Everybody needs to backpack The Grand Canyon. The place is just amazing. We live in this age where every thing is so overhyped the reality is always a disappointment. Not The Canyon. People can't overhype it because they can't capture it. Not in words or on film. We'd all seen hundreds of photos and paintings and watched several movies of it, and when we got there it just sucked our breath away. We had experiences there we'll never have until we return.

We started by hiking the South Rim Trail, an all day adventure of its own that ranks as one of the world's top 10 day trips. We urge everyone to begin your visit by doing this. You need time to adjust to the altitude, heat, light, dryness, and general weirdness.We looked down on the top of thunderstorms, standing there in bright sunlight watching lightning flashing out from below black clouds way below us. We saw planes flying way down there, looking like little toys, too far away to be heard.

Stopping for water breaks and lunch, we realized places keep changing, shifting, all day, every few minutes. As the sun moves across the sky, it reflects not only off a spot, but off a hundred other spots that themselves affect the light on that first spot. So every 15 minutes, the colors, shadows and whole appearance of each spot totally changes. The Canyon is thus like a disco ball. You can set up a camera aimed at a particular scene and shoot a whole roll of film, a new picture every 15 minutes all day, and no two pictures will be alike. Pinks, purples, reds, yellows and blues keep interacting with each other.

Far below us, we could see the South Kaibab Trail, just a dusty brown line, as shown at left. Eventually, we found other trails, some descending to the river, some, like the Tonto Trail, running along the plateaus. The trails appeared to be empty. Then we used our binoculars and could see they were teeming with people backpacking and others riding the donkey trains. The trails are so far down you can't make out the people or donkeys with the naked eye.

We had the same experience with the Colorado River. At first, all we could see was a tiny brownish green line, way out there, squiqqling westward. Then, with our binoculars we could see how big and powerful the river is, and could make out the rafts loaded with people descending the canyon on one of the commercial trips. The Colorado is moving so fast it's dangerous to hikers and campers, who could be swept away trying to wash dishes or cool off their feet. The rapids and waterfalls are so big the rafts have to be large to carry passengers safely without being swamped. Yet even with that fast flowing river and those big rafts, a trip through the canyon takes a full week.

On your day or so of orientation on the South Rim, be sure to take advantage of the great restaurants and gift shops. You do have to make reservations by about noon to guarantee seating for dinner, but it is definitely worth it. Drop in on the old lodges, especially El Tovar, even if you're not staying there. They're century old examples of that National Park Rustic architecture and are national treasures. There are bus tours and ranger presentations.

If you come in by van or car, check the schedule and make sure you drop by the railroad station to see either the arrival or departure of the daily passenger train. This is a historic gem in its own right, all original, beautifully maintained, worth several photos.

Do not be deceived by the desert climate and Arizona location. Summer nights here can get cold. We've slept in hooded sweatshirts in down bags in June on the South Rim, and the North Rim is even colder. However, down in the Canyon nights are much warmer.

The Phantom Ranch experience is central to a Grand Canyon trip. You can camp along Bright Angel Creek or stay in one of the bunkhouses. There are no showers, but there are modern bathrooms, complete with sinks and mirrors. However, the creek runs cool right past the camp and you can sit in it for relief from the 100 degree heat. And you can eat dinner and breakfast in that incredible mess hall. There's no menu. You eat what they set in front of you, just like cowboys do at any ranch. But you certainly won't have any complaints, about quality or quantity.

Phantom Ranch is a world unto itself. You can spend a day sitting on the benches watching the backpackers, mule trains and white water rafters arriving and departing. After dark you can look out your tent or from the bunkhouse door and watch the scorpions glowing in the dark as they hunt for food. There's a first aid station for backpackers with blisters, heat prostration or scorpion stings (they treat them with milk). And there's even a pay phone, since your cell phone probably won't work.

We don't usually like to retrace our steps, much preferring loop hikes to out and backs. So we did not look forward to hiking back down the 16 mile North Kaibab Trail. However, we were really surprised. It was a whole new experience. Part of it was that we had struggled up the long grade and on the return we could relax. Part of it was that we were facing out across The Canyon so the view was incredible. And part of it was the morning sun on the top half of the route, rather than the afternoon sun and deepening shade we had seen coming up. Altogether, we really enjoyed the return to Phantom Ranch.

Whether or not the mule trains will still be operating on this side of the park when you make your trip is uncertain. They're a century old tradition, but lately park officials have considered terminating the North Rim service and limiting mule trains to the South Rim. They believe the mules' heels damage the trailbed, their grazing impacts the ecosystem, and their waste degrades Bright Angel Creek.

This is a pretty demanding trip, and should absolutely not be the first expedition a youth group or family makes. You need some prior experience in hot weather parks like Bryce, Zion and Big Bend and long backpacking treks like the Wind Rivers and Glacier.You also need time to accumulate the needed equipment and learn how to travel as light as possible and still have what you need. We never carry more than 30 pounds per person into the Canyon. Of course, knowing you can eat meals at Phantom Ranch and North Rim Lodge lightens your load somewhat. You only need to cook at Cottonwood both directions and Indian Gardens on the return trip. This reduces the amount of food and fuel you need. You won't need the cold weather clothing and down bag unless you plan to camp on the North Rim. Use them on the South Rim, then leave them in your van or check them in a pay locker when you hit the trail.

Conditioning is another issue. You have to invest some time in conditioning before this trip. In Kentucky, hiking the Gorge, big South Fork and Cumberland Gap can tone your legs and cardiovascular system for the long, steep climbs and descents. If you live elsewhere, find a trail in your state with challenging ups and downs. Or find a college football stadium and, wearing your loaded backpack, hike to the top and back down several times, and do it three times a week for a few months. In the gym, we like a good stepper, a treadmill that can be cranked up to at least a 20% angle, a leg press machine, and an abflexor. Remember to turn around on the treadmill and do at least a mile a day backward, to condition shins, calves and thighs for the long descents.

For a bunch of kids from Kentucky, The Canyon's small animals are a continuing source of fascination. The glow in the dark scorpions, their tails poised over their heads, are pretty hard to match. But the long tailed pocket mice, red spotted toads, yellow backed spiny lizards, banded geckos, and collared lizards are pretty unique, too. Ring tailed cats and gila monsters scared several of us at one time or another. And the hump backed chub, the world's largest minnow, which lives on birds and small mammals that fly too low over the water or wade out in it for a drink, was pretty wierd.

We also enjoyed talking to the people who live in The Canyon. They worked at ranger stations at Roaring Springs and Cotton-wood Campground, wrangled the mule trains making one trip a day from the rim down to the ranch, guided the rafting trips, or staffed the first aid station or mess hall down at the ranch. Many were college graduates now in the park service.

The photo to the left is what you'll see looking out your tent doorway if you face it west at the Cottonwood Campground. It surely has to be one of the most spectacular campgrounds in the national park system. And there's a surprising amount of water nearby. Bright Angel Creek runs past it, foaming and splashing. Ribbon Falls continually roars from across the creek. Several other smaller waterfalls erupt out of the cliffs in every direction. And just down the trail, there is actually a bog where you have to balance on logs and rocks to keep your feet dry for a quarter of a mile.

You could spend a couple of days here at Cottonwood. Just trying to capture the place on film would take a whole day. Studying all the bizarre plant life could take a morning. Watching various kinds of lizards is worth at least an afternoon. And then there's the geology. The Canyon is a whole geology course in itself. We learned more about geology, and learned to appreciate it more, in our week here than we have in all our Earth Science courses combined.

A lot of us were already interested in ecology, or became interested through all these outdoor trips. So we enjoyed sitting around the campfire and listening to the ranger tell us about the "islands in the sky" ecologies of these rock formations. Jutting up as they do, they provide level islands for various plants and animals. But because of the incredible elevation differences, which are accompanied by temperature and water differences, many of those plants and animals cannot move from one island to another, or from an island to either of the rims. So they've been stranded there for thousands of years, and have begun evolving slightly different characteristics.

If you wanted to make this trip but were afraid of the rugged backpacking challenge, you could compromise and ride the mule trains down and back, then day hike out from Phantom Ranch. The mules take one day each way, with a few stops to stretch your legs. Even this alternative is no easy cruise. You'll still have the heat and the sun to contend with, and because of the steep trails and frequent sharp turns, your butt will take quite a pounding. As with the backpacking trip, the climb out is easier than the descent. With the mules, you'll face another hazard. Although the animals are quite safe and sure footed, there is the illusion of danger. From your high perch, it will seem like you and your mule are about to plunge off the cliff. We've known people who kept their eyes closed except for the plateau crossings. The feeling of imminent disaster is especially acute when you pass hikers on narrow trails. The mules are fine, but you may be panicky. It helps to remember that mules have been making this trip for a century and none of them have been lost over the edge. Mules are much more surefooted than horses.

If you want to try this alternative, be sure to make your reservation 12 months in advance. You need not only the mule train reservation down and back, but the overnight accomodations and meal reservations at Phantom Ranch. Then figure on the day hikes out from the ranch. Bring your daypack. Taking the mule train down one day, staying four nights and three days at the ranch, and taking the mules back up on the fifth day, makes for a good trip.

We highly recommend ordering a few books on the plants of the Canyon and studying them for several months before coming. The place is a botanical fireworks display, but you appreciate it more if you know what you're seeing and can look updetails along the trail. The cacti are especially fascinating. So are the little oases where springs gush out of the cliffs, or strips of lush grass and trees where streams flow down. The study of ecology is magnified here, since you rapidly descend through different zones between the rims and the river. The way plants here use their leaves, stems, roots and flowers to survive in such hostile conditions is a whole semester course at Northern Arizona University over in Flagstaff.

As you notice from the pack covers in the pictures above, we got rained on coming down from Cottonwood Campground to the ranch. It was strange. The water was steaming where it hit the hot rocks. But it was sort of refreshing, and it cooled things off briefly. The Box was a lot more enjoyable without the intense heat.

As you relax at the ranch one more night, you have decisions to make. First of all, we recommend turning right across the bridge and heading West. This will send you up the Vishnu Switchback, an awesome climb to the Tonto Plateau. The campsite up there is Indian Gardens, where the Havasupai actually did raise crops. There is a ranger station, composting rest room, water and even a little shade. You then hike out by heading straight up Bright Angel Trail. It's 4.7 miles to the top, with resthouses at the 3.0 and 1.5 mile points. After the rugged semiwilderness you've been through, this is a real luxury. But this is a steep climb, and will take most of a day with a backpack.

There is a small hotel in the village, and if you want to end your trip in luxury you could come out by horse train. But both these options require advance reservations.

From your campsite, you can hike down to the Colorado River, a two hour jaunt that will pass two more gigantic waterfalls and a set of iron rungs sunk into the side of a cliff.

There is a restaurant and snack bar in the village but the menu is disappointing. It's more like a fast food outlet back home.

Jewelry makers on the village square offer incredible buys on silver, jade, and turquoise earrings, necklaces and bolos.

This is a window back in time. There is no road, no electricity, no phone, no tv. Your cell phone is out of range. You can watch the mail and supplies come in daily by pony express. Residents farm, hunt, fish, raise horses and dogs, lead pack trains and rafting trips, make things to sell to tourists, or work at the store, restaurant, hotel or government agency.

There is a K-12 school. Basketball is the official team sport. The kids heard some Kentuckians were at the campground so they looked us up and wanted a game. Our guys met them at the outdoor court (there is no gym) and played until dark. The Havasupai were pretty good, although some of our guys were on the school team and we won the best of three series.

Running Bear, our campground host, sat around the campfire one night and spent two hours teaching us about Havasu life. The hostess at the visitor center, Raven Wing, was a University of Arizona graduate.

Our guys thought the Havasu girls were sort of cute, but the adult women were all overweight and looked exhausted and sullen. We never heard one of the women speak the three days we were there.

The hike out is just as steep as the Roaring Springs or Bright Angel Trails. The picture at right shows the convoluted canyon you come through. This photo looks like some sort of lines are cutting across it, but they're not. That's just the way the rock layers line up.

You could exit the canyon by two routes. You can go back the same way you came in. Or you could have someone bring your bus or van around to Peach Springs and either hike up or take the pack train up to the trailhead, which is called Hualapai Hilltop. If you came by Amtrak, you'll probably be better off going back the way you came, so you end up at the Grand Canyon Railroad Station.

If you wanted to tack the Havasu experience onto the end of your Grand Canyon trip but had a very young group and didn't think they were up for the necessary hiking distance in the heat, there is a roundabout way to do it. You could hike out Bright Angel Trail as described, drive your van or bus out to Williams, head west on the interstate to Peach Springs, and take the side road in to Hualapai Hilltop. You could camp there for the night, then hike four hours down to Supai and the campground. Returning to your vehicle after a day or two, you can catch the interstate at Peach Springs and follow it east through Flagstaff, Albuquerque and home. A park service shuttle van also makes this run.