Hints and Tips:

Here's some things I learned while planning and taking this trip.

  • America West sucks. Period. If you need to know more I refer you to my journal, which explains all the difficulty we had with them. Unfortunately, there are the ONLY carrier that flies into Flagstaff, which is the closest airport to the Grand Canyon.
  • If you are looking for Cheyava Falls to be running, go the last week of April or the first week of May. This is when the snowpack from the North rim has had enough time to melt. Although, apparantly Cheyava falls hasn't been running much recently, only 1 out of the last 4 years has it really run, according to local sources.
  • If you are looking to hike from Clear Creek to the Colorado river, go in early spring, before the snowpack has had a chance to melt. Many a travelouge I read stated that they were unable to get all the way to the Colorado river because Clear Creek got too large. We did not experience this at all, and one of the highlights of our trip was hiking all the way to the end of Clear Creek and sun bathing right next to the might Colorado.
  • The weather in March can swing 180 degrees in a short time period. One day it was 70 and sunny, the next there was 8 inches on snow on the south rim. If you are going in the spring be prepared for major weather shifts.
  • When heading to a trailhead that requires you to ride a bus, give yourself plenty of time. It took us 45 minutes to get from Bright Angel Lodge to the S. Kaibab trailhead. Just be sure the extra time in. Note: The bus system at the Grand Canyon is wonderful, and I wish they would have continued to force people to use it. It might take a little longer to get places, but the benefits of less congestion far out weigh the extra 10 minutes here and there you have to wait. Besides, you're on vacation, what's your hurry?? But that's just my opinion.

Information Sources:

Here are the sources I used to plan our trip. The following sources were an immense help.

Books:
Maps:
Web Sites: