Hiking the Grand Canyon Rim2Rim – Complete Guide

Reading Time: 25 minutes

It was early 2024 and I saw a post on hiking Rim2Rim and it looked like an awesome challenge. The furthest we hiked until that point was 12 miles for the Havasupai trip. At the same time, I remembered Rodney’s sister, Esther, who lived in Phoenix was going to be hiking Rim2Rim that spring before she moved out of state. We learned the weekend she was aiming for we were available so we started trying to put things in place to make it happen. After looking into the details, I learned it’s a 21 – 23.5 mile hike with roughly 4,300′-5,700′ feet of elevation gain (depending on the route you take). Temps vary greatly from the start/end and when you’re in the valley. That sounded hard but a great challenge and accomplishment to complete for the year. But then, I saw the bridges and a stretch of very high and sheer cliffs. I panicked, could I do it? I was deathly afraid of heights. Read this post to learn how I cured my fear of heights just in time to do this hike!

The Rim2Rim (Rim to Rim) hike means you start on one side of the Grand Canyon (either North or South Rim) going down into the valley and over the Colorado river then up the other side (either South or North Rim). You have two options to start/end on the south side – either South Kaibab or Bright Angel. The South Side has a lot of tour buses and tours come through as the viewing areas on that side are built out, it also has a lot more parking. On the North side the trailhead is called North Kaibab. It has less tour groups, a smaller parking lot, a few amenities within a mile or two of the trailhead, and the road to that trailhead is only open in season.

Yes, there is an official season for the hike which is mid May (usually May 15) through late November (usually Nov 30th). You can hike anytime in there without a permit if you hike straight through without overnighting. Services that are available when it’s in season include campgrounds (if you got a permit and reservation), water running at the water refill stops, and serviced bathrooms along the way. Because the summer gets unbearably hot in the valley, people do NOT want to hike mid summer. The ‘busy’ season tends to be when it first opens in May as well as late October and November before they close. Heat stroke during the hike is common, people plan trips so they can go when there is water access and hopefully when it’s cooler in the valley but no snow yet along the route.

If you want to camp overnight, I am not the person to get advice from since we didn’t do it. But, you’ll need a backcountry permit. Also, many people don’t considered it a true Rim2Rim hike if you don’t hike it straight through in one shot (the same way it isn’t considered a marathon if you run 26.2 miles over several days). If breaking the trip up and camping is more up your alley, you can learn about getting a backcountry permit here. Keep in mind, it gets HOT in the valley, many people sleeping in the campgrounds have to wake up in the middle of the night during the heat of the summer to wet themselves so they can stay cool enough to even sleep. Some of the campgrounds between the rims are Cottonwood Campground, Bright Angel campground, and Indian Garden / Havasupai Gardens campground. There is also Phantom Ranch option which runs a lottery for their accommodations. They are located roughly halfway through the hike.

TL:DR Recap of how we did our hike:

We hiked on opening weekend of the Grand Canyon (Sat, May 18th). We split our group into runners and hikers. We were in the hiker group. We had the runners overnight sleep in their car at the North Kaibab parking lot and they went from North Kaibab to Bright Angel (where our car was parked). We stayed at Red Feather Lodge the night before then woke up and was out the door by 3:30am for a 4am start. A person in our group wanted to run a bit and wanted extra milage so they offered to drop the rest of us hikers off at the South Kaibab trailhead, park the car back at Bright Angel trailhead, and then eventually meet us along the trail as they played catch up. Our group was going from South Kaibab to North Kaibab. When we (hiking group) finished at North Kaibab trailhead, we took the runners car that they left for us there and went to Jacob’s Inn (1 hour from North Kaibab) where we had dinner and reserved a room to sleep in that night. When the runners finished at Bright Angel, they grabbed our car on that side and drove around to meet us at Jacobs Inn (3 hours from South Kaibab) where they also booked a room for the night. Because the runners were faster, they met us at Jacob’s Inn near the North Kaibab side around the time we got there. The group of runners were driving back to Utah so these logistics were in their favor. We went through about 100 calories a hour and ate lots of salty things as well as put electrolytes in our water. We filled up our water bottles and bladders at every water station the second half of the hike (after the shade was gone in the valley) and went through it all. Hiking poles made a huge difference on our way up North Kaibab. It took us just shy of 10 hours (9 of those hours were moving time) to go from South Kaibab to North Kaibab – 21 miles with roughly 5,700 of elevation gain. Our Strava said the route was a bit longer (closer to 23 miles) but we think that was a connectivity error. We stopped longer at all of the open water refill stations on ascent to fill with water and had to wait as there was a line, this cost us some time but was welcomed as we needed a break. Part of our group finished a few hours after us.

Cheat sheet: here’s the doc we made for trip planning, prepping, and packing. You can make a copy of it and fill it with your own details. Hope that makes things easier!

Calculating Time

It’s always good to have a goal. You can use a longer hikes you completed to help benchmark yourself on how long you think it will take you so you or your goal. The heat, terrain, and how your body reacts will impact it but having somewhere to aim is helpful with motivation along the way.

We previously did a 10 mile hike with 2,500 elevation gain (Havasupai Falls) during the hottest part of the summer. That took us about 4 hours. Using that as a benchmark, we decided to aim for 10 hours since this hike is a touch over double the distance and elevation gain, and since it’s all around more we should be more tired and slower so we tacked on plus 20%. We assumed we would be doing the hardest last 5 miles (bulk of incline) at 1 mile per hour pace which meant we needed to clear the other 16 miles at roughly 20 min mile pace every mile, give or take.

To execute on this, we powered through the first part, the downhill, often lightly jogging (making sure to take care of our knees on the way down) and booked it from South Kaibab to the Black Bridge quickly. We then hiked through the valley and out of the Box at a great pace so we were long gone before the shade was. The Manzanita refill station was about 6 miles out with 4k elevation gain to go, switchbacks galore. We started feeling the fatigue and the sun was now out in full force. Each mile from that point onward was a greater struggle than the last with the only reprieve being the temperature drops the more incline we conquered. It was slow going, but we expected that. Luckily, having the 10 hour goal helped push us through and keep us motivated so we ended right on target. Rodney pulled ahead the last quarter mile but we both got in before 10 hours of total time (including stops).

Our legs were sore for the next 3 days!

Training

We didn’t train. We’re in our late 30’s / early 40’s but lead an active life and eat healthy. We finished the hike around 10 hours. Rodney’s sister also didn’t train. She’s in her 40’s, a mother of 3, and did a few short hikes over the past year. She came in around 14 hours. Her friend that was hiking with us (a mother of 4, also in her 40s) did train by doing the stair stepper with a weighted backpack over a few weeks and doing longer distance walks. She came in around 12 hours.

If you can train, it will only help you. Trying to get in distances in one walk that are 10 – 15 miles and doing activities (like the stair stepper) to get elevation gains close to 5k feet vertical in one sitting is only going to make you better equipped for the hike. Depending on your fitness level, you may need to train or may not. You know you best.

Getting There

Getting to the trailheads for the Grand Canyon Rim to Rim (Rim2Rim) hike will take a few hours any way you cut it. If you are driving, that should be self explanatory. If you are flying, here are the best options:

  • SGU (St George, UT)
    4.5 hour drive to North Rim
    4.5 hour drive to South Rim
  • LAS (Las Vegas, NV)
    6.25 hour drive to North Rim
    4.25 hour drive to South Rim
  • PHX (Phoenix, AZ)
    7.75 hour drive to North Rim
    3.5 hour drive to South Rim
  • FLG (Flagstaff, AZ)
    5.5 hour drive to North Rim
    1.5 hour drive to South Rim
  • GCN (Grand Canyon National Park Airport in Grand Canyon Village, AZ)
    20 min to South Rim / Bright Angel
    4 hours to North Rim

Because of the length of the drive, renting a car makes the most sense to get between the airports and trailheads.

If you are looking to make the trip quick, going through GCN will be the fastest but also the most expensive as you would need to charter a flight (no commercial airlines use it). If you go that route, you wouldn’t need to rent a car – you could arrange a shuttle and/or leverage the taxi on the South Rim side.

Other distances:

  • Area of hotels by South Rim
    4 hours to North Rim
    22 min to Bright Angel / South Rim
  • Jacob’s Lake Inn
    1 hour to North Rim
    3 hours to South Rim
  • South Rim <> North Rim
    4 hours

Park Entrance Fee

There is an entrance fee at both Bright Angel/South Kaibab and North Kaibab. It isn’t always manned for what it’s worth. If you have an annual America the Beautiful / Park pass that will get you free entry. At this time this was written, it was $35 per vehicle. You can learn more about entrance fees here. It isn’t timed and there isn’t a limit so no rush to get it and no need to panic if you forgot to get one before you arrive.

How to Get Your Car Back or Get Back to your Car

Then there’s the logistics. You start on one side, end on the other, and it requires several hours of driving to get between the two with no Ubers or public transit readily available. Figuring out how you are going to get back to your car may influence who you pick to do the hike with. Alternatively, if you don’t have anyone to do the hike with, that may also influence how you get back to your car.

You have a few options:

  • There is a shuttle that operates when the hiking season is open (mid May ~15th through end of Nov ~30th) but you need to book in advance and it really limits your timeline as you are then on their schedule. You can take the shuttle the day before and stay in a hotel that night to make logistics a bit easier but then you need to arrange a ride from the trailhead to a hotel that night and then back in the early hours of the morning when you want to start the hike.
  • You can hike Rim2Rim2Rim and end back on the side you started BUT not many people can do 20+ miles let alone 40+ miles
    • You can do the 40+ mile hike in one day, it takes most people around 24 hours
    • You can grab a hotel on one side and do it over two days where you do roughly 20+ miles each day. You can probably get someone else ending to take you to the hotel on their way out after they finish their hike.
    • If you are get extra lucky you can get a campground on the route two nights apart and split it up over 4 days doing roughly 10 miles each day. Rim to campground / valley to rim to hotel to campground / valley to rim.
  • The car swap method — you can go in two groups with each starting on opposite sides, and upon completing Rim2Rim, taking each others cars, and meeting on the same side, at home, or somewhere else.

Where to Park your Car

If you decided to drive, you’ll need some car parking options!

South Rim – Bright Angel has ample parking. We parked in the Visitor Center area. South Kaibab doesn’t. However, Bright Angel has a free shuttle that runs to South Kaibab. The issue is it doesn’t start early enough for hikers to use it if they want to beat the heat so you will want to find another way to South Kaibab trailhead from Bright Angel if you plan on starting your hike on that side. If you end on that side, you can catch the shuttle from South Kaibab to Bright Angel as long as you don’t end too late. More on that free shuttle service here. A copy what the map looked like the year we went and the shuttle route (orange) from Bright Angel to where we started hiking, South Kaibab. You may also be able to utilize the local taxi driver to take you from your hotel to the starting point. The one that was operating when we went: Xanterra Taxi Service at 928.638.2631. But, it’s a little risky because they may be behind schedule or can’t take you if you make reservations late. If you want to start on South Kaibab you can either do a little extra milage and walk from Bright Angel to South Kaibab to start or have someone in your group drop you off at South Kaibab then park the car at Bright Angel and they do the extra milage. We had a runner in our hiking group that wanted the extra milage and would be faster than us so they did just that – dropped us off at the South Kaibab trailhead, went to Bright Angel, parked the car there, then ended up meeting up with us just after Skeleton Point.

North Kaibab has limited parking but if you get there early, well before sunrise, it’s usually easy to find a spot. If you are worried, you can get there really early aka super late the night before, take a few hour sleep in your car (car camp) then take off on your hike. You can also park along the road but be sure to read the signs as parking is not allowed on certain parts of the road.

Rodney’s other sister, Ingrid, had a group of runners that wanted to do Rim2Rim so Esther coordinated the trip with them with the intent on the last option – switching cars and meeting up. They ran and we hiked. Since they were faster, they started a little later than us from North Kaibab and ran to Bright Angel where they grabbed our car when they finished and drove it to North Kaibab where we ended. Because they were running, they ended up meeting us at the hotel nearby on the side we ended on right after our group finished the hike. We sent text messages and photos of where we hid the key, where the car was parked, and a reminder on what the car looked like right before we started the hike. We also left them drinks in a cooler and snacks so they could fuel up after they finished (they did the same for us). If you have an option to do it that way, it makes things really easy and I highly recommend it.

Which Route to Take

You’ll be doing North Rim’s North Kaibab trail either way but you can start there or end there. On the South Rim side, you can choose between South Kaibab or Bright Angel to start/end. Both of the options on the South Rim side to/from the North Kaibab trail make up the Rim2Rim hike. If you are an avid hiker, there are longer deviations you can opt for but we’ll leave those out of this discussion to keep things easy.

The colors indicate the different rock colors as the terrain changes (great indicators as to where you are) and a visual of general route path and elevation

Before you decide on which route, here are some notes to level set your understanding of the terrain and differences

  • North Kaibab is the highest point. Do you want to go down it or come up it?
  • Bright Angel to/from Bright Angel Campground is a farther trek but less elevation change than South Kaibab to/from Bright Angel Campground.
  • South Kaibab to/from the river/bridge has very few water stops (if the water is working). If you are ending a hike going up South Kaibab that’s a little risky as you’ll probably be thirsty.
  • Water fill up stations aren’t always on. Check the day before your hike and leading up to your hike as it may alter your plans
  • The hottest part is between Bight Angel campground and Ribbon Falls (it’s called the Box). When it’s warm in the valley, you will want to be out of the Box before the sun hits. You can use this link to a shade tracker to check what time that is going to be for the days you are hiking.
  • The coldest parts are at the top of North Kaibab, Bright Angel, and South Kaibab (this can vary up to 50* or more). You’ll want layers to take off / put back on.
  • If you go during off-season, be prepared to have snow and ice along the route with no water facilities working

If you have bad knees the downhills will be bad and you may want to try and minimize those (there is not avoiding them). If it’s hot and you want to make sure you have lots of water the entire time, you may want to avoid South Kaibab. It really depends what makes the most sense for you.

We had the runners going from North Kaibab to Bright Angel (where our car was parked) and we were dropped off at South Kaibab then hiked to North Kaibab.

Route Distances, Elevation Changes, Water Options, Bathrooms, etc.

I put these distance trackers that show elevation change, total distance per segment, notes, ranger station info, toilet access, emergency phone, drinking water fill up, etc. together so you don’t have to. The water is where water is if it’s working. Water will not be working out of season and even in season it sometimes isn’t working. You’ll still want to check to see if it’s working or not. The yellow water is where we had planned fill ups.

Hotels & Restaurants

Hotels tend to book up quicker for the prime part of season which is usually opening weekend and late October / early November.

North Kaibab

The road to North Kaibab is ONLY open during the season, roughly May 15 – Nov 30. You won’t be able to access many of these otherwise including the Kaibab trailhead.

  • North Rim Campground – 1.4 miles from the North Kaibab trailhead. Really inexpensive but you’ll need to have your camping gear or an RV with you. Dump station onsite.
  • Grand Canyon Lodge, North Rim – 2 miles from the North Kaibab trailhead. More expensive than Jacob’s Inn
  • Grand Canyon Lodge Dining Room – 2 miles from the North Kaibab trailhead. White tablecloth type dining. Reservations are highly recommended during peak season.
  • Deli in the Pines – 2 miles from the North Kaibab trailhead. Quick spot for some easy food and calories – things like pizza, burgers, and cold drinks. Nothing Fancy
  • Roughrider Saloon – 2 miles from the North Kaibab trailhead. Alcoholic drinks (full bar), beer, breakfast burritos, and coffee. Dive bar feel, nothing fancy. Limited hours, 11a-1p daily during season.
  • Jacob’s Lake Inn – about 50 min from North Kaibab trailhead or a 3 hour drive from South Kaibab. They have a restaurant onsite and amazing cookies from their bakery. Restaurant food is okay at best but the cookies are delicious!

South Kaibab / the Grand Canyon Village, AZ area

This area is 20 min from Bright Angel trailhead. It has a cluster of hotels and a cluster of restaurants. Nothing is super nice or fancy but they do the job for people coming to see or hike the Grand Canyon near the South Rim.

Fear of Heights & Bridges

If you have a fear of heights, bridges, or sheer cliffs you can choose to know what you are getting into or just power through it. Here is what I did to conquered my fear of heights before I went. Regardless, here’s what I found scary before I started:

The main bridges high off the water cross the Colorado river. If you start on Bright Angel, it’s that bridges crossing called the Bright Angel Trail Bridge If you start on South Kaibab it’s the Black Bridge crossing. They are both pretty high off the ground and pretty long. We crossed the Black Bridge, it was about 70′ off the ground and several hundred feet long. It’s very sturdy, the Black Bridge is the one mules use and has railing on both sides. All the other bridges at other parts of the hike were short and much closer to the ground so if your can do the one that crosses the Colorado you can do the others.

All of the trails were plenty wide, if you still to the inside you will be okay. If you come across a pack of mules being taken up or down the hill and explain you are terrified, they’ll probably be okay going around you. The most sheer cliffs were near the North Kaibab side, this particular stretch is called by some people the “eye of the needle”. It is several hundred if not thousand feet from the ground, straight down off the edge, and the trail is more narrow than in wider parts of the hike (I’d say still 3′ at the skinniest part but usually 5-7′).

Here is a photo and video of that stretch:

You can see it placed on my map as well near the North Kaibab side. It’s not too far after the Pump House stop.

It felt like it went on for a few miles and was not just mentally difficult but if you are heading UP the North Kaibab side, it’s mentally demanding. If you are afraid of heights, the plus side is you’re pretty tired going that direction so your brain doesn’t have as much energy left to freak out as much. I walked with my husband on the outside and I was on the inside and we did fine.

Trip Timeline

This is what we did and it worked well for us. It was a three day trip – fly in early Friday, hike Saturday, fly home late Sunday. Three of us from the hiker group were from Texas. Two from the hiker group were local people from Arizona. All three runners were driving in from Utah.

Day 1

  • Check weather at the rims and in the valley for: rain, snow, extreme heat, etc.
  • Check what water stations are on
  • Make sure your pack is pre-packed
  • Make sure your toenails are cut
  • Check the shade map to know when the shade will be gone from the Box (plan your hike so you’ll finish that portion before the shade leaves)
  • Fly in
  • Make a food stop – grab hiking snacks you didn’t bring, fill up with the water you’ll start hiking with, and grab extra drinks/snacks to leave in the car for after you’re done as well as for your drive back
  • Drive to the hotel on one side of the rim you’re starting on and check in (alternatively grab shuttle and go to other side of the canyon that night, sleep at hotel on that side but leave your car where you’ll end / where you grabbed the shuttle from)
  • Eat a good dinner
  • Plan start time based on heat of the day (you want to be out of the box before the shade is gone)
  • Set your alarm and go to sleep

Day 2

  • Wake up early (we woke up around 3/3:30am)
  • Check weather again (rims, valley) and add / remove clothing based on this report.
  • Check to see which water refill stations are working. Plan stops based on this report
  • Drive to trailhead and start hiking (we were at the trailhead by 4am)
  • Eat at least once a hour, drink once a hour, make sure you are taking in salt the entire time you are hiking.
  • Finish hike (took us just under 10 hours elapsed time, 9 hours of moving)
  • Grab car the group that started on the side you’re ending on left for you OR grab your car if you took the shuttle over the night before
  • Grab snacks at the Deli in the Pines while we waited for the rest of the hiking group to finish
  • Drive to hotel
  • Get dinner
  • Sleep

Hiking during sunrise when you aren’t exhausted and seeing the valley come to life as the sunlight touches it was magical. We also hiked and saw the mules going down. They have set times so if you leave early enough you can avoid them. Call the park in advance to get their schedule if this matters to you, you’ll want to start before them otherwise you’ll most likely catch them on your way down.

Day 3

  • Wake up next morning and drive home / drive to airport
  • Grab breakfast on the way
  • Fly out
  • Schedule a massage for your legs once you get home

Weather

You’ll want to know the weather predications the days leading up to, the day before, and the morning you leave the for hike just to make sure you’re well prepared.

Grand Canyon Weather Conditions – This NPS page provides a daily overview of the weather in the Grand Canyon.
Phantom Ranch Forecast – It’s key to check the weather at Phantom Ranch at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, since that is where it is hottest, while the rims can be significantly cooler.
The typical temperature difference between the Rim and the River is between 15° and 30°F during the season.

HEAT: More likely than not, heat will be the big problem you encounter. It can be well over 100* in the valley even at the start of end of the season let alone when the shade leaves the Box. During the heat of the summer, it can be well into the triple digits for most if not all the hike. You want to be prepared and start with the right layers for the colder temps at the top that you can easily remove. Heat also means having enough water on you for the stints between water refill stations. It also means you have cooling towels you can use to help cool down your core. Some people like moisture wicking clothing, I personally like clothing that is comfortable, light in color to reflect the sun, and some clothing that I can dip in water to cool down that will stay wet a bit if needed (usually a cotton top or sports bra). The Box when the shade leaves will be the hottest part of the hike, during season, try to clear it before the shade is gone (power through if you have to). Use the river to dunk yourself if you need to stay wet and cool off. Do the same at the refill stations if you think you are overheating.

If you’re looking at a very hot year, here is a great doc that goes into more depth on what to do and not do.

WIND & RAIN: A wide brimmed hiking hats with a drawstring are great as the winds can pick up (you don’t want it blowing off you) or to help shield from the rain. and you don’t want it blowing off you. If rain is possible, have a layer for that packed (lightweight rain jacket) and a garbage bag to cover your pack if the things inside can’t get wet. For rain situations, an extra pair of dry socks to change into if necessary can be a blessing.

SNOW / ICE: For those hiking at the start or end of season it can still be snowy or icy at the rims. In some instances you’ll need extra gear (like crampons) to complete the hike because of the layers of ice.

If you hike outside of season, you’ll want to do more extensive research as you’ll likely be hiking in snow and ice which require different weather preparedness. Also, the water refill stations aren’t usually working either and that requires a certain amount of planning and extra gear.

Gear / Packing

We went mid May, below is what we packed. Keep in mind, the lighter you can pack, the better because you need to haul everything with you. Avoid food high in water content because it’s heavy or eat it early on. Avoid food that is messy because you need to carry the garbage out with you.

I hiked with the Osprey 1.5L hydration pack. It doesn’t have much room to store things but it was enough for me and has a 1.5L bladder. I was able to bungee the extra clothing on, put my snacks and some key medical items in the top pocket, and used carabiners as well as my hiking belt for the other goodies including my filtered soft water bottle. And, my phone went in the pocket in my shorts. It helped that Rodney was hiking with a larger pack – a Fox Racing Portage hydration pack with 3L bladder. It has lots of expandable storage with tons of bungees and places to clip things on so he helped carry more of the food and extra items than I did since my pack was much smaller (and so am I).

Accessories & Gear

  • Sunglasses
  • Cash
  • Phone and battery charger
  • Lock screen with emergency number and our name
  • Cached map of the route
  • Downloaded maps of hike with which have rest stops
  • Camelback (Jen had a 1.5 L, Rodney had a 3L bladder in theirs)
  • Trekking poles and holder for bag –> it was my first time hiking with poles and I couldn’t imagine doing the uphill without them. We had these very lightweight ones from Solomon that we loved.
  • Cooling towel with a hold for a carabiniers
  • Headlamp with new batteries
  • Carabiniers
  • Filtration water bottle 490ml

Clothing for hiking

  • Shorts
  • Tank top / t-shirt
  • Sports bra
  • Hiking waist belt (not necessary but you can put your poles in them, a soft water bottle, or snacks. We like hiking with them)
  • Long Sleeve
  • Sun hat with a strap (they make ones with ponytail holes for women, these are great)
  • Beanie Hat (didn’t end up hiking with it, left it)
  • Rain / wind top (didn’t end up hiking with it, left it)
  • Pant layer (didn’t end up hiking with it, left it)

Medical & Emergency to hike with

  • Sunscreen mini on a clip
  • Blister kit
  • Bandaids
  • Advil
  • Water filtration tablets (the water at the refill stations sometimes make people sick)
  • Water filtration bladder connector (a combo like this if it fits in your pack is great peace of mind if there is a chance of contaminated water).
  • TP backup
  • Knee brace
  • Toenail clipper (if your toes bother you while you hike, trim them!)
  • Tiny hand sanitizer
  • Small bag to put trash (pack in pack out)

Food for the hike

  • 2 energy bars
  • Sleeve of Nuun tablets
  • Beef jerky
  • Raisins
  • Gel / energy goo
  • Trail mix in a baggie (no chocolate, will melt)
  • Banana & PB (pre-hike food / breakfast)
  • Pretzels
  • Cheese Its mini bag
  • Dried fruit bag
  • Oranges x 2
  • PB&J x 2
  • Rice crispy treat

Travel stuff not for the hike

  • Charger (for hotel)
  • Toiletry bag (for hotel)
  • Sleep shorts & shirt (for hotel)
  • Sandals (for hotel)
  • Socks (1 pair to wear, 1 pair to pack as extra)
  • Underwear (for hotel)
  • Vitamins (for hotel)
  • Probiotics (for hotel)
  • Jeans (for hotel)
  • Poof coat (for hotel)
  • Laptop (for hotel)

Food

I am repeating myself but it’s really important to eat every hour when you hike for this long and in the heat. You need to plan to consume at LEAST 100 calories for every hour you expect it to take you. You want foods high in salt because you will expel a lot of sodium and you need to replenish it quickly. If you are dehydrated, overheat, or have low sodium levels, it can cause your body to start to shut down and the rest of your hike will take forever to finish as you will most likely need to wait until your body can normalize again.

As the hike goes on you will probably want to eat less and less so you’ll need tastier and tastier foods.

Food for the hike

  • 2 energy bars
  • Sleeve of Nuun tablets to add electrolytes to our water
  • Beef jerky
  • Raisins
  • Gel / energy goo
  • Trail mix in a baggie (no chocolate, will melt)
  • Banana & PB (pre-hike food / breakfast)
  • Pretzels
  • Cheese-Its mini bag
  • Dried fruit bag
  • Oranges / Cuties x 2
  • PB&J x 2
  • Rice crispy treat

We devoured the PB&Js when we hit Phantom ranch. We ate cuties as we went, they were great and helped lighten our load as they were high in water content / heavier. When we got out of the Box we really loved the dried candy fruit and Cheese Its, a great sodium and calorie boost before we started up hill. As the time went on we made a point to set an alarm to remind us every hour to stop and eat. Toward the end it was just a matter of putting in calories and we reached for the energy gels and energy bars out of convenience. We would eat a bite, put it in our waistbelt, then grab another bite later.

Water

Hiking as a team, we had one bladder that always had filtered water in it (1.5 L), our filtered handheld water bottle on each of us (qty 2 x 490 ml) that we had clipped on our front pack straps, and we had one bladder (3L) we would filter the water from our hand held water bottles into at the refill stations then add our electrolytes to (if we added it to the filtered ones, it would get filtered out). This amount of water was enough for us as long as we refilled at each open station. You may need more depending on time of year, shape you’re in, and what refill stations are open/closed. Water is HEAVY so you don’t want to hike with too much but you also don’t want to be caught without enough.

Some people report getting sick from the water refill stations. Often people are using dirty hands to touch the spigot or there might be contaminated lines so filtering if possible is preferable although can often be unnecessary. We had filters built into our water bottles and bladders, and carried tablets as a backup.

Check the refilling station status to see which are on when you hike. It can vary from day to day so it’s best to check before you leave. If you are in dire need of water, ask the hikers coming from the direction you are going as you walk. You can also use the river to drink from if you have a way to filter it (or if you are in dire need of more water as it’s better to deal with being sick later than overheating or exhaustion now).

Service & Connectivity

It’s very limited. Cache a map when you have service so you can find reference points while you’re hiking. It’s also a great idea to download the park’s map.

If you are using a GPS device to track your route, the location may ping between satellites and inflate the distance traveled a bit because of it. That can cause people to think the hike is longer than is listed.

Safety

It’s important to have the ranger emergency number saved: Park Rangers 928-638-7805 along with a cached map of the route. We like to also download the Alltrails map.

Put YOUR name and the number of your emergency contact on your phone lock screen.

Stay hydrated, salted, keep eating every hour even if you don’t want to.

When it’s hot stay cool. Drench yourself as often as needed from the spigot water and river water. When in doubt, error on the side of ‘you think you’re overheating’ because once you actually do, it’s way too late to do anything about it.

You may see scorpions or snakes, but for the most part they want to avoid you. Stay on the path, look before you walk, and you’ll be fine.

If you have a SOS device like a Garmin InReach, it’s best to take it. But, the route is a well traveled in season as long as you stay on the trail so if you need help, someone else should hopefully come sooner than later that you can send a message with or ask to go to the next emergency phone stop to send a message.

Important Links & Numbers

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