My Grand Canyon Hike to the Bottom - Hiking the Bright Angel Trail to Phantom Ranch

Grand Canyon Hiking Gear

What I had in my backpack to Hike to Phantom Ranch and stay in Hiker Dorms

• 1Hiking Boots and Socks: I actually bought two different pairs of boots. The first pair I bought, after hiking numerous times I decided that they were too small, as they hurt my toes on downhill declines. As I knew I would be hiking 10 miles downhill and didn't want to end up with painful black toenails and blistered toes, as opted to get a different pair that was not only a bigger size, but also a wider toebox, giving my feet a little room to swell and still be comfortable. So I ended up wearing Merrell Moab Mid Waterproof Hiking Boots. The toebox was a lot wider than my previous pair, making it more comfortable for my toes. I also purchased a pair of ballet toe pads which I wore on the way down the canyon, to cushion my toes on the decline. I wore these over my socks, and they worked great. However because they are made for ballet shoes, they were too narrow to fit comfortably so I just cut small slits on the sides of them to make them wider. No black toenails for me. No blisters either. On the way down I have wrapped my ankles with elastic first aid tape to give my ankles some more support, so I didn't change my socks at Indian Gardens (5 miles). I also didn't wear sock liners on the way down because hiking at a decline I feel like they make my feet slide in my boots. So because of this, my socks were sweaty, and by mile 8 I could feel I was getting a blister. So we stopped on the trail, I took off my wet socks and put on a dry ones. On day 2, I wore my sock liners and didn't have to change into dry socks the whole hike. The reason I didn't wear my liners on the way down the Grand Canyon was that sometimes I feel like the liners make my slide around in my shoes, which I didn't want on the steep decline hike. So because of this, I should have changed my socks halfway into dry socks, but I didn't, and I was starting to get a blister. But after changing into dry socks at mile 8, spraying some New Skin spray over the area, and putting on some moleskin over the spot, I avoided a blister. I'm positive that if I wouldn't have stopped to do this right away, I would have ended up with a painful blister. Taking care of your feet has to be one of your top priorities. I wore SmartWool PhD Outdoor Medium Crew Socks
• 2Lightweight Backpack: I used the Osprey Talon 33-Litre Backpack which I ordered online at Amazon. Initially, I bought a backpack which I thought would work fine, but then after doing some research in the internet about what to pack in my bag, I read about how I should really get a lightweight backpack. My original backpagk weighed 6 lbs without anything even packed in it. So I returned it, and ordered a lightweight backpack that only weighed 2 lbs. That 4 lbs would have made a huge difference on the hike out. My Osprey Talon 33 fit great and rode nicely on my hips so the weight never felt like it was on my back. We paid for the mule duffel service and muled out a 9 lb duffel (between the two of us) which had some overnight stuff like, comfy shoes, fleece pants, change of underwear, bra, facial moisturizer, comb, lotion, anything extra in my pack. I also carried 2L less water on the way up, being confident in the water supply at Indian Gardens and my ability to refill my water bladder half way up. This lightened my backpack load by about 8 lbs (4 lbs overnight items + 4 lbs of water).
• 32L or 3 Liter Water Bladder for your Backpack: I used a Camelbak 70 oz Antidote Replacement Reservoir, which isn't really designed to work with an Osprey backpack, but it worked fine. On the hike back up I put Gatorade powder (individual packets) in my water bladder which I found much more satisfying than plain water.
• 4Hiking Poles: My most valuable purchased item that I almost didn't take. Great for making sure of my footing on the way down so I wouldn't twist an ankle or sprain a knee. Essential for stream crossing without getting my boots wet. The hiking poles literally helped me push my way UP the trail on the hike out. My triceps were actually sore, telling me how much I used my arms to propel my body up the "steps" on the trail.
• 5SPOT Satellite GPS Tracking Messenger unit - We borrowed my dad's GPS tracker called The Spot, and turned it one once we started hiking. I tracked our progress, sending a signal every 10 minutes. Our husbands and parents could pull up our progress online and see where we were on the trail. The Spot also has an SOS signal you can send if you need emergency help. The trail also has emergency phones at certain resthouses along the trail if you need help.
  

  

• 6First Aid/Emergency and Blister prevention and care: When I was doing my training hikes I developed a blister on my heel so before we even started hiking I used Extra Heavy Moleskin - 2" x 5 yards, to cover my achilles tendons and heels which prevented blisters on the hike. I also brought bandaids, New-Skin Liquid Bandage Spray (not the liquid kind in a bottle, but rather the spray version with is also a first aid antiseptic), elastic tape which I used to wrap my ankles before we even started and I'm glad I did as I twisted my ankle a few times but didn't get hurt. Ace bandage. scissors to cut bulk moleskin is extra was needed. Utility Knife multifool. (leatherman). My sister used an extra pair of boot laces and used them to cinch up the top of her boots better to give her ankles more support. The extra shoe laces would also have been necessary if either of us would have broken a shoe lace. And of course have a little rope with you can be used for other emergecy purposes. I also packed a rain poncho and a few sets of Emergency Mylar Blankets (52" x 82"). Since we weren't camping we didn't have a warm sleeping bag or anything like that with us. So an emergency heat blanket was packed just in case. Items like that seems useless to have if you don't need them, but if you are faced with an emergency you will really glad you put them in your bag.
  
  Although the weather was great while we hiked (40 degrees and sunny), the very next day a storm was moving in and 4-8" of snow was expected. If we knew the weather forecast had predicted snow during our trip we probably would have also take instep hiking crampons to put on the bottom of our boots. They sold some in the gift shop that were rubber on the top and just slid over the bottom of your boots, then had little spikes on the bottom to help keep your grip on the trail. This would have been very useful for the top of the trail had it been snowy and icy while we were hiking. I'm glad we missed this by a day!
• 7Snacks: My main source of fuel was trail mix, which I made and put into zip lock bags. It was a mixture of a store bought trail mix, then I added extra salted almonds and cashews to the mix (salty foods are important to replace what you lose from sweating). I also packed in my bag 4 Cliff Bar Energy Bars. I ate two of these on the first day in addition to my trail mix. On the second day, we ordered a sack lunch to take with us out from Phantom Ranch. This included bagel with cream cheese, sausage (no knife to cut it), apple, pretzels, oreos cookies, and electrolyte drink mix.
• 8Heaplamp: I purchased the Petzl E93 PS Tikka 2 Headlamp. My sister bought a cheaper headlamp and was frustrated with the fact that it didn't have an option to adjust the beam downward onto the trail. We used our headlamps after dinner at Phantom Ranch and also in the morning when we hiked out. We ate breakfast at 5:30 am and were hiking by 6 am, before the sun was up. We used our headlamps until we crossed the suspension bridge in the morning. By the time we got the river rest house (1.5 miles up the trail), we learned of another group of 4 hikers whom we met the prior day who DIDN'T have headlamps. They were going slower than us, and never made it all the way down to Phantom Ranch. They reached the River Rest House in the dark, but only had one flashlight. They couldn't see the trail very well, as a small trail split off and went down to the river, while the mail trail went around the corner and climbs up overlooking the river. Because they couldn't see the trail very well and didn't know which way to go, they camped right there on the trail at the bathrooms. We came across them the next morning packing up their stuff, obviously woken up by all of us hikers going back up the trail the next day. This is the importance of every hiker in your party having a headlamp. You need to anticipate the possibility of your hike not going as planned and being able to function in the dark. If this group of 4 would have had headlamps they could have traveled the last 1.5 miles to Phantom Ranch instead of spending the night on the trail.
• 9Clothing:
  
  Zip off hiking pants - I wore the North Face Paramount Peak Convertible Pants which worked fine. They were a bit itchy, but the material dries quickly if it gets wet. The short length when I zipped off the pant bottoms was perfect, although the pant length was a little long for me (and I'm 5'9"), although I did order one size bigger than I normally wear (and good thing I did otherwise they wouldn't have fit in the butt). I started in the pants in the morning when it was cold, then zipped them off and wore them as shorts the rest of the day as soon as I started getting warm. On the hike out, I zipped them off before the first climb into swichbacks and wore them all day. It was only 40 degrees when we got to Indian Gardens at 9 am, but my shorts were fine as long as I had a long sleeve shirt on.
  
  Hat and Gloves - I wore my hat and gloves off and on during the hike. It was very cold at the top of the trail when we left and we needed them. We also needed them at the bottom as evening approached and when walking around Phantom Ranch in the evening. Then again at the top of the trail when we hiked out.
  
  Layers of Clothes which I repeatedly took off and on. I wore a short sleeve Under Armour Women's Loose Fit Heatgear® Tee as first layer. This lightweight shirt wicked away any sweat keeping me relatively dry during the hike. Then I wore a Mountain Hardwear Butter Zippity Long Sleeve Pullover as second layer or on the second day I wore my Columbia Titanium Stretch Long Sleeve Button Down Shirt Womens as my second layer and wore this almost the entire hike out, then a Columbia zip up as outer layer (could zip and unzip as needed without taking off pack). I alternated bewteen being hot and cold, hot and cold. So layering if a must. Take off layers before you get sweaty, because as you enter colder air at higher elevations, if you are wet you'll get even colder. If you have an emergency and must stop for an extended perior of time, you want to be in dry clothes or you will quickly lose body heat and run the risk of hypothermia. Everyone whom we passed on the trail whom had stayed at Indian Gardens and camped told us how cold it was the night before. I had one extra hooded pullover that I didn't wear in my bag. This would have been necessary to wear had we had any emergency situation that kept us on the trail overnight or even if we had problems hikiing out and had to hike after dark at the top of the trail where it would have been below freezing temps.
• 10Gallon Zip Lock Bags for trash - You must pack out all trash. Any trash from day one we put in the bag that was going up on the mules.
• 11Chapstick or Blistex - your lips get very dry from not only the dry air but also the wind. I kept this in my belt pocket in easy reach.
• 12Sunscreen - I brought a small container of Aveeno Sun Hydrosport SPF 85 Spray On Sunscreen and my sister brought a sunscreen lotion. Remember, even if it's cloudy you still will get sunburned, so make sure to put on sunscreen, especially if you are hiking on South Kaibab Trail, as there is little shade.