Hiking the Grand Canyon: Hindsight

[Tri Girl]

We just got back from the Canyon yesterday. We were lucky to get a spot in the dorms for one night at Phantom, so we hiked down S.Kaibab and back up B.A. I wish we'd gone up S.Kaibab because the extra miles of B.A. and all the extra crowds of people with no trail etiquette was terrible! I thought I was going to get in a fist fight with some downhill hikers who were taking up the whole trail as I was coming up- and I wasn't budging. I think I might have shoulder-checked a couple over the edge, but I'm not sure since I was in a daze of exhaustion.
I think that while the S.K. is steeper, it's also shorter and would have been a better option to ascend out of. Less crowded, shorter, and only an avg. of 3% steeper than B.A. Next time I know.

The temps on the rim and in the inner canyon were very pleasant. It was a very nice week- we lucked out! While there was still snow in patches on the North facing walls of the Canyon, it wasn't too cold at the top. We did have to camp out one night (went to the National Forest and found a spot for free) and the temps were in the high 20's and although we were toasty in our sleeping bags, there was a layer of ice on the underside of the rainfly when we woke up.

After having done both rims, I can safely say that I much prefer the N. Rim because there are so many less people and no tour buses to clog up the rim and trails. They both hold their own unique beauty, but I don't like people so much, so the further away I can be from the massive crowds- the better and more I enjoy it all.

The pictures:
1. on the way down S.K.
2. me at Skeleton Point- before those crazy switchbacks down to the Tonto
3. Black Bridge
4. the hubs on the very sandy B.A. paralleling the Mighty Colorado
5. view of the rim from Indian Garden