Let’s be honest: I have lived in Arizona for almost four decades and for the majority of that time, I thought the Grand Canyon was just a large hole in the ground! That was until my first trek into the canyon almost ten years ago. From that day on, my view of the canyon changed…it truly is Grand!!!

In April 2024, I was blessed to be able to host the first Women Who Explore trip into the Canyon. This trip is fully guided and leads trip goers on a magical multi day journey into the canyon. More specifically, down Hermits Trail; an off corridor trail that gets you away from the “main” south canyon corridor trails of Bright Angel and South Kaibab. While this route offers a bit more challenging terrain than the others, it quickly became one of my favorite trails in the Grand Canyon due to its never ending, but constantly changing views and its serenity.

Our trip began at a large cabin in Williams. The house was the perfect location for all of the women to get to know one another better, relax a bit before the main event, and also provided the ideal location for a quick run to town for groceries or last minute essentials or to make a drive to get a glimpse of the canyon in the day prior to us embarking on our journey. In typical AirBnB fashion, all kitchen essentials were there, which made preparing meals for everyone a breeze! Growing up in an Italian family, meal time was family time…and this trip was “just” another family meal. Getting to know all of the women during meal time and other times leading up to our canyon departure was amazing! In the couple of days spent in the home, it seemed most of the guests nervously packed and repacked their backpacking packs. Weighing, weeding out what they didn’t think they needed, dumping the entire contents, repacking, reweighing, repeat. One of the things I loved about the home was its huge living space. All nine women could be in the room, adjusting their packed items, some even setting up their tents for the first time. It was fun (and nerve wracking!!) seeing everyones gear scattered about. The night before our Grand Canyon trek, our guides came to our house. They went over last minute details like potential weather, things we may see/do in the canyon, general plans, helped answer any last minute questions, and again packed, repacked, and silently judged our packed bags!

Finally, Wednesday came! This would be our entry into the canyon. We loaded our vehicles, hopped in, waved goodbye to our rental and thus began our Grand Canyon adventure! We all met in a public parking area and from there, loaded our bags into one shuttle vehicle. That vehicle would deliver our packs to the trailhead, while the rest of the group took their first few steps toward the canyon shuttle bus that would take us to our starting point. While waiting for our shuttle, many got their first glimpse into the canyon. You could tell many were nervous about what was waiting before them…but the excitement outweighed the nerves.

Once we hopped aboard the shuttle, it was a relatively quick 10-15 minute trip to our drop off point, Hermits Rest. Along the way, we were greeted with incredible views of the canyon. These views were just the beginning of how impressive the canyon was about to become!

After unloading our packs from the vehicles and taking a few quick pictures, we were off! We began our decent into the canyon, following Hermit’s Trail. It was at the beginning that the near difference in trail conditions from the “normal” or more common Grand Canyon corridor trails became vastly evident. The main corridor trails are well used, well worn and relatively easy when compared. Over the next few days, we would traverse along less used canyon trails. These trails would bring about terrain that moved from smooth, to rocky, to climbing over boulder fields, into sand/washes and beyond. The initial few miles felt easy. I had a good nights sleep the night prior and I was still energized and excited for the adventure to come.

Along the first day, we were greeted with a magical oasis a few miles in; Santa Maria Spring and Rest House. The spring is located approximately 1700 feet below and 2.5 miles from our starting point. This spring is the only water “refill” option we had for the day and provides a reliable source of water any time of the year. The rest house is built of stone walls and a gabled roof. It was built in 1913, the same time as the trail and Hermit Camp. There is also a metal water trough on a stone base, along with a hitching post nearby…reminders on the days when mules carried tourists and goods down this trail. After a decent break and water refill, we continued down the trail.

The remainder of the day seemed to take forever. It could have been from the ever changing and difficult terrain. It could have been from the increasing and overall hot April day (we hit temps in the 90’s this day). Or it could have just been that I was coming off the initial “ high” of the beginning of the adventure. Regardless, this was probably my least favorite day to hike. Eventually (10+ hours later), we wandered in to Hermit Camp, our home for the evening. This location greeted us with not only incredibly clean pit toilets, but creekside accommodations! There is nothing like finishing a long hike day and tossing your feet into cool creek water. Everyone was able set up camp quickly, then come together for our first family dinner in the canyon. We were all happy to have an early night to get a decent nights rest.

The following day was one filled with exploration and more canyon trekking. After breakfast, we meandered up the creek with just water bottles and a few snacks. This early morning adventure brought us into a much more lush area of the canyon (almost anywhere with water in Arizona will bring about greener areas…and this was no different). The creek was lined with green trees, flowering bushes, vines, moss and more. To top it off, small waterfalls were scattered along our path, along with spots of deeper water that many women decided to completely submerge themself in. Once we had time to soak up the lush creek area, we headed back to Hermit Camp, packed up camp, and headed further in to the canyon.

This much shorter and easier hike led us to the Colorado River and Granite Rapids campsite. It was a much needed respite to have little elevation gain/loss. For me, this day was much more enjoyable/easy than day one. Temperatures were a bit cooler and the trail was not as technical as the first day. We were seeing areas of the canyon that were vastly different than the previous day; walking over and into smaller hills and valleys, trekking through washes to bring us to the River, etc. Including a few breaks, it took about six hours to reach our next campsite. When we arrived, I was amazed that our entire site was overrun by a sand floor. This may seem obvious to some, as the camp is right along the Colorado…but I didn’t imagine the soft, white sand extended for hundreds of feet from the river. It was a vast difference from all of the other Arizona backpacking I have done previously. Once we arrived at camp, we again set up camp. Afterwards, we took a short trip a bit further up river. This side excursion took us to the rafting pullout and an area that was wide open, but covered with sprawling trees and shade. This area provided us with a relaxing spot to do yoga and some self reflection. We returned to camp and started dinner. As the day went on, early afternoon breezes turned in to solid blustery winds. While it was never dangerous, the amount of sand that was blowing made setting up camp, preparing dinner, and just sitting outside tiresome. As the evening ended, I headed to my tent. Upon opening it, I had a good ¼ inch of sand at the bottom and all over its contents. That sand I mentioned earlier? Its tiny and has been relentlessly blowing all day. The larger wind gusts carried those tiny bits into everyones tents. (So much as I write this two months later, I am still finding sand in my pack, tent and other items, even though everything has been cleaned and used on other trips since then!!!).

On the third day, we started towards out campsite at Monument Creek. This was our shortest day. Overall hiking to camp was a bit less than four hours. About half of that hike was covering ground we saw the day before, so it seemed familiar to all. As we approached camp, wind was still blowing (more on this later!!). After a few pit stops for pictures and a water refill, we made it to camp. We had the group site, which meant we heading to a cliffside spot. Once there, the group decided to take a bit of a break, then head down to the creek. Some of the group stayed behind, reflecting on what they had done and enjoying another a quiet moment. The rest of the group traveled into a small canyon, following Monument Creek.

For the group that followed the creek, we played a game of Water is Lava…in which hikers tried to avoid stepping into any water along the way. The rules seemed simple enough, but as we moved further into the canyon and down stream, it become more and more difficult to avoid the water!!! Many locations we were scaling walls, stretching our bodies to extend across the canyon walls, moving sideways and horizontal, and doing everything we could to avoid getting any body parts wet. This was a great memory of mine because it was a bit different than every other day. We moved through the canyon without packs, frolicked over tiny falls, and just laughed and enjoyed the simple, yet challenging “game”.

Arriving back at camp, the wind began to pick up. By now, it seemed gale force winds decided to make an appearance! Weather in the canyon is ALWAYS unpredictable! Tents that were set up against the mountain were flapped loudly in the relentless wind. Despite this, we celebrated a birthday with no-bake cheesecake and in true Women Who Explore fashion, embraced whatever is thrown our way. Despite the short hike, we still went to bed early, hoping for a break from the constant battle of the wind. The night brought about some rain, as I woke up a few times to the pitter patter of rain hitting my tent. With all the wind and rain overnight, we woke up to a magical sight…upon opening our tents in the morning, there was snow dusting the surrounding mountaintops and cliffs. It was amazing!!!!! This morning was the coldest morning on our trip. While nowhere close to freezing, it definitely seemed much cooler than any other day thus far. Because this day was also the day we would exit the canyon, we packed up camp and started off on our final hike much earlier today.

The final day brought about longer mileage, elevation gain, patches of breaks for rest and breakfast and a yoga/stretching session. It also brought about probably the most magical day in the canyon! While hiking up (and up and up and up), the weather and wind calmed, and we could watch storm clouds coming in. About halfway up the canyon, the clouds gave us the best gift they could give…snow! Not a dumping or massive storm, but the most amazing little fluffy bits of white stuff you could imagine. The weather was cool, but tolerable. It was amazing!!!!! As we continued up, the light snow eventually stopped and the sun made another appearance. This route was also mostly familiar, as we traveled on most of this trail on day one. It was nice to see it in a different light and viewpoint.

Moving upward and onward, we eventually made it to another familiar sight…Santa Maria Spring and Rest House…which again became the perfect oasis! We were able to all fit into the shaded rest house, soak up cooler temps, drink ample spring water, indulge in snacks, and just enjoy the last bit of calm before our final stretch. We were all able to leave notes in the log book as well for those that travel through the area. After leaving Santa Maria Spring, everyone knew the final two or so miles were ahead of us. After many days of trekking through the canyon, the end was near…but not near enough!

I am pretty sure the final two miles were the longest two miles of our days in the canyon. At times it seemed I was moving at a snail's pace. As I looked up, it appeared the canyon rim was not getting any closer. Minute by minute went on…were we even getting anywhere? Would we ever make it out???? Minutes turned to hours, and we were finally making headway! As we approached the top of the canyon, you could easily look back and see the area and distance we covered. A new energy came over me and I was ready… we were making it out! Step by step, we were getting there! Almost 11 hours after we started our day, we made it to the trailhead. The exact spot we started our adventure from days ago.

Relieved. Overwhelmed. Strong. Inspired. Humbled. Connected. Accomplished. These and more are words I felt as we arrived at the top of the canyon. I think the women who joined me in the Grand Canyon would say the same. As many times as I have visited the canyon, this is by far one of the most memorable and best trips I have been on. Is it because of the amazing guides who went with us and shared their tasty meals and vast knowledge of the canyon? Is it because the women who joined me are all badasses that will be lifelong friends from the memories made? Is it because we got to see the beauty of the canyon in all seasons over just a few short day? It’s all that and more! The Grand Canyon will always hold a special place in my heart, and this trip definitely added a new appreciation for both the canyon, the weather, and all those who trek into it!

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