First Incursion

May 17-23, 2000

There are numerous trails that lead into the Grand Canyon requiring a range of skills and experience. The Grand Canyon National Park Service labels the trails into four categories: Corridor, Threshold, Primitive, and Wilderness. The difficulty and severity of the trails range from easy to extremely difficult respectively. For a good description of the trails see the Grand Canyon Explorer page on Use Areas. Several itineraries were put together for the team to choose. The approved itinerary from GCNP Backcountry Office was the first choice by the group. The trek is well rounded and actually caters to everyone's interests. The stay at Clear Creek will also allow the team to explore some of the canyon away from the beaten path. By no means overly difficult, by the standards of some of the more experienced canyon hikers, this trip will be a fair enough challenge for the first time into the Grand Canyon. I used Bob Ribokas' Grand Canyon Explorer site extensively in planning this trip. It has a wealth of information on hiking the inner canyon. The many trip reports that are maintained on that site were quite helpful in determining the rout based on the group's experience. The inner canyon hiking itinerary would cover approximately 44 miles starting from the South Kaibab, to Clear Creak, Ariel Canyon, and back up the Bright Angel trail.

Inner Canyon Hiking Itinerary

Map

In planning the route for this trip I used the Trails Illustrated, TOPO! Trailsmart Interactive Maps. The particular version used contained the 15 major National Parks. This topographic interactive map was helpful in better understanding the route, elevation changes, and actual mileage. I highly recommend the software.