Winter Grand Canyon - looking for 3/4 day backpacking trip

[tauwillow]

My husband and I are hoping to do a short backpacking trip in the Grand Canyon this January. 3 or 4 days would be ideal, but a little longer would be just fine. We are wholly unfamiliar with the region, so are hoping for some advice. From what I gather, permit applications open up Aug 22nd.

Thanks!

[HooKooDooKu]

Be ready for snow and ice.
I've only hiked in GC once... the Kaibab down and Bright Angel back up the next day. I did mid March and morning temperatures at the rim were below freezing, and we had snow and sleet falling at the hotel the night before.

[Wil]

My husband and I are hoping to do a short backpacking trip in the Grand Canyon this January. 3 or 4 days would be ideal, but a little longer would be just fine. We are wholly unfamiliar with the region, so are hoping for some advice. From what I gather, permit applications open up Aug 22nd.The permits for January 2016 will be awarded by random lottery, from all the faxed requests received during the day of September 1, 2015 by 5 pm local time.

Informally over the last few years the Backcountry Office staff have indicated that faxes received PRIOR to lottery day will be mixed in randomly with the legitimate requests faxed that day as defined by the policy. Perhaps 8/22 has become a formalized date for this informal head start? I hadn't heard that. In any case, January is not exactly a peak month and your chances of getting your permit request are good. Wouldn't hurt to indicate some flexibility and choices as provided on the form, but again for January this is not as essential as it is for the more popular months where requests far outstrip availability.

A good first visit would be the South Kaibab Trail to camp at Bright Angel Campground for two nights, with dinners at Phantom Ranch if desired (their reservations are a year in advance but January is likely to have availability). A longish day trip to Ribbons Falls and back for your second day and a shorter day trip partway along the Clear Creek Trail and back for your third day would be nice. Fourth day could be a leisurely climb on the Bright Angel Trail halfway out, to the Indian Garden Campground (your permit request for night #3) with a walk out to Plateau Point and back for the sunset. Fourth day for the remainder of the climb out.

As noted, the rim will likely be iced and snowed in and traction may be required for the upper trail, but the inner Canyon should be quite pleasant, with nippy evenings. People sometimes underestimate the raw power of the blazing sun; even with lower temperatures it can beat down on you and water intake, salty snacks, breaks and sun protection are important even in January.

[StealthHikerBoy]

Was going to post almost the precise suggestion Wil did. That is the perfect first hike in the GC. There are quite a few more remote and challenging ones, but with the snow and ice you might have that time of year near the top, that hike is great.

Bring microspikes. The first couple of hours going down could be icy.

[colorado_rob]

My suggestion is to do a hike something like this: Day 1, hike the S. Kaibab trail down to Phantom ranch, assuming you can get a camping permit at the Bright Angel CG. Day 2, hike to Cottonwood camp (7 easy miles, 3-4 hours plus a stop at ribbon falls), make camp, then stroll up towards the North rim to wherever the snow forces a turnaround, then back to CW CG, maybe another 7-8 miles total. Very good trail and IMHO the most beautiful part of the entire south---> north rim corridor. Hike at least to Roaring Spring, an d hopefully a mile or so above. Day 3, hike back through Phantom then up the Bright angel trail to Indian Gardens CG, about 11 miles, then hike out the next morning (4.5 miles). That last 4.5 miles is the only steep uphill this entire hike, and you pack should be its lightest by now.

As far as snow/ice goes, my experience is that ice is more prevalent in the spring, with more like packed snow in the deep of winter, but of course still slick and microspikes would be a great help. The snow should be gone by the time you descend a couple thousand feet, but of course every year is different. I have been there in December/January with near-zero snow on the south rim, but I think those times were not the norm.

The three attached pics are from this last January, very cold this trip, maybe 10 degree at the south rim, though once we hiked down to the river it was in the 40's. We had such a grand time this last New Years that we plan on returning this year.

[Feral Bill]

+1 on base camping at Indian Gardens. You won't be disappointed.

[Dogwood]

+1 All that Wil shared.

Make yourself fully aware of the likely winter conditions for Jan at the Grand Canyon. Jan is the coldest month! Come prepared for winter camping at rims. Night time lows at the S. Rim will be frigid. Colder still at the higher elev N. Rim. Review info at the NPS GCNP website. There is much accurate excellent info on winter weather and what to expect.

http://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/weather-condition.htm#CP_JUMP_155163
Note the avg temps in various places. These are only avgs too. I've experienced low single digits at the S. Rim in Jan often. I've done hikes in Jan starting from the S. Rim down the Grandview and S. Kaibab Trails to the Colorado River respectively in 28" and 22" of snow and ice with temps in the teens at the S Rim Trailheads. But by the time I descended to Horseshoe Mesa(Tonto Tr/Tonto Plateau ) or Indian Garden CG the trails were totally clear of ice and snow and the temps were in the mid 50's under sunny skies. * Conditions(weather, trail, etc) differ at the rims and the inner canyon often by about 20* F.

One good thing about the snow out west at the GC is that it is dry, light, and fluffy. It's different than the wet heavier snow of the east/northeast. Even though I encountered 3 ft + drifts on both those hikes it was easy to push through like hiking through a pile of styrofoam packing peanuts

http://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/hours.htm
The S. Rim is open 6 days a yr.

If you come prepared the GC is a wonderful place to hike in the winter. I feel blessed to have experienced it on the trails under different seasonal conditions. The purplish hued winter skies over the GC with some snow at the rims is postcard PERFECT! No heat, No crowds too! Voila and Amen!

[tauwillow]

Thanks to everyone for all of the advice! We just got back from a hiking/rafting trip in Idaho, and I got caught up in all of that before I was able to get back to the thread. (great trip, too!)

We had been considering a rim to rim to rim (longer trip), but I am really liking the suggestions here and will probably end up using your itinerary ideas instead.