Mike

Went on 2/23/2021 and the grounds still have snow on there. And then it gets icy at one point (not even a mile in yet). My friends and I had to turn back because we didn’t have any crampon’s. You will definitely need those and hiking sticks! I didn’t feel like breaking an ankle or sliding down and risking any injuries, so we turned back and did the south kaibab trail instead (no snow/ no ice/ lots of sunshine on that on but gets windy at some areas).

Thought I reviewed this hike already

We arrived with our kids (11&14) on 2/10 and were unable to go far with sneakers. We were dressed warmly but there was too much ice. We definitely want to return, it was so pretty!

2/15 -2/16 stayed at Bright Angel overnight. Use crampons/microspikes for the first 3 miles. Took 6 hours down with exercision to Plateau Point and 8 back up with many breaks

I did rim to rim to rim in 19 hours back in July and it was the hardest thing I have ever done. I would strongly advise anybody to be very very careful before taking on a challenge like that. I almost died. On the bright side it was very beautiful and there was plenty of clean drinking water along the way. If you do R2R2R during the summer I would advise you to start in the late afternoon and hike through the night and morning, and then rest during the hottest hours of the day.

Went 2/9, was still some ice on the way down but a lot had melted by the time we went back up. Would still recommend crampons. Wasn’t so bad going down, but we were not in great physical shape, so the ascent was... quite the uphill battle. Give yourself plenty of time, would recommend starting at sunrise and no later (we waited till 9 and got back just after sunset). This was with several breaks and the last minute decision to push to Plateau Point.

Departed Phantom Ranch on February 10th while it was still dark. Had a great walk by the river and only had to stop once for someone in our party to empty their boots of sand. Once we started moving away from the river there were a few stream crossings and some mud but they were not that bad. We ran into quite a few Muel Deer on our approach to the Devils Corkscrew and again as we approached Indian Gardens. We ran into Ice above 1.5 mile where the sun never hits, and were very happy we had crampons. It was a great day where we started off in t-shirts and 6hr 10min later ended in winter attire.

Cold!!

Absolutely beautiful! Snow/ice for the first 2-3mi, definitely needed the crampons we packed! Took us about 10.5 hours total with breaks to get down to Phantom Ranch and back. The last few miles are steep and tough but doable, definitely fill/up make sure you have water for the end. At the bottom of the canyon we were pretty warm in our long sleeves and pants- definitely recommend bringing short sleeves and possibly even shorts!

Icy

My boyfriend and I were visiting from FL. Came around the middle of January. It was snowing like crazy! We still went on the trail and it was beautiful. We went down for about 30 min. as we did the Ooh Ahh trail right before. Highly recommend. Definitely want to come back during spring to see the views without snow! We made a snowman on the trail, hopefully some people reading this review saw it :)

The wife and I went to the River Resthouse and back in a day (January). We are fit 22-year-olds and it took us 8 hours including breaks. The climb back is tough but totally doable!

We hiked this late August of 2020. I have no idea what we were thinking. It was very crowded and way too hot. I think it was over 95 degrees. It was very fun though! I can’t way to try it again in the cooler months. This hike is very difficult on the way back. Make sure you take plenty of water, you’ll need it to hike up!

This is surely one of toughest hiking I've done but it provides perfect solitude and amazing views of the Canyon. We did 3 nights and 4 days and I think this is a perfect length to enjoy scenery and don't need to rush. Lipan Point to Tanner Beach ~ 8mi Tanner Beach to Escalante Creek ~ 8mi Escalante Creek to Hance Creek ~ 10mi Hance Creek to GrandView Point ~6mi Based on your condition and schedule, you could reduce to 2 nights or extend to 4 nights by selecting plentiful camping sites along the Colorado River. I recommend tackling Papago Wall & Papago Slide either in the morning when you have full energy or middle of the day when you have enough light. My eternal gratitude to kind souls put & maintain cairns along those challenging routes!

It’s really good