Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Rim to Rim or Rim to River to Rim

I and a couple others who have done the "Whitney in a Day" hike thought we would try the Grand Canyon in a Day. On the surface it looks kind of similar except you are going down then up. But the distance is about the same.

If you have done the CANYON either "Rim to Rim" or "South Rim to River and back" in a day and would like to draw a comparison with the Whitney in a day hike I would appreciate reading what you have to say.

I did a rim to rim hike many years ago. I think the big questions are how you handle altitude and how you deal with heat. If you handle altitude well then they are about equal, maybe the R to R is a little harder; if you don't handle altitude as well (or are not acclimatized as well) then Whitney in a day is harder.
Heat is the other issue. Depending on the time of year you go, you may have to deal with extreme heat at the GC. It was 110 at the river the day I did it (but it's a dry heat, dontcha know). For some people that is the big issue. Going fall or spring instead of July will mean cooler temps.
But generally I would guess that if you can do Whitney in a day then you can probably do Rim to rim in a day.
Rim to Rim takes some logistics, obviously, that rim to river to rim in day does not.
I also did another GC hike that I thought was more fun but a little less challenge - down the South Kaibab to the Tonto, take the tonto to the Bright angel, and up the bright Angel. Once on the Tonto you leave all the crowds behind and it's a very neat experience.

I have done both as day hikes, and I would say that Whitney is a bit more difficult due to altitude.

However, the Rim to Rim (I did South Rim to North Rim) has you climbing out at the end of the hike, and it is imperative that you have paid attention to hydration and fuel for your body. If you have not eaten sufficiently or consumed enough liquids you may "bonk", which simply means you run out of energy. Not what you want to do. Take sufficient food, and water and you should have no problem.

I've done it twice - down N. Kaibab up Bright Angel, the first time in late January, 2012 while I still lived in Inyokern. Am planning on doing it again in early December. Having done Whitney many times as day hikes, I'd rate Whitney more difficult. Depending upon the time of year, you may need microspikes for the upper 1-2,000 feet. There's lots of traffic near the top mile or two any time of the year, so any snowfall is quickly packed down, but it does get very slippery as a result.

Personally, I'd never do it May thru September, even though I lived in Inyokern for many years and am familar with desert hiking. The lower reaches are simply too hot and there's little breeze, unlike the upper Mojave where I used to live.

If you do a down & back, a couple of liters for the trip down is plenty. You'll find a faucet at the bottom near the jct with Phantom Ranch, and there is at least one faucet running year-round on the Bright Angel.

I did R2R via S. Kaibab to North rim in May of 2013 and many Mt. Whitney day hikes in the past.
Personally, both are equally hard in different ways depending on how you hike even though both have similar distance to cover.
Let's forget about the pains of heat, distance, and elevation. They are part of our journey, too.

Let's look at the bright side.
I like the view of Grand canyon from South Kaibab and sunrise view of Grand canyon from North rim.
I also like the view of Sierra from the summit of Mt. Whitney and the smell of hamburger and the light of Whitney portal store in the distance after long day.

But, either hikes, I made a complete handwritten personal itinerary in advance including distance between major landmark, elevation gain and loss, location of water supply points, estimate temperature of the area, weather forecast in general for few days of the area, estimate time to cover between each major landmarks based on my past hiking ability, any emergency considerations, and a plan to bail out. I don't want to have any surprise on a big hike like R2R or Mt. Whitney.

Well put Shin and excellent advice.

Hi,

I've done R to R 3 times - once N to S and twice S to N. Although the N rim is 1,000 feet higher than the S I think S to N is more pleasant because the altitude gain going N is very gradual except for the last 3(?) miles when it gets steep, but never super steep. Going S, the altitude gain is all packed in a short distance of switchbacks. If you come up the north Bright Angel trail you will be in full sunlight on a rock wall with 100s of other people as company.

As for the comparison to Whitney, like others said, there's not the issue of high altitude but there is the issue of heat, probably extreme heat. You takes your pick of how you want to suffer.

I don't have time right now to pull my GC maps and guides out, so my distance / altitude figures may be off. I'll check them later and if I've made a big mistake I'll correct it.

Burt

I checked my GC maps and find that the average feet of altitude change from the S Rim (Bright Angel TH) to the river is 879'. The avg from the N Rim to the river is 584'. So my memory that the climb out is more gradual going north was accurate. Even more important to me is the unpleasant hike out to the S with 100s of people who have only gone part way down and are dragging ass on the narrow switchbacks going up.

Such great information available here!
Contemplating rim to rim,overnight,rim to rim next day.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Probably going to go North to South,South to North

Hi SvaleBriJudy,
I am a day hiker so I don't want to carry a heavy pack for 21 miles. I chose South Kaibab to North Rim in a day.
The reason for South to North via South Kaibab trail.
1) It is the shortest rout.
2) It offers better views of Grand Canyon.
3) We had a reservation at Grand Canyon Lodge at North Rim.
4) We had a reservation with Transcanyon shuttle from NR to SR.

Night before: We camped out at a camp ground without any toilet facility on fire road 688, highway marker 132 or 133, several miles before the GC airport. No reservation and it is free.

Day of hike: Got a nice breakfast at 24hr MD at town of Tusayan out side of the GC park. Got on the Hiker Express shuttle in front of the visitor center to South Kaibab TH.
1)Hike from South Kaibab to Phantom Ranch was a beautiful hike with the elevation lost of 4800 feet in about 7 miles. Hiking on the trail with amazing views everywhere.
2)Hike from Phantom Ranch to Cottonwood was a bit warm hike, over 90F in May, with 1500 feet elevation gain in about 7 miles. Hiking on a relatively flat trail with the sun on your back.
3)Hike from Cottonwood to North Rim was a gradual hiking up of 4200 feet in 7 miles. Hiking on a trail along side of the canyon in the shade.
4)Dinner at the impressive Grand canyon lodge was very nice.
5)I enjoyed the morning view of Grand Canyon from North Rim before the shuttle picks us up in front of the lodge at 6:45.
6)I enjoyed the shuttle ride back to South rim. It took about 4 hours 30 minutes with 2 rest stops. The driver told us many interesting historical stories about the area.
7)Got back to South rim before noon then I drove home to L.A.

Have a fun hike.

Thanks! Your comments are very helpful. After my Whitney hike last month I told myself I would try some other good ones before I come back for another here. You have sold me on the Canyon hike for 2015. I am sure I will try and schedule it for the first or last couple days the North Rim is open. Or I may just do the south rim to river and back when it is cooler. I really appreciate the info on the Tonto Trail and will check it out.

Regards Friends

If you plan to stay in Park lodging on the north rim you should make reservations asap, or soon after bookings are opened for 2015. Unlike the south rim, accommodations are limited on the north side and they fill up early.

If you decide on doing a Rim to Rim here's a gallery of photos I took when I went North Rim to South Rim in October 2009.

Thanks for posting the link Kurt.

Nice pictures. So as someone who has done Whitney a bizillion times by many different routes. What's your take the rim to rim,vs Whitney's standard route?
We're looking at October for our foray as was your trip.
Do you remember how long it took you?
The "field surgery" pictures with the swiss army knife look interesting.
Any thoughts or opinions on the rim to rim to rim,would be appreciated.

Brian

as mentioned above, combined with your post, if you're considering staying in lodging on the north rim in october, get reservations as soon as possible as they close the north rim lodge for the winter in october.

was there two years ago on the last day. weather cold, warm, hot and then cool on the north to south. fewer people. bright angel trail is not narrow by any means.

have fun!

Beg to differ. The top 2500' of the Bright Angel trail at the south rim is a series of switchbacks on the canyon face with no room to pass slower hikers except at the 2 (?) pullouts.

Hi We did the rim to rim when Doug was 11 and another son of our best friend he was also about 11-12 .It took about 11 hours. Did the hike the first day the North rim opened, say first week of May very cold and snow on the trail for a short distance.

The bottom section finished us off near 90 degrees and seemed like a long way looking at the same walls the first hour this was great but ........ going up the South Rim Bright Angel Trail was very warm until the upper section.

I was in my best years at the time and our sons also very strong we lived in Cedar City Ut at the time and spent every spare day at Brianhead or hiking in the area. Did a short walk from Delta back to LA during this period,
I have never consider Whitney hard just long, The Rim to Rim was hard for me.

I do the South Rim down now stay at the ranch and back out the next morning this is very easy, I take the Kaibad??? trail both direction you see the river longer and the trail is shorter.

I would think taking several days for the Rim to Rim would be the best , or blast it out leaving the North rim at dusk exit the Kaibad ???? early the next morning missing the heat along the bottom , you would miss the waterfall on the north side and the Ranch at the bottom but would see the river on the way out.

Always thought we should do a WPSMB hike and stay at the ranch???? Say Jan- Feb.

Hi Brian thanks for the note. I loved hiking the Grand Canyon Rim to Rim. I've often thought this would make a great hike to organize on this message baord. With a large group some could start at one end and others at the other. When they meet they could trade car keys. Those who wanted to take it slow could do an overnight backpack starting a day ahead and hike out with the day hikers. Anybody feeling super motivated could go Rim to Rim to Rim and do the second half with some people doing Rim to Rim. At the end we get a big camp site, build a big fire, and have a massive barbecue. OK the seed has been planted .

There are some key differences between Whitney and the Grand Canyon. Here are a few of them to consider:

(1) Altitude. Whitney is much higher and in this sense Whitney is harder.

(2) Elevation gain in lost. Whitney goes uphill for the first half & down for the second half. The Grand Canyon starts by descending, goes more or less level for a while, then finishes with a big ascent. I think the Grand Canyon is harder in this sense because you're doing the uphill at the end when you're the most tired.

(3) Temperature. The Grand Canyon has the potential to be quite hot. On Whitney if it gets cold you can add layers but you're never in danger of hitting anywhere close to the high temperatures experienced in the Grand Canyon. When it's hot you can only strip down so far. Having ways to cool yourself are important to have plus LOTS of water. In this sense I think the Grand Canyon is harder.

(4) Distance. Whitney is 22 miles round trip. The Grand Cyn is either 21 or almost 24 miles depending on which trails you use. In this sense I'd say they're equal.

(5) Terrain. The Whitney Trail has nice sections and other areas that require stepping over rocks, especially up high. As trails go I think the Whitney Trail is rather rugged in spots. The Grand Canyon trails are good the whole way. In this sense I think Mt. Whitney is harder.

(6) Water sources. Whitney has nice creeks to get some of the best water on the planet. The Grand Canyon has spigots in a couple key places but in general you should carry much more water with you. Staying hydrated is a challenge in both environments but I would say it is more difficult to stay hydrated in the Grand Canyon.

Overall both are endurance days. In spite of the various differences I'd say the Main Trail on Whitney is probably a little harder but I could see making good arguments either way.

I did the hike with my long time best friend who lives in Tempe. He got blood blisters underneath is two big toes. I had to heat up a blade on my Swiss Army Knife and drill holes into the nails on his big toes to relieve the pressure. It was instant pain relief. He hiked much slower than he otherwise would have though because of the discomfort of his feet. It took us 16 hours. I remember him asking me as we crested the South Rim at the end of the hike how long I thought it would have taken me by myself. I looked back and thought a minute and estimated 9 hours. That would be hiking pretty fast. I tell people to allow 12-16 hours for the hike.

In general in the mountaineering world it's best to get as "training specific" as possible. In other words, hiking is the best training for going hiking. Three things I'd focus on to train for this hike:

(1) Take long hikes. Get your body used to some good endurance days and consider routing your training hikes so you get some solid uphill at the end of the hike so you can feel what it's like to go uphill when you're tired.

(2) Practice hiking in warm climates if you have that option where you live. For example, instead of getting an early start for a Saturday morning hike consider taking a few in the afternoon when it's hot. Getting out on a few desert hikes is great too if you have that terrain available to you.

(3) Get your footwear dialed in. Blisters will slow you down and make the hike miserable.

Let me know if you have more questions.

Senior Boyd, would suggest taking a "stroll" down the Hermit Trail on the south rim if you have the time - beautiful sites and fewer people.

Well, for all interested in crossing the Grand Canyon, as well as how that compares with hiking the Whitney main trail, don't fail to search for other posts in this forum.

(Note that I found it harder than my day climb of Whitney.)