A veteran picks his 7 favorites west of the Divide
Arizona: Crossing the Canyon
Over the years, I’ve spent hundreds of days exploring Arizona’s Grand Canyon. I’m convinced that while the view from the top can be stunning, the best way to appreciate the canyon’s grandness is to walk across it.
The easiest traverse begins from the North Rim with a 13.8-mile descent down the North Kaibab Trail. Canyon walls engulf hikers, each stony stratum offering its own textures and colors. Buttes and buttresses reach for cerulean skies. Pastel bands paint distant walls. The sheer immensity inspires awe and incites blisters.
Bright Angel Campground offers canyon-bottom tent sites. From there, the 9.6-mile Bright Angel Trail leads to the top.
At first, the path parallels the Inner Gorge whose metamorphic rock marks the roots of ancient mountains. It then corkscrews upward to Indian Gardens Campground near the halfway point. After crossing the sloping Tonto Platform, it zigzags some more. Finally, atop one broad hairpin stands Kolb Studio at the edge of the South Rim. Brews, baths and beds lie blissfully beyond.
[Visit www.thecanyon.com] for rooms at North and South Rim lodges, [hotels bed & breakfasts and more.] Your inner-canyon campsite, which must be reserved well in advance (928-638-7888; www.nps.gov/grca), is your hiking permit. Technically, if you don’t camp, you don’t need a permit. [Many tour companies on www.thecanyon.com offer rides from one rim to the other, helicopter and air tours as well as guided hikes and river trips.]
See 6 more hikes…
By Dan Leeth
Special to the Chicago Tribune
Published June 11, 2006
