Our Grand Canyon hike down to Phantom Ranch - Part I

About 2 years ago, we came up with this crazy idea to hike down the Grand Canyon to the Phantom Ranch on the Colorado River.  We put it on our "Bucket List" of things to do in our retirement and started planning.  First step was to secure a reservation at the Phantom Ranch. We read that reservations are taken 13 months in advance and they fill up fast.   Every month, on the first day of the month at 7:00 am when the phone lines opened, we tried dialing in (the only way to get a reservation) and failed to connect.  The line would be overloaded with callers and we would only hear the auto message to hang up and try again later.  Later, always proved to be FULL-no availability.

This became a monthly ritual until finally on March 1, 2015 at 7:00 am, I actually got through and a live person answered my call.  Success!!  We were able to book a reservation for 2 nights in a cabin at Phantom Ranch for the last weekend in March, 2016.  We chose a weekend as our oldest daughter and son-in-law had expressed an interest to join us if we ever got a reservation.  And since they both work, we figured a weekend trip would be the best and a date toward the end of the month might mean warmer weather.  It just happened to be Easter weekend, 2016.

The months went by and it was finally time to pack for the trip.   Our plan was to leave early Thursday morning, drive all the way to the Grand Canyon South Rim, stay overnight, hike down the canyon on Friday, stay 2 nights at Phantom Ranch, and then hike out on Sunday morning and drive all the way back home.  A whirlwind trip but we felt it was doable--at least it looked doable on paper.

Down the trail on the left; up the trail on the right.

We live near Denver, Colorado, which experienced a blizzard on Wednesday, the day before we were scheduled to leave.  We received about 14 inches of snow; emergency travel only and many roads were closed to travel.  We held our breath, watching the road conditions, hoping the interstate would reopen before our early morning drive.   The forecast said the blizzard would stop by nightfall Wednesday.

The blizzard

With a short night's sleep, we got up at 4:00 am on Thursday morning, checked to see if the interstate was open south of Denver--it was!  We would drive south and then west to avoid the "mountain corridor" of I-70, which got hit with a lot of snow.  We packed up the car and were on the road by 5:00 am.  It was foggy, and icy, and slower travel put us into rush hour through Denver.  South of Denver where the interstate had been closed, it was snowpacked/ice all the way to Colorado Springs.  It took about an hour longer than normal to reach this point, but from then on it was smooth sailing all the way to the Grand Canyon.

After about a 15-hour drive, we arrived at the Bright Angel Lodge, which is on the south rim of the Grand Canyon.  It was dark, and we were tired.  We checked into our rooms for the night, had dinner and went to bed.  We would have a long hike ahead of us the next day.

The next morning we discovered we were about 50 yards from the rim of the canyon.  A perfect setting for the start of our Grand Canyon adventure!

The overview

Bright Angel Lodge

By 9:00 am we were ready to catch the Hiker's Express shuttle bus to the starting point of our hike, the South Kaibab Trailhead.

Jen, Joyce, Terry

Jen and Donato

Once at the trailhead, we started on our hike down to the bottom of the canyon.

It would be about a 7-mile hike to Phantom Ranch, down 4500 feet in elevation.

 Every where we turned, we had beautiful views as we descended toward the bottom of the canyon.

We would pause often to take photos and reflect..

At one point we spotted the mule team coming up from Phantom Ranch.  Every day the mules make a round trip trek to deliver supplies to the Ranch.  Everything in and out of the Ranch is transported by the mules.

The mileage sign was a welcomed sight!  We were about half way there...

By this time the constant downhill walking was pounding our knees and smashing our toes against our hiking boots. The muscles in our legs were starting to tighten up.  But the ever-changing views of the landscape were magnificent.

The photos really don't do it justice.  It was awesome to have the canyon wrapped around us.

And then we finally saw it.....our first glimpse of the Colorado River, still miles away.

We trudged on and Terry exclaimed..."The end is just around the bend."  We looked down and said, "Which bend?!"  The trail ahead of us seemed to go on....and on!

Finally we reached the tunnel at the Black Bridge, which would lead us across the Colorado River to the Phantom Ranch.

 Then it was about a half-mile hike to the Phantom Ranch.

Our first stop was at the canteen where we rested and enjoyed some nice cold beverages that helped revive us after the very strenuous hike. We had arrived, exhausted but elated with our accomplishment!!

Ice cold lemonade and Grand Canyon beer!

Next up.....Part II--our stay at the Phantom Ranch.