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I got my permit for 2 nites in the canyon at the end of april. This will be my first time hiking in the canyon. I plan on heading down the south kibab trail and staying 2 nites at bright angel camp and coming out the BR trail. What trails in the east valley/ superstions are good for training with a full pack? Is there anything close to what the canyon trails are like.
Also besides ribbon falls what other trails are good hikes from BR camp?

A good day hike from the BA campground would be a short way up the North Kaibab trail, then go east on the Clear Creek trail. Follow that as far as you feel comfortable and then return via the same route. No water available on the trail unless you go all the way to the end, but that's around 7-8 miles one way.

Not sure what training you could do for -30 F.

Yeah, you said April, and that was the temp last Friday night, but I could not resist. (-30 ... wtf!?)

I'm told Flatiron is ridiculously steep. You could climb that with your full pack.

I would say hike a lot of steep mtns. frequently, with or without your big pack, but just do it a lot. By a lot I mean more than once a week. When you can't get out to do that, do something else that day, such as ride a bike or run or swim laps. Really push the cardio.

The corridor trails you plan to pack are like low grade ramps. A couple laps a week on the circumference should be plenty http://hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN=123

The Flatiron will work too but you won't find your canyon hike anywhere near that difficult.

I'm not a prolific backpacker by any stretch of the imagination and just did the Canyon (your route) back in November and I certainly didn't train. I had done quite a bit of hiking but nothing that would prepare me for the GC specifically (maybe I should have?) . The only thing that got really sore were my calves from that long but enjoyable trudge down the S Kaibab. Doing the walk to Ribbon Falls the next day really helped and it is a beautiful hike I would highly recommend... and as my friend told me, toward the end of your hike and if you can, take big long steps to stretch your warm muscles.

Another short hike at BA/Phantom Ranch is the River Trail or even just the Box on the N Kaibab or some off trailing to Phantom Falls in Phantom slot Canyon a little ways after the 2nd bridge I believe.

We didn't do the complete climb out from BA Campground to BA TH in one day but for me, that would mostly be a matter of lung power. Take advantage of the rest houses along the way. I was glad to go up to take the pressure off my calves .

Oh and don't forget to send a couple postcards via mule from the Canteen.

The route you're looking at is really something that, for those who have decent hiking shape, is more a matter of hiking smart and staying determined. Pace is important - don't push too hard at any one point...it's a bit more like a marathon than a Flatiron climb. Slow and steady and you'll be out before you know. Like Tibber, the part that typically hurts the most is actually the descent. Have fun!

To train to hike over the mountain one should hike over the mountain.

how about an over and back camelback once a week with some other hikes, runs or bike rides mixed in?
that would hit your calves and quads, which is what i noticed the most
the descent is harder on my quads, and the climb is harder on my calves
you would also be working on your core and balance, especially if you gradually added a little bit of weight
i wouldn't do that with a full pack, though, save that for the less intense hikes

Thank for all the tips. I want to be in great shape for the trip so I dont have to suffer at all. I try to hike twice a week and go to the gym, run and walk on a treadmill at 8 to 11 percent grades. Also lift wieghts.
We plan on going to ribbon falls the second day and to the river the first day in the afternoon. Well hike out early the 3rd day, early.

Sredfield wrote:To train to hike over the mountain one should hike over the mountain.

The only way to train for the mountain or canyon, is to hike a mountain or canyon. Piestewa or Peralta are good training trails. 2 or 3 times up and down. Start adding weight to your backpack. Start with 20lbs and work up to 35lbs. You will find it working your shoulders. And you can find the friction spots that rub. I use MSR 4liter water bags. Thats about 9lbs per bag. Start with one, add the second, then add the third. And if it gets too tough that third time up Piestewa, stop and empty some water. Pain is just water emptying from your backpack.

You can work out in a gym with weights on a bosu ball. The biggest issue most people have is that stairs and stadiums don't load the quads and the calves the way hiking does. With stairs, you place the ball of your foot down on the stair and then bring your weight down. With the Canyon, you step down with your whole foot and place your heel first so you load the quads and calves much differently. There are some exercises you can do on a box - sort of like some kung fu exercises. My awesome Ninja skills have been very helpful in the Canyon. (invisible Ninja smilie inserted here).

I was thinking peralta a few times would work as a good training run. Starting at 20lbs and working up is a good idea I didnt think about. I hope to have a 35 lbs pack for the trip.

Backpacking uses different muscles than regular hiking, it will take a half dozen trips until your body gets used to carrying a heavier pack around for hours. And don't lock your knees on the downhill, too many people do that.

In particular the stabilizer muscles in your hips and the core muscles in your torso get a workout, especially if you really load up the gear.

There are some good trails in the Pinals that would be good training hikes for the GC. However, you're probably going to have to wait a few months until the snow clears up. Depending upon the amount of snow it might not be possible to do something like the Sixshooter-Icehouse loop until after your trip. That loop is about 13 miles and 4000' AEG.

if you like the Canyon and want to get away from the Corridor Trails and the crowds, you will need several MSR water bags as cache bags. The biggest skill you need for successful Canyon hiking off the Corridor is water management.

Jim Lyding wrote:There are some good trails in the Pinals that would be good training hikes for the GC. However, you're probably going to have to wait a few months until the snow clears up. Depending upon the amount of snow it might not be possible to do something like the Sixshooter-Icehouse loop until after your trip. That loop is about 13 miles and 4000' AEG.

Is that what the GC is like? I did that loop last month, had a great time. Going down hurt.

Al_HikesAZ wrote:if you like the Canyon and want to get away from the Corridor Trails and the crowds, you will need several MSR water bags as cache bags. The biggest skill you need for successful Canyon hiking off the Corridor is water management.

One step at a time. These MSR bags everyone talks of, are the what to use when backpacking? Insted of bottles. I've only backpacked onece before, I dont have the water thing down yet. I know when I packed my bag last time ther was no way to put my bladder into its spot. I was was thinking of using 3 1 litre bottles. Maybe 1 small bottle and a big bladder would be better?

krispykritter wrote:

Jim Lyding wrote:There are some good trails in the Pinals that would be good training hikes for the GC. However, you're probably going to have to wait a few months until the snow clears up. Depending upon the amount of snow it might not be possible to do something like the Sixshooter-Icehouse loop until after your trip. That loop is about 13 miles and 4000' AEG.

Is that what the GC is like? I did that loop last month, had a great time. Going down hurt.

It's similar. The South Kaibab-Bright Angel loop is about 2 miles longer and has roughly 1000' more AEG. I haven't done the Grand Canyon loop since George Herbert Walker Bush was President so take my recommendations w/ a grain of salt. I tend to think that the GC trails are in better shape than what I've seen in the Pinals. The Pinal Sixshooter-Icehouse loop is a good training hike for the Canyon because the TH is only about an hour's drive from Mesa, there is significant elevation gain, and the Pinals rock.

Another good option that's relatively close to the East Valley is Mount Ord. The Slate Creek Mount Ord hike is longer and has more elevation gain than the version from Slate Creek Divide, but the latter hike is entirely on a dirt road so that may be more to your liking. Snow will probably be a problem (depending upon your point of view) unless it really dries out and gets warm in Arizona.

krispykritter wrote:One step at a time. These MSR bags everyone talks of, are the what to use when backpacking? Insted of bottles. I've only backpacked onece before, I dont have the water thing down yet. I know when I packed my bag last time ther was no way to put my bladder into its spot. I was was thinking of using 3 1 litre bottles. Maybe 1 small bottle and a big bladder would be better?

Yep - one step at a time. For a trip at the end of April on the Corridor Trails I would plan as follows: 1) on South Kaibab I would probably use a 2liter bladder and a 1 liter bottle. I actually use a Camelbak Omega MilSpec 3L bladder but only fill it to 2l so it fits better in my backpack. 2) Coming up Bright Angel trail I would check the water status. There is almost always water at Indian Gardens and almost always water at the 3 mile and 1 1/2 mile resthouses. I would probably start with 1L in the bladder and 1L bottle. Drink and refill the bottle at Indian Garden and drink and refill at the resthouses as needed.

The bigger MSR bladders are cache bags that you hide on the way down Threshold, Primitive and Wilderness trails so that you have water on your way out. I have several 2L and 4L MSR cache bags that I use for weight on training hikes. You could just fill your training pack with 6 packs of beer - but I hesitate to lighten my training pack when it means dumping beer out. I carry my Tequila in metal 24oz bottles. :A1: Another important backpacking skill to learn.

Bah, carry your water with you. Caching becomes donating once you cannot find it or if the wrong person comes along and steals it. Plus, who wants to come up the same way you go down?

As far as bottles go: slosh slosh slosh slosh slosh...pause...slosh slosh slosh. But really, if this is the only backpacking trip you plan to do, bottles will work just fine. I assume you have a Camelbak or something similar already?