Summary
A few years ago, I planned a hiking trip through the Grand Canyon with a few of my friends. This trip was in the winter of 2020, so it was right in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. We figured that going out in the middle of nowhere in the Grand Canyon would be a good way to avoid people. For our route, we started from the south rim of the Grand Canyon, and hiked down to the Colorado River. We then hiked up to the north rim, and then back down to the south rim. The total distance was about 50 miles, and we did it over 5 days. This was the first trip I had ever planned at a national park, so I got experience with reserving sites, getting permits, and planning a route.
Weather
The weather was about as perfect as you could ask for, for hiking the Grand Canyon in the winter. At the top of the south rim, the temperature was around 30 degrees Fahrenheit, and at the bottom of the canyon, it was around 70 degrees Fahrenheit. The weather was sunny and clear for the entire trip, which made for some beautiful views of the canyon. At the top of the north rim, the weather was a bit colder, around 20 degrees. The north rim is about 1,000 feet higher than the south rim, so it is generally colder there. Hiking up the north rim was challenging at some points, because of packed snow and ice. To deal with this, we had to use microspikes on our boots to avoid slipping off the canyon wall. I will also always remember how nice it felt down at the Colorado River, after hiking down from the south rim. The temperature difference was so drastic that it felt like we were hanging out on a nice summer day. I can't imagine how hot it would be in the summer though.
Highlights
There were a couple major high points of this trip, that I imagine I will remember for the rest of my life. The first was relaxing by the Colorado River after hiking through ice and snow down from the south rim. There was a gentle breeze, and it was perfectly warm and sunny. The sound of the river flowing by was so peaceful, and it was a great way to relax after a long day of hiking.
Second, was the night we spent on the north rim. Because of the intense weather at the north rim, and the fact that the north rim is closed to cars in the winter, we were the only people on the entire north rim that night. Knowing that we had the entire north rim of the Grand Canyon to ourselves was so surreal.
Third was the fact that we arrived to the north rim right at sunset. A couple of other guys and I in the group decided to drop all our stuff and run to a lookout to catch the sunset. The view was absolutely breathtaking, and it was a moment I will never forget.
The fourth highlight is again in reference to the north rim. Because the north rim is closed to cars in the winter, all water access is also shut off. That means that we all had to carry any water we would need for the next ~24 hours. This resulted in all of us carrying at least a gallon of water each. That's about 9 lbs of extra weight. And hiking up the north rim results in about 6,000 feet of elevation gain. That was a really hard hike.
Finally, the last highlight was when we decided to skip our final campsite on the south rim, and instead hike all the way back to the car. Me and two other guys in the group decided to hike this as fast as we possibly could, so with 40-50 pound packs on our backs, we hiked up the entire south rim as fast as we could. We were passing people left and right, and it felt so fun to be passing all these people when we were carrying such heavy packs. However, we screwed up a bit, and forgot to clarify where we were all meeting up at the end of the hike. Because of this, there was a solid two hours where we were split up into two groups and completely unable to find each other. We kind of started to worry the other group didn't make it out of the canyon, but then we eventually managed to find them. That was a lesson for future hikes :)
Packing list for the hike
- Clothing:
- Base gloves
- 2 t-shirts
- 1 sweatshirt
- 2 pairs of sock liners
- 1 long sleeve shirt
- 3 pairs of underwear
- Windproof gloves
- Long underwear
- 2 pairs of wool socks
- 1 pair of gaiters
- Winter coat
- Winter hat
- Balaclava
- Raincoat
- Snow goggles
- 1 pair of sweatpants
- Rain pants
- First Aid
- Medical tape
- Tylenol
- Hand sanitizer
- Hot hands heat packs
- Lip balm
- A&D ointment (for chafing)
- Food & Smellables
- 10 Mountain House freeze dried meals
- 18 Clif bars
- 18 Tuna packets (yuck 😖)
- A jar of cream peanut butter
- A block of cheddar cheese (because the weather was cold)
- Hot chocolate mix
- Gatorade electrolyte mix
- 18 Fruit snack bags
- A bag of dried mangoes
- A fork
- Sunscreen
- Shoe gear
- 1 pair of hiking boots
- 1 pair of microspikes
- 1 pair of chacos
- Sleeping gear
- 1 Big agnes 2 person tent
- 1 Exped Synmat HL MW sleeping pad
- 1 Polar Ranger sleeping bag
- 1 Closed cell foam sleeping pad
- 1 Sleeping bag liner
- 1 bag bivvy
- 8 Snow stakes
- 1 Inflatable pillow
- Cooking gear
- Pot
- MSR Whisperlite stove
- White gas fuel bottle
- Lighter
- Soap
- Sponge
- Electronics
- 1 26800 mAh power bank
- Phone
- 1 Garmin In Reach
- Garmin Fenix 6 GPS watch
- Charging cords
- General gear
- 1 Deuter Air Contact Lite 85 + 10 quart backpack
- 4 32 oz water bottles
- Steripen
- Rain cover for backpack
- Shovel
- Headlamp
- Compass
- Map
- Toilet paper
- Small toothbrush
- Small tube of toothpaste
Our route
Shown below is a map of the route we took through the Grand Canyon. We started at the South Kaibab Trailhead, and ended at the Grand Canyon Village. Here's a download link for the GPX file of our route.
Pictures
Here are some of the best pictures from the trip. This trip was before I got my nice camera, so most of these were taken with a phone.
Conclusion
This was the first hiking trip to a national park that I had ever planned, and it went pretty much flawlessly. We got every campsite we wanted, and we saw some amazing views. This also made me a more confident hiking planner in general, showing me that I can plan a trip that requires permits and other legal hoops to jump through. This was also my first time hiking in the snow, and it taught me how to plan for colder weather hiking. Overall I highly recommend visiting the Grand Canyon, especially in the winter. The weather is perfect for hiking, and the views are absolutely breathtaking. Plus, there are way less people than in the summer.