Backpacking in the Grand Canyon

This was our first backpacking adventure together, Emily's first trip ever and Chris's second. We had got married a few months earlier on New Year's Eve and were living in Phoenix. We both agree that to really see the canyon, one has to see the canyon from the bottom. The following account is based on our journal entry for the trip...

Spring break 2006

[Chris] Like typical college-aged spring breakers, we decided to travel to the chilly AZ north and do a strenuous trip into the Grand Canyon. The weather for our trip was not typical. The night before we started backpacking we drove up from Phoenix and hit a snowstorm by the time we got to Williams. I being a good Minnesotan and us always looking for increased levels of adventure, were excited by the snow. The significance of the storm set in a bit more when we passed the snowplow in the ditch. There is just something particularly amusing about a big, orange truck meant to tame the snow sitting sideways in the ditch with tiny emergency lights blinking shamefully. So we smiled, popped the Jeep into 4-wheel, and continued our drive as the bumper threw powdery snow into the air on both sides of the Jeep.


After a night in a hotel, we went to the south rim to find a locked gate blocking the road out to Hermit trailhead because of the snow. After tracking someone down to tell us the code to the gate and being advised to buy instep crampons we were finally on our way. We were told before leaving that this storm was the worst the canyon had had in 100 years, as evidenced in part by the fact that snow was falling all the way down at the river, not just on the rim.

On day 1 we traveled down the canyon on Hermit trail, passed Hermit Creek, and set up camp on a slope over-looking a gorge before we ran out of light- not very comfortable. If you have ever been to the canyon, you can picture the smaller gorges that open toward the river. While we were there, the snow was so thick that we couldn't see from Hermit trail over to the other side of the gorge where Boucher trail lays. For the first few hours of our hike, the deep snow covered the rocks and any step or drop in the trail. Our first few miles consisted of shuffle, shuffle, fall... shuffle, shuffle, drop... shuffle, shuffle, slide. We lost the trail a few times when the snow covered the cairns through areas of boulders and talus.

By the second day Emily wasn't feeling well and twisted her ankle on day 1 so we (fortunately) decided to cancel our planned loop. Instead, we headed back to Hermit Creek and hiked upstream until we found a place to set up camp. We spent the day hiking down small canyons and exploring the area. That night, Emily got sick and threw up all night. The storm had finally moved on and we could see the rim of the canyon for the first time so we decided to head out on the third day. The hike out was long. Emily was exhausted and dehydrated and threatened to throw herself over the edge. I carried both packs during the steep sections and the sun started to beat down on us, a bitter-sweet change. The snow on the trail had mostly melted and we didn't even recognize the places we had just been a couple days before.

Even with Emily getting sick, we both agreed that it was a great trip. We only saw a few people up until the last day when we started to meet day-hikers near the top of the trail. And although the trip was a short one, we learned a lot and had a great first wilderness adventure together. Whether backpacking or rafting, like Emily has done in the past, we highly recommend going to the bottom to really experience the canyon.