My dad’s favorite place. We added a slightly unique flair with a backcountry permit — hiked down South Kaibab, upgraded from a campground to a cabin with some luck down at Phantom Ranch, then camped by the same radioactive water the next night, going up the River Trail and finishing up Bright Angel.
May 12, 2024
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The Grand Canyon is a mile deep and the rim-to-river-to-rim crossing is its classic test: down the steep, waterless South Kaibab to the Colorado, a night at Phantom Ranch at the bottom, and out the longer Bright Angel. Carter’s dad has done it dozens of times, which is why it keeps pulling them back.
If you go
This is the rim-to-river-to-rim again with my dad, but with two nights at the bottom instead of one. The cabins and dorms at Phantom Ranch run through a lottery on Recreation.gov, so an in-person upgrade from the campground is genuine luck; the adjacent Bright Angel Campground goes by backcountry permit. Down via South Kaibab (no water), out via the River Trail and Bright Angel. Grand Canyon NPS.
