Rich Rewards

“Only one per cent of people who visit the Grand Canyon hike down into it; most just take a look from the rim, then leave” our hostess is saying as I awkwardly slide into the one remaining seat in the room.

I have just walked the 11.4 km South Kaibab Trail to spend the night at Phantom Ranch, the only cabin accommodation available below the rim. It is an oasis at the canyon floor, beside the muscular Colorado River. Enticingly, it offers meals, showers and respite for adventurers and their aching joints.

My tardiness has meant that I almost missed the 6:30pm dinner bell; it also meant that I was forced to descend the final, steep section of the trail in near-darkness.

Among those communing in this warm, austere wooden dining hall are a Swiss couple returning home after working in the US; two Indian expats living in New York; a group of Californian ladies in their 50s who’ve been friends since their schooldays; and a woolly-bearded Florida man taking a break from pushbiking across America.

We chat like old friends, bonded by our shared experience of the strenuous hike.

This burst of merriment is a jolt to my senses; a sudden, sharp contrast to the meditative aloneness of my hike down.

Official advice warns hikers against trying to make it from rim to river and back again in a day. Most day hikers thus turn back well before the halfway mark, and the overnighters heading for the river soon find themselves alone with the gorgeous, charismatic Canyon.

Seven hours prior to my arrival at Phantom Ranch, the Canyon had yawned before me. Like a silent, self-assured movie star, she is always in focus, ever-changing but always ready for her close-up.

Her barren, stony upper shelves, where grey-green shrubs eke out a living in the orange dust, turn to relative lushness at the Canyon floor. Wildflowers, prickly pear cacti and billowing cottonwood trees thrive beside the river.

While a lady never reveals her age, the Canyon is surely even older than the rookie hiker’s mistake of not carrying enough water - the two litres I packed were barely enough, despite the pleasant October coolness. The South Kaibab trail has no water sources beyond the rim, and 4 litres is the recommended amount for this hike.

To really see the Grand Canyon, it pays to move beyond the lookouts dotted along the rim.

If you choose to become a member of the one per cent, Phantom Ranch is a rich reward.

Just make sure you set out early.