I LOVE the Grand Canyon! Living in Arizona, I have been to and hiked at the Grand Canyon several times
The route of the Bright Angel Trail was used by the Havasupai Indians to reach their gardens which are now called Indian Gardens. Later miners developed this trail to reach their mines. Ralph Cameron was one of these miners and he realized there was more money in tourism than in minerals so the trail became the Cameron Trail and visitors were charged $1 each to use it. The Santa Fe Railroad challenged Cameron's claims and in 1920 the trail became the property of Coconino County which in turn traded it to the federal government in 1928. In 1937 the trail was renamed The Bright Angel Trail.
After staying one night in the dorms at Phantom Ranch with a delicious dinner of camper stew and scrambled egg breakfast, my friend Susie and I started our 9.5 mile ascent up Bright Angel Trail. We hiked through the Vishnu Schist, some of the earth's oldest rocks and then through the winding hairpins of trail called the Devil's Corkscrew followed by a well deserved rest in the cool shade at Indian Gardens. On another trip to this area we both hiked out to Plateau Point which is 1.5 miles offering gorgeous views of the Inner Gorge.
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| Ranger talk at Phantom Ranch |
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| Dorms at Phantom Ranch |
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| Colorado River |
Since we had hiked this trail before, we both knew the 4.7 miles of switch backs from Indian Gardens to the South Rim would not be easy! We passed many hikers taking shorter day hikes down and back to rest areas either 1.5 or 3 miles down from the top. We stopped several times to take in the magnificent views, photograph cactus in bloom or watch a collared lizard or snake scurry across the path.
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