OARS adventure travel company’s “Rim to River” guided tour ( see Going Places, 4/1) puts the unparalleled experience of hiking down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon – 7 miles by the South Kaibab Trail, and a full mile in altitude – within reach. After a full day to get acclimated – doing short hikes and overnighting on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, we set out at 6:30 am.
The sun is just breaking through clouds when we drive from the South Rim village, the hub of the Grand Canyon National Park, to the South Kaibab Trail (most hikers hop a park shuttle bus), where the OARS van will be parked, make sure our water bottles are filled, and use the rest room (there are a few rest stops along the way, but no water, and this isn’t something to trifle with; about five people a year die hiking the Grand Canyon).
The pre-dawn rain has cleared out when we start the hike, accounting for the glorious rainbows (there is even double rainbow) we see – full rainbows that stretch from the South Rim ending, seemingly at the exact spot on the Colorado River at the bottom of the canyon that we are headed. We take it as an auspicious sign.
Jonathan, our lead guide, who has a wonderful way of directing us without being bossy, tells us that the most dangerous animal we need to be concerned with in the park is the squirrel– they bite hands because people have fed them, and can carry fleas that carry terrible diseases, even bubonic plague. Yosemite even closed a campground because of squirrels. (When we see one – it looks very unusual – it is so adorable, it is tempting to reach out, but I remember Jon’s admonition and he is never wrong.)
All our hiking gear is essential, but I am appreciating most of all the two hiking sticks – like ski poles – which OARS supplies, as making all the difference in the world between being able to accomplish the hike and suffering miserably. The poles help catch you from slipping, put less stress on knees and toes and let you use your upper body as well as your legs. There are parts where I am veritably hop/skipping down because of the poles.
The views all along the South Kaibab Trail are utterly, indescribably magnificent. The South Kaibab Trail is the only trail at Grand Canyon which is carved into the ridge, rather than follow the fault line. What that means is that every step, every turn in the trail opens up to yet another spectacular epic vista. At points, you walk a narrow ridge to one of the monumental formations, letting you see up the west and east of the canyon, sprawling out some 277 miles, at the same time.
Ryan, our second guide (who amazingly does the entire hike in flipflops), points out the different layers manifested with their different colors and texture as we hike lower and lower: the Kaibab Formation, formed 270 million years ago; the Coconino Sandstone, 275 mya; the Supai Group, 315 mya; Redwall Limestone, 340 mya; Tonto Group, 520-505 mya, the Grand Canyon Supergroup, 1.200-740 mya, the Visnu Basement Rocks, 1840-1680 mya.
The number of climate niches make for an astonishing variety of plant life – 1800 species, Ryan tells us – from the montane forests of the North Rim, which is 1000 feet higher than the South Rim, down to the desert environment next to the Colorado River deep in the canyon.
Many of the formations have been given religious names: there’s the Zoroaster Temple, the Vishnu Temple, the Juno Temple, Isis Temple, Tower of Ra, Diana Temple, Venus Temple. Indeed, the area is imbued with spirituality, and continues to be a holy place for Native Americans.
I am appreciating the construction of the trail. The South Kaibab trail was built in the 1920s because when the Grand Canyon became a National Park in 1919, Ralph Cameron, a miner, had laid claim to the Grand Canyon and claimed to own the Bright Angel Trail, the only trail into the Canyon at the time. He charged people $1 toll to use it and refused to give up his claim to the National Park Service (which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year).
“After many legal battles, the Park Service eventually decided to bypass Cameron and in 1924 construction began on the South Kaibab Trail,” the notes say. “The trail was cut using dynamite, jackhammers and compressed drills with one crew working from the top and the other from the bottom. It was built for the fastest descent to the river, not taking into consideration any natural features. Hikers can still see evidence of where workers drilled the rock and placed dynamite to construct the trail.”
The stones that form the path seem to me to have been purposefully, artfully placed in colorful patterns – a reflection of the pride and care that was taken for the task.
Jonathan regularly checks in with us: how’s the pace, how are we feeling, are we drinking enough, do we want a snack? After about 2 hours, he asks if any of us have ‘hot spots’ on our feet – and I do –and from the enormous backpack he is hauling (while we have just the few necessary items we need for the day), he whips out an entire medical kit with bandages and moleskin which Ryan helps me apply. Ryan also warns me that I need to clip my toenails or risk doing damage to my feet, so he whips out clippers from his own enormous pack (the pre-trip info also mentioned this, but now you realize how serious this is).
At Skeleton Point (apparently named for a mule train that went over the side), we see weather coming in – blackening clouds moving towards us. But behind us is a bit of blue sky and I am optimistic that the weather is coming from that direction. My companions laugh and soon enough, it is pouring rain. No matter, we put on rain gear and trudge on. It is all part of the experience.
Jon notes, properly, that the rain is far more preferable to the extreme heat of July and August. Indeed, the temperature rises with each 1000 feet of descent, so by the time you get to the bottom, it can be 30 degrees hotter than when you started down from the South Rim – which can be over 100 degrees.
The changing weather makes it all the more exciting – with different colors, light, the drama of the graying, blackening clouds moving in our direction from afar.
Sure enough, the rains come and we slog along on the trail which has become muddy and slippery (I am so blessing my hiking sticks), but it isn’t bad, just part of the experience. It rains almost until we reach the second rest stop (toilet but no water) at 4.5 miles down the trail – then clears up again.
We get our first glimpse of the Colorado River – it is emerald in color and, at about 1540 feet below us, still seems very, very far down. We see tiny, tiny little rafts, like toys, and can make out itty bitty people – many are the OARS groups – some of them will continue down from Phantom Ranch, and others will switch places with another group that had hiked down and finish their rafting adventure by hiking up the Bright Angel Trail.
Finally, after a series of switchbacks (Jon notes that the West invented switchbacks – the Appalachian Trail is more linear and therefore steeper), we come to the Kaibab Suspension Bridge which takes us over the Colorado River. After a short hike beside a rushing creek, we trudge into the Phantom Ranch. It’s about 2:30 pm – we’ve been hiking for about 6 or 7 hours, but really, it doesn’t seem that long at all.
The South Kaibab Trail hike spoils you for anything else – this is easily one of the top 10 trails in the world.
To see a slideshow: www.examiner.com/slideshow/hiking-down-the-south-kaibab-trail-into-the-grand-canyon
Next: Our adventure continues at Phantom Ranch.
OARS’ 2016 departure dates and prices for the 4 Day Grand Canyon Rim to River Hiker: April 8, 18, 22, 28; May 5, 24; June 8, 13, 28; July 20, 27; August 4; September 2, 5, 7, 12, 15, 22; October 4, 10, 15, 29. The trip meets up and departs from the DoubleTree by Hilton, Flagstaff, Arizona. Prices range from $1499 to $1649, based on double occupancy, single supplement $200. See: www.oars.com/grandcanyon/hiking/grand-canyon-hiking.html
Contact OARS, Angels Camp, CA, 800-346-6277, 209-736-4677, oars.com, info@oars.com.
OARS Celebrates 100 Years of America’s National Parks with Donations, Sweepstakes
Angels Camp, Calif. — In 2016, OARS is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service by teaming up with the National Park Foundation in support of their mission to protect America’s treasured places, connect all people with parks, and inspire the next generation of park stewards. As part of a 3-year agreement, OARS is donating one percent of company sales from most of its national park tours to the National Park Foundation for a minimum of $50,000 through the end of 2016.
Additionally, OARS has committed to an in-kind donation of $95,000 in national park trips to be used in support of National Park Foundation programs, like Open OutDoors for Kids (www.nationalparks.org/ook) to help get underserved youth into parks. This year, the company will take a group of Native American youth on a six-day rafting trip on the Colorado River through Canyonlands National Park and the outfitter has partnered with Grand Teton National Park to get multiple groups of Latino youth out on three-day sea kayaking trips on Jackson Lake.
Also, starting this month, the company is giving away a trip for two each month to one of four national parks, including trips in Canyonlands, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone and Grand Teton, and Yosemite National Parks. The sweepstakes runs for six months leading up to the National Park Centennial on August 25th, 2016. Visit www.oars.com/sharethewonder for complete details.
“OARS believes that America’s national parks provide transformative, life-changing experiences that everyone deserves to have which is why OARS hopes everyone will have a chance to share the wonder of our National Parks and other public lands this year with someone they love.”
Since 1969, when company founder George Wendt established OARS as the first exclusively oar-powered rafting outfitter authorized to run trips in the Grand Canyon, the family-owned company has worked directly with the National Park Service to share the grandest canyon on Earth with tens of thousands of visitors. Since then, OARS has expanded to operate in eight national parks, including Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, Crater Lake National Park, Dinosaur National Monument, Grand Teton National Park,Yellowstone National Park, Yosemite National Park and Grand Canyon National Park.
In a short video, OARS highlights the words of President Theodore Roosevelt: “There can be nothing in the world more beautiful than the Yosemite, the groves of the giant sequoias and redwoods, the Canyon of the Colorado, the Canyon of the Yellowstone, the Three Tetons; and our people should see to it that they are preserved for their children and their children’s children forever, with their majestic beauty all unmarred.” Watch the video here.
OARS is an authorized concessioner of Arches, Canyonlands, Grand Canyon and Grand Teton National Parks, an authorized concessioner in Dinosaur National Monument and operates by special permit in Crater Lake, Yosemite and Yellowstone National Parks. See www.oars.com/national_park_adventures/ for more information.
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