Help! I goofed up my Grand Canyon trip planning!
 

I started planning my trip to the Grand Canyon and surrounding areas this past January. My itinerary looked like this:

September 5: Fly to PHX, drive to Bright Angel Lodge (South Rim) and spend the night.
September 6: Hike to bottom of Grand Canyon. Camp at Bright Angel Campground.
September 7: Hike back up, sleep in Bright Angel Lodge.
September 8: Drive to Havasu Trailhead, hike to Havasu lodge area.
September 9: Hike to various waterfalls in Havasupai area.
September 10: Hike back to trailhead, drive to Page.
September 11: Antelope Canyon, Horeshoe Bend, drive back to Phoenix.
September 12: Depart Phoenix.

I will be taking this trip with my boyfriend. All of our lodging was booked, except for the night at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Phantom Ranch was already completely booked when I inquired back in January, so we decided to camp. However....

I thought that you had to apply for camping permits 3 months in advance, on the first of the month. I guess I misread, because it turns out you have to apply 4 months in advance. I didn't realize this until it was too late. I applied for a camping spot at Bright Angel Campground and it was all booked up. Bright Angel Lodge (at the rim) is also booked up for the 6th.

So now, what are we supposed to do? Is there any way I could get a permit some other way? I have found some tour companies online that hike to the bottom and back up, so I assume they'd have permits, but the tours are several hundreds of dollars and from what I've gathered, I can't just buy a permit from them. I know that there are limited "last-minute" permits available the day before, but I don't entirely feel comfortable relying on that.

Please, any advice is greatly appreciated. We're both early 20's, athletic and adventurous.

South Rim stay -
Try to get another hotel reservation at the South Rim. There's no reason you have to stay at a particular hotel on the rim.

No reservation at bottom of the Canyon -
Hike part of the way down and back up in the same day.

If the goal is to get to the bottom -
See if the mule trips have opening
http://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/mule_trips.htm


If you can't get a reservation at the South Rim, consider the North Rim -
http://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/cg-nr.htm

Call every day to see if a reservation opens up.

I believe you also need advance reservations at the campground between the S. Rim and Phantom Ranch - i think it's Indian Gardens. Be sure to check into these requirements before you venture out.

The Bright Angel issue is not such a big deal. Try to book a room at another lodge in the park, and keep checking, daily if you can, to see if something opens up at Bright Angel. People book these rooms up to a year in advance, and there are often cancellations.

If you can't find a room inside the park, book one outside that is cancelable and keep checking.

I can't help you with the Phantom Ranch issue. Have you tried calling the park to ask for advice? I would also call one of the tour companies, as they may have some advice for you. Good luck!

People really do make reservations a year in advance and then find they can't make the trip when the time nears. So....check the web site AND take the phone number and call every day for cancellations for the campground, Phantom race and at any of the rim lodges or campground for the day you need a spot. Take the first available spot. Then if the campground or Phantom ranch opens up you are set, if it does not you can cancel one night on the rim if you want, or hike up and down part way on Bright Angel trail one day and South Kaibab the other day.

If nothing opens up for that middle night and you want to stay in the area, look at either Cameron Trading Post in Cameron or one of the places in Tusayan.

I would expect you will get a spot at the bottom if you keep at it.

Calling is better than online because online doesn't update as fast.

Thanks for the advice, everyone. I really appreciate it! Can anyone find the number to call regarding reservations at Bright Angel Campground? As far as I could find, requests can only be faxed? I have the number for Phantom Ranch, and have been calling them for a few days now.

Just to be clear: I already have Bright Angel Lodge booked for the 5th and the 7th.

I'm thinking of maybe finding a different hotel near the South Rim, and booking it for the 5th-7th, and then cancelling my Bright Angel Lodge reservation. Then, if a spot at the bottom of the canyon opens up, I can take that and cancel my hotel room for the 6th. If a spot doesn't open up, we'll at least have the same "home base" for 3 nights instead of going back and forth between hotels.

Besides my lodging issues, does anyone have any advice on my itinerary overall? Thank you!

Apparently the hotel concession on S. Rim was recently split between 2 companies - Xanterra and Delaware North - so be sure to contact both companies for S. Rim hotels. In the past, Xanterra was one stop shopping for all S. Rim.

There is no phone number to call for a backcountry permit for Bright Angel. You can fax your request, mail it or take it there in person. If they accepted phone calls they would be swamped with answering the phone all day every day, so they simply don't do permit requests over the phone.

You can keep trying for the Phantom Ranch dorm or cabin reservation, hope for a last minute permit or try for something at Indian Gardens. I didn't like Indian Gardens at all but it may be a decent alternative. It will still be pretty hot at Bright Angel in September whereas Indian Gardens will be comfortable.

Two good dayhikes if you don't get a permit are the hike to Plateau Point or the South Kaibab/Tonto/Bright Angel loop.

Two more thoughts: it might be better to put the Page day in between the two big hikes to give yourself an extra day to recover.....and what is your plan for food if you get a last minute permit for Bright Angel? The concessionaire that serves meals at Phantom Ranch asks people to make reservations for breakfast and dinner in advance. I am not sure if they take same day reservations for meals so you will want to ask about that and have some plan in place if you weren't planning on making your own meals down there.

We decided last night to rearrange our plans. It turns out the Havasu Trailhead is too far from Grand Canyon Village to make our original itinerary enjoyable. So we're gonna do an evening in Flagstaff, 3 days at the Grand Canyon, 2 days in Page, and 1 day in Sedona.

Sounds like a good plan.

I'd even shorten GC by a day if that meant you could do Arches NP

If you don't have lodging in Flagstaff, look at Cameron Trading post, an hour north on 89. You go west on 64 which is my favorite approach to GC.