Did some research today looking at the possibility of doing a rim to rim hike at the Grand Canyon. We are going to check into it a little more, but as of right now, it looks like it may not work out for this May. If we were going to do it all in one day, we could, but we would probably die – at least I would – I’m not in good enough shape. I mean come on, it’s only 24 miles. Piece of cake, right? Ha! We decided for my sake that we would spend the night down in the canyon. Therein lies the problem. Phantom Ranch requires reservations at least a year in advance; and of the three campgrounds down in the canyon, there are only 2 nights in May that might still be available. There is a waiting list for all of the above, so there is a slight chance something could open up.

My research into the Narrows was a little more promising. If you go into the Narrows from Zion, you don’t need a permit. If however we decide to take more time and start our hike outside the park and go from the top down, we will need to apply for a wilderness permit at least 3 months in advance. We want to do this hike because it is not ordinary. Most of the hike is in the water. The most interesting thing I found in my research was about what shoes to wear. The Zion site said that it was like trying to hike on slippery bowling balls. Hmmm….slippery bowling balls and my sense of balance are probably not the best combination, but I am willing to give it a try. I will just plan on being totally soaked the entire time since I will probably fall down frequently.

We are also interested in the Subway at Zion. This one is a little more complicated. You have to enter your name in a lottery 3 months before your trip and hope your name gets drawn. Do you feel lucky? Well do you? There is also a last minute drawing 7-2 days before your visit. We will just have to try it and find out what happens. Plus, there is also the lottery for The Wave at Coyote Buttes.

All of these permits also cost money, so we have to take that into consideration as well.

We will keep you posted with what we find out as we continue to plan our backpacking trip for May. Hope you are all having an awesome week.