3 Things I learned from Camping in the Grand Canyon

3 Things I learned from My First Camping Trip / What I Now Know About the Grand Canyon That Will Be Useful Next Time:

1. The Colorado River really is at the bottom.

We’d already been hiking for 4 hours before we left the Indian Garden campsite to continue down the Bright Angel trail towards the Colorado River. I was exhausted, and the last part of the trail was even hotter and drier than the first part had been. The temperature was 115 degrees. In the back of my mind, I was fretting about the little creek at the bottom of the canyon.

After Indian Garden, about 4.5 miles down, there stopped being cheery little signs every mile or so proclaiming “3 Miles from the Surface” and “4.5 Miles from the Surface.” I hadn’t looked at any photos of the bottom of the canyon because I wanted to be surprised when I got there. Only problem was, after hiking for hours, I started highkey wondering if the Colorado River really existed. What if it was all a hoax? What if we missed the river entirely, thinking it was just another muddy bend in the creek? How would we know? Would there be a sign? I believed it was there, I really did. But… maybe it had all evaporated in the 115 degree heat? Surely it wasn’t going to be like in movies, where the weary travelers round a bend and are suddenly soaked by the spray of a majestic river.

Just as I was thinking that thought, we rounded a bend. Without any signs or warning, there was the Colorado, which was drastically different from the creek! It was fast, churning, and turquoise. The water was 45 degrees, and jumping in was The Most Incredible Thing Ever.

2. Soap and hand sanitizer are not provided.

To get to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, you can take the North Kaibab Trail, the South Kaibab Trail, or the Bright Angel Trail. We took Bright Angel for going down and up, which is the easiest and most accommodating of the three. Bright Angel had toilets and clean water every 1.5 miles for the first 4.5 miles, and the trail itself was busy and well kept. Toilet paper was provided, soap and hand sanitizer were not. My hands felt so, so gross after a few hours of this. I know, I should have known there wouldn’t be any soap provided. What can I say? This was my first time camping.

3. Flip flops are an absolute necessity! (okay, and glasses)

When I left for the Grand Canyon, I forgot two very important things, two things I cannot live without in normal daily life: My glasses and my phone. Five minutes into the walk from the parking lot to the trailhead, I remembered leaving them in the car. But I was excited to start hiking, and spending the night in the Grand Canyon is the opposite of normal daily life, so I shrugged and kept going. The cell phone free part turned out wonderfully. I was having the time of my life, drinking water and walking and drinking water and walking and drinking water. I drank over 2 gallons of water the first day of hiking. I say “over 2 gallons” because I stopped counting after 2 gallons. Despite the incredible amount that I drank, I was only using the bathroom the normal amount, so I must have been sweating like crazy.

Fast forward to 9:30pm, when I woke up the first time with an intense desire to use the bathroom. I’d only been asleep for about an hour, and I reallllllly didn’t want to leave my sleeping bag and walk uphill in the dark on the meandering and rocky path leading to the bathrooms. However, I also wanted to get back to sleep. Seriously regretting all the water I’d drunk that day, I peeled my gross crunchy socks and my disgusting sneakers back onto my feet.

The next 20 minutes were the most terrifying of my life. The trail that lead to the bathroom went by several other campsites, and without glasses or contacts I was completely blind in the dark. Every shadow was a bandit waiting to kill me. Every time I tripped on a loose rock or a hole in the path, I thought I was going to fall into a secret tunnel. I started imagining what the reports would say when they found me days later, “Recent College Grad found After 6 Days Missing, Lost on the Way to the Bathroom.” My Petzel headlamp was amazing, but my eyes were useless. It was the first time in my life that I had to confront the fact that no amount of light can make up for having -6.5 vision. After walking into countless trees and almost walking into another person’s tent (can you imagine how scary that would have been? They probably would have screamed! I would have woken up the whole camp!), I finally made it to the bathroom. Going back down was even worse, because I couldn’t see the roughly hewn, uneven stairs. My sneakers were so yuck that I debated just taking them off, but I couldn’t because what if I stepped on a rattlesnake or a scorpion!?! I literally took the walk one. Step. At. A. Time, trying to make out if the shadowy shape to my left was a tree, a tent, a person, or just a darker than normal patch of air. It took A While, but I made it back to the camp (after squinting desperately at the backcountry permit hung up on the shelter in the red light of my headlamp to make sure the campsite was actually mine).

I had to go to the bathroom three times total in the night! Each time was slightly more annoying and slightly less frightening. The third time was the best because my sister was awake and agreed to hold my hand and walk with me. She told me about all the cool constellations she was seeing with her 20/20 vision and how there were more stars than she’d ever seen in her life. She very considerately warned me when there was a stair (“Okay, big step here. And another. Oops, that was one too.”) And each time I left the tent, I had to peel my crunchy socks on and off and that part was just ugghhggh. Even if you think they’re bulky or useless or you won’t need them, bring flip flops to the bottom of the grand canyon. Bring them. You won’t regret it.

Those are the three things I learned from my first camping trip! Wishing you comfy flip flops and clean hands on your travels,

Rhiannon