5: Crossing the Grand Canyon

Ultrarunning History

By Davy Crockett Both a podcast and a full article (Listen to the podcast episode which includes the bonus story about my love for the Grand Canyon, and the 1,000 miles I've run down in it.) Crossing the Grand Canyon on foot is something many visitors of the spectacular Canyon wonder about as they gaze across its great expanse to the distant rim. Crossing the Canyon and returning back is an activity that has taken place for more than 125 years. Each year thousands of people cross the famous canyon and many of them, return the same day, experiencing what has been called for decades as a “double crossing,” and in more recent years, a "rim-to-rim-to-rim." In 1891, crossings of the Grand Canyon using rough trails on both sides of the Colorado River, in the "corridor" area, were mostly accomplished by miners and hunters. Double crossing hikes, in less than 24 hours started as early as 1949. More were accomplished in the 1960s and they started to become popular in the mid-1970s. Formal races, for both single and double crossings, while banned today, are part of ultrarunning history. This article tells the story of many of these early crossings and includes the creation of the trails, bridges, Phantom Ranch, and the water pipeline Please consider becoming a patron of ultrarunning history. Help to preserve this history by signing up to contribute a little each month through Patreon. Visit https://ultrarunninghistory.com/member Grand Canyon Today - note the dates Introduction For those who have not yet had the experience of crossing the Grand Canyon, this overview will help understand the history. Today if you hike or run across the Grand Canyon you have choices. You can start from the South Rim or from the North Rim. It depends where you are traveling from. A South start is more common. On the South side, you can use either the Bright Angel Trail from Grand Canyon Village, or the South Kaibab Trail that starts a few miles to the east, using a shuttle to Yaki Point. On the North side, the North Kaibab Trail is used. These are the main trails into the Grand Canyon and referred to as the "Corridor Trails," used by the masses and mule trains. There are two bridges along the Corridor to cross the Colorado River, Black Bridge (used by mules and South Kaibab Trail) or Silver Bridge (Bright Angel Trail). When this history story starts, there was no Grand Canyon Village, no Phantom Ranch at the bottom, and these trails didn't exist. There were few visitors to either Rim because they lacked roads and there were no automobiles yet. It is believed that Native Americans crossed the Canyon for centuries in many locations up and down the canyon and early miners used many places to cross, including the Bass location. I have run double crossings using the Grandview Trail (twice) and Hermit Trail, so there are many possibilities. This article will concentrate on the corridor region near Grand Canyon Village where most modern crossings are taking place. Creation of Bright Angel Trail (South Side) South Rim about 1890 The upper part of Bright Angel Trail, coming down from the South Rim, was originally a route used by the Havasupai to access Garden Creek, 3,000 feet below. In 1887, Ralph Cameron (1863-1953), future US senator for Arizona, prospected and believed he found copper and gold near Indian Garden. The original idea for a trail was for mining. Work began on December 24, 1890 and it would take 12 years to complete. In 1891 Peter D. Berry (1856-1932) obtained rights for the trail, including collecting tolls. By 1892 it was called the “Bright Angel Trail.” It cost about $100,000, and at its height was worked on by 100 men. How did the trail get its name? This is a subject of legend and folklore. One story was told by "Captain" John Hance (1840-1919) who came to live at the canyon in about 1883 and was famous for his stories and yarns about the canyon.