Grand Canyon Rim, River, Rim & Havasupai Falls

The Grand Canyon – everyone has heard of it, everyone wants to experience it. But a true hiker cannot experience the canyon with the throngs on the South Rim – you need to get inside and become a part of the canyon. And at some point in your life you need to embrace the entire canyon with a rim-to-river-to-rim hike. This trip will test your endurance, use all your resources and push you beyond your expectations – and it will be worth every step!

Rim-to-River-to-Rim will assemble in Flagstaff early morning of Day 1 and we’ll shuttle to the North Rim, arriving early enough for a leisurely walk along the Rim. We’ll overnight and then begin our descent into the canyon the next morningDay 2, following Bright Angel Creek as it tumbles toward the Colorado. Along the way, we’ll pass Roaring Springs, the primary water source for both the North and South Rim villages. A short spur trail offers the irresistible opportunity to visit Ribbon Falls. By the time we reach Phantom Ranch, our destination for the evening, we will have descended almost 6,300 feet over 14 miles through five distinct life zones to the canyon floor.  Our lodging at Phantom Ranch will be in 4 – 10 person cabins, or single sex dormitories.  Unfortunately we cannot offer a choice of beds as our bed assignment is provided from a lottery and we take what they can give us.  Toilets are in each lodging unit, and the well stocked showers are located in a separate, single sex building.

Breakfast precedes daybreak — a Phantom Ranch tradition — and this day is a day to enjoy where you are and relax along the banks of the Colorado River at Phantom Ranch or join the group for a optional day hike along the river, Day 3. Day 4, we’ll be crossing over the Colorado as the sun begins to rise above the canyon walls. We’ll follow the Bright Angel Trail as it climbs from the river beyond the Inner Canyon to Indian Gardens, onward and upward to the South Rim (10 miles). We’ll spend the evening at a lodge on the South Rim and celebrate over dinner at magnificent El Tovar.

We’ll leave the South Rim early morning of Day 5 (but, we promise, not as early as our departure from Phantom Ranch the previous morning) and head to the Hualapai Hilltop, trail head for our hike to Supai. An 8-mile trek into Havasu leads to Supai Village, tribal center of the Havasupai Nation, and we’ll spend our first of two nights at the Havasupai Lodge.

The magnificent waterfalls of Havasu provide the adventure for Day 6. We’ll hike from the lodge along Havasu Creek, with an opportunity to visit Havasu’s two newest falls, created by the 2008 flood. We’ll continue to Havasu and Mooney, with their spectacular drops of 100′ and 196′ respectively, as the creek plunges toward the Colorado (6 miles). Following a final evening at the Havasupai Lodge, on Day 7, we’ll hike from the canyon and return to Flagstaff where our Grand Canyon Rim River Rim Hiking Tour concludes.