Getting Started

I had been down the first few hundred meters of Bright Angel trail when I was a kid, I guess, but I didn't really remember much of that. There are the couple cute tunnel/bridges that pass through the rocks at the beginning before the trail gets into the really serious switchbacks and decent into the canyon. My friends had been down a few times before, so they were really moving along. We didn't even stop at the lodge to look around. Just straight from the car to the trail.

Views

Actually, some of the views from the top of the trail are relatively disappointing. Of course, almost anything in the Grand Canyon is beautiful, so this is entirely relative. The trail does stay tucked back in the valley/gulch/canyon of a tributary of the Colorado River for almost its entirety. This limits the views that are available while walking. Many people say that the Kaibab Trail actually offers better views.

One of the interesting things about the trail is looking back at where you have come from. After a bit of a decent, you can look back and wonder how you will ever get out. Most of the wall looks entirely unscalable save for one lush area tucked back in the corner of the canyon that allows a decent slope for walking. Still, it is quite amazing how people were able to make such a passable (yet steep) trail down such a treacherous wall.

Rocks and Cacti