Winter Camping and Hiking at Grand Canyon National Park

A couple of weeks ago my new girlfriend, Leah, and I were trying to figure out where we could go to get out of town and do some camping and hiking. She mentioned that she had never camped or hiked at the Grand Canyon before. I knew that there was a great chance of encountering extreme cold, ice and snow, but she didn't hesitate a bit in agreeing to go! Sweet!! I got online and made reservations at Mather Campground and (not) surprisingly there was a ton of availability! A quick review of the forecast revealed an expectation of night time temps in the low 20s, daytime temps in the 40s, with a chance of a couple of inches of snow over the weekend. Perfect camping weather! We dug out all of our cold weather camping gear, picked up some supplies and loaded up the car on a Friday after work. We got on the road around 5:30 and cruised into Gabriela's Taco Shop in Camp Verde for dinner at 7:30. The food was awesome, I highly recommend the carnitas burrito, and we were fueled up for the rest of the long drive. In short time we made a fuel stop in Flagstaff and noted that the temperature had dropped significantly, as it was dark, and we were at much higher elevation. I wasn't thrilled about setting up camp in the dark, but what can you do? We continued on and arrived at the Campground after 10:00 PM. The wind was thankfully calm at the moment and we were able to set up camp fairly quickly and easily. It was super cold, so we wore our warm clothes, and dove into our sleeping bags, covered in blankets. Sleep came quickly and hard.

The alarm went off at 5:00 and it was admittedly tough to get out of a warm sleeping bag. The temps outside were frigid. Sunrise wouldn't be around for a while and the winds were gusting to over 30 MPH. I quickly fired up my jetboil and heated water for coffee and oatmeal. I'm not sure that a cup of instant coffee has ever tasted better. A quick bowl of oatmeal, laced with almond butter and blueberries, had me feeling human again. Over coffee and breakfast we went over our plan for the day, once again. We'd hike down the Bright Angel trail to Indian Gardens Campground and make a decision from there. If we were feeling extra ambitious we'd descend down to the river and explore the bottom for a bit before returning to the Rim. Between trail miles and the hike back to the car, this would be an approx 22 mile day. Headlamps were indicated as we'd most likely finish off our ascent in the dark. If we weren't feeling it, we'd simply turn around at IG and head back to the top, logging approximately 11 miles. Still a respectable hike. We got to the trailhead and after posing for the obligatory pics, shoved off around 7:30 AM.

Luckily the trail was in pretty good shape, with a minimal amount of snow and ice. We were able to get away without using traction devices, though the hiking poles were a huge help. It was pretty windy and chilly, but at least the sun was shining. I knew that the temp would get warmer as we descended.

We arrived at 1.5 mile resthouse and made a quick pitstop and got back on the trail. We were making good time. The sun was out and life was good!!

Soon after we arrived at Indian Gardens and stripped a few layers off as the temperature had increased significantly. We ate lunch and decided to skip the trip to the bottom as we wanted to get back to camp in time to have a nice campfire.

We also wanted to hike the next day and we knew that a super long hike to the bottom would most likely make a hike the next day less desirable. As a compromise, we decided to make the trek out to Plateau Point, which is a 3 mile round trip that follows a trail which heads out to the edge of the Tonto Platform, allowing one to have an outstanding view of the Inner Gorge and Colorado River. I'd always wanted to get out there, but never seem to have the time to make that sojourn when I'm in the midst of a backpacking trip. After lunch, we got on the trail.

Not sure why those two lonely Cottonwoods were green and all of the rest of them appeared to be brown and dormant. Must be good, clean living, I guess?

These purple cacti were all over the place. Very beautiful and a dark, rich purple color. I've never seen them in the canyon before.

The trail to Plateau Point was beautiful. Largely flat, it was covered in this beautiful purple cactus that I'd never seen. The sun was out and the views of the snow covered rims were incredible.

After 40 minutes or so, we began the approach to Plateau Point. The views were awe-inspiring. It's really hard for me to choose a favorite place in the canyon, as I have so many, but I'd have to put it right there at the top.

A wrong step here, and it's all over. They say that it's not the fall that kills you, but the sudden stop at the end. I hope I don't ever find out!!

The Colorado was running a pristine, emerald green! I love it! So much more picturesque than the chocolate milk look you get after a storm. We lingered for 20 minutes or so and then began the long trek to the rim. We took another quick food break at Indian Gardens, enjoying the last bit of "warmish" weather. We left IG at around 2:00 PM.

We topped out at around 4:00 PM to a sunny, but windy and chilly afternoon. According to my Garmin, the hike was 14.5 miles, including getting back to the car, with 3600 ft of elevation gain! It was time for some food and adult beverages! Unfortunately, due to the high winds, we had to forgo the campfire. Crud. I guess that that's just the sort of thing that happens in these situations, but we made the best of it. We sat in the car for a while, out of the wind, and ate dinner and had a few beverages. Pretty soon the sleeping bags were calling and we didn't resist.

We slept in until 7:30 on Sunday morning. After several cups of coffee and some hot oatmeal, we decided to pack up camp and get ready for our hike. We pulled out of camp and headed to the visitor's center to catch the shuttle to the South Kaibab trailhead. Today's hike would be a little less ambitious than yesterday's. It was also much colder and was snowing. We'd gotten about an inch of snow overnight and it was still snowing when we began our hike. The South Kaibab trail was much icier, but after a mile or so of descent, we were through the worst of it.

We took a quick break at Ooh Aah Point and took a few pics. The view was pretty awesome, especially with the snow continuing to fall. We decided we'd continue on to Cedar Ridge for lunch and then turn around. We Ooohed and Aaahed for a few more minutes and then resumed our voyage.

Less than an hour later, we pulled into Cedar Ridge. It was partly sunny, but still pretty windy and cold. We sat down as out of the wind as we could be and had lunch. It's hard to beat getting a table at this restaurant!!

We got back on the trail and started heading back up to the rim. The trip up went quickly and before we knew it we had reached the Rim. It felt good to hop onto the warm shuttle. We got back to the car and made it to Flagstaff at 2:00 where we enjoyed a late lunch at one of my favorite Mexican restaurants, Los Gordos. The Menudo is especially delightful. After a quick caffeine stop at Dunkin Donuts, we began the long tedious drive back to Phoenix. Thankfully, having someone to talk to makes the drive go by much quicker! Thanks for sharing the adventure with me, Leah!! We had a great time. This was definitely one of my best GC trips, even though it didn't involve any camping below the rim!