Grand Canyon to the bottom & back in One Day + Rim to Rim & trail options

Hi I'm Nikki. Today my mom and I are at the Grand Canyon National Park. I'm currently at the base of the canyon under the bridge going to Phantom Ranch. So today I'm going to show you South Kaibab Trail at Grand Canyon National Park to the base of the canyon and back in one day while also showing you shorter options and the amazing trek from North Rim to South Rim. Be sure to check out my other YouTube video for more detail on the logistics and everything you need to know before you visit the Grand Canyon on things like logistics, permit, camping, lodging inside and outside the park, Grand Canyon Village, visitor fees, fun facts, and more. Have a great day and I hope this inspires you to hit the trail. Good morning! Mom is going to see the Grand Canyon for the first time. We're going to go low as we can and then come back up. We packed our bags last night so we could have an early start. We got on the shuttle bus. We're gonna do it! Views from the South Kaibab Trailhead. Remember it'll probably take double the amount of time it takes to go down to go back up. There's a lot of people on the trail already. Good morning! Good morning! South Kaibab is steeper than Bright Angel. This is the two trailheads from the south end. We're coming on our first official viewpoint, Oua Point. The hike to this point is about 1.8 miles there and back. You'll have about a 600 foot elevation change and I would say this is about moderate and obtainable for beginners. If you look closely, you'll see a hill right there. What do you think? It's insane right? So that's where we started. First viewpoint! So for the first few miles you'll find that the trail is actually very walkable for any skill level. Just know that it's steep. You have stairs kind of built in and rocks all the way down. Right over here there are the switchbacks to go down and around like that. I love when you do this. We got to Cedar Ridge. This is about three miles in and back if you're going to this point and an elevation change of about 1,100 feet. It is now 9 20. Not a bad place for breakfast. Come and get it! Breakfast of champions! Winds are so high so we are hiking with our sandwiches. Cheers mom! Cheers! Hiking poles are great because they take the pressure off of your legs, off of your knees by taking some of the weight which is smart because your knees will last longer. I went from doing 10 mile hikes to 21 mile hikes when I switched to using hiking poles. That helpful! These ones I love. They're black diamond and they fold up really small so they're really good for backpacking too because they're ultra lightweight. I'll show you. I'm not going on that ledge there. As you can see there are beautiful views the entire hike. Still going down. You can see the trail continues this way, switchbacks over here. 10 15. We've been taking it slow. Let's check out this view, huh? We're at Skeleton Point. This is about 5.6 miles round trip and around 2,000 feet in elevation change. Now we're just gonna keep on going. It only gets better people. Keeps going. Colorado River baby! We're at Skeleton Point and we're gonna keep on going. So mom is a gem and she doesn't want to go all the way to the bottom so we're gonna push her as far as we can. So we're gonna give her a little head start to the top. Mom you have done half the South Kaibab. I'll see you soon mom! I love you! We're at elevation 4,700 right now. Would I say I have the best mom in the entire world? I very literally mean I have the best mom in the entire world. She is so game for everything. She knows she has an adventurer of a daughter and she told me she's like, no Nikki you are running to the bottom and then running back up to meet me. Worst case you meet the shuttle and I'll go get the car and pick you up. Mom I love you! Thank you! We're down deep in the canyon. My kind of adventure. Interesting story for you. We're going down to celebrate what would have been my father's 100th birthday tomorrow. What? He went down to Panem Ranch 43 times. Wow! You can actually see pack mules coming up. Always remember pack mules have right of way. I'm running down so I have more time to get back up because I want to see the most canyon I can today before that shuttle ends at 6 6 30. Pretty far down maybe five miles into the canyon at our next checkpoint. Do you know the people that work at Panem Ranch? They hike in and out every day. Tip off emergency phone. In case of emergency I'm gonna get back to running down. Let's get to the bottom of the canyon as fast as we can. I want to see water today but as you can see it's pretty smooth sailing. And the trail is still very slick. We got rocks. Very obtainable. Oh look around this corner. That is beautiful. Oh and that's my favorite picture spot. Sun is so bright but this is my favorite photo spot. We did it! All right let's hustle. This is where I wanted to get and now let's get down that water. Good luck! Yeah if you see my mom let her know. I'll see her in an hour. So I want to try to get to that tip off by noon but if I don't I'm gonna be realistic. Have you ever seen anything like it? This is incredible. Hey! Epic views. I'm at the top of this viewpoint here. I do want to get back by six o'clock. If you go a couple more miles in you cross these bridges and you get to Panem Ranch. There's really nothing like it. It's my favorite hike in the world. I want to keep going so bad. Maybe I'll go around that corner. Yeah let's just do it. We have time. This is the best feeling ever. Yeah I didn't stop. The base is literally the best part so if you give yourself enough time or get permits I heard you. You gotta do it. So we got Bright Angel Campground and then through the canyon that's where Panem Ranch is. So I'm meeting my mom back at the trailhead that I started at but I wish I had phone service because another option is you could just hike right down and there's that river trail. You can go up the Bright Angel which is a little bit longer and not as steep as this side because this one's really steep and a little bit shorter and you can make it like a south rim loop trail which I'd love to do today but I promised my mom I'd meet her at the top of this one. This climb back up is gonna be brutal. Oh but look at those views. We're gonna go north rim across that bridge go through those canyons and you keep going north rim is another I don't know 17 miles that way. It's 12 25. Look how close that bridge is. To the base and back in one day. You know what let's do this. At this point right here is when you would hit the river trail and you can meet up at Bright Angel and go ahead and go up the other side. Phantom Ranch is down this way. Gonna go down to the bridge and turn around and then we got South Kaibab back the way we came. It is 12 30 so it's been four hours and I have officially made it to the base. That leaves me six hours before the last shuttle. This is the best feeling ever. This is it. We are at the base of the Grand Canyon. Holy. I can't help myself. Crossing the bridge to the other side. Favorite hike in the entire world. So this is the bridge going over to Phantom Ranch. Back the way we came. But you know what I really love about out and back trails is that it looks so different on the way back. Before we start hustling back up all that elevation I'm gonna take a little snack break. That's a lot of elevation. Always remember you gotta go up what you came down. I'm gonna need to move fast. I have four hours just about a mile every half an hour. I'm about to get stuck in a dust storm. I guess my hike's being postponed just slightly now. Oh she's a beauty. Have a good ride y'all. Oh that was hard. So before I show you guys the way back up let me show you some clips of going rim to rim north to south. An adventure of a lifetime. What I did was we woke up and they took the first shuttle from the Bright Angel Lodge to the North Kaibab Trailhead. From here it's a little over 14 miles and a steady drop in elevation all the way to the river. We stayed over in Phantom Ranch overnight where we got last minute reservations where we stayed the night and woke up bright and early to make our way out the canyon. Now they've changed things a bit and you have to enter a lottery to obtain reservations. My GPS says we did 28 miles between those two days but if you look at all the trail markers it's about 24 miles from rim to rim and it is a grueling hike on the way back up but one of the most beautiful you'll ever do in your life. We did get lost in the dark at one point kind of lost the trail a little bit. It was super fun so make sure you start early. Oh wow you guys this is so steep. Here's to eight really fast heavy breathing miles. This is way back out. I'm really hustling. This is what I live for. Heck yeah. Have a great hike mister. Enjoy. Here's the bridge. Doing really good on time. Came from there. I got this. Piece of cake. I am the happiest person on the planet right now. Also maybe one of the most hydrated. Let's fix that. 141. Back at my favorite rock. Not too far to go. Pass the emergency phones and the tip off. Oh the ribs. This is getting pretty brutal but I feel great. After doing the basin up I think my next goal is rim to rim and who knows. Almost at the three and a half mile mark. I just gotta get out of those switchbacks to get to it. I feel great. It's like I got a second wind or something. Crazy. It's two o'clock. I'm making really good time. I'm where I left my mom off. I have about three and a half four miles to go. This is the hardest part right here so I'm just trying to power through it. Let's get to the top That's not the top. That's just the top of this level. It's 215. Three and a half miles to go. 225. Skeleton point. Wow I'm moving really fast. We have an end in sight all the way through there around 245. All good. We got straightaways and sunshine. I'm not mad about that. Coming up on my next checkpoint. Two miles to go. We're cooking. It's 3 30. I'm certainly moving much slower. That cedar ridge. So close you guys. This one's kind of a tease though. Almost to the top. Let's finish this baby. So close. Yes. All right. This looks like a mile left. 350. That's the end. Awesome. So down in four and a half. Up in 3 15. That's cool. That's it. 4 0 5 p.m. Did it. And that's a wrap. Now let's find out where mom is. Yep. Hot chocolate with whipped cream and chocolate chips. Now this is the view from over near the Bright Angel Lodge and the start of the Bright Angel trailhead. We did so good. You did so good. I took my time. Oh don't forget. Like, subscribe, share with your friends. I'll teach you and show you everything you need to know and see for your own eyes or through me. Here's the South Kaibab Trail. Today I went like this and back. One really awesome way you can go is like this. That West Honto from that point that I showed you. You could take that across and back up the Bright Angel and you can go all the way down to the suspension bridge. Take the river trail and then the Bright Angel all the way up or shuttle to the North Rim and go all the way. This Red South Kaibab that we're on now, that's steeper and a little shorter. The Bright Angel is less steep but a bit longer. Happy hiking friends!