Canyon are the ultimate location hikes, so plan an itinerary that gives you down time—be that many extra five-minute breaks to see what you pass or an extra day to give you more time to wander around.
WHY YOU SHOULD BUY—AND CARRY—THIS BOOK
If you have ever searched for books on the Grand Canyon you were likely overwhelmed by the large number of generally excellent books written on its trails, natural history, human history, accidents, and more, leaving you wondering whether there’s space for yet another title. If you wish to read individual books that delve into the region’s botany, geology, prehistory, pioneer history, tourist attractions, on-trail hiking, or off-trail exploration, then the bibliography suggests a healthy foundation for a Grand Canyon library. However, if you plan to visit the Grand Canyon infrequently (until its spirit captures you and you decide to return often), this book provides you an introduction to most of these topics, all focused on the two corridor trails descending from the South Rim: the Bright Angel and South Kaibab trails.
The primary goal of this book is to help you plan: how to get permits, what gear you should carry, how fast you should walk, what dangers you should avoid, and so on. However, it is also slim enough to tuck into your backpack for your journey to the river. Trail descriptions and maps aid you on your endeavor. In addition, ample human history and natural history sections inform you about topics from trail construction to commonly observed birds and plants. As you proceed first down to the Colorado River and then back up to the rim, you will take water, food, and rest breaks. As you sit in the shade on a hot summer day or enjoy a bit of midwinter warmth, pull out this book and learn about your surroundings.
WHY YOU SHOULD NOT DAYHIKE
Grand Canyon National Park has a clear policy of telling people not to attempt to hike to the river and back in a day, and as a result, this book focuses on the information needed to complete an overnight trip to the Colorado River. When I first learned of the park’s policy, it seemed quite extreme. I had not found the dayhike particularly taxing, and I have, on my trips to the canyon, met a lot of other hikers completing the hike in a single day without difficulty—granted these trips were in spring, fall, and winter, not midsummer. It seemed that a better approach would have been to emphasize attempting such a committing walk only during cooler months and emphasizing the need to start very early, be “slow and steady,” and take sufficient breaks, especially during the heat of the day. Maybe they should instead instruct people to stay out of the Inner Gorge when midday temperatures exceed 85°F?
However, as rangers rattled off the number of rescues and fatalities suffered by people attempting a dayhike to the river, even in spring and fall, it became clear that a blanket recommendation was a pragmatic approach. Indeed, there are more deaths resulting from environmental conditions in May and June than in July and August, presumably because visitors don’t appreciate how hot temperatures are during late spring, especially in the Inner Gorge where there is little shade during these near-solstice months. Many people do not know their physical limits and do not know when they are approaching their limit, leading to severe cases of hyponatremia and heatstroke (see page). Moreover, the enormous number of midsummer rescues endangers the lives of rescuers and costs the park—and the hikers being rescued—a lot. The information in this book is of course still accurate if you wish to dayhike, but I dissuade you from doing it.
Inner Gorge refers to the steep gorge of Vishnu Schist and Zoroaster Granite below the Tonto Platform. Inner Canyon is anywhere below the canyon rim.
Leaving national park policy aside, there are many more good reasons to take multiple days: Completing the hike as a dayhike accentuates the endurance aspects of the hike and takes away from the magic of the canyon and the natural history, because you have much less time to sit and absorb your surroundings. Plus you miss the beautiful morning and evening light from its depth. Many people probably attempt a dayhike because they did not reserve a wilderness permit. Others are people who do not enjoy the extra weight of an overnight pack or simply do not enjoy camping. If you fall into these categories, consider returning for a second trip when you have a backpacking reservation and can travel very light, when nighttime temperatures are warm or you have made a reservation to spend the night at Phantom Ranch.
Human History
NATIVE PEOPLES
The Colorado Plateau, although not the Grand Canyon, has been inhabited for at least 13,000 years, as evidenced by spearheads found in the region. The first of the southwestern Paleo-Indians, the Clovis culture, preferred the open plains areas to canyon country and are thought to have entered the Grand Canyon region rarely. More artifacts have been found from the ensuing Folsom culture, but their population densities on the Colorado Plateau would also have been low. The people of both cultures hunted the large mammal species that went extinct at the end of the ice age—possibly in part because of the hunting pressure. (It makes sense that these groups spent little time along the Colorado River. Can you imagine wooly mammoths and giant sloths descending into contorted canyons?)
The Archaic culture began by definition 8,500 years ago, and by 8,000 years ago people of this culture inhabited the Grand Canyon area. They too were a nomadic hunter-gatherer culture and had no permanent habitations. Over the subsequent six millennia, the distribution of people and especially their population densities fluctuated greatly, dictated largely by natural climatic fluctuations. During dry periods there were fewer predictable water sources and probably fewer game animals to hunt.
The descendants of the Archaic culture are the people of the Basketmaker culture, distinguished by the beautiful baskets they made. The Basketmaker culture began around A.D. 1, and by A.D. 500, at the latest, the people of this culture were farming corn, squash, and beans. This change in food source meant that the people were no longer nomadic, instead building more permanent habitations: pithouses as living quarters and shelters for food storage. However, even after they began to farm, the Basketmaker people living in the Grand Canyon continued to depend partially on wild game and wild plants. This flexibility gave them an advantage over tribes to the south that relied more heavily on farming; because of their use of wild food sources they maintained a more balanced—and healthier—diet than the tribes relying mostly on corn did.
Around A.D. 700 the Basketmaker culture transitioned to the Puebloan culture, designated by its aboveground rock and clay living quarters and its creation of ceramics. Pithouses were no longer used as houses, but in some regions, including the Grand Canyon, similar-shaped ceremonial kivas were central to the culture. The several centuries from A.D. 700 until A.D. 1140 were a period of cultural expansion and population growth across the Colorado Plateau and also a time of sufficient rainfall. The Puebloan villages from this era dot the entire Colorado Plateau—see page for possible locations to visit after your Grand Canyon hike.
Particularly during the period from A.D. 1050 to A.D. 1100 settlements were established at many locations deep within the Grand Canyon. The small deltas that exist where side tributaries merge with the Colorado River were ideal for farming, including the mouth of Bright Angel Creek (see sidebar). River terraces, which are built up during periods of abundant runoff, were also used for farming. Many of the people had a second farm site on the canyon rim, allowing them to grow crops across more months of the year.
Then, a 50-year drought from A.D. 1100 until A.D. 1150 coincided with a period of mass exodus from the Grand Canyon to the south. In the Grand Canyon an extended drought meant many springs dried up and the Colorado River terraces eroded. However, anthropologists do not believe that the climatic shift was solely responsible for their departure. The Kachina religion, practiced to the south, also enticed the Puebloan people southward. Despite the various pressures to move southward, some artifacts indicate a few Puebloans stayed in pockets of the Grand Canyon for many years after most people disappeared. (The Basketmakers and the Puebloan people are also known
