Bright Angel Trail Hike

To get the best views of the canyon its best to hike down the South Kaibab Trail and return via the Bright Angel Trail.  There are two main reasons its one of the earliest trails from the South Rim: water and accessibility.  The springs at Indian Gardens produce more potable water than others along the south side of the canyon, and the Bright Angel Trail Fault creates a natural break in the cliffs, making it easy to reach Indian Gardens.

Donna takes one more look at Phantom Ranch before she heads out on her return trip.  The trails begins along the river which is not as easy as one might suggest.  The Trail makes a couple of fairly steeps ascents and descents along the way and walking across some of the dune sections with a full pack can be difficult.  We can all attest to that.  

This video shows us hiking the dune section of the river trail.  The trail along the river runs for 1.7 miles before it starts to head upward towards the South Rim. 

The trail follows along a stream and you cross the stream 4 times at different locations.  Each location provides its own difficulty in crossing.  The hiker utilizes large rocks and hiking sticks to aid them in crossing.  One wrong move and you and your feet could be wet.  

Here's a video of Kathy and Donna at one of the stream crossings.  Are you sure your shoes are water proof?

Kathy and Donna take a well deserve rest at Indian Gardens.   Indian Gardens is considered the half way point of the return hike.  Get some rest, eat and drink plenty of water.  Only 4.5 miles to go!

This is an excellent photo showing some of the trail leading out of Indian Gardens.  You have about 1.5 miles to get to the 3-mile rest house.  

You can see hikers walking along the switch backs leading up the canyon.  This starts the steepest part of the return hike.  The hiker gains 1000-foot in elevation per mile for the last 3 miles of the hike.  Remember, the hiker traveled 7 miles before starting the final ascent of the journey. 

Doyle and Judy take a rest during the last 1.5 mile hike up to the rim.  

Judy and Doyle cross the finish line.  You can see by Judy's smile she is glad its over.  You can also see that they are doing some renovations at the trail head.  

The group having a well deserved meal.  Afterwards, we opened a couple bottles of wine at the coach and viewed all the photos and videos documenting our journey.  The trip was wonderful and we all will have great memories of our time together.  A special thanks to Kathy for all the repeated phone calls and coordination to make this "expedition" as Doyle calls it, a special memory.  

Here's the final stats regarding our hike.  If you have trouble reading data, just click on the photo to enlarge it.