Day 3 – Cottonwood Campground to South Rim

Start: Cottonwood Campground

End: South Rim via Bright Angel Trail

Total Distance: 16.3mi

Total Elevation Gain: ~4997 ft

But I didn’t. I slowly worked my way through a morning routine that has become very familiar through all of my hiking and camping excursions. Changing my clothes inside my sleeping bag (to stay warm), packing up all the little bits and bobs from inside my sleeping bag (to stay warm), and finally letting the air out of my mattress and climbing out of the tent to finish packing up. (No longer warm.)

Today was the last day of our Rim to Rim to Rim adventure. I woke at 6am and promptly hit my favorite button: snooze. It was still dark out, but dawn was slowly creeping in… the black of night becoming just a bit more gray around the edges. The sun was coming. Outside my cozy orange burrito (aka, my sleeping bag) it was chilly. Colder than yesterday. Better to stay inside.

Typically my pack would be sitting right in the vestibule and I’d finish packing right from the tent, but here we’d hung our packs outside on the metal hooks provided at each site, presumably to deter any rodents from invading them in search of food or yummy smelling wrappers. Our food had also been packed away in the storage box provided at our campsite.

Sunlight melting down the canyon wall.

Once we’d both cleared ourselves and our things from the tent, we went through the familiar process of tearing it down. Having done it hundreds of times, it took only minutes. Shawn packed the tent and rainfly away in his pack, while I took the poles and stakes in mine.

Everything stowed away, we hit the trail.

The morning was cooler than yesterday and I started the day’s hike in a thin wind breaker and my rain pants for a bit of extra warmth. The majority of our first seven miles would be downhill and flat hiking back to Phantom Ranch, punctuated by only some gentle climbs. (Though a few ended up being less gentle than I remembered).

Morning is my favorite time to walk. Through trails. Through cities. Anywhere. There is something serene about the quiet just before everything wakes up for the day. Though we’d already walked this section of the trail on our first day, it had been in the harsh light of the afternoon. Still beautiful, but different. And now we headed south. A new view. We now faced everything that had been to our back just a day ago.

Century Plant

The only sound so far was the crunching of dirt beneath our feet. The sun was just splashing across the tops of the canyon walls. Lonely century plants stood sentinel, their singular long stalk towering above the surrounding vegetation. These were my favorite. They didn’t grow in masses, like many of the plants along the trail. They were solitary creatures. There would only be one across any given view. So special, you’d take a picture, a lone beanstalk growing into the sky… and when you came across another one, you’d do the same.

As we hiked, the light slowly filtered down the canyon walls, gently intruding on morning shadow. The birds woke up, flitting in the underbrush. The occasional chubby squirrel would run across the trail and back again. Where to go? What to do? The lizards would wait for the sun before they started darting across the trail.

Southbound.

As the first miles passed, we slowly started seeing other hikers and runners. The first duo that came our way was a set of runners out to tackle the rim-to-rim-to-rim. We greeted the front runner with a good morning as we stood aside the trail to let him by. “Are you guys from Flag?” he asked.

“Temporarily,” Shawn noted, this being the end of our ~6 week stint in Flagstaff.

“I’m Jason, I own the climbing gym!” This was a nod to Shawn’s hat, which was from the Flagstaff climbing gym. He had already passed us a bit, but came back briefly and shook Shawn’s hand. “Ah! Cool. Very nice.” We wished them a good run as they continued toward the north rim.

Bright Angel Campground area.

Every runner we’ve met on the trail has been extremely pleasant, always saying good morning or hello, thanking us for stepping aside, wishing us a good hike and just generally smiling a lot. I think that you’d have to be in a very positive head space to be doing the R2R2R run. With ~44 miles and over 11,000 ft of climbing ahead of you, a negative attitude would probably make for a terrible day.

After the first four miles or so, we were back into the narrower canyon area that had been my favorite section of the trail on the first day. Heading back toward the south, the canyon didn’t open toward the same views ahead, but it was still a nice hike.

We entered Phantom Ranch before 9:30am. Other than a couple other hikers, it was eerily quiet, most of those staying probably already out on day hikes. We topped up our water bottles and continued on. We still had about 9 miles to go, our hike out on the Bright Angel Trail a bit longer than the original hike down the South Kaibab Trail on our way in.

Back to the mighty Colorado.

Weaving through Phantom Ranch and the Bright Angel Campground, we eventually returned to the Colorado River. Across the bridge, the Bright Angel Trail headed west, following along the canyon wall above the river. Many areas of the trail here were thick with fine beach sand. And while I don’t exactly enjoy plodding through beach sand, this section along the river was probably my favorite for the day. Walking the gently undulating contours along the rock face, watching the view down the canyon change as we weaved along above the river. It was nice.

It’s a beautiful morning…

What wasn’t nice about this section? We were clearly somewhere behind the very well breakfasted mule train and dodged and weaved our steps around the aftermath that dotted the trail. This would be somewhat of a theme for the Bright Angel Trail as the mule train route back to the south rim.

Beachy sand.

After following along the Colorado River for a little over a mile, at Pipe Creek Beach, the trail curved into a side canyon, heading south along Pipe Creek, which it would follow loosely for a good distance up the trail.

Bright Angel Trail was a really beautiful hike. The switchbacks were fairly gradual, much of it was shaded by canyon walls, and the vegetation along the trail in many areas was really quite incredible for what felt like a very arid environment. Tall trees burst with bright yellow leaves; thick bushes and a variety of cactus lined the trails; and even small wildflowers poked through the maze.

The Havasupai Gardens (formerly Indian Gardens) area especially exploded with life. A long section of trail nearby became a rock hopping adventure as trail became stream, the creek crossing and weaving its path down the walkway. Anyone that knows me knows that I obviously did not make it through this without getting at least one foot wet. (It was the left one).

Beyond Havasupai Gardens, we still had about 5 miles of trail left to reach the south rim. The sign said 4.5 miles… but we would find out that it was 5 later. Not long after Havasupai Gardens, the trail began to climb further into the canyon, switchbacking along the canyon walls. No matter how long we weaved our way toward the rim, it never seemed like it was getting any closer. At many points, it seemed to be getting further way.

We had felt this way on our approach to the north rim, though the feeling was far more relentless on the south rim approach. The climb to the south rim from the Colorado River was several miles longer than our climb to the north rim from Cottonwood Campground. And while the switchbacks generally seemed friendly, there was still 5,000 ft elevation gain. That takes a bit to cover.

While we went strong for the majority of the climb, keeping up a fairly robust pace, somewhere in the last two miles, I started to fade. Shawn hiked on ahead while I slowed a bit, eating some fruit snacks to console my wounded spirit. I was enjoying the hike, but I was also ready to get to the rim. And stop hiking.

Not sure the rim is getting any closer.

It apparently takes a very long time to weave one from the base of the canyon to the top. This is why all the signs warn against doing this hike in the summer, when canyon temps easily soar over 100ºF. Not that temperature was my problem this time of year. It was actually getting quite cold as we marched toward the rim. I eventually pulled on gloves.

During the last two miles or so was also where I learned that the trail mileage sign at Havasupai Gardens was lying. As I looked toward the rim, I thought to myself, there is no way they are getting us there in a mile. And I was right. About a quarter mile later, I came across the “1.5 Mile Rest House”. And so, when I thought there should be closer to a mile left, they snuck that extra half mile in there. It doesn’t seem like that should be a big deal… but at that point, it did seem like a lot. Especially since every tenth seemed to be going by very slowly.

Almost there now.

Now that we were within the last two miles, there were also far more day hikers out. This trail in general had been the busiest we’d been on, even at the lower reaches, with overnight backpackers coming into and out of the canyon and even long day hikers making their way to the river or hiking the Cowboy Loop. Now that we were getting closer to the top, the trail was quite busy. To some extent, this was a nice motivator. More people meant that the end was drawing near.

Hello.

The last half mile or so brought a couple of nice rock archways as well as the appearance of a bighorn sheep, its head periscoping hilariously over a rock along the canyon wall. Shawn waited at the top as I finished the final bit. While I’d been anxious to finish within the last two miles, as I neared the last quarter of a mile and could finally see the end of the trail, I was content to enjoy and take in my surroundings for the last little bit. At the top, I took one last look over the immense canyon and we snapped a finish pic. With that, our hike was over.

Final stretch.

The hike was incredibly beautiful. While looking across the Grand Canyon from scenic viewpoints along the rim is a stunning view, hiking to the base of the canyon and across to the north rim provided an entirely new perspective. From the top of the canyon to the very base, there was always a unique view. Whether it was the diverse vegetation, the darting lizards, or the way rocks crushed and gnarled together along a section of the canyon wall. Traversing canyon walls with continuously changing sediment layers, colors, and rock features. Hiking through ponderosa pines, twisting junipers, desert succulents, cacti, and tiny wildflowers. Watching autumn begin all over again at the lower elections of the canyon. All amazing.

And we’re done. ✌️

It was also quite a lot of ascent and descent. You work for those views. I have mad respect for those running the route. I thought it was enough work just to hike it.

And now, it is time for showers, clean clothes, and a warm (non-packaged) meal.

Until our next trail adventure…