Rim Trail 1.0 miles / South Kaibab Trail 9.6 miles / Tonto Trail 5.5 miles / Bright Angel Trail 4.5 miles
Total Miles: 20.6 (5,328' elevation gained)
Trip Report
- On Saturday, Todd celebrated his 40th birthday in the Grand Canyon. Accompanying us was our friend from Mount Washington Valley, Patrick, taking in his first rim-to-river-to-rim run in the Grand Canyon. Patrick does have canyon experience as he and his father rafted the Colorado River through the Canyon last fall.
- An early start was the name of the game on this Saturday, temperatures were to be in the mid-90s at the bottom and mid-70s at the rim. We left Flagstaff at 3:45AM, making it to our favorite parking spot next to the Pipe Creek Vista shuttle stop, and were beating feet by 5:15AM along the rim trail for a mile to the South Kaibab Trailhead.
- Trails were the most crowded we have ever seen for a Saturday in mid-April, as a trail closure of the lower half of the Bright Angel Trail is funneling everyone to South Kaibab.
- We carefully maneuvered our way past hikers and runners as sunrise created a fire in the sky scene to the east as we cruised past Cedar Ridge
Sunrise in the Canyon
Todd and Patrick trail running along Cedar Ridge
Patrick running down South Kaibab Trail just below Cedar Point
- Below Cedar Ridge, we easily made our way around O'Neil Butte as daylight overtook the canyon and temperatures started to rise.
Making our way past O'Neil Butte
Patrick and Todd approach Skeleton Point with O'Neil Butte in the background
- From Skeleton Point, we made our way through the maze of switchbacks down to the Tonto Platform and The Tipoff
The numerous switchbacks drop steeply from Skeleton Point to a few hundred feet above the Tonto Platform
Patrick and Todd with Zoroaster Temple coming into full view
Tonto Platform with the Natural Arch looming large
- The Tipoff had a lot of action going on with hikers and runners milling about. To avoid the crowds, we zoomed past this point and made the last two-mile descent down to the Colorado. From Tipoff to the river, the colors of the canyon walls and dirt change from khaki to a deep red clay, creating an amazing section to travel through.
A favorite section for many hikers/runners, a half-mile curved descent over cushiony red dirt with endless views towards the North Rim
Patrick and Todd taking advantage of prime running conditions
Dropping quickly towards the Colorado
The final stretch to the Black Bridge and the Colorado River
- When we reached the bottom, we bypassed the Boat Beach water source as about a dozen rim runners were creating a traffic jam and headed a few hundred yards down the trail to the Phantom Delta Restroom and water source, which we had to ourselves.
- With no access from the river across Silver Bridge to Bright Angel Trail until at least October, all our outings will consist of heading back up South Kaibab. Bright Angel Trail is schedule to open below Havasupai Garden to Pipe Creek Beach on May 15th, but no one is allowed to use the River Trail from there to Silver or Black Bridge, making the popular South Kaibab - Bright Angel route closed until the River Trail and Silver Bridge reopen in October.
- With this closure, we headed back up two miles to the Tonto Platform.
Todd and Patrick take a break and take in the views at an overlook about halfway back up to the Tonto
Looking back down at a Mule Trail descending South Kaibab to Phantom Ranch
Patrick leads the way
Reaching the Tipoff
- Upon reaching the Tonto we headed west for a nice and easy five-plus-mile (with detour) to Havasupai Garden along the Tonto Trail. Lucky for us, it was still early enough to catch some shade as we made our way in and out of the washes past Pipe Creek Canyon. As we reached the Bright Angel junction, we had a short detour of a mile along the Tonto that coincides with the Plateau Point Trail.
Travelling below the Natural Arch and Skeleton Point
Todd leads the way over the Tonto
Along the detour, our only real stretch of being exposed to the sun. Construction vehicles in the background improving the water pipe system that runs throughout the canyon
- We took a ten-minute break at the Garden to fuel up and refill our water before the 4.5 mile climb up Bright Angel Trail to the South Rim. We were expecting to be beaten down by the sun, but were extremely lucky as some wispy clouds floated in, making the ascent straightforward and pleasant.
- We couldn't have timed our morning perfectly as when we topped out we were able to walk right onto the shuttle bus, Village Route (Blue), to the Grand Canyon Visitor Center, where we jumped on the Kaibab Rim shuttle (Orange), which dropped us off at Pipe Creek Vista, a whole ten feet from the Jeep!
Mule train taking guests down to Havasupai Gardens
Patrick completes his first Rim to River back-to-rim run, nothing to it!
Plateau Point and Havasupai Garden in view a few thousand feet below.
Todd and I relaxing by our tailgate setup at Pipe Creek Vista wearing Allen Iverson and God Shammgod jerseys, the two best ball handlers in the 90's!
