Grand Canyon Rim-2-Rim Day Hike Suggestions

sounds like you have it pretty well covered.

keep in mind that you should bring a water filter.
while there is piped drinking water along the main corridor, they are currently doing a major replacement project and the water may be turned on or off on any particular day.

Grand Canyon Water

I did what you are doing last May and am headed back again because I enjoyed it so much. I planned on doing the R2R2R over two days but was so beat after day one I took the shuttle back to the north rim on day 2. We reserved the shuttle the morning of and had no problems. A bunch of people were doing the same thing so I don't think you'll need advanced reservations. We did it the last week of May and the temp on the north rim when we started at 4:30am was around 40 degrees, hit 110 degrees in box canyon (brutal!) and back to the 70's on the south rim when we finished up. Spectacular scenery, awesome hike! I hope to get the R2R2R done over two days this go around. For camping, I would take a poly ground sheet, a mattress and light bag, and a small day pack. No tent or netting needed. Along with a alcohol stove I am just over 3 lbs all in, w/o food and water.

Hey Rick,

I did R2R2R a couple weeks ago in a day. I think you've got a pretty good plan, but if you have any questions about the area I might be able to answer them.

For water, wade your way through the NPS website for the info that's spread out on there. Also call the backcountry information office before your trip to confirm all the water sources. If Bright Angel Creek is running you'll have access to water for about 8 miles along the creek side.

Eli …

what was your water experience 2 weeks ago ?

snow level on North Rim ?

we plan to do the RRR in a day on April 4.
will bring filters no matter what.

I went there a couple days after a big snowstorm. I broke trail in two feet of snow on the North Rim between 7,200' and 8,200'. It took me 50 minutes to do the final mile to the rim, with almost no weight on my back (just a running vest). There was no snow before Supai Tunnel and then it was all snow after that. Although I really wouldn't be surprised if the snow is gone now as long as there aren't any more big storms. If there is snow it will be well tracked and shouldn't slow you down much.

There was no water source on between the Pumphouse and the rim, so we did 10.5 miles out and back to the N Rim without water. The last time I could fill up at the creek before going up to the rim was at the bridge crossing at the Pumphouse. Otherwise I filled up almost entirely in Bright Angel Creek as you follow it for 16 miles total of the 42 mile route. The faucets at Cottonwood Camp, Supai Tunnel, and the Pumphouse were off for the winter. Call for current info on those sources. I honestly didn't filter any water. I'm still alive, but there was hardly anyone in the canyon north of Phantom Ranch at that time. There will probably be a lot more people in early April.

"Since I live in Colorado, I would drive the shorter distance and start at the North Rim. I would start my hike at dawn and hike to the South Rim, via the Bright Angel Trail."

I was planning to do it last year but got derailed by an injury. But when I was looking at the drive, Google maps was showing it was actually an hour longer to drive to the North Rim. It's a pretty long drive either way so not sure if that is significant to you or not.

Thanks to all that replied:

Art – Thanks for the heads up on water faucet maintenance shut down possibilities. I will check on it before my trip and once I arrive. I was planning on taking a water filter just in case.

Steve – Glad to hear there is a good possibility I can reserve the shuttle if needed "on the day of". I tweaked my gear list today and got it down to about 3.75 pounds w/o food and water.

Eli – Thanks for opening yourself up for more questions. I will likely take you up on that. Also, thanks for the water suggestions.

Randy – Good catch. I checked the mileage to the North Rim earlier and figured going to the South Rim would just be farther. Apparently, the routes are very different, but not the end results – about 10+ hours from Colorado with similar miles. I think I still like the idea of driving to the North as it appears finding a tent spot in the South might be easier and the shuttle leaves a lot later from the South Rim giving me more time to decide about my return trip – hike or shuttle.

A few more questions:

1) Am I correct in thinking I can leave my Montbell XL down jacket at home along with rain gear?

2) Trying to decide what to do for sleeping arrangements the night before. I have a shell on my pickup and sleep in there all the time when I can. Could I get away with that while parked at the North Rim trailhead (or somewhere at the North Rim) or would I have to find a spot prior to the park if any spots exist. I also believe there is a town or two North of the park and I could possibly stay in a hotel there and come in early on hike day.

3) What is the best way to solve hiking food for day 2 if needed? I'd rather not carry 2 days of food on day 1, yet might need hiking food on day 2 if I hike back to the North Rim. Is there a way to mail it to the South Rim in advance for a potential pick up or does anyone have any other suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

1 gram: a U.S. $20 bill, with an engraving of Andrew Jackson on it.

At Phantom Ranch, this can be converted into 3 lemonades, 2 power bars, a postcard and a stamp. Giving you 2 liters of fluids and about 1500 calories all for 1 gram. Mail the postcard there for the cool cancellation. And to save weight.

3 grams: a Visa card. On the South Rim, this can give you your bedding and shelter and cooking. A real roof, bed, and thermostat on the wall. Soap and shampoo provided so you can wash up (you'll need it) and wash clothes (press between towels to get mostly dry then use the hair dryer). Use the coffee maker to boil water for the top ramen you bought at the grocery store ("The Marketplace"). But I'd take that same credit card and eat out that night.

Pizza and beer.
Cafeteria food.
Burger and shake.
Sit down restaurant with menu and four-course meals.
or all of the above.

2). If you stay low, maybe with curtains or a few boxes around you, no problem.

3). There is an EXCELLENT market / outfitter on the South Rim at the Market Plaza. 4 kinds of over-shoe ice creepers at fair prices. Stoves, stove fuel, F-D food. Goretex parkas, patagucci (I think), wool socks, wicking underwear, backpacks. And produce, Cheerios, free-range chicken, grass-fed beef, donuts, dry goods, beer, wine, deli sandwiches, ice cream. Anyone could walk in there with $25 and walk out with 6,000 calories of reasonably lightweight trail food.

David – Thanks for the suggestions. I have used my truck bed many times in the past at trailheads (i.e., Mt Whitney, Yosemite, Colorado Trail, etc.), although, it was a work shell with no windows. I now have a different truck and shell with 3 windows so it might be a bit harder. I have seen authorities shinning lights on vehicle in the past at trailheads, yet, I have never been to the Grand Canyon before so don't know the tendencies there. Typically, I get everything all set in the truck bed in the daylight, wait until dark, climb in quickly w/o using lights and often exit before dawn w/o any issues.

You suggested obtaining nice accommodations on the South Rim, although, I was under the impression those need to be scheduled many, many months (or up to a year) in advance. I think I will be fine with the $18 Mather campground site anyway. It is nice to know I can buy some food for the 2nd day if needed at the South Rim.

Yeah, maybe. But you could check. 10 miles south in Tusayan, I've had good success booking rooms at reasonable rates at the last minute at Red Feather Lodge.

Campground on the north rim is completely booked as there are few lodging options there, so I would go with your game plan to sleep in the bed of your truck on the north rim and plan on camping on the south rim, where there are still openings. I had a tough time getting a hotel/lodge reservation on the south rim two months ago so I would imagine lodging there, other than the campground, is long gone by now.

Thanks David & Steve. I'm going for the truck bed hotel on the North Rim the night prior to my start date and the $18 Mather Campground on the South Rim on night one. I'll likely buy food for day two if needed and/or take a few extra favorites on day one as well. I'm also going to call the park and see if they can receive any packages at the South Rim just in case I want the option. My accommodations might not be too luxurious, but they are very price friendly – smile.

Any feedback on my current decision to leave my down jacket and rain gear for this hike at home?

I think you should just check the weather forecast for the South Rim before your trip and decide. The South Rim is at 7,200' so it might be a bit cold waiting around in the morning for the shuttle bus from the campground to the trailhead on the return journey, might want your down jacket. If there is no rain in the forecast leave your rain jacket at home. Personally, if there was absolutely no rain I would leave my shelter at home too.

For camping at the North Rim I'd just stealth camp on one of the many side dirt roads in the area. A quick look at Google Maps shows tons of options. Northern Arizona is the best place I've seen for stealth camping on random roads spurs off remote highways.

You'll be early for monsoon rains or afternoon thunderstorms, so if the forecast looks good, I'd skip the rain jacket.

If the puffy isn't part of your sleep system, I wouldn't bring it. You can use your quilt in a pinch at a cold bus stop.

Three weeks ago, at 19F on the SR, I started with a wicking t-shirt, a long-sleeve sun shirt, and shorts. And was fine. It gets warmer, fast, as you leave the rim, especially the SR. My 10-year-old daughter did wear a puffy at first, but was in Capri pants all the time (8 hr 40 min) to the River and back.

We did the 2 day R2R2R hike last early May. There is a Forest Service campground (Demotte) on the road in to the North Rim. http://www.recreation.gov/camping/demotte/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=NRSO&parkId=108033

It was over 100 in the inner canyon when we hiked, but we ate a lot of salty stuff, drank tons of water (all the spigots were on) and took electrolyte supplements.

We stayed in a room on the South Rim for the overnight because we didn't want to carry shelter and sleeping gear plus we wanted to be rested for the return trip. We went down to the river, up Bright Angel, then went down South Kaibab the next day. This is harder than going South-North-South but it worked well for us. If you do plan to eat in the touron hell that is the South Rim, take plenty of cash!

Enjoy

I'm excited about leaving for my Rim-2-Rim tomorrow. Thanks to everyone who has helped with the details. All water faucets appear be on which is good as they are expecting 103-104 temps at Phantom Ranch. I'm taking my Sawyer Mini just in case, along with some salty foods and electrolyte supplements.

Decided to leave the rain gear at home. Pack will be at 4.7 pounds less food and water with my camera (under 9 pounds with 1L water and 1 day of food). Plan on buying food for return trip at the South Rim before I head back.

How anyone ever walked from Mather Campground to the South Kaibab trailhead?

I am staying at the NE end of the campground and the South Entrance Road (Hwy 64) runs just East of me. It appears like a relatively easy and short cross country over to this highway, then take it to Desert View Drive and over to the S. Kaibab trailhead.

There is a shuttle that runs to the trailhead, yet getting from my campsite over to the Visitor Center involves a bit of walking as well and multiple shuttles so I am leaning on just making the 3 mile walk to the trailhead. Also thinking my body may like several miles of leisurely walking first thing in the morning after the previous day crossing to loosen up a bit before I start the return trip.

Any thoughts?

I just posted my post trip report for my recent Grand Canyon Rim2Rim2Rim 2-day hike in the Post Trip Report section of this site if anyone has an interest in reading it. Unfortunately, I could not get any photos to upload.

I did discover a few things on my trip and wanted to share those details here in case they might be helpful to anyone trying to plan something like this in the future. Also, thanks again to all of you who helped me plan my Grand Canyon trip as your input was very helpful.

1) I did not see any signs at the N. Kaibab trailhead saying we couldn’t sleeping in vehicles at that location so I slept in the back of my pickup there without any park ranger issues. The parking lot has quite a few spots and there are an additional 6-10 more parking spots on the shoulder of Hwy 67 on the North Rim side of the trailhead, however, there were no shoulder parking spots on the park entrance side of the trailhead.

2) I did not notice any places to sleep once I entered the park from the North until I reached the N. Kaibab trailhead area.

3) The N. Kaibab trailhead was busy all through the night with people coming and going at all hours. It was the quietest on the shoulder of Hwy 67 a bit farther away from the trailhead than it was in the actual parking lot or on the shoulder closer to the trailhead. Yes, I moved my truck several times trying to find a quieter place to sleep.

4) As someone here suggested to me, the Market Area on the South Rim has a great store with lots of ready to eat food choices (sandwiches, whole roasted chickens, pasta salads, salads, fresh fruit, etc) and it was also a very good place to buy food for day two as that way it doesn’t have to be carried on day one. If I did this again, I would plan on eating dinner there instead of carrying dinner, my stove, and fuel across the canyon.

5) Spending the night at Mather Campground is a great choice, especially for anyone who decides to make this trip on shorter notice and hotel rooms were all taken. It only costs $18 a night and it is only 1 mile from the Market area. I’d also suggest just walking there compared to having to take the necessary connecting shuttles to get there.

6) If you plan to walk to the S. Kaibab trailhead from Mather Campground it is about 2.5 to 3.0 miles. I would suggest trying to get a campsite on the East end of the campground as this puts you closest to Hwy 64 (South Entrance Road). If your site is elsewhere, there is a paved path that goes from the very end of the main entrance road to the Greenway Trail and from it the highway is in very close proximity. Scouting the wooded area behind the campground in the daylight before trying to find your way to Hwy 64 in the dark will make the trip a bit easier.

7) If walking from the campground to the trailhead, make your way to Hwy 64 (East of the campground – less than 0.25 mile) and head North (left). Take this to the first stop sign and go right – Desert View Drive). You will see a road sign showing distances to two far away Arizona towns, yet there will be no evidence this road will eventually merge back into the park (especially at night with limited sight), but it does. It took about 20 minutes of walking on Desert View Drive before the park (and the path to the S. Kaibab trailhead) appeared. Follow the path along the canyon’s rim (0.9 miles) and it will lead you right to the trailhead.

8) If planning to head down the S. Kaibab trail in the dark, I would suggest a bright headlamp and a way to place it lower than on your head. I heard others talking about wearing their light on their waist or torso area helps with depth perception, yet never really understood why it mattered. After spending several hours descending this trail in the dark, I now understand and next time I will not wear my light on my head.

9) I highly recommend trekking poles if you are hiking in the canyon. Your knees will love you.

10) Be prepared for the possibility that day two might be challenging even if day one was easy. I was surprised at how easy day 1 was overall and even more surprised how much harder day two was. I believe these multi-day efforts catch up on us quickly, especially when we are new to them.

11) I brought about 4,000 calories of food for day one. I had 800 for breakfast, 400 every 2 hours on the trail and about 1,200 for dinner. I was surprised to see my heart rate monitor said I burned over 8,200 calories just on the trail on day one. I think I bonked a bit on day one due to not enough carb loading prior to the trip, not enough food when hiking, and not enough after I finished hiking on day 1.

12) Eating food and drinking water was super hard on day two. I think finding the sweet spot on what, when, and how much to eat and drink takes some time and trial and error. This is something I need to improve on and I think this needs to be one of top items to solve prior to a trip like this.

13) Drinking a ton of just plain water was very difficult especially on day two. I would bring something to mix in the water to give it some taste for more variety.

Hiking across the Grand Canyon twice in two days didn’t have the quite the luster for me that a double crossing in a single day would have, yet, I found this to be a great goal for my current skill levels and in hindsight I am glad I chose this intermediate goal rather than trying the double crossing first. This trip helped me see the areas I need to improve on and it went just well enough that I may still attempt a double crossing in the years to come.