Backpacking in Grand Canyon

In the middle of March I went hiking in Grand Canyon with a group of friends that I know from my PhD program in Dresden, Germany. To be able to camp below the rim of the canyon, we had to apply to the Grand Canyon Backcountry Information Center for a permit four months prior to the trip. Apparently, there are three times as many applications as permits, so I guess we should consider ourselves lucky to have managed to get one of them.

Our trip started on Tuesday, 17th of March, at the San Francisco airport. From there we flew to Phoenix, AZ, which is located only 4-hours away from Grand Canyon. That meant that we still had a bit of extra time, so we stopped at Sedona Red Rock, to which I dedicated a separate post. Also on on our way back from the canyon to Phoenix we had some free time, so we visited several other parks: Walnut Canyon NM, Montezuma Castle NM, Montezuma Well, Sunset Crater Volcano NM and Wupatki NM.

As for the itinerary of our Grand Canyon hike we took one day to hike (on the South Kaibab Trail) to the bottom of the canyon, where we spent two nights at Bright Angel Campground and then we took two days to hike out (on the Bright Angel Trail). The photos and detailed description of our hike can be found in the following posts:

1. Grand Canyon - South Kaibab Trail
   
2. Grand Canyon - Bright Angel Campground
   
3. Grand Canyon - Clear Creek Trail
   
4. Grand Canyon - Plateau Point Trail
   
5. Grand Canyon - Bright Angel Trail
   

My hiking companions, from left to right: Anne-K, Carsten, his gf, Sebastian, Anne-L, I: