Recently, I took two weeks to go on a road trip through the state of Arizona.

Traveling, or not traveling, right now is a very personal decision and one that I did not take lightly. My friend and I agreed on some important things ahead of time - we would not be doing any indoor dining, museums, bars, etc.

Some nights, eating outside in November was more comfortable than others (plot twist: Arizona isn’t always warm). Some nights we cooked in our Airbnbs. If we encountered people without masks, even outdoors, we distanced ourselves from the situation.

I will mention things throughout these Arizona city guides in regards to how certain areas, restaurants, etc. handled coronavirus protocols.

But our overall goal for the trip was to hike, run, and generally spend time outside - alone. This was not the trip for trying all of Arizona’s restaurants and bars and museums and this guide reflects that.

You can read about our first stop, Phoenix & The Superstition Mountains here!

You can read about our second stop, Tucson and Saguaro National Park here!

Stop #3 was Williams - “Gateway to the Grand Canyon.”

How to Hike Grand Canyon During COVID 19

WILLIAMS

WHERE WE STAYED

To say we stayed in Williams would be a little misleading. Yes, the address of our Airbnb was Williams, AZ - but our trailer/motel was really in the middle of nowhere - a 40 minute drive to downtown Williams’ restaurants and stores and a 30 minute drive to the south gate of the Grand Canyon.

Seeing as the hotels and lodges within the Grand Canyon need to be booked about a year in advance, we were lucky to be within 30 minutes of the entrance. But we felt very much in the middle of nowhere - and our second night we returned to find no power and no flushing toilet.

While I wouldn’t return to this particular Airbnb, it did make it possible to arrive at the Backcountry Visitor Center by 5:15 AM. Had we been coming from Flagstaff (the closest major city to the South Rim), the 90 minute drive may have deterred us from our full-day hiking plans.

WHAT TO EAT

HISTORIC BREWING BARREL + BOTTLE HOUSE
141 W RAILROAD AVE | WILLIAMS, AZ

Historic Brewing Barrel Williams Arizona

The friendly staff at this brewery (with another location in Flagstaff) accommodated our (somewhat crazy) request to eat outdoors on a 30 degree night - dragging heat lamps over and serving up cold beers and warm mac & cheese, burgers and fries. After a 15 hour day and 19 mile hike - it might have been the happiest meal ever.

PINE COUNTRY RESTAURANT
107 N GRAND CANYON BOULEVARD | WILLIAMS, AZ

This was nothing to write home about, especially seeing as we took it to go and ate it in a motel room with plastic cutlery - but it was something easy to pick up as we passed through Williams on the way to our Airbnb.

ROCK SPRINGS CAFE
35900 OLD BLACK CANYON HIGHWAY | BLACK CANYON CITY, AZ

Speaking of passing through - if you find yourself driving between Flagstaff and Phoenix - you’ll want to plan on a pit stop at Rock Springs Cafe for some roadside pie! Yep, you read that right. This popular highway stop is equipped with gift shops, a restaurant, a gas station and really really popular pie. We popped in quickly (masks didn’t seem to be popular in Black Canyon City) and bought a slice of rhubarb and a slice of banana cream, both of which were delicious.

WHAT TO DO

SUNRISE TO SUNSET AT (AND IN) THE GRAND CANYON

I am so glad that Callie was so enthusiastic about the rim to rim Grand Canyon hike - it was 100% without a doubt one of the coolest experiences I’ve ever had. If you only have one day to experience the Grand Canyon - this is how you should experience it.

It took some time to figure out the logistics, but I’ll try to simplify it here for you.

THE TRAIL

While hiking a true rim to rim path (or running it) is definitely an adventure - the drive between the North & South rims is approximately 5 hours. To avoid that logistical nightmare, many people opt to hike down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon via the South Kaibab trail and back up along the slightly longer and less steep Bright Angel Trail.

According to AllTrails, this route is 17.5 miles and 4,845 feet of elevation. My Garmin recording came in at 18.25 miles and 6,130 feet of elevation. Our moving time was 6 hours and 55 minutes and start to finish, with lunch and bathroom and photo breaks, we were in the canyon for 8 hours and 45 minutes.

THE LOGISTICS

We arrived at 5:15 AM at the Backcountry Information Center (1 Backcountry Rd, Grand Canyon Village, AZ 86023). Don’t dilly dally in the car like we did - get out into the cold and stand in line for the 6 AM Hikers’ Express Shuttle (there are also shuttles at 7 AM, 8 AM and 9 AM). We nearly didn’t get a seat on the bus, which is operating at limited capacity (just 15 passengers each hour) due to COVID-19.

And yes - Arizona gets COLD. When we started our hike in November, it was about 20 degrees outside.

The shuttle (masks mandatory) will bring you to the South Kaibab Trailhead. When you finish the hike at the Bright Angel Trailhead, you’ll be about a 10 minute walk from your car at the Backcountry Information Center.

In November, some restrooms were open at points along the way (Cedar Ridge, Indian Garden) but most water was shut off for the season. You could filter from the creek, but with lower temperatures, carrying 4 liters each was plenty.

THE JOURNEY

We started off cold, with headlamps on, and nerves high. The beginning of the South Kaibab trail was icy and we were very focused on our feet and not slipping. I had to stop for a minute and look to my left - reminding myself that I was about to walk down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. I could faintly make out the outlines of the canyon and said to Callie, “Callie - it’s the GRAND CANYON!”

As the sun started to illuminate the sky, we made it to the aptly named Ooh Aah Point, a little less than a mile into the canyon. Obviously, we stopped for some pictures (and for some oohing and aahing).

Before we knew it, we were taking off a layer or two and putting our headlamps away.

The trip down was made a LOT easier with trekking poles, I shudder to think what my knees would have felt like without them! There were some very cool parts where it seemed we were walking out into the middle of nothing before the path would take another curve. Cedar Ridge was one of my favorite bits of the South Kaibab Trail.

Excitement levels escalated as we got our first glimpse of the Colorado River’s blue water below. But it still looked so far away!

Eventually, we made it to the first of two suspension bridges we would cross - the Black Bridge (built in 1928). Unlike to the Capilano or Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridges in Vancouver - filled with wannabe Instagram influencers - we had the entire Black Bridge to OURSELVES. We got to cross the Colorado in complete solitude (and didn’t feel rushed when we obviously had our own photoshoot).

After we crossed the bridge it wasn’t long until we were at the canyon’s floor, right up close and personal with the Colorado River. Unfortunately, Phantom Ranch was closed for the season, but we still took a walk around to check it out.

Overall, the hike down was great! The sunrise, adrenaline, the sense of awe - time passed pretty quickly. South Kaibab is a trail used by the Grand Canyon mules (as is Bright Angel) so don’t be surprised if you have to wait for a pack to pass you by or if parts of the trail are, well, poopy.

By the time we reached Phantom Ranch (about 7 miles in) I was actually VERY excited to start walking UP instead of down. I hoped I wouldn’t soon regret that wish!

Pretty quickly we crossed back over the Colorado River (this time on the Silver Bridge - another suspension bridge), and started our hike to the next main rest area - Indian Garden where we figured we would stop for lunch.

The first 6 or so miles up the Bright Angel trail were so scenic and so not what I expected to find in the Grand Canyon - lush, green areas made me feel like I was in the middle of the Amazon rainforest! Bright Angel was definitely more crowded (and would become even more so the further up we got) but there were only a few times where we felt uncomfortably sandwiched between other groups of hikers.

It honestly didn’t feel too challenging between Phantom Ranch and Indian Garden - we were definitely going up, but it was gradual and beautiful and we had turkey sandwiches to look forward to. When we reached Indian Garden we found a picnic table in the creek and had the most scenic lunch I’ll probably ever experience. I never wanted to leave!

From Indian Garden we knew we only had about 4 miles left in our journey - we marveled at the fact that we felt great, but knew that people said the last 3-4 miles were the real slog.

For us, we never felt that any part of this was a slog. Just an absolutely perfect day. Ew, I sound so annoying don’t I? But seriously, I couldn’t get over how lucky I was to spend 8 hours exploring such an iconic natural wonder.

Towards the top of Bright Angel, things got slippery and icy again, but before we knew it, we had reached the end. I couldn’t help but be sad it was over. On our walk back to the car we joked, “we could totally go and do that again right now, I’m not tired at all!”

Once we sat down in the car, took our hiking boots off, and broke into the trail mix, however, the adrenaline subsided and the sleepiness hit HARD. We drove over to Mather Point and split a beer while waiting for sunset time - scrolling through our pictures and reminiscing about our favorite parts of the day.

We dragged ourselves out of the car eventually and walked over to the gift store where we couldn’t help but buy ourselves matching long sleeve t-shirts to mark the day (my longest hike ever!).

Mather Point was crowded for sunset, but not even the crowds took away from the beauty that is Grand Canyon at sunset.

WHAT WOULD I DO DIFFERENTLY?

In a perfect world, we would have stayed right within the Grand Canyon and we wouldn’t have showered by headlamp in a cold trailer after a 15 hour day…but other than that, I honestly wouldn’t change much. We’re already talking about wanting to run rim to rim to rim in a day - just a casual 40+ mile run.

For anyone who has ever considered a hike like this and has been deterred by the distance and the elevation - don’t underestimate yourself and the inspiration that the Grand Canyon can give you. And go in November…I promise you it’s a lot nicer hiking 18 miles in 40 degrees as opposed to 112.