I completed an early December loop of the Grand Canyon, running 2 hours downhill to the Colorado River via the South Kaibab Trail, and then hiking 5 hours back up to the rim on the Bright Angel Trail. Unfortunately I was forgetful this day, leaving my food behind in the car. Luckily a couple of great guys loaned me an energy bar at Phantom Ranch located along the river, which gave me just enough fuel to hike back up to the rim. A quick review of the two different trails...Bright Angel is longer but less steep; the views seemed to generally be more sweeping and grand on South Kaibab; there are water oases along Bright Angel, such as Indian Garden; less people were encountered on South Kaibab, while Bright Angel was annoyingly crowded at times. I guess I would call this Grand Canyon hike a bucket list experience. However, I can imagine coming back to complete a rim-to-rim-to-rim all in one day...maybe next year.
