• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

By Root 846 0

the summer, so wake in the wee hours (as in 4am or 5am) and don your headlamp. Nibble on your bagel as you stumble through the Phantom Ranch homestead to the Kaibab Suspension Bridge across the Colorado. It’s a steady climb up the switchbacks of Devil’s Corkscrew, but as the light throws dramatic morning shadows onto the buttes and cliffs, you can look forward to even more beautiful scenery on your hike up.

Splash your face and soak your hat or bandana in Garden Creek when you make one of the shallow crossings along the trail, and continue on to Indian Garden (3800ft), about 4½ miles up from the river. There’s water, pit toilets and a campground here, all under the welcoming shade of rustling cottonwoods. If you aren’t camping here, it’s a good place to put your feet up and dig into your sack lunch, since the next leg of the hike leads to ominously-named Jacob’s Ladder, a seemingly never-ending series of switchbacks through Redwall Limestone. Leaving Indian Garden, the landscape rolls out ahead of you in a transitional zone between riparian lushness and piñon-and-juniper scrub.

It’s a bit of a haul, and you may tire of mule trains kicking up dust as you pull alongside the wall to let them pass, but it’s inherently satisfying to look down at all the zigzagging switchbacks you’ve already climbed. You kick ass! The next resting point is Three-Mile Resthouse (4920ft), where you’ll find more water and a small shelter. Take advantage of the stop to check out the view from the point beyond the resthouse, and see if you can spot some wheeling California condors catching updrafts.

Keep on trucking a mile up from here to Two-Mile Corner - a couple hundred yards beyond, look for the petroglyphs painted on the underside of a boulder above the trail. It’s now just half a mile to Mile-and-a-Half Resthouse (5720ft), where toilets, a shelter and drinking water await. Stop awhile, or continue hiking through the two tunnels, when you’ll be smiling beatifically at the fresh-faced souls on their way down the trail. When you’ve reached the rim, don’t stop until you arrive at the Bright Angel Fountain, where the milkshakes are topped with a metric ton of whipped cream and will give you the best brain-freeze of your life. Enjoy this treat on the low stone benches outside the bustling lobby of Bright Angel Lodge & Cabins, then check in, have a shower and tuck into a well-deserved dinner in the ever-so-dignified El Tovar Dining Room, because you have rocked the rim-to-rim.

Wendy Yanagihara

* * *

DETOUR

The Clear Creek Trail is an excellent out-and-back hike that starts a quarter-mile north of Phantom. It’s an exposed, 9.2-mile backcountry hike with no water until you reach Clear Creek, but the views of temples and gorges within the canyon are worth planning for. Or do it as a day hike, as there are two logical overlooks that mark good turnaround points.

* * *

Return to beginning of chapter

* * *

TRIP INFORMATION

GETTING THERE

The South Rim is 92 miles north of Flagstaff, AZ; the North Rim is 264 miles south of Las Vegas, NV.

Do

South Rim Backcountry Information Center

Unless you apply in advance for a backcountry permit, expect to be waitlisted before receiving a permit during the summer. 928-638-7875; www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/backcountry-permit.htm; PO Box 129, Grand Canyon Village, AZ; 8am-5pm

North Rim Backcountry Information Center

Since it’s less crowded, you might have less of a wait for a backcountry permit. 928-638-7868; www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/backcountry-permit.htm; North Rim, AZ; 8am-noon & 1-5pm mid-May–mid-Oct

EAT & DRINK

Bright Angel Fountain

The first place to hit for ice cream and hot dogs after hiking up to the Bright Angel Trailhead. 928-638-2631; www.grandcanyonlodges.com; Grand Canyon Village, AZ; mains $5-10; 8am-8pm;

Deli in the Pines

Eat here or get fresh salads, pizza and sandwiches to take on your North Rim hikes. 928-638-2611, 928-645-6865; www.grandcanyonforever.com; North Rim, AZ; mains $5-10; 7am-9pm May-Oct;

El Tovar Dining Room

The best place