and relax. That night after dinner we played cards and "Killer". In Killer, each player is dealt a card and the person with the ace of spades becomes the killer, unbeknownst to the rest of the group. The "Killer" kills by winking at his or her victim, without the others catching him. The object of the game is to kill everyone off before you get noticed. This game was a riot, especially since there were some in the group who had never quite mastered the art of winking with just one eye. Later we played hearts, as we would continue to do every night of the trip.

• Dinner and games
• The campsite

April 13, 2004

This was a layover day, with most of the group deciding to just hang around the campsite, go downstream to Ribbon Falls or do a 2 mile hike upstream to Roaring Springs, the water source for not only Phantom Ranch but the entire south rim. Four of us decided to hike to the north rim, a round trip of 14 miles, in order to complete a rim to rim to rim hike on this trip. Tom, Gary, Cheech and Emily headed out about 8am. Emily was warned by her mom to stick close to the guys, I guess for safety reasons. It's a good thing she did because otherwise she would have been to the top about 3 hours before us old guys got there. The hike from Cottonwood to the north rim is beautiful, and it was the first time I had been up the North Kaibab. We reached the rim in time for lunch. It was deserted and there was much snow in the shadowed areas. We were all feeling quite proud of ourselves until a runner came up the trail and asked if we had any extra water. He had miscalculated what it would take to get from the south to the north rim and back. He had left the south rim at 6am, made it to the north by noon, and was turning around to go back. Emily said "Wow, I thought we were doing really good!" We left the north rim after about an hour and headed back, stopping to explore Roaring Springs for about an hour. In retrospect, I should not have worn my Tevas up and back, as I developed a blister on the way back down to the camp.

Images of the North Rim day hike Emily on the North Kaibab The trail The trail Gary having lunch The group Cheech

April 14, 2004

After breaking camp we headed back to the Bright Angel Campground. We got the same camp area as the first night, the sheltered one already having been claimed. Most of us decided to forego the tents and just sleep under the stars. There was very little chance of rain, we could watch the stars, and it was one less thing we had to pack up in the morning. We decided to take advantage of the lodge and headed over there for Happy Hour as soon as it opened. We played cards and drank as many beers as we could before it closed, which was only a span of maybe two hours. (3pm-5pm?) That night we had reservations for dinner at the lodge, a steak and potatoes feast.

• The New Jersey contingent at Phantom Ranch
• Playing cards at the lodge

April 15, 2004

The hike out was slow and beautiful. We broke camp and headed over the silver bridge towards Indian Gardens, in small groups. Bill had pulled a muscle the night before and tried to arrange for transportation out but it was flat out refused. Unless you are half dead, you are walking out of the canyon. He did arrange for his pack to be taken up by mule though, which helped him a lot. We all met at Indian Gardens and had lunch under the big cottonwoods right next to the water spigots. After lunch we headed out for the final trek up to the top of the Bright Angel Trail and Grand Canyon village. The distance from the campground to the rim via Bright Angel trail is 11 miles.

• Sunrise at the river
• The whole gang at the end of the hike