Grand Canyon National Park Backpacking March 2021

Planning this trip started with my friend, Linda, telling me she wanted to camp every month for her 40 things to do before 40! Even though she does not consider herself a backpacker, she has all the gear from a couple previous trips, so of course I wanted to up her camping to backpacking for one of the months!!! So the plan went in motion! Her favorite National Park is the Grand Canyon and one place I haven't been and wanted to see! I sent her a few different trip itinerary options and said pick your top ones and I will do the rest! She picked this one:

Option 2: Bright Angel Trailhead – 6 day

Day 1: Bright Angel trailhead to Indian Garden Campground 4.9 Miles about 3,000 elevation change
Day 2: Indian Garden camp to Bright Angel Campground 4.6 Miles
Day 3: Bright Angel Campground to Cottonwood Campground 7.2 Miles
Day 4: LIGHT DAY PACK to the North Rim and back 13.6 Miles (Stay at Cottonwood again) about 4300 Elevation UP AND DOWN
Day 5: Cottonwood back to Bright Angel Campground 7.2 Miles
Day 6: Bright Angel Campground up and out South Kaibab 7 miles and about 4,700 elevation change

I sent in the permit in late October and got the confirmation email on November 4th that we got our first choice and the exact days we requested! I was a bit shocked and excited. I was also thankful we had time to start training! I knew this wasn't going to be an easy hike and wanted to get in a bit better shape.

I started a bit longer and more frequent weekend hikes and got Linda to do stair workouts with me once a week. These SUCK but I feel like they helped me a lot for the JMT so might as well do it again!

After sending her a packing list and getting her pack lighter we were almost ready! Here is the items I carried for this trip: Lighter Pack List


Tuesday, March 23, 2021
Drove to the Grand Canyon - caught a tiny glimpse of the canyon between the clouds. It was super snowy, cloudy and amazing to seeing all the snow in and around the canyon!

Sunrise on Wednesday!

Day 1 - Wednesday March 24, 2021
We waited until almost 10am to start even though I was anxious to get started because we wanted the temperature above freezing when we started.
Slow and steady was the name of the icy slick sections followed by lots of mud and deep puddles. We hiked down 5 miles to Indian Garden campground.
The camp was very well taken care of and even has shade structures at each site along with many trees. There were spots to hang out packs, a picnic table, and nice level places to pitch tents. There were super clean pit toilets too. I do have to say I got a little spoiled with the restroom situation on this trip.
Once we got set up we did a quick and mostly flat 1.5 miles to Plateau point. Wow... there are amazing views of the Colorado river and was worth the trip. We had an afternoon snack there and had the point to ourselves most of the time. We sat, enjoyed the sunshine, and soaked in the views. Quick hike back, more snacks, got cleaned up and started dinner. We ate pretty early and we’re ready for bed by 6:30.
I forced myself to stay up by following a little deer trail up to see better views of the sky darkening. Total miles today 8.

Linda hiking down Bright Angel Trail

Camp at Indian Garden

Day 2 - Thursday March 25, 2021
I woke up early and hiked back out to Plateau Point for sunrise. It was a beautiful morning drinking my tea, eating breakfast, and enjoying this place. This was the first trip I had the chance to test out my new Jetboil Stash (thank you to Gordie for my Valentine's Day present) and I’m loving it!! It’s perfect for little things like this. Gear Review  I headed back to camp to pack up, get Linda, and start our decent into Bright Angel Campground. It was a pretty easy hike down and was cool to see all the rafters on the Colorado River.
The hike was short so had a lot of time in the afternoon to explore Phantom Ranch, watch the pack mules & deer, and eating lots of snacks!! We ate dinner, cleaned up, and waiting for it to get dark to try to see a ringtail!! And I did!!! The neighbors said there is one and I got super excited and was able to see it in our camp. I got the best picture I could using the night mode on my phone but those guys are so fast. About 8.5 miles and mostly down.

Camp at Bright Angel Campground

Day 3 - Friday March 26
Hiked from Bright Angel Campground to Cottonwood Campground today. It was mostly uphill following Bright Angel creek in an area called “the box”. They call it this because you are deep in the canyon, no breeze, and hard it’s to see many views or what the weather is going to do. There were mostly gray sky’s with light rain occasionally for the entire hike. The last few miles seemed like a lot more elevation gain than I was expecting. The camp is nice and we were able to find a relatively dry spot for setting up our wet tent and get it dried out, right before the rain started again. All evening was cold with on and off rain.
Miles today was about 7.5 and 1500 elevation gain.

Along the canyon

Day 4 - Saturday March 27
Likely the worst night sleep I’ve ever had backpacking. My mattress must have a slow leak because every 2 hours or so I was on the cold hard ground. I couldn’t sleep... my feet were freezing... my hips dug into the ground and I was so tired. Finally, I stuffed my down jacket around my feet in my bag, blew up my mattress...AGAIN... and slept a few hours after 2am. We got up about 6am to get ready for our long day and started our journey all way up to the North Rim about 7:30!!!
I really liked seeing Roaring Springs waterfall. It was so long as and super cool to see.
Then, it was like a winter wonderland when we got to about 5000 feet elevation with snow all around and continuing to build from there. Thankfully it was powder more than ice and wasn’t too slick.
Once I got to Supai tunnel, I knew it wasn’t much farther but those last 2 miles were painful. The temperature was rising and it was starting to get muddy where the runners had already gone and the snow was melting. If you tried to go off the main muddy path you’d post hole in at least 6 inches of snow. So it was easier to deal with the mud and cold wet feet.
Once I the top, took a quick bathroom break, and started to melt some snow for water because I was too tired to walk to the backcountry office and the water right at the trailhead was turned off for the current season. I got there a little before noon. Linda wasn’t too far behind me and we did a little celebration then a few more trail runners came up. They had a little trail magic left for them and they shared a lot - including water which was nice because I didn’t want to melt/filter much. They were all pretty impressive running all the way from the South Rim and then back in one day. Sounds super painful and not a great way to actually ENJOY the canyon but I could see how that would be an amazing challenge/accomplishment. We stared our slow soggy hike down with spikes on. At this point in the day, the snow was all starting to melt and it was a muddy mess. It was like following a river down the mountain and there was no keeping my feet and shoes dry. The snowing winter wonderland was completely gone past Supai tunnel and the bridge. It was crazy how quickly it could change. We made it back to camp about 4, did some laundry, ate some snacks, and got cleaned up before the sun went behind the canyon. Then, the temperature started to drop so we made dinner, had a bit of Jack Daniels honey, and got ready for bed. I was hopeful my mattress would be better to me but put my sitpad under it so maybe my hips wouldn’t dig into the ground so bad. It was only about 8pm and we were ready to sleep!! Took a couple Tylenol PMs and crawled on the sleeping bag.
Over 14 miles and 4200 elevation gain & loss.

Coconino Outlook

At North Kaibab Trailhead - NORTH RIM!

Day 5 - Sunday March 28
My mattress still sucks. I’d sleep on my side when I first started out or blew it up again, then would switch to my back once my hip and shoulder started to dig into the ground. I get why people carry the uncomfortable zlite pads right now - at least they do not get holes.
Today we hiked from Cottonwood campground to Bright Angel campground. Had a short pit stop at Ribbon Falls which was amazing to see. If it would have been a bit warmer outside I would have loved to get in. The hiked to go behind the falls was very cool. After that, it was a pretty quick hike to Bright Angel Campground. A bit warmer than it’s been and finished all my water for the day. We are debating how early to get up tomorrow to beat the projected forecast of 86° when climbing out of the canyon.
Afternoon/evening was pretty relaxing. We got a very expensive tea $5, lemonade $5, and an apple for $1.10 from Phantom Ranch, but it was delicious. Mixed them for an Arnold Palmer and added honey Jack Daniels to it! We walked to the Colorado river and did a little more site seeing and checked out the bridge we were going to cross the next day. Talked to the ranger, had dinner, and watched all the little bats come out. We were able to see another Ringtail which was super exciting. It was super fast and I loved watching it.
It was beautiful night with lows predicted in the upper 40s so I opted for sleeping without the tent with hopes of seeing more animals! Today was about 9 miles with our detours.

Ribbon Falls

Day 6 - Monday March 29
It was a wonderful night to be “sleeping”under the stars last night... even though I still haven’t gotten much sleep with a crap mattress pad. I’m SO tired but the stars and full moon were beautiful. At times during the night, I could see the bats flying all around and swooping down. I loved it. We got up pretty early, ate, and packed up with the first light of the day. Then, started about 6:40am to try to beat the heat up South Kaibab trailhead. The trail was a bit harder that what I was predicting. I made a few stops at all the lookouts, ate lots of snacks, and drank almost all my water I brought! I was going back and forth with a couple other backpackers for the first few miles. It kept me moving up talking to them a bit and trying to stay close with hopes of getting a ride from them from the trailhead. It was super hot with the sun already beating down at 8am. I was so thankful for my umbrella! Then, I turned a corner and the wind was crazy!!! And SO cold. Pulled out the gloves, stowed the umbrella away so it wouldn’t carry me off, and told myself if I kept moving I’d stay warm. Once at Skeleton point the day hikers started to crowd the trail. There are SO many signs saying uphill have the right away but either people can’t read or don’t care/pay attention. It is always hard finishing a long backpacking trip where it’s crowded because I get super frustrated with people. The last set of switchbacks were painful but I was so happy to be done a bit before 11. Took a few pictures and was able to get a ride from the other backpacking group I was hiking between most of the day. Was so thankful because I didn’t want to walk the extra 2ish miles to the car. I tried to get an earlier check in for the hotel, didn’t work, and grab the car to get Linda! We headed straight to the village to get drinks and pizza!!
Once we were able to check in, we made more drinks, got showers, rested and then to our next food reservations! After dinner we found some lounge chairs right outside our lodge and were able to enjoy the sunset and drinks there! It was a great way to end the day!
About 7 miles and 4800 elevation gain.

At Ooh - Aah  point - ALMOST DONE!!!

Day 7 - Tuesday March 30
I wanted to do a bit more exploring because I had no idea when I’d be able to come back. I woke up before sunrise (still not sleeping well) and ran over to the shuttle for Hermits Rest. I got off at Hopi Point and watched the sunset come up while walking to the next stop; Mohave Point. Took the shuttle to the next stop The Abyss and walked to Monument Creek. Jumped back on the shuttle and off at the next stop Pima Point. Walked out to Hermits Rest and explored the area a bit.
This side is really neat to see and a very easy trail. If I would have planned a bit better I likely would have got dropped off at the last one and ran/walked back - but didn’t pack properly for that. It was super hazy in the canyon today so the views were not as great. Guess we planned our days well!
I got back on the shuttle at the end and made it back to the lodge to meet Linda for breakfast. We had breakfast at El Tovar lodge. It was delicious. Then did a bit more sight seeing out to Mather Point (SUPER CROWDED). Then got on the road for the long drive back home.
It was a great trip to the Grand Canyon and I hope I can make it back to the North Rim some time soon to see it without so much snow.

Beautiful week in the Grand Canyon National Park!

Climb For Heroes - 2017

Last year was my first year doing Climb for Heroes with the Heroes project. It was an amazing event and I love this organization and the cause.  Being injured and unable to hike and do things I love has given me a new appreciation of this event.  I would love it if you are in the Southern California area if you would join us at the event on May 21, 2017.  I am not sure I will actually be hiking by then but I will definitely be there.  If you cannot join us please consider donating to the cause.  Thank you so much for your support.
https://www.crowdrise.com/team-rwc0/fundraiser/jessicalarue


A few pictures from last year!

John Muir Trail Videos

It took a while - but all the videos are now up!! Enjoy!

My JMT fun facts!

22 days total
20 hiking days
2 zero days - no hiking/rest days
5 nights camping alone
269.8 miles total (according to InReach)
Longest hiking day 21.3 miles
Shortest hiking day 7.1 miles
3 real showers (2 of those within a day of each other - I love VVR)
2 full lake jump ins (they were SO cold!)
Many feet/knee high soaks in creeks/lakes
1 trail shampooing of hair (after a old guy told me about a girl that got lice)
2 breakdowns - moments of crying
1 evening of hail/sleet/snow/rain hiking - also see breakdown
4 bear sightings - all on day 21
Tons of deer, squirrels, chipmunks, pack mules
A few Pikas - my all time favorite
4~ish bottles of wine
3 Bloody Mary's
1 Margarita
Few too many shots of Jack Daniels Honey
6 new crazy amazing friends - Luke, Dylan, Brian, Jaclyn, Lydia, and Liz
And 1 amazing journey!

Post JMT - 1 day after

September 9, 2016
Post hike day 1
Half Dome Village
Steps: 36,841

I feel odd like I should be doing something or going somewhere. Jess got up very early this morning to go hike half dome! I'm super excited for her and really hope she has an amazing time. She hasn’t hiked much on her own so I am excited for her to see what that is all about. Dylan, Jamie, and Audrey got up pretty early and had to make it to catch the bus. I sat in bed for a while then decided I should get up. I had a banana which was super exciting!!! Then, took another shower with my shampoo and conditioner – oh how I love running HOT water. Somehow my toes and feet are still dirty. I'm looking forward to soaking them.

I got all my dirty clothes together and headed to breakfast. Pancakes, eggs, bacon, and orange juice for about $6! It was wonderful. It's odd being “alone” around a lot of people. I feel out of place. Crazy how when I hike I'm happy to be alone in the middle of nowhere but when there are a lot of people around it seems so odd to be alone. I finished breakfast and headed to find a place to do laundry. I'd like to do a day hike but the only hiking clothes I have are my backpacking ones and they are too gross to put on now that I can actually smell them. I'm not sure why I didn't bring any clean clothes to hike in. Maybe because I didn’t think I would want to hike. It took a while to find housekeeping camp and I'm so glad I've never stayed here. It's pretty odd. But they have a laundry mat so it works. I was able to charge my phone (there is not any power in our tent cabin) and catch up on some of my writing. I'm sure I'll be thankful that this is all already digital but I'm a little sad I forgot my pen. It would be neat to look back at all of this hand written on the back of the maps like I had originally planned.

After my laundry was done I walked back to the room, changed, grabbed some water and my bag and headed to Yosemite Falls. So my first day off and I end up hiking 9ish miles. It was beautiful – and there was not a drop of water “falling”.

I am so thankful I was able to come out here on this journey. I have learned how strong I am. I can do anything I put my mind to. The SKY is the limit. I would love to go back to some places and see them again – but I am excited to explore more of our great nation. Thank you to everyone who has supported me along the way.

JMT - Day 22 - Clouds Rest & Half Dome Junction to Half Dome Village

September 8, 2016
Day 22
9 miles / 269.8 total
Steps: 30,142
Half Dome Village
Days without shower 0

Most likely the worst nights sleep out here. I tossed and turned. I was too hot, too cold, thought I heard animals, or people constantly. After looking at the time about a dozen more times I figured it was ok to get up. I let the air out of my sleeping pad and got up. Got my bear can that looked untouched and started to heat some water for coffee. The water looked a little sketchy and people here are not very careful about where they pee/poo or leave toilet paper. It's super annoying. I did tell some girl yesterday to pack out her toilet paper and she looked at me like I was crazy. I think there needs to be better education.

So I filtered water with my squeeze and also boiled it...I feel like Luke would be proud because he always double filtered. I made my coffee, got a breakfast bar, and went to sit closer to Dylan, Julie (his sister), and Audrey. We talked for a while as they got packed up and ready to head up half dome. I was excited for them and glad I wasn't doing it today!

I was excited to be done and get to the village for a shower. After I finished my breakfast, I said bye and good luck and headed to pack up my stuff. I left about 8:30 and started to head down. I saw the group of 5 from half dome yesterday that were starting the JMT (they camped at Little Yosemite Valley), I wished them luck. There were a TON of day hikers. A couple people asked me how it was... Like I knew what IT was. Of course at times I was just a smart ass and said Whitney was amazing and good luck. Other times I said clouds rest was amazing because I knew the majority of the people were headed to half dome. It was my entertainment for the day and fun. At one point it seemed like a couple people asked me how long I’d been out here so I figured they could smell me. Most who asked or overheard me saying where I came from congratulated me and wished me a safe trip home.

The downhill was pretty crazy and I was ready to be DONE! There were SO many people and it was a bit overwhelming. I was able to check in on Jess and see where she was and catch up on a few texts as I started to get service. It was the last couple miles of switchbacks where I was excited to see a water fountain and bathroom with a little privacy! At the bottom I took a picture and celebrated again. It was pretty anti climatic. I then headed to half dome village - previously called curry village and checked in. My room was ready and I was able to get everything I needed. I headed to the bar and got a cider and a salad! It was really good to eat salad again! I was able to send a couple texts and then was ready for a shower. I didn't even go to the room first. I went to the store and bought a shirt and then straight to the shower. In the showers they have shampoo and soap and provide a towel. I likely took too long and was thankful for the mom who gave her little girl and me conditioner. Thank you so much! My hair needed that! Some people are so very giving at the perfect time!

The "trail" provides. Haha

I slowly got dressed in my dirty shorts, dirty bra, and camp sandals. I brushed my teeth and checked myself out in the mirror. I may not have actually lost any weight but I think I look a little more toned and damn my legs are dark! I have some really funky tan lines going on. I put on my clean/new JMT shirt, loaded up my pack and headed out to find my cabin. It was crammed with 3 twin beds and a double. Not much special to it but there was a bed and everything I needed. It would work great. I opened the little canvas Windows and propped the door open. I went through my bag trying to organize all my dirty clothes and making sure to get all my food out of my bag and into the bear box. I grabbed a couple snacks and decided to head to the store to get a drink. On the walk to the store, I finally ate a Snickers I had been carrying for over 6 days - it was really delicious. I left a little note on the outside of the cabin door, in case I missed Jess or Dylan or they showed up early. At the store, I got a little bear magnet since I actually saw a bear in Yosemite and a small boxed wine. I sat at the lounge in one of the rocking chairs and started to catch up on the social media life, texts, and emails. I got a message from Dylan so I was able to estimate what time they would be done and had a little more time to kill. I just sat there in the chair watching people as I ate a bag of goldfish... Thank you so much to the family on top of half dome for them! Then I slowly headed back to the room. Propped open the door and sat on the stairs because even being inside the tent is a little much. Jess walks up shortly after!!! It was great to see her! I helped her get another load of stuff from her car which included a cooler of goodies and bananas for me!! We made sure all food and smelly stuff out of the car. We got back to the room and I finished my wine as she had a drink. We opened the chips and salsa and I told her about my trip! We sat there for about 30 minutes and Dylan walked up! I have him a hug and said congratulations. The girls looked tired and were ready for a shower. Thankfully I had shampoo/conditioner and lots of other goodies in my bag I had Jess bring for me so I let them use it as well. Once we were all clean (Dylan took longer than the girls) we headed to get pizza! It was good and we sat around and talked for a long time. It was a great way to end the trip. The bed was pretty hard but it was nice just to have a real bed, sheets, and a pillow! Pretty sure we were all asleep before 10. About midnight there is a bang on a door which at first I thought was ours saying park ranger. I was like crap did we not close the bear box? Then another knock and I realized it was on a cabin next to us. Apparently they left food and a cooler in their car and the Ranger was able to find them because of the parking pass. They escorted them out to fix their mistake and wrote them a ticket. There is a sign every 5 feet...I am not sure how they could be so dumb or maybe they were just being lazy. Again – what is with people being SO lazy and not taking care of our land? I just do not get it. I fell back asleep pretty quickly but tossed and turned a lot. It's going to take some adjusting to get back to the different noises and people.

JMT - Day 21 - Sunrise Lakes to Clouds Rest & Half Dome

September 7, 2016
Day 21
13.6 miles / 260.8 total
Steps: 39,605
Cloud's Rest/JMT junction
Days without shower 5

It was cold last night... Seems to be an ongoing theme. I slept in much later than I had planned. Made coffee and grabbed a breakfast bar and headed down to the lake. I was sitting there when I overheard some people talking about water so I walked over to listen and see what they had to say because I didn't want to run out again!

They didn't know much about the direction I was headed. One of the guys was from Israel and was headed the same direction I was. We sat for a bit together and chatted about our adventures before I went back to pack up. Once I was packed I said bye to everyone and headed up to Clouds Rest. It didn't take long to run into more people. There was a couple who were on their honeymoon backpacking & hiking. They were super cute and sweet. They had planned to do the JMT but had to cancel due to an injury. We chatted and walked telling our stories. A couple miles up we met up with a girl who had been hiking the JMT with her dad. I know we had to have crossed paths a few times after talking with her for a bit but didn’t recognize her or her dad. It's pretty crazy. We all got to the top of Clouds Rest and enjoyed lunch up there. I had the chicken salad from pack it gourmet in a tortilla. I have had a lot of dehydrated meals - and my favorite meals are by them. I had cell service so was able to check in with Jess and see how the permit process was going. She didn't get it for Thursday, so I decided I was going to do it today and finish the trail Thursday morning! If she gets a permit for Friday I can always hike with her. I enjoyed the view a little longer and headed down. It was a very steep down the other way. I was taking my time and looking around a lot and saw my first bear!!! I got super excited. It seemed very small and skinny and more brown than I expected. Then after watching for a bit I saw a baby!! It was so exciting and I really wish I could have shared that moment with someone but no one was around. I was so excited to tell my mom!!! I was glad I got a picture and video for her! I continued down to the trail junction and got some water from a sketchy creek. There are SO many people here and the water levels so low all the water options don't seem great. I have never really questioned my water sources until getting into Yosemite. I continued to half dome and had about a 2 mile climb. There was a couple there that didn't look so great so we talked for a minute and I made sure they had enough food and water before continuing on. I made it to the stairs pretty easily and then the stairs kicked my ass. I forgot how bad they were or maybe it was the weight of my pack or at least that is what I'm going to tell myself.

After the stairs there were a few more climbs before the cables. I forget how intimidating those are. There was a large group heading down so I picked out some gloves and waited for a bit before heading up… with my pack. The last time I was here I remember all the squirrels being jerks and getting into bags so I didn't want to leave mine to get a hole in it now that I have made it so far.

The way up was just as hard as I remember and I took a break often on the boards. Once at the top no one else was up there! It was just as amazing as I remember. I celebrated my accomplishment and was very proud of the MILES I had done! To me – this is the end of my “journey”. I know I won’t be in the wilderness much longer and the crowds of people are going to grow once I go down. I planned to be there for sunset but that was still hours away and I wasn't sure that was really worth it to hike down in the dark. I made some calls, checked my phone, took some selfies until someone else came to take pictures of me, and made my dinner. I wanted the bean salad from pack it gourmet but it takes 45 minutes with hot water or double the time with cold... So I figured I'd hydrate it now and it would be ready once I got down to camp.

I made my way down and group of 5 was about to start up the cables. We started talking and they were starting the JMT and going south. They were awesome and super excited! They had a few questions when they found out I was just finishing so we talked for a while. They all congratulated me and it felt awesome! It's been crazy. Dylan sent me a message saying where he was planning on camping so I headed that way so I could camp with them that night! On the way down I saw another bear!!! It was much larger and a darker black color. After watching it for a minute there was another baby!!! Awe!!! I can't believe it. So awesome!!!

I was able to find Dylan and I met his sister, and her friend. We were talking like it had been more than 2 days since we had seen each other. I did brag about seeing the Bears. I found a place to camp a little farther away from the trail and got set up. They will likely break camp before me to do half dome before heading to the village. It should be a pretty easy hike down tomorrow for me and I'll be done! Wow. Last night out here. So many emotions but mostly I'm ready!!! Excited to get back home.