Video: Hiking Grand Canyon's Hermit Trail and beyond!

[kwpapke]

Just finished another hike down the Hermit, and finally put together a little video guide of hikes from the Hermit: the Monument, Granite Rapids, Hermit Rapids, Boucher and Hermit Creeks. I wish I could say this is a great spot to hang a hammock, but they are not allowed there, and if they were there aren't big enough trees to swing from. Sometimes a guy's just gotta go to ground!

--Kurt

[ObdewlaX]

Nice looking hike. The GC is a true treasure & pictures just don't do it justice. When you're standing at the Rim, it's almost overwhelming. Incredible.

My wife & some friends hiked the Bright Angel Trail back in '81 & despite the Rangers advising us not to try & hike to the Colorado & back out the same day, we did it. We should've listened! The climb back out was brutal to say the least & zero shade... I thought we'd never make it out. We also flew through the GC in a helicopter when you could do that sort of thing.

Thanks for posting the video!

[KSC]

I'd love to go see that some day.

Thanks for sharing.

[johnspenn]

The GC is definitely one of my bucket list items.

Kurt, can you recommend a hike/campground that would be hammock friendly? I know that you can't attach to trees in the canyon itself, but places along the rim? Maybe for an ambitious hiker to hang, do a RTR, hang, and then back the next day?

Thanks, enjoyed the video and the info!

[kwpapke]

Nice looking hike. The GC is a true treasure & pictures just don't do it justice. When you're standing at the Rim, it's almost overwhelming. Incredible.
My wife & some friends hiked the Bright Angel Trail back in '81 & despite the Rangers advising us not to try & hike to the Colorado & back out the same day, we did it. We should've listened! The climb back out was brutal to say the least & zero shade... I thought we'd never make it out. We also flew through the GC in a helicopter when you could do that sort of thing.
Thanks for posting the video!

Yeah, even with video it's impossible to capture the depth and sense of scale when you see it live. Thanks for the thoughts!

I'd love to go see that some day.
Thanks for sharing.

It's an epic trip. You owe it to yourself to make it there sometime.

The GC is definitely one of my bucket list items.
Kurt, can you recommend a hike/campground that would be hammock friendly? I know that you can't attach to trees in the canyon itself, but places along the rim? Maybe for an ambitious hiker to hang, do a RTR, hang, and then back the next day?
Thanks, enjoyed the video and the info!

Derek Hansen did a hike down to Indian Gardens and Bright Angel CG. It's not that hammocks are forbidden, you just can't attach *anything* to a tree, not even a tarp.

What Derek did is hang from the shelters. Indian Garden has big covered shelters for each campsite that are pretty easy to hang from. At BA he hung (with some difficulty) from some points in the Large Group site. He had to get special permission to use the group site as their group didn't meet the size criterion.

From there you'd have to make it to the North Rim in one day (where you can hang in the CG), which is a long haul, but doable if you are in good shape.

Make sense?

--Kurt

[johnspenn]

Makes sense. Thanks!

[Nevada]

Thanks for the great video Kurt. I did the Bright Angel/North Kiabab RTR in Feb 2016 and am looking for a good hike for this year with my wife. Will look into your route.

[kwpapke]

Thanks for the great video Kurt. I did the Bright Angel/North Kiabab RTR in Feb 2016 and am looking for a good hike for this year with my wife. Will look into your route.

The Hermit is a common 2nd Grand Canyon experience after completing the Bright Angel/Kaibab trails. I like it because of the good water access, which can be more of a challenge on the East end of the canyon. It also accommodates a lighter first/last day as you don't have to hike all the way down to the Colorado River.

The downside is if you go during the winter the days are shorter, as the South Rim blocks the sun.

--Kurt

[EWoolf]

Nice looking route! Thanks for sharing.

[kwpapke]

Nice looking route! Thanks for sharing.

I liked the views of the rapids along the Tonto - pretty cool.

--Kurt