After two nights, it was time to leave the North Rim for Bryce. But that's not a long drive, and we'd not done much hiking, so.... We decided we'd go a little ways down the Kaibab Trail, the trail that goes down Bright Angel Canyon to Phantom Ranch (and connects with Bright Angel Trail for those who want the Rim-to-Rim experience). No such ambition for us! We decided we'd go down into the Canyon for a half hour or so, then turn around - the rule of thumb is that it take twice as long to come up as to go down. Going down was fine, but coming up (it took us 75 minutes) rapidly demonstrated that we were not just "out of shape," but that we were in the "dreadfully out of shape - probably never could again be in shape" category. The noonday sun and 8000' elevation takes a toll.
After two nights, it was time to leave the North Rim for Bryce. But that's not a long drive, and we'd not done much hiking, so.... We decided we'd go a little ways down the Kaibab Trail, the trail that goes down Bright Angel Canyon to Phantom Ranch (and connects with Bright Angel Trail for those who want the Rim-to-Rim experience). No such ambition for us! We decided we'd go down into the Canyon for a half hour or so, then turn around - the rule of thumb is that it take twice as long to come up as to go down. Going down was fine, but coming up (it took us 75 minutes) rapidly demonstrated that we were not just "out of shape," but that we were in the "dreadfully out of shape - probably never could again be in shape" category. The noonday sun and 8000' elevation takes a toll.
