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Welcome to the home of Grand Canyon hiking. The Grand Canyon Hiker Dude Show helps hikers plan, train for, and better understand hikes below the rim, from short day hikes to Rim-to-Rim, Rim-to-River, Phantom Ranch, Bright Angel Trail, South Kaibab Trail, North Kaibab Trail, backpacking trips, heat safety, water planning, shuttle logistics, and more.
Host Brian Speciale shares Grand Canyon stories, trail-tested advice, safety lessons, interviews, and community wisdom from first-timers, seasoned hikers, rangers, Canyon insiders, and everyday people who have learned powerful lessons below the rim.
Whether you are planning Rim-to-Rim, dreaming of Phantom Ranch, preparing for your first Grand Canyon hike, or looking for honest stories of triumph, tragedy, mistakes, and trail-won wisdom, this podcast will help you hike your best hike.
Listeners call the show “an invaluable resource,” “the perfect mix of inspiration, realistic caution, and tips for success,” and “a welcoming place and wealth of information.”
New episodes weekly. Join the conversation in the Hike Club Grand Canyon private Facebook group.
Hey, I gotta tell you about something new that I'm so pumped about, and you're gonna be excited too. If you love the Grand Canyon, you are really gonna love Grand Canyon Central. It's our most ambitious project yet at Hiker, and it is now available for free, for free at grandcanyoncentral.net. Listen to this. Canyon weather, water availability on the trails, webcams, park alerts, all live and in real time, plus the shade tracker, a new weather planning tool, the Ask GC Hiker Dude tool, the Coach Arnie Training Center tool, and so much more, all together in one place.
Brian:You are not gonna believe it because I still cannot myself, but to be able to pull out my phone and have access to all that in one place without having to Google like phantom weather, or South Rim water availability, or the South Entrance webcam, yet no more. It's all right there in one place. It feels too good to be true, but it is real. Grand Canyon Central. Maybe check it out after the podcast, because if you get started, I don't think that you're gonna be able to stop once you get on there and check out all the amazing features.
Brian:Grand Canyon Central, check it out now at grandcanyoncentral.net. That's grandcanyoncentral.net. Now onto the show.
Zeena:You're listening to the Grand Canyon Hiker Dude Show, the voice of Grand Canyon Hiking, presented by Hiken. Hiking packs and gear built to help you hike your best hike. Here's your guide, Brian Special.
Brian:If rim to rim is number one on the list of iconic Grand Canyon hikes, rim to river has to be number two. It is a classic. And today, we're going through it step by step on a midsummer rim to river that I did just last week. Candidly, I had planned to do a short YouTube video on this and only kind of mark my progress by the mile. But it turns out, when I'm in my happy place and the camera is on, I do have a difficult time shutting up about it, and it has become so much more now than a short YouTube video, and that's what you're gonna hear today.
Brian:This all started taking shape just a few days prior because this time of year, I typically stay out of the canyon or adjust so I'm only doing the majority of the hike in the dark to stay out of the sun and heat that can be so deadly here in Arizona. So when the forecast a few days out was showing clouds and thunderstorms and mild temperatures, Oh, I got excited. Started paying attention. And when it stayed that way the night before the forecast did, I told my wife, I am headed for the canyon in the morning because the opportunity to hike it all in the daylight in the middle of August was just too tantalizing to pass up. So up I went, I got to Bright Angel Trailhead just after eleven, jumped on the blue shuttle to the visitor center, then transferred to the orange shuttle for the ride out to South Kaibab.
Brian:That shuttling takes about forty five minutes or so total. Sometimes it could take up to an hour, sometimes a little bit less. It just depends. You can save some time by taking the taxi from Bright Angel, but it's not always available, and I wasn't in a hurry, so the shuttle, it was. The plan, South Kaibab to Phantom Ranch to Bright Angel, the classic rim to river route, which covers about 17 and a half miles.
Brian:If you skip Phantom, which I often do, it's about 16 and a half. Now this is a big day hike, so just like with rim to rim, it's not something to take lightly, especially if you're doing it all in a day. And of course, this time of year takes sacrifice to do safely, which I will talk about during my hike that you will hear, because you do not want to be out there, and especially doing the uphill, in the summer sun and heat under any circumstance. But I had none of that to worry about on this day. I dropped in just afternoon at about 12:15 under thick cloud cover and temperatures around 60 at the rim in mid August.
Brian:How about that? Another unforgettable rim to river. This is the Grand Canyon Hiker Dude show powered by Hiken and the all new Grand Canyon Central, which you can find at grandcanyoncentral.net. So I've been watching the weather for a week now and seeing the chances of rain increase by the day up here at the Canyon. So when I see something like that happen, I turn my car north and I head for the I head for the Canyon because this is the kind day that you might get every summer or two.
Brian:Just one single day where temperatures are in the sixties up here on the rim. There's a chance of, getting a lot of rain. Yeah. Is it the safest thing to do with lightning and potential flooding? Of course not.
Brian:But if you're just smart, you know, you should be okay. And seeing the canyon when there's a storm is just absolutely magical. Sometimes you can see waterfalls falling from a thousand feet, and it's it's just magic. It's just so they unlike any other experience you get here. So I'm excited to do this.
Brian:I'm gonna go down to Rim to River Yeah. South Kaibab, down to Phantom Ranch, and then back up to Bright Angel, and we'll just update everything along the way. Let's do this. I'm so pumped. That's our buddy Victor vomit right there.
Brian:Aptly named, but Victor's not for a day like today. I actually heard someone on the shuttle say how disappointed they were at the weather today. And I just wanted to say, hey, guys. It's August 15. It should be a 110 degrees right now and miserable and dangerous.
Brian:You have no idea what you have looked into. But alas, here we are. No Victor today. Onward. Okay.
Brian:We're just under a mile in, and we just passed Oahu Point, and Oahu Point is actually right up there. But what I wanna tell you, if there's one thing you listen to me about or advice that I wish you would take, it's that go a little bit beyond Uwa. Uwa gets all the headlines. It's where everyone wants to go. It's less than a mile down the trail.
Brian:But if you just come down from there and then go down this part of the trail right here and go around the corner, you're about 1.15 miles when you get there, and you come around the corner down there. And I'm telling you, the best views that I have seen on any trail in the Grand Canyon, just around that corner, they put out a shame. Was a little bit overrated when it comes to the greatest views in my opinion, but it's a manageable hike for for most people. But if you just I'm telling you. Just go a little bit farther just down here.
Brian:You're gonna see things that you will not believe. Yeah. Here it is. And for a little while here, the views just get better and better and better. Come up to this little corner right here, and I don't know if there's a better spot.
Brian:I really don't. Watch look at this. And you get to this spot right here, which is truly my favorite spot on the entire trail. 1.12 miles from the trailhead. So, you know, two tenths of a mile or so below Oo Oo Point.
Brian:You get down here, you've got iconic Windy Ridge right here, which is one of the coolest little stretches of trail that I've seen anywhere on the planet. There might be some just as cool but none cooler than that. You can see down to Cedar Ridge down here which is 1.5 miles from the trailhead. That's another fantastic day hike. But the views that you get at this section of South Kaibab, world class.
Brian:I mean, as good as it can get, in my opinion. So if you can go a little bit past Guha, highly recommend it. If you go all the way down to Cedar Ridge, that's a mile and a half, three miles round trip. That is a fantastic day hike, especially on a day like this when you don't have to worry about the heat. Got a lot of things to consider if you do have to worry about the heat and the sun because you can't be down here at the dangerous times of the day, which is midday.
Brian:There's no water availability anywhere on the South Trail. You have to keep that in mind. So whatever you bring down is what you're gonna have for the hike back up too, and it's a lot harder going back up than it is going down. So South Kaibab is the place to be, and just come a little bit past Ooah, I'm telling you, and you will see things that never forget. This is Windy Ridge which is iconic.
Brian:You've probably seen photos taken from this little section of trail here and a lot of people get intimidated by it. They think that there are big drop offs on each side. But like it is on any of the corridor trails, South Kaibab included, if you just stay on the trail, you've got nothing to worry about. There are not huge drop offs directly off the trail necessarily, and the trails are wide enough and easy enough to follow that you shouldn't have any issues as long as you respect the trails and stay on them. But, yeah, this is Windy Ridge, and it's pretty special.
Brian:Okay. A mile and a half in, just passing Cedar Ridge which does have pit toilets and is a fantastic spot to stop and enjoy the incredible views and then turn around and head back to the rim and you'll get three miles round trip with over a thousand feet of vertical. So a great day hike and one that a lot of folks can do. So highly recommend that one. In terms of the views, there's not a ton to gain after Cedar Ridge.
Brian:You've seen the best of the views. Still amazing all the way down to Skeleton Point and all the way to the river, frankly. But the expansive panoramic views don't get any better after Cedar. So things get tougher if you're gonna go all the way to Skeleton Point, which is six miles round trip, three miles one way. And I don't think there's a ton to gain if fuses what you are after.
Brian:So maybe save those miles if you're just here for the day and go to Bright Angel and do something over there or one of the other trails. But that is Cedar Ridge. Pit toilets, no drinking water. Always gotta keep that in mind. No drinking water down South Kaibab.
Brian:And also keep in mind, Park Service always says down is optional. Up is mandatory. Don't get yourself sucked in too far and then realize, oh, no. I've gotta get out of here because it's easy to be full of adrenaline and having a great time going downhill because it's so much easier on your body. But going out is no joke, and it's hard for everyone.
Brian:So you have to always keep that in the back of your mind the farther down you go. Right at two miles down now. Just walking right alongside O'Neil Butte, which is a prominent butte that you can see from the rim and is named after Bucky O'Neil, who was a captain in Teddy Roosevelt's famous Rough Riders. So that means we are about a mile away now from Skeleton Point, which is three miles from the trailhead. You also have to keep in mind that while these trails are well maintained and groomed to a certain extent and people, especially trail runners, run them every day.
Brian:You have to keep in mind that they are rocky, and they are rutted out by mule traffic, and they are uneven. And so if you find yourself looking up and around too much as you're walking, it is so easy to turn an ankle. Ask me how I know that. Easy Easy to do. So enjoy the beauty, but just be cautious with your steps because you can see how much trouble you can get yourself in, and you don't want a broken ankle or a badly sprained ankle below the rim because that's gonna create a lot of trouble, not just for you, but for the people who might have to come and get you.
Brian:Alright. Right at about two and a half miles in, you can see O'Neil Butte now behind me as we make distance away from it. But you come up to this section, which is an unusual section on South Kaibab. It's called Mormon Flats, and it goes for about half a mile into Skeleton Point where it's relatively flat, which you don't find on South Kaibab, especially for that long of a stretch. So it can be a bit of a respite, especially when you're coming up South Kaibab to get a little bit of a break on Mormon Flats.
Brian:But still, the rest of this part of the hike, if you're coming up between Mormon Flats and Cedar Ridge, makes up for this flat part because it's just brutal with endless step ups. It can be very, very difficult. But nice to have this little rest pit where things are relatively flat for a half mile or so until we get to three mile point at Skeleton Point, and then we start diving down. Alright. Three miles in, we're just past Skeleton Point.
Brian:If you come three switchbacks down past Skeleton Point, same kind of thing as what I was saying about going down below Ouau Point. You see at this spot three switchbacks down, again, some of the most spectacular views in the canyon. You're about a thousand feet still above the Tonto Platform, about 2,000 feet above the Colorado. You can see the river for the first time flowing down there. You can see all the way out to Plateau Point over here, and you can see the top of Devil's Corkscrew, and you can see where the Tepiz Narrows start on Bright Angel Trail.
Brian:You can see this green strip down here is Ranch in the Bright Angel Campground area, and, of course, you can see the river. So a lot to see from this point at Skeleton Point or three switchbacks down. Highly recommend coming these extra switchbacks because it is before you stop. It's a it's a great place. You can see there's some flat bench like areas to that you can sit and just enjoy the view, have lunch, check your water, check your pack, take a load off, just take a break for a while before you tackle the red and white switchbacks.
Brian:The most notorious part of South Kaibab, which are just around this corner right here. So three miles in now, only about fourteen, fourteen and a half to go or so. Amazing day. Alright. Just below Skeleton, 3.14 miles from the trailhead, you run into the red and white switchbacks.
Brian:They get that name because they descend through the canyon's red wall layer. So you see the dark reddish dirt, and then suddenly you will be in a whitish layer of dirt, maybe quarters of the way down the switchbacks, and that's the temple layer and then the Muav layer. So that's how the red and white switchbacks get their name. Now the red and white switchbacks are notorious when you're coming back up. To me, this is the most difficult part of South Kaibab on the ascent and one of the main reasons why South Kaibab is not recommended as an exit route from the bottom of the canyon.
Brian:It's advised to take Bright Angel out, not as much elevation and over a longer stretch. It's about two and a half miles shorter. But South Kaibab is two and a South Kaibab, I should say, is two and a half miles shorter, but it ascends 4,800 feet versus 4,400 feet on Bright Angel. So it is steep, and it is can be pretty nasty. And the red and whites, you know, coming at about halfway through the ascent from the river when you're already tired, man.
Brian:It can be brutal going up these things and not something you wanna do in the middle of a summer day or even in the middle of a day when there's bright sunshine and it's in the seventies or eighties depending on, you know, what kind of temperatures you can handle. But for me, if it gets in the seventies or so and I've got bright sunshine overhead, I don't wanna be coming up South Kaibab because you're not gonna have shade very often, and there's no water, and it's just tough with that kind of an ascent in the direct sunshine. Bright Angel on the other hand, late in the afternoon shades in. And not only does it shade in, which is just makes it so much easier when you're hiking in the shade, but it has water seasonally available. Havasupai Gardens, three mile rest house, and mile and a half rest house.
Brian:So if unless there's a pipeline break, you have access to water during the season. They shut it off in the winter time because the pipes will freeze, but it is perennial at Havasupai Gardens typically. So just a little safer going up Bright Angel and maybe even a bit more pleasant. But South Kaibab, I would choose for the descent pretty much every time because of the views that that I've shown you. The views are just second to none.
Brian:Bright Angel's kinda back in a side canyon. It's its own unique, cool experience, but you don't get the amazing panoramic views like you do on South Kaibab. You still get great views, and they are, you know, somewhat panoramic in certain spots, especially up high, but it's nothing like like South Kaibab is. So if you are going to do rim to river or even rim to rim, my recommendation personally, it's my opinion, would be to go down South Kaibab and then up Bright Angel. And it would also be to go down South Kaibab and up North Kaibab if you are going south to north for a rim to rim.
Brian:I think that's the best way to do it. That's what the trail runners typically do. That is their preferred route, South Kaibab, North Kaibab, or North Kaibab, South Kaibab. Though they will mix in Bright Angel as well, but when you wanna talk about the the record times and the record runs, the very serious elite trail runners, that comes with the South Kaibab, North Kaibab, back to South Kaibab route. And they are impressive.
Brian:I did pass one trail runner who was just past Mormon Flats. I don't wanna be I'm not being judgy. I'm not. This is just you know, you pick up on these things. I could tell he was a trail runner because, number one and and a trail runner at the end of his r three.
Brian:So he'd gone from South Kaibab to North Kaibab and back. So he was finishing up. He had less than three miles to go, and he looked miserable. Yeah. Been there, done that.
Brian:R three is very, very, very, very difficult even even when everything goes right. But, yeah, I passed him and, again, not to sound too graphic or judgy or anything, but I could smell I could smell the r three on him. It's the only way I know how to to put it. That confirmed it for me. It's like, yeah, he's doing r three.
Brian:Poor guy. But, man, he'll feel great when it's done. But if you're gonna thinking about doing a rim to rim to rim, let me just say that a progression is the smartest way to do that. You gotta build yourself up to that, especially if you're a hiker and you're not used to serious distances like that. When I started working toward doing the one day rim to rim to rims, I started by you know, obviously, I could do rim to rim, but then it when I really started to build up after rim to rim, of course, that's a baseline.
Brian:But then I started doing I went rim to rim and then stayed at night on the North Rim, I think, and then came back the next day. So that put the r three under my belt, at least in terms distances, but there is a massive difference between doing a rim to rim to rim in two days versus one day. But that told me that I could do it with, you know, seven or eight hours in between efforts. And so I just went for it and did an r three in in the good time of the year. And I still say I've done three of them, and they're the hardest things I have ever done.
Brian:They're incredibly difficult, but incredibly satisfying, and more and more people are doing it. But I would just encourage you not to just show up at the Canyon and do it never having been here. You gotta kinda build yourself up to these long serious canyon hikes because canyon hiking is different than hiking really anywhere else, mainly because you have to go down so far first before you ever go back up and do the hard part. So progressions are super, super important. It's achievable.
Brian:Most things are achievable, but you just gotta be smart about it and build up to it and not get overconfident and get yourself into trouble in the worst case scenario or in the best case scenario, have a miserable experience because you weren't quite ready for it. Build yourself up. Progress. And that goes for really any hike in the canyon. If you're thinking about doing this hike, rim to river, you gotta build yourself up to it, do it.
Brian:Do these these shorter day hikes from the rim and back out. Do that once or twice, and then, you know, it'll tell you where your fitness is and if you can handle doing a full rim to river or rim to rim in a day. If you got a night between Phantom, Bright Angel, Campground, whatever, that is significantly easier, I would say, than doing all of these things in one day. But the day hikes are achievable. You just gotta build yourself up to them and make sure that you are ready for them so you have your best possible Grand Canyon experience.
Brian:Okay. We are essentially at the halfway point. This sign right here, South Rim, 3.5 miles. Phantom Ranch, 3.8 miles. So this is a a famous sign here down, about halfway down the red and white switchbacks, and that lets us know where we are.
Brian:It's the only sign that has mileage anywhere on South Kaibab, so you're kinda flying blind without it. But about halfway, it's a incredibly gorgeous day, just overcast completely. There's been a few sprinkles, but nothing serious. I'm kinda hoping for a big monsoon to roll through because you could see waterfalls everywhere, and it's just completely magical with the clouds in the canyon. And oh, man.
Brian:I kinda hope for it. I kinda don't. So I'll take what I can get because this is the middle of August, and just to be here is something very, very special. Okay. Onward.
Brian:And you can see here comes the very abrupt switch from red to white here on the red and whites. Four miles into this thing. Just got my first look at the pit toilets and storm shelter about a half mile away at the tip-off. So once we get to the tip-off, that's kind of the last place. There's a shelter there, and there are pit toilets.
Brian:That's four and a half miles down the trail. Just up from tip-off is the junction with the Tonto Trail, which you can take across to the Bright Angel Trail. It's another four miles or so all the way across Tonto to get to Bright Angel, but it cuts off the having to go all the way down to the river and then back up to have a soup high gardens from there. So four miles in, feeling good. Again, the day the day is everything.
Brian:Yesterday, I wouldn't have been here. Tomorrow, I won't be here. And the rest of the summer, I probably won't be here because this is mid August. To get a day like this is an anomaly to say the very least. So enjoying it.
Brian:The tip-off, four and a half miles in. We are now about to descend into the canyon's inner gorge. We're standing on the Tonto Platform. The Tonto, junction, the Tonto Trail is about 50 yards up the trail, and it just heads off to the west there and ends up connecting with Havasupai Gardens after about four and a half meandering miles. That's a cool hike as well.
Brian:I've got a lot of content on that in podcast form and also, in videos. So if you're interested in the South Kaibab to Tonto to Bright Angel hike, about 13 and a half miles total. Incredible day hike. Again, not one to do in the summer, but in the nicer times of the year. And if you don't wanna go all the way to the river and make it a little shorter, it's a great hike to do.
Brian:So a lot of content available on that. But now we head into the Inner Gorge, and we have about 2.1 miles to the Black Bridge and the Colorado River. So onward. Just over five miles completed so far as we continue crash ing down toward the Colorado River and the Black Bridge. I just felt my knees for the first time.
Brian:And when I say that, I said I just felt a little discomfort in my knees, and that was right before I slipped and jammed my toe into one of these logs, water bars going across the trail. So it's been a rough few steps for me, but that reminded me that I really need to talk about the downhill and how you really have to train for a Grand Canyon downhill because there's nothing, in my opinion, that has the potential to wreck your hike like the downhill in the canyon does. And I say that because it's happened to me personally so many times. And it goes back to that unique nature of canyon hiking, how it's unlike traditional hiking where you usually you're usually hiking to something, right, to a peak or whatever. You're usually not going downhill first and especially so severely downhill.
Brian:We're talking almost a vertical mile over these six and a half miles just to get to the river. You've gotta be trained for that because if you're not, you might get sucked in and be going down too fast, not using your poles enough to brace yourself and take some of the weight and punishment off of your knees and legs and joints and feet and ankles. And next thing you know, you can get to the river. And I say this because I've had this happen to me. And I'll sit down at the river and I'll be like, wow.
Brian:I really don't feel very good. And it's typically because my feet hurt and my knees hurt. And now you've gotten yourself into some trouble because, you know, you're gonna make it out most likely, but it's gonna be painful because you haven't even turned around to do the hard part, which is the from Phantom Ranch, 9.9 miles, almost 10 miles with 4,400 vertical feet that you have to do after you've put that pounding on your legs going downhill. So you have to take the downhill incredibly seriously. I think more seriously than anything else in the canyon to avoid that pitfall that I'm that I'm talking about.
Brian:And how do you do that? Well, you listen to what coach Arnie has to say on our website, Grand Canyon Central at hikengc.com, hikingc.com. You listen to what he has to say about training yourself for the downhill so that you're more ready for it. And then what I would add on to that is having pulls is so important. It's so important.
Brian:And I have found that being really intentional with my poles on the downhill, really jamming them into the dirt and really feeling it in my arms to take some of that pounding off of my legs, I found that's what helps me more than anything else. But you have to be intentional about it because, again, it's so easy to get sucked in. You're in one of the seven natural wonders of the world. There's incredible beauty all around. You might forget the fundamentals, so to speak, that you have to really concentrate on in order to have a successful hike and not come out of here in any more pain than than need be.
Brian:You're always gonna be sore after a big hike like this. I mean, who are you kidding? Those people who say that I wasn't sore at all the next day. Come on. Shoulders weren't sore?
Brian:Not nothing was come on. I mean, really? Maybe, but I don't find that to be true. But, anyway, I digress. Train yourself for the downhill the best you can.
Brian:Take it seriously. Research Listen to the experience of others and the advice of coach Arnie and others who know what they're talking about, and you'll have a better experience. Don't let the downhill wreck your hike because if you're not careful, it will. Six and a half miles, now crossing the Black Bridge, the Kaibab Suspension Bridge. We're essentially at the bottom of the canyon.
Brian:But I'm gonna walk down to, Boat Beach here and touch the Colorado. Highly recommend a stop at Boat Beach, which is just on the other side of Black Bridge, on the north side of of Black Bridge. Easy to find. You'll see a sign that says water. Just go off to the left.
Brian:Follow the social trails down. It gets you right to the right to the edge of the Colorado. You can dip your feet in it. Great sandy beach depending on how on the water level that day. But it's a place to get a great shot with you in the in the Black Bridge in the background.
Brian:Beautiful. The river trips pull out there, for lunch and to visit Phantom and to refill their water. They don't stay there overnight, so not there long, but they they do stop there. And it's just a really cool place to stop. But be beware if you get in that water and decide that you're gonna get in and take a plunge to cool yourself off.
Brian:That water stays around 50 degrees year round. It is so cold even in the middle of summer. You know, it could be a 110 degrees, and you could be so hot, and you take a plunge in that river, and it will take your breath away. It's like when you're a little kid and you're scared to jump in. That's the same kind of feeling when you're adult, an adult, and you're thinking about plunging into the into the Colorado.
Brian:It's pretty safe right there at boat beach. It's a it's an eddy. It's about knee deep, but don't go out too far obviously because that water is really moving out there in the main channel. So you won't wanna go out too far, but that little calm eddy is a great place to stop and and cool off. At least dip your feet in there and get them ready for the ascent because that means that you are officially at the bottom of the Grand Canyon when you have your feet in the Colorado.
Brian:So I always love being able to say that no matter what, you know, tonight I'm gonna finish this I'm gonna go have dinner in Flagstaff, I'm gonna drive home tonight, and I'll end up in my bed in Phoenix. And no matter what, I'm gonna say, you know what? Earlier today, I had my feet in the Colorado River at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. And I dunno, maybe I'm just a nerd, but that's kind of a fun thing to say to yourself. It's very, satisfying and it shows you how much you can accomplish in a single day.
Brian:Right? So we're at the bottom of the canyon now officially and I'm gonna head into the Phantom area because I need to get some photos of, some of the signs there. So that'll take some extra time, but that's okay. Not in any rush. The weather's perfect.
Brian:Not trying to get out of here. Don't have to worry about the shade. Only thing we gotta worry about is potential thunderstorms. It was an 80% chance all afternoon down here at the bottom, but I it hasn't rained. I can I can tell?
Brian:There's a few sprinkles right now, but nothing serious and doesn't look like there's anything that's imminent. But full cloud cover and just makes for the most perfect imaginable summer hiking conditions in the Grand Canyon. Absolutely an anomaly when you don't have worry about the heat and you don't have to worry about people getting themselves in trouble and getting rescued because of the heat. So this is a a great day to be in the Canyon. And of course, I haven't seen a single person since that trail runner at Mormon Flats above Skeleton Point.
Brian:So once again, it seems like every time that I do summer hikes, I do them at what I think is the smartest times, which is a day like today when it's perfect, but also if I'm gonna do it during the summer when days are not perfect, when it's hot and it's a sunny day, let's say, and I come up here to do a rim to river, I'm starting in the afternoon. I'm starting not at 04:00 in the morning like everyone seems to wanna do or three in the morning because then no matter what, you are going to have to deal with that heat and that sun on the way out. There's no escaping it. But if you start late in the afternoon, 04:00, 05:00, still hot, but the sun is on its way down. It's no longer overhead and beating you down.
Brian:You're going downhill for the first half of the hike. So I like to time it so I get down here to the bottom at about golden hour, getting, you know, close to dusk. And then I know that I'm going to have shade and then darkness for the hardest part of the hike, which is of course the ascent. Yes. You have to give up seeing the views on the way out, but you saw the iconic views on the way down.
Brian:And hiking in the summer, quite frankly, requires some sacrifice somewhere. And so the sacrifice that I make is to hike out at night, which can be a very cool experience in its own right. So those are the ways to hike the Grand Canyon in the summertime. If you're doing it in the middle of the day, you are asking for trouble. And I mean between 9AM and 5PM, you are asking for trouble if you are on your way out because that sun is going to get you.
Brian:So we're here at the, Delta. There's a kiosk you can see right here and you go across the bridge right there. There's restrooms over there and a place to refill your water. You go up the trail this way, that is North Caiaphas that takes you to Phantom Ranch, Bright Angel Campground, and 14 miles from here, the North Rim. So we're go take some pictures in the Phantom area, and then we will head on out of here.
Brian:Alright. After a quick stop at Phantom Ranch, we're about to cross the Silver Bridge. Sixty five one hundredths of a mile to get to Silver Bridge from the Phantom Ranch can teen, and we are 8.37 miles into this hike overall with about nine, nine and a half still to go. So Silver Bridge is a really cool, cool experience to walk across this thing. The Trans Canyon Waterline runs directly underneath it and because the floor, I guess you'd say, of, of the Silver Bridge is a grate the entire way across, you can see all the way down to the river.
Brian:You can see the pipeline and you can see down to the rapids. They've run more, I don't know if it's conduit or or or wires or whatever it is. They've run a lot more underneath this bridge since the Trans Canyon Waterline started a couple of years ago, so it's not as good of a view straight down as it used to be, but it's still pretty cool being able to see, down to all the way to the river. Very cool part of the hike, something I always look forward to is crossing Silver Bridge. Back on the South side again, just across Silver Bridge, eight and a half miles into the hike, and we got about probably just under two miles to River Rest House and Pipe Creek Beach.
Brian:And that whole stretch on the other side of Silver Bridge, on the South Side of Silver Bridge heading to River Rest House and Pipe Creek Beach is technically called the River Trail. It's not the Bright Angel Trail. The Bright Angel Trail officially starts at Pipe Creek Beach, and from there, it's 7.7 miles to the room. So we are on the River Trail. I think most people just assume this is Bright Angel Trail because we say for Rim to River, South Kaibab to Phantom to Bright Angel.
Brian:Never mentioned the River Trail. Same with Rim To Rim. You never hear people say, I took North Kaibab to the River Trail to Bright Angel. They always just say North Kaibab to Bright Angel or vice versa. So the River Trail doesn't get the respect it deserves because it is an engineering marvel cut right into the cliffs above the Colorado River for a lot of its duration.
Brian:Very important trail because it ultimately did connect the Phantom Ranch area with the Bright Angel Trail. So it's an important artery through the inner canyon, the River Trail is. I should mention you will often hear people complain about the River Trail, or they'll call it Bright Angel, because they hate the sand on the on the on the river trail here. There are a few sandy sections, and they're like, oh, that ruins the hike, and it makes it so much harder. And I will never understand it because, yeah, there are some sandy sections, but if you just stay to the side, you don't even really notice it, or it's easier to get around because it's firmer and not as dense and fluffy as it is in the middle of the trail.
Brian:So just stay off to the side and you will be able to walk through the sandy sections with a smile on your face. Not a big deal. 9.76 miles in. Just getting to the River rest house, which is a shade structure, and there are pit toilets here as well. The cool thing though is to come down to Pipe Creek Beach, which is another sandy beach right here at Pipe Creek Rapid here on the Colorado just downriver from Phantom Ranch.
Brian:This is a place to come down and, again, what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna come down here and find a nice little spot on a rock and have something to eat. And then time to time to put the head down and get serious because it's 7.7 miles to the South Rim from here, and it's obviously all uphill 4,400 or so vertical feet to get to the Bright Angel Trailhead. So good chance to stop here at Pipe Creek Beach and fuel up, reassess, and then ultimately, reinspire yourself and then get to work. So 7.7 miles still to go. 10 miles in, have turned I wanna say inland, but we turned south southward away from the river.
Brian:We will not see it again on this hike. And we are now gonna meander back here alongside Pipe Creek for a mile or so until we get to the first big ascent, which is the infamous Devil's Corkscrew. There are a few creek crossings depending on time of the year, depending on if the water is flowing or not. There have been some times when these crossings have been deep enough that I couldn't avoid it and had to walk through it in shin deep water. Usually there are rocks and boulders that have been placed out there.
Brian:So you can pick your way across. It's not that deep even if you did slip. But there's a few of them to navigate depending on how much rain there's been Super fun. Super stuff. That's why it might be a good idea to bring a change of socks because there is a good chance that you are gonna get your feet wet on Bright Angel between here and Havasupai Gardens where you have those crossings.
Brian:And then there's one section that depending on how wet it's been, you're essentially walking for a 100 yards or so basically through the creek because the creek is the trail. So there's another one of those little crossings, but you can see there's nothing to it. There's just a couple options for dry rocks you can step on and pick your way across. I find this section to be very similar to the box on North Kaibab just after Phantom Ranch. If you've hiked Rembrandt, you know what the box is.
Brian:It's where the canyon walls close in, and it's just a narrow kind of canyon for about four miles. And you have the creek, Bright Angel Creek in that case, running alongside you the entire time. This one you have Pipe Creek running in varying degrees of distance away, but it has that same kind of feel where everything's just kinda closed in until you get to Devil's Corkscrew and start ascending. 11 miles. Just beginning the ascent of Devil's Corkscrew.
Brian:Now is when you'll start to hear my voice change and the breathing get heavier. And pretty soon, you'll see my air AirPods in my ears. I kinda know how this goes. What I'm trying to say in a roundabout way is this is where it gets tough. As soon as you get to doubles corkscrew in the 11 miles that you've been hiking, this is the first time that you're really doing serious elevation.
Brian:It only lasts less than three quarters of a mile, then and it becomes more gentle again into Havasupai Gardens. But, you know, it has its name for a reason. I think it's a little bit overrated. I don't think it's one of the more difficult stretches of the trail if all things are equal. What happens with doubles corkscrew though is that people do it in the inopportune times.
Brian:Now going up this thing in the middle of the day in August usually is almost a death wish. This is one of the deadliest stretches of trail in the Grand Canyon because people will, you know, having suddenly turning uphill and having to exert for the first time and doing that under a blazing sun and heat, it's a very dangerous combination. So if this is the middle of a summer day, if this is the middle of the war of a warm day and there's sun overhead, just like I said, back on the red and whites on South Kaibab, You're not gonna find me on on this trail, especially on this stretch of trail. Now if you use our Grand Canyon shade tracker, you can see no matter what day it is, what the shade situation is like when this section of trail shades in. And at a minimum, that would be my goal if I was planning to hike this.
Brian:That it's like, okay. I wanna hit Devil's Corkscrew because I see that it's fully shaded by 04:15PM. So that's my goal. Anything 04:15PM and later, but not before. So that's how I would plan my hike because I will not mess with the sun and the heat on top of it.
Brian:So the shade tracker works. That's it. Gcshadetracker.com. It's one of the many, tools that we offer through Hiker to help you hopefully have your best and safest possible Grand Canyon experience. Check all the tools out at hikergc.com.
Brian:That's hikingc.com. There are some unbelievable game changing tools so that you can plan your best experience. Highly recommend. So we'll check back in when we get to the top of the sucker. Again, less than three quarters of a mile to the top of it, and then I'll show you what what we just came up because you can get a really good view looking back of what Devil's Corkscrew is all about.
Brian:Alright. Survived. We made it up Devil's Corkscrew. Just on three quarters of a mile from the base of it to the top. You have to remember when you're coming up it, you're gonna be tired and ready to be at the top of it.
Brian:Just remember to look off to your right so you can look back and see kind of the iconic photo op of where you just were, the entirety of devil's cork shirt. It's a very cool photo. So highly suggest that when you get to the top, start looking off to the right, and you'll see it start to emerge, and you can take a break and take your picture. So now the next chunk of bright angel, and that is to get up to have a soup high Gardens, which is probably, oh, maybe a mile and a half from here. This is a really cool part of the trail because right up here, that's plateau point.
Brian:That's the tip of the tanto platform. And Havasupai Garden sits up on the tunnel platform as well. So you have to go through the tapete sandstone, which is the layers underneath the tunnel platform, right below the tunnel platform. It's like a big layer cake almost, and we'll get up here to the Tapeats Narrows before too long, which is a very cool section of the trail where you walk kinda just in this narrow canyon with that Tapeats stand sandstone with its layers on both sides. But before then, we've got some work to do when it comes to creek crossings.
Brian:Because I know we've been having storms the last couple of weeks, so I expect there to be quite a bit of water in, I guess, Garden Creek, as we make our way towards Havasupai Gardens. So we'll see. But making progress. We are 11.89 miles in and probably close to six miles to go, maybe a little bit more than that. Should be at about 17 and a half when all said and done today, I think.
Brian:So onward. So not bad at all. This is way better than I expected. I expected to be probably getting my feet wet walking through the creek, but that's not happening today. So who knows?
Brian:I don't know how to predict the water flow through here. It seems so random. But, yeah, that was nothing. No change of socks necessary today. Sometimes you are walking through that little section right there, and you are just walking through the creek, and it's hard to keep your feet dry.
Brian:Today? No. So a couple more creek crossings, and, let's keep running trucking. 12.5 miles and we are in the Tapeats Narrows, one of the coolest sections of the Bright Angel Trail. You know, I feel like I owe Bright Angel an apology because I spent about three years on the Grand Canyon Hiker Du Chao being kind of a South Kaibab snob.
Brian:You know, didn't wanna hear it about Bright Angel because to me, South Kaibab is what it's all about in terms of just the views. Oh, this is tricky right here. In terms of just the views and just the beauty of it. And and Bright Angel can't match that in terms of those epic iconic Grand Canyon views. But what Bright Angel does is it gives you so much diversity.
Brian:You can see all around me the greenery here on Bright Angel, and it's been like that from the river for the most part, because there's just running water everywhere. And it's cheap, though you don't have the expansive views. You know, you're going through the Depeats sand sandstone here, very unique feature feature. Devil's Corkscrew, very unique feature. The river trail running alongside the river the whole way, that's cool.
Brian:Even coming up from the river to Devil's Corkscrew through what is kinda like the box on North Kaibab, except you do on Bright Angel. So it's interesting, kinda the whole way. And now we're gonna work our way into Havasupai Gardens here after we get out of the Tepiz Narrows, and then we'll be four and a half miles four and a half steep miles from the top. But and then Upper Right Angel has its uniqueness as well. You know, there's no place else that I've seen where, for example, the Coconino sandstone is so imposing and just towering over you.
Brian:That's amazing. So every trail has its advantages and disadvantages, but I feel like I kinda owe a little mea culpa to Bright Angel because I've really come to love and respect it the more I've done it. And the more, honestly, that I do it in daylight, because oftentimes I'm going upright angel in the dark during the summer, and also taking my time a little more. I've been in such a a hurry and a race against the the stopwatch. If you stop and look around, it's like, wow.
Brian:This is actually amazing. And it's like that going down Bright Angel too. That's the first time I really noticed it. It was a few hikes ago when I went down Bright Angel. I was like, wow.
Brian:And I made it a point to take my time and look around. And you learn to appreciate and respect and wanna know more about everything you're seeing. So as much as I will give South Kaibab its flowers because I do love it and there's no views like it anywhere that I've been on in any trail in the canyon. Bright Angel is a a winner in its own right, and I love them both. So there you go.
Brian:For what it's worth. Alright. Next stop, Havasupai Gardens coming right up. 13.1 miles, Havasupai Gardens, water, pit toilets, and four and a half miles to go to the South Rim. Alright.
Brian:Stopping here to have a soup by gardens. You gotta see this. Plenty of solid ice in there. Solid. That's because of that insulated hydration compartment that we designed and put in our rimmed rim packs, which is what I use, and our Canyon Elite, which is essentially the rimmed rim pack with a hip belt.
Brian:So this is probably my favorite feature that we did. I've never seen anyone else do that, But the insulated compartment compartment, almost six hours after I started, 13.2 miles in August, and I still got solid ice in there. These packs are amazing. Got all that front storage designed in the Canyon. I designed the pack that, I wanted.
Brian:So if you're interested in a pack, I hope you will check it out at hikergc.com, hikingc.com. This is the rim to rim pack. Doesn't have a hip belt on it, but I don't feel like I need one. The Canyon Elite does have a hip belt. A lot of people want that feature for the added support, and it does help.
Brian:But these packs, they had they have the same features, same same front pocket system, and same insulated hydration compartment, which is a absolute game changer. Check it out. Alright. Almost 14 miles in now. Still making our way out of the Havasupai Gardens area.
Brian:So when you come out of Havasupai Gardens, you kinda just meander and gradually ascend for a mile or so until it starts to go up till Jacob's Ladder, is a set of switchbacks through the red wall. And that's when things get serious and things get, steep, and you have a pretty consistent incline for, the rest of the way after that. But you're about three and a half miles from the top at that point when you start Jacob's Ladder. So one of the cool things about Bright Angel and also South Kaibab is a lot of the landmarks, points of interest, rest stops are exactly a mile and a half apart from each other. So Havasupai Gardens is four and a half miles from the South Rim, but you can break it up into mile and a half chunks because you come out of Havasupai Gardens, you have a mile and a half exactly to the three mile rest house, water, pit, toilet, shade structure.
Brian:From the three mile rest house, you have a mile and a half to the mile and a half rest house. Shade structure, pit toilets, water. Seasonal water, I should say, for both of those. And then from mile and a half rest house, yeah, you guessed it, a mile and a half to the South Room and out of there. South Kaibab has that too.
Brian:It just doesn't have the water. It's a mile and a half to Cedar Ridge from the trailhead, a mile and a half to Skeleton Point from Cedar Ridge, and a mile and a half from Skeleton Point to tip-off shade structure toilets. So if you break this up into mile and a half chunks, it makes it more manageable, I feel like, on the ascent because you have little victories along the way as opposed to just the endless slog. And if you're unfamiliar with the canyon not knowing when it's ever gonna end. So if you break this up into these mile and a half chunks, it's much more manageable.
Brian:So keep that in time in mind if you're ever on the South Rim Corridor Trails, Bright Angel or South Kaibab. And our next stop will be the three mile rest house, which will come when we get to the top of Jacob's Ladder, the first big ascent on Bright Angel, which is coming up here in just a little bit. We're in the middle of Jacob's Ladder. We are 14.6 miles in and making our way up this tough set of switchbacks that takes you right into and through the Red Wall. You could see how imposing the Red Wall is.
Brian:It's hard to see on camera, but trust me, that is one imposing sheet of rock. And then when we get up a little higher, the Coconino sandstone is imposing like that as well. Part of the reason Bright Angel is so cool is these two big formations. Awesome. Alright.
Brian:14.91 miles just passing three mile rest house. There is water there seasonally, meaning not in the wintertime, but every other time of the year unless there's a pipeline break, and they do have pit toilets and a shade structure. So next stop will be the mile and a half rest house, and then we're out of here after another mile and a half after that. So getting there, slash three miles is not easy. A lot of elevation still to gain.
Brian:About 2,000 feet. So it's best to not look up. Should take me about, oh, hour and fifteen to an hour and twenty to get out of here from here. So it's probably gonna be just after dark. All those side trips to Boat Beach and to Phantom and to Pipe Creek, I think, cost me just enough time that I'm not gonna get out of here in daylight, which is a bummer, but it is what it is.
Brian:It's still been a great day, and the weather has broken. No more storm clouds. Saw the sun for a little bit, but not on me. Heat has not been a factor today nor has the sun at all. So all in all, I was hoping for some more monsoon activity because this place, when it pours and you get the waterfalls off these sheer cliffs, it is just magical.
Brian:So I was kinda hoping for that again, but not to be. The consolation prize is a perfect hiking day in the middle of August. Like I said, you get one of these about every year or two. So good to take advantage when it happens. Next stop, mile and a half.
Brian:Just over 16 miles behind us. Now's the time when I'm starting to hunt the mile and a half rest house. And from there, a lot of adrenaline to get me on out of here. You can see Havasupai Gardens down there. That green strip down there.
Brian:And beyond that, that road is plateau point at the end of it. So 16 miles in, just over a mile and a half to go. So feeling pretty good. Great day. So just so you know, the first thing you come to when you get to mile and have rest house is the toilets are separated there behind me.
Brian:They're a little bit probably a 150 yards downhill from the actual mile and half rest house, and the water is at the actual mile and half rest house. There's a spigot double spigot right here on the trail off to the side, and you cannot miss it. So we made it the mile and a half rest house. Don't need water. Don't need anything except to get on out of here.
Brian:And, again, I think we get out just after dark. Onward. So this is exactly what I was talking about when I was talking about the Coconino sandstone layer, how imposing it is on Bright Angel. That's a pretty good indication right there. And, again, video doesn't do it justice.
Brian:That's probably it's gotta be three or 400 feet of just a sheer cliff of sandstone. And as awesome as it is, I guess it's intimidating because you know that no matter what, you gotta get to the top of that. And then you got more to go after that. So the next thing that we're looking for here on Bright Angel as we work our way out from the mile and a half rest house, the next thing we look for, the next landmark, the next progress point is the lower tunnel. There's a little tunnel cut right into the Coconino.
Brian:And when you are there, you know that you are less than a mile. It's about nine tenths of a mile from the lower tunnel to the trailhead. So you you could smell the barn from there getting closer and closer. And at this point in the hike, I'm always ready to be done. It's beautiful as it is.
Brian:I don't think there's ever been a time where I finish and go, well, let's go do that again. No. This is when you start to think about dinner, what you're gonna eat if you're staying here on the rim. Or for me, I'm driving home to Phoenix tonight about three and a half hours. So I'll stop in Flagstaff, which is about an hour and a half away, and have something there.
Brian:And I just look forward to that because I've done something hard, so I give myself a little bit of a break more than I usually would. And that typically means a milkshake from somewhere because you gotta celebrate your victories in whatever ways works for you. So remember that. Reward yourself. Hiking the canyon is hard, man.
Brian:It's serious business. I think it was Buffy Park, my good friend, who said nobody ever finishes. He goes, boy, that was easy. And that is true. No matter what, when you do these difficult hikes, especially rim to rims, rim to rivers, r threes, they are hard, and they're physical accomplishments.
Brian:So important to celebrate them. So go on, finish a big hike, and go have that milkshake or whatever the reward is for you. That's what I'm thinking about now. Let's go. Alright.
Brian:Just passed Lower Tunnel. We are less than a mile from completion. We are at 17.1 overall. So we're gonna come in somewhere barely below or barely above 18. So crazy thing is is that from mile and a half to the top, especially this last mile, it's pretty steep.
Brian:I think elevation profile wise, it's the steepest part of Bright Angel, and you can probably hear that in my labored breathing the way I'm talking. So a little bit more to get through the Coconino layer, and then there's two more smaller layers, Kaibab and Toroweap to get through. And then we'll be at the rim. I'm very, very happy and very, very satisfied. I mean, just looking up, it's progress, but man, I always say don't look up.
Brian:It's dangerous to look up because all the way till the end, it's like, wow. That's still a long way to go. That's a lot of elevation to gain. So maybe as best as you keep your head down or look back down into the canyon. I don't know.
Brian:Anyway, almost there. Now we're through the upper tunnel, which means we are really almost there. Just like a tenth of a mile now. So lower tunnel, nine tenths of a mile. Upper tunnel, Almost to the end.
Brian:Just like that, we're done. 17.97 miles, 4,800 vertical feet on the way down South Kaibab, and 4,400 on the way back up of Bright Angel. So a great day. It's actually a little bit cool up here at the Bright Angel Trailhead, which I never thought I would say in the middle of August. But here we are.
Brian:This is a like I keep saying, like a once every two years kind of a day in the Canyon. So that's what Rim To River looks like here at the Canyon South Kaibab, Phantom Ranch, Bright Angel, 17.97 miles, a lot of elevation, great day in the Canyon. Go get yours. You know, it is crazy to me how much my priorities have shifted. For too long, I was all about following the watch and trying to beat my best times.
Brian:But with age, I guess really does come a little bit of wisdom, because now I'm starting to see all the things I've been missing, just like I was saying there with my bright angel, Mayaculpa. Look, if speed is your jam, I totally get it. I really do. But I'm telling you, for me, it's been so fulfilling to put my ego to the side, and really look around, and observe, and learn, and know the layers, and be fascinated by rock formations, and nuance. I don't think there's any going back now, and I would encourage you to not put a timer on your own adventure, especially if it's your first time below the rim.
Brian:Just enjoy it. Take it all in. Finish when you finish. And if you wanna come back and chase time goals, well, cool. Do it then.
Brian:Go for it after you've done it once. In case you were wondering, was out there for right at seven hours and forty minutes. I've done it as fast as five hours and forty minutes, but again, that's a lot of head down and really pushing myself, and I do think those days might be in my past now. But if you are wondering about pace, I don't have any hard numbers for you, but from my experience in observing what others talk about, my guess is the median for this rim to river hike is between nine and ten hours somewhere. Again, just a somewhat educated guess, but rim to river, it is iconic.
Brian:I hope you can get to the canyon and try it out for yourself. And when you do, well, I do hope you are ready for that downhill. You heard me talk about it. And now, it is coach Arnie's turn.
Coach Arnie:Today, I wanna go over what many would call my downhill obsession. Yes. I am obsessed with the downhill at the Canyon. Everything I teach is about the downhill. Why, you might ask?
Coach Arnie:Well, the canyon is opposite of how most of us train. We don't have those big canyons that we can start at the top and go down and come up. So we have to go opposite. And you won't get to the uphill in the canyon without a good downhill. You will be or feel wrecked.
Coach Arnie:Your body will feel like, what the heck just happened to me? So let me share a secret with you. The downhill training will help your uphill training. But here's the catch. Training the uphill won't make your downhill better.
Coach Arnie:That's the secret. And then as far as what I teach in the downhill, it's a simple phrase. I call it triple flex. If you focus on dorsiflexion of the feet, your hip flexion, and knee flexion, you will have discovered the secret to the downhill and it will help your uphill. Remember that.
Coach Arnie:In a following tip, I will get to uphill training. But just remember, triple flex and the fact that the downhill will make your uphill. And lastly, it will make your Canyon adventure memorable. I love you guys, and keep training, keep learning, keep growing, and you will have great Canyon memories. Love you.
Brian:Coach Arnie, Arnie Fonseca Jr, now available in virtual form at Grand Canyon Central. Say you want to go deeper on the downhill than Coach just did right there, well, look for the Coach Arnie Training Center on our new site, grandcanyoncentral.net, and you can ask the virtual version of Coach for yourself. You will be shocked at what you learned, and if that's still not enough, well, Coach's contact information is in the show notes, and you can always reach out to him directly. But, man, I'm telling you, the ask GC Hiker Dude feature and the essentially, the ask coach Arnie feature on grandcanyoncentral.net are just incredible tools that, you know, it'll be like you're having a conversation with either one of us, if you so desire. And the answers surprised me that you get when you ask a question in there.
Brian:It's safe to say that the virtual version of myself knows much more than the real version of myself. Funny how funny how that works. Alright. Check it out, please. That is it for now.
Brian:Again, grandcanyoncentral.net. This is all a labor of love and our latest offering in trying to help you all hike your best hike. Grandcanyoncentral. Grandcanyoncentral.net. My name is Brian Special encouraging you as always to go hike the canyon.
Brian:Take that first step. Embrace the journey. And when you get there, whether it's for time goals or taking your time, just hike your own hike and savor every step in the majestic Grand Canyon. We'll see you next time on the Grand Canyon Hiker Dude Show powered by Grand Canyon Central. Live conditions, planning tools, and so much more.
Brian:It's the finest resource for Grand Canyon hikers that has ever been created, and it is all free. That's at grandcanyoncentral.net. Check it out. See you next time, everybody.