Planning
Last year, my husband decided that he wanted to hike the Grand Canyon to the bottom. We are in our 50s and he is afraid if he waits much longer, his knee will not make it (no ACL) We decided to plan a Spring trip based on the availability of rooms at Phantom Ranch. Reservation #888-297-2757. We called on March 15th, no rooms however, were available at the Ranch and we even had difficulty getting dinner reservations. We could not get dinners at the same sitting but originally, my husband was making reservations for 12. I am sure this would be much easier to plan for a smaller group.

Since they wanted to hike down in March or April, it was decided that they would camp at the Bright Angel Campground. I am a hiker but I was not interested in carrying all my camping gear. We really should have considered the duffle service-for $60/30lbs. a mule will carry your pack one way. Call the number above for this service.

We also made reservations for the El Tovar at www.xanterra.com.

I believe we applied for our permit to camp at Bright Angel in Oct. (928-638-0382 or 928-638-7888)

We confirmed our reservations for meals in January, 7 dinners and 7 5:30 a.m. breakfasts. Dinner choices are steak dinner or vegetarian at 5:00p.m. or stew at 6:30. Only the vegetarian and stew options were available in Jan.

I called the Wed. before our trip and was able to get 7 steak dinners ($35). These meals are reserved for the mule riders and become available if not needed. Some hikers were also able to get rooms at Phantom Ranch that week because of cancellations. Be sure to keep checking--the 2 women who hiked down with our group wished we had.

Our group
We had 5 couples in their 50s. 7 were hiking to the bottom. This would be the first backpacking experience for 4 of them. One had done the hike 3 years ago.

Arrival
3couples flew into LV and hiked Zion and Bryce before meeting us at the Canyon. 2 couples flew into Phoenix.

My husband and I flew into Phoenix on an absolutely beautiful morning 3/29/07. We drove into Sedona for lunch--terrible traffic around the Hilton because of road construction. Planned on having lunch at Bistro Bella Terra--it's right on 89A--has a nice view-- but Mapquest sent us turning right on L'Auberge Rd.,(the Bistro was above us, across the street) my husband was starving, so we ended up eating at L'auberge. We were not impressed with our pricey lunch but the weather was fantastic. What a day to see the Grand Canyon.

We continued driving up through Oak Creek Canyon and looked forward to stopping at the viewpoints along the drive to the Canyon from the East Entrance. In about an hour though, we were in the middle of a snowstorm, fog, no visiblity, icy roads, iced up windshield wipers etc. We had been up since 4:30 a.m. (CO changed our 9a.m. flight to 7:30a.m.) Bummer.

We arrive at the El Tovar in time for our 5:00 dinner reservation--early reservation so that we could check out the sunset at about 6:50--no sunset viewing this night. We really enjoyed our dinner though--we divided the bill in 5ths, $100/couple with tip.

The El Tovar
Maybe it was my lowered expectations, but I was pleasantly surprised with the El Tovar rooms. We all had standard doubles ($134)and though small, they had all been refurbished. Mission style furniture, entertainment center with empty refrigerator, safe, drawers, tv. Nice Grand Canyon artwork (signed prints), updated bathroom with pedestal sink, good lighting, full length mirror, hairdryer, no mold anywhere, clean. We were very happy.

The location is great. Go out the door and walk the rim. Coffee and tea are served in the morning on their second floor lounge. A woman played the piano there every afternoon. The 3 wimpy hikers enjoyed a happy hour there and also ate lunch the first day there--we brought our own food in.

After dinner, we all headed to bed. We were meeting the next morning for breakfast at Bright Angel at 7:30 and would take the 9:00 hikers bus to the trailhead.

Next: Picture perfect day for hiking the Grand Canyon

Lindain,

Thank you for the great trip report. Can't wait for the next installment!

Question: How difficult was it to get the reservations at Bright Angel Campground? Did you get your first choice?

Thanks for your report, Linda! Just wondering if you experienced any difficulty with the altitude?

We got our camping reservations on the first call. I didn't make the reservations but I don't think they assign sites--I could be wrong. Everyone was happy with their site though. I heard no complaints. The temperature dropped to about 35 degrees so they were happy that they carried their sleeping bags down. They were tired so I don't think it mattered where they set up camp.

When they send you the camping reservation and permit, the National Park also sends out a CD with hiking information. It was well done--no new information, but we had done a lot of research and read a lot of trip reports.

No one mentioned being bothered by the altitude. Last summer, we noticed that we had difficulty breathing on our first day hiking in Breckenridge. Breckenridge is at a higher elevation though.

Many years ago wifey and I took the mules down to Phanton Ranch. It was the most exciting trip we have ever taken, since it was just you and the mule and eternity looking down.

We took several Ranger walks and talks, which I recommend for good info.

Funny, but I will always remember El Tovar restaurant for the best appetizers I ever had.

Part 2
Hiking to Phantom Ranch

I awaken early--4:30. I take forever to adjust to time changes. At 5:15a.m. I am walking the rim. It is twilight, peaceful and the Canyon is a fabulous sight. We arrived yesterday evening with the fog and snow so this is my first glimpse of the Canyon since I saw it when I was 13, my last visit. I walk along as the light fills the Canyon. The sky is clear, not a cloud, so I don't get any of the pre sunrise colors. The sun rises at about 6:50. I say a prayer of thanksgiving that the hikers have been blessed with this glorious day.

The rim trail is paved and a wonderful walk with great views along the canyon. People are jogging, walking their dogs--there is a kennel right next to the Maswik. Dogs are allowed on this trail but not the ones going into the canyon.

I head back to the El Tovar, pick up coffee in the lounge and help my husband finish packing his backpack for the hike down. They are all carrying their tents, sleeping bags, food and water. The packs must weigh over 30 lbs. We are not backpackers but I was able to get a fairly inexpensive backpack online at REI.com--I buy their sale stuff. It has an internal frame,sleeve for the Camelback, and worked really well for my husband.

We walk over to the Bright Angel dining room and have brekfast with our friends before getting on the hikers bus at 9:00.

We arrive at the South Kaibab trailhead, take send off pictures, and the hikers start down the really steep, snowy trail. This part of the trail is shaded and still is covered in snow. (Our crampons,YakTrax, are in the closet at home--the forecast was 60s at the rim, 80s at the river,no precipitation). The trekking poles were really valuable here. All the hikers agreed that the poles were their best purchase.

The 3 Wimpy Hikers took the bus to the start of the rim trail--more on our day later. We did have a great time but we didn't come home with any of the bragging rights.

It took them 6 1/2 hours to hike down--they were in no rush. They stopped every half hour and ate something salty and had a drink--recommended in a hiking guide to the trail. they took lots of pictures. At one point a younger man came jogging by them in Tevas, mentioning he was late for work--he was the cook at Phantom Ranch--that's some commute to get to work.

They set up camp by a creek and had 5:00 dinner reservations. You confirm you reservations 4 days before the trip so this is a good time to change you dinner reservation if you need to. Our original dinner reservation had our 7 hikers eating at 2 different times. I was able to get them the same seating and to upgrade them to the steak dinner.

From the time you make your reservation to the time you confirm, you are reminded that if you are late for dinner, you do not get served. They underline it on your reservation and tell you many times.

The dinner is served family style and they all joked about the woman who served the meal. She did an ok job serving but felt compelled to read them a poem about the Grand Canyon and then announce that tips are greatly appreciated. They would have loved to have been able to tip her to skip the poem.

You also could have all the beer you could drink, but you couldn't take it out of the dining room. I understand some of our guys had the beers lined up--carbo loading.

Most of our friends went to the ranger program that evening. My husband said it was well done and that he stayed awake for most of it.

The temp. dropped to about 35 degrees so they were happy that they hauled the sleeping bags in. They had no need for their flashlights since there was an almost full moon that lit the whole area--how lucky we were to have such great weather.

Just a note: There are no showers at the campground.

They took one alarm clock so Tom woke everyone in the morning so they could eat at 5:30 a.m. They all said that the breakfast was very good.

They started hiking up Bright Angel at 7:15. Another glorious day. We had walkie talkies so they called the Wimpy Hikers when they reached the 3 mile point. We hiked down and met them at the 1 1/2. Note: There was no water at the 1 1/2. I gave some of my water to a hiker who was counting on that water. I think there is water at this stop starting in May.

The last 3 miles were the most difficult for the hikers and they stopped a lot. I have to say that it is a nice easy hike down to the 1 1/2 and back up. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The sight of the little house at the end of the trail (possibly Lookout Studio) was a joy. It had taken them about 9 hours to hike back up. We took our victory photos and headed to our own little happy hour at the El Tovar.

No one got hurt. Everyone was still laughing. It was a great experience for the hikers.

Next: How the Wimpy Hikers spent their day

Great report! Look forward to reading about how the wimpy hikers spent their day, lol. DH and I are headed to the GC for the first time in June, staying at Thunderbird.

I can't quite understand when you called for Phantom Ranch and couldn't get it...March 15th of this year or last year? We'd like to do the hike down during spring break of our son's senior year in high school...that would be '09, but we don't have the calendar for that school year yet.

We called in March 2006 for reservations at Phantom Ranch in 2007. From what I hear you need to find out the date of the first day that you can make reservations and call the first hour of that day.

I saw an article that listed Phantom Ranch as the most difficult hotel(that word is used loosely)in America to get a reservation.
If you reserve the overnight mule trip though, you are guaranteed a bed.

Oooh...like getting Cinderalla's Royal Table at Disneyworld!

Missiepie--getting reservations at Phantom Ranch is difficult, but if you don't succeed at first you can keep trying for cancellations.

For reservations anytime during April, 2009 (I assume that is when your son's spring break is), you would call Xanterra on April 1, 2008. They won't let you make a reservation before that. Call as soon as they open (find out the time from the website ahead of time) and be persistent. It helps to have a few alternate dates in mind.

Be sure to book your meals at the same time. We like the stew dinner (6:30 pm) a lot, in part because we don't want to eat as early as 5:00 when they have the steak and vegetarian option. But the food is good (and plentiful) at both.

Once you have your Phantom reservations, you might as well go ahead and book your South Rim lodging as well, so you can get what you want.

I emailed the Phantom Ranch reservations people. For anyone else reading this thread, you call 888-297-2757 between 7:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Denver CO. time on the first day of the month which is a year from the day you want to visit (e.g. for May 15, 2008, you'd call May 1, 2007). It's on my calendar to call next year.

The Wimpy Hikers(WHs)do the rim

The WHs bid the hikers goodbye and good luck and then wait for the shuttle. I have to admit I really felt like I was missing something and wished that I had used the duffle service to carry my stuff. Who would know that the weather would be perfect? that the views would be outstanding? (OK I knew that)--it was just that I didn't want to carry my sleeping bag, tent etc. and I didn't want to camp out if it rained. I am a camper but I don't sleep on the ground and camping in the rain is pretty gross.

We took the shuttle to the first stop on the rim trail, Pipe Creek Vista. I pulled the shuttle map section out of the Visitor's Guide so we could figure out where we were going.

We ambled along the trail, took lots of pictures. Great views at Mather Point and all along the trail. We walked back to the Visitors Center( off the rim)and then continued on walking the rim trail, stopping at Yavapai Observation Station and then back to the El Tovar.

Once back at the Hotel, I moved 2 cars that were parked farther away. We couldn't find spots in the lot when we checked in the night before. The parking lot at the El Tovar is quite small but there is a hidden lot right behind Verkamps--you'll see Verkamps when you drive into the first row of parking, follow the gravel drive around Verkamps and there are several parking spots; we always found a spot here.

The WHs met in the El Tovar lounge and made some sandwiches with the leftovers that we had packed for the hikers.

After lunch, we headed back to the rim and walked by Kachina Lodge, Thunderbird Lodge, Bright Angel Lodge and finally the Bright Angel Cabins, which are still being refurbished and were not being rented. I never imagined these hotels to all be lined up together right on the rim. We walked down the walkway in front of Bright Angel and waited for the Hermits Rest Shuttle.

The Hermits Rest Route is wonderfully scenic. We get off at the first lookout, Trailview Overlook and see the many switchbacks on the Bright Angel Trail. We hop back on the shuttle, make another stop at another spectacular Point and then continue on the shuttle out to Hermits Rest---more pictures and then back to the El Tovar Lounge for Happy Hour.

A woman plays the piano every afternoon and evening at the El Tovar and we had a great little Happy Hour and then it was time to think about catching the sunset. We decided to get back on the Hermits Rest shuttle and head out to Hopi Point. We weren't the only ones with this idea but we thoroughly enjoyed watching the sunset here. Shuttles line up right at the Point and take the sunset watchers back.

Right after sunset, all the restaurants get busy. We stopped in again at the Bright Angel Restaurant and had dinner. No nightlife for us though. We were all tired.

Together Again

I wake up early again and I am on the shuttle back out to Hopi Point at 5:30 a.m. for sunrise. I am the only one there but a tour van pulls up as I get off the shuttle. The sky has just a few wispy clouds that turn completely pink right before sunrise--very pretty.

Back to the El Tovar, I clean up and we meet for coffee and banana bread in the lounge. We walk down to the Hermits Rest Shuttle and decide we will stop at a couple of the overlooks that we missed the day before. We don't go any farther than Mohave Point--the return shuttle stops here and you don't have to complete the entire loop out to Hermits Rest and back--a shorter route.

We then got on the Village Shuttle to check out Yavapai Lodge and eat lunch out there. This Lodge is out by the campground and only has a cafeteria style restaurant so we opted to head back to Bright Angel Lodge and have lunch in the Arizona Room. Yavapai Lodge is probably in the least convenient location but is closer to some great sunrise viewing points. I know several people mention Yaki Point. If you stayed there,you have to shuttle to any of the other restaurants in the park.

We enjoyed a really good lunch in the Arizona Room and also enjoyed great views--it looks out at the rim. We contemplated making dinner reservations here, but we didn't know what condition the hikers would be in.

Back to the El Tovar; we get our hiking gear on and wait for the word from the hikers. We head over to the rim above Bright Angel Trail and get a call on the walkie talkie that they are at the 3 mile station. It is about 1:30 and they started hiking at about 7:15. The WHs are meeting them at the 1 1/2 station.

The 1 1/2 hike is very enjoyable but seems much longer than 1 1/2 miles. We both arrive at the 1 1/2 at about the same time. No water is available here, so I share water with some poor hiker(not one of us) who was counting on water here. I think water is available here starting in May.

Part of our group heads up--the Ohio State game is on, and the rest decide to rest a little more and slowly make their way up. Everyone agreed that the last 3 miles were the most difficult. (I felt fine--very enjoyable hike--great views)

We met in one of the guest rooms at the El Tovar and had a Happy Hour--celebrated their accompishment with lots of silliness. If we could have ordered a pizza, we would have, but there is no pizza to be found. There are all these families at the Grand Canyon and nowhere to order a pizza? We either just didn't find it or Xanterra is really missing the boat here.

Dinner at the Arizona Room is vetoed so we take the shuttle over to the Maswik Lodge to their cafeteria. Several of the men wanted burgers and that was the only place to get one. This is a very nice cafeteria and the food was ok. Everyone is beat so another early to bed.

We all awake early, attend 8:00 Palm Sunday Mass, pack, linger for awhile at the rim and then head out.

We drive out Desert View Drive and stop at all the lookouts that we were not able to see on our drive in: Grandview Point, Lipan Point and finally the Watchtower.

My husband and I spend 2 more nights with friends in Fountain Hills. We go golfing and have a really delicious meal at Waters Edge, on the patio that looks out toward the fountain.

We had a lot of fun planning and training for this trip. We had a couple hiking weekends here in Ohio to get in shape for the big hike.

My husband is thrilled to have hiked to Phantom Ranch. He has talked about the hike for years. We're lucky to have this group of friends who enjoy hiking. We're planning to hike again next year. I'm hoping we return to the Canadian Rockies where I love to hike---They all seemed very interested.

Some final thoughts

A Must Do Drive: If you don't enter the Park from the East Entrance, the views on this East Rim Drive are spectacular. It is easier to enter or leave the Park using this drive so that you don't have to backtrack--it's 25 miles long. Great stops at Grandview(the site of the first Grand Canyon Lodge)--we hiked down a bit here on the trail, Lipan Point and Desert View and Watchtower. You are able to climb the winding staircase to the top of Watchtower.

Restaurants: We had a very good meal and good service at the El Tovar dining room. We ate dinner there and the prices were comparable to the Arizona Room over by Bright Angel Lodge. We really enjoyed our lunch at the Arizona Room and would have liked to have eaten dinner there.

Hiking the Rim tip: We decided to continue hiking the rim on the Hermits Rest Route. I believe we started at Powell Point. When you reach the mine however, there are fences that divert you back to the road. Next time we would start the rim hike in this area, after we passed the mine. No problem wondering where the mine is--it's a huge ugly tower rising from the rim.

Something I never imagined: They have a kennel for you dogs--right by the Maswik.

Suggested best entertainment at the Park: A shuttle driver suggested that you stop at the corral right by Bright Angel Lodge when the mule riders return from their 2 day ride into the Canyon. Watching the riders try to walk again is great fun, so he says.

Check for cancellations: If interested in lodging or dinner reservations at Phantom or even on the Rim, call for reservations; there are cancellations. I also saw people lined up at the Bright Angel Transportation desk at 5:45 am waiting for the desk to open at 6:00 for last minute cancellations.

We wanted to cry: After getting up at 4:30 am Ohio time,and entering the park with terrible fog and snow, with wipers that were icing up, and saw the sign,"25 miles to Canyon Village". My husband asked,"We don't have to go that far do we?" His response to my "yes" is not printable.

A good idea: The shuttle buses are great. We never waited more than a few minutes and always got on the bus. I imagine in the summer that the lines may be longer but this system works really well and you don't have to move your car.

The best view: I think the best view of the canyon is your first one, no matter where it is. It just takes your breath away.

Thanks for a great report!

ttt

Just a couple of factoids:
The vegetarian dinner at Phantom Ranch is no longer served at the steak seating. It is now served at the same time as the stew dinner.

For 9 or fewer people, the instructions to start calling for reservations on the first of the month one year from the month you want to visit is correct as was the example. Here's another: to reserve any date in March 2009, you'll need to call on March 1 2008 (the popular months sell out within hours. But if you have 10 or more people (maximum 20) you're a group and the group space is by written request only. Instructions are available on the group pages on www.grandcanyonlodges.com. People do start faxing in at midnight <bold>Arizona time</bold> on the 1st, and with a maximum potential of only 20 group beds per day, a month can sell out with the first handful of faxes out of the hundreds received for the popular months. Let me emphasize: 9 or fewer people, you need to call Xanterra's reservations office in Colorado when they open - don't write; 10 or more people, you need to fax to the Arizona office.

If you go to the corral at the head of the Bright Angel trail in the afternoon, you'll only get to see the mule riders coming back from that day's Plateau Point day trip. The overnight 2 day mule trips come up on the Kaibab trail, then the riders are bussed back to the Bright Angel Lodge around midday.

Can you tell I'm not used to using <bold>formatting</bold>?

Arghh!