Thud wrote:Rim to rim is the way to go. Take 3 days/2 nights to do it. Make camping reservations well in advance and spend a night at Phantom Ranch. The object is to be in there, not "do it".
We only had 1 full day, the objectives were 1) see the inner gorge up close 2) get some good canyon views /pics & 3) get a physically challenging hike in. BA to plateau failed on two of those, plus we had to do an out and back rather than a loop which sucks.
There's too much to see/do in this country, let alone the rest of the world, to bother going back to GC anytime soon. I'm disappointed, mainly in myself for listening to people.
I guess my point was that the Canyon is best not done in a day, regardless of routes. Also that the north side of the river is much less trafficked than the south and to be preferred.
I've been a few times, hope to go many more.
But if you didn't dig it, that's cool -- find your kinda place.
I thought it was awesome, but i want to see glacier, Denali, bryce, zion, etc. And yeah, we should have spent at least a night in the Canyon but i was on a limited time family vaca that i was not responsible for planning. I could certainly hit the north rim from Vegas sometime.
I'm being negative, i know, just frustrated that i didnt get to see the river up close.
Last time I was there (April last year) I only got to go halfway down to the mesa on the BA trail. I was with my then 11 y/o kid. Anyway, close to the top while we were resting a couple of college girls passed us and they were coming out from the hike you proposed. It was around 4:30 pm. They seemed tired but fine. It's definitely doable. Probably pretty wiped the next day, but who cares. Sorry I wasn't here to post as much before you went.
