Weather: 75°, mostly sunny
About this hike: Eight years ago I hiked the Grand Canyon South Rim to the river and back in a day. I did this via Bright Angel Trail.
Since that visit to the canyon so many years ago, I've dreamed of going back. I even booked a trip back in fall of 2017, but it fell through last minute.
With an America the Beautiful Pass that expires on May 31, I thought now was the perfect time to return to Grand Canyon.
Instead of the crowded South Rim, I opted to explore the less-busy North Rim. The drive is longer, and I even opted to rent a fuel-efficient car. With no off-roading planned, this seemed the better choice. The car paid for itself in fuel savings.
Unlike my South Rim adventure eight years ago, I had no plans of reaching the Colorado River and back in a day; it's simply too far from the North Rim.
I hiked down North Kaibab Trail, only planning to reach a milestone called as Cypress Point. I was cognizant of the fact that what goes down must come back up. North Kaibab starts as descending switchbacks. Mule poop is everywhere and it smells like a farm—gross. To make matters worse, the trail is soft pack like fine sand. This means mule poop dust—doubly gross.
The first waypoint was at the watering pit and restrooms. Some shorter mule tours stop here and then go back up, meaning the droppings on the trail become less bothersome past this point. The trail surface also transitions to hard pack, meaning less dust.
After availing myself of the facilities, I continued my descent. Immediately the trail went through a neat red sandstone tunnel. The Redwall Bridge comes into view in the canyon far below. It's about another mile to reach the actual bridge.
Redwall Bridge was the next waypoint. This footbridge crosses Roaring Springs Canyon. As the name implies, the red cliff walls are breathtaking. If you have a healthy fear of heights like I do, the next part may also take your breath away. North Kaibab Trail becomes a shelf trail. One wrong step and you'd fall to a likely death.
The final waypoint was Cypress Overlook. My nerves were already a little frazzled from the aforementioned shelf trail. As I rounded the corner toward Cypress, a wicked wind blew up out of the canyon, smacking me in the face with dust and gravel. This wind didn't relent. I backed away from the edge of the trail, fearing a blast of wind could knock me off balance and ultimately off the trail. I didn't make Cypress Overlook. Likely but a few hundred yards short, I turned back to begin the 2,500 foot climb back to North Kaibab Trailhead.
North Kaibab begins in dense conifer forest. You get to watch the climate zone transitions in real time as you descend into the canyon. Conifer gives way to cypress and other high-desert flora. The rocks transition from pale white to red rock. I love the dense forest around the North Rim when compared to the high-desert pinon and junipers around the South Rim.
Since I reached the trailhead by about 3:30pm, I opted to do one more quick hike. I explored a couple miles of Widforss Trail. This trail hugs the canyon rim but through dense forest which occasionally opens up into sweeping vistas of the canyon. To be honest, I liked Widforss better and wished I had time to explore more of it. The peaceful, dense forest without all the Rim-to-Rim warriors, mules, mule poop, etc. was a welcome respite after North Kaibab.
