South Kaibab Trail to Ooh Aah Point
Sunday morning we wrapped up our visit to Grand Canyon National Park. Yes, it was a quick one: just over 36 hours! But we gave it a good goodbye with a hike partway down the South Kaibab Trail.
South Kaibab is one of the trails that goes all the way down to the river. It's well maintained by park service and is popular with hikers, even though it entails a slightly greater elevation change than others It spans a greater change in elevation than some of the other trails- 4,860 ft (1,480 m), nearly a vertical mile.
As you can see in the video above the trail starts out steeply, with switchbacks carved into the rock in a steep side canyon. After this cliffside area it straightens out into a long ramp that diagonals down the side of another cliff. Then it breaks off onto a lower ridge, the top of which is known as Ooh Aah Point. That was our turnaroud for Sunday morning's hike.
Ooh Aah Point gets its name because it affords nearly 360° views. It is still thousands of feet above the bottom the Grand Canyon yet deep enough below the rim to give a more immersive feel than viewpoints from atop the Colorado Plateau. It's also reasonable as a half-day hike, with an elevation change of just 600 feet (183 m). After taking nearly an hour to descend 1.5 miles down to Ooh Aah Point we surprised ourselves by completing the uphill return in about 55 minutes. I thought it'd take us 90 minutes!
Click to viewSouth Kaibab is one of the trails that goes all the way down to the river. It's well maintained by park service and is popular with hikers, even though it entails a slightly greater elevation change than others It spans a greater change in elevation than some of the other trails- 4,860 ft (1,480 m), nearly a vertical mile.
As you can see in the video above the trail starts out steeply, with switchbacks carved into the rock in a steep side canyon. After this cliffside area it straightens out into a long ramp that diagonals down the side of another cliff. Then it breaks off onto a lower ridge, the top of which is known as Ooh Aah Point. That was our turnaroud for Sunday morning's hike.
Ooh Aah Point gets its name because it affords nearly 360° views. It is still thousands of feet above the bottom the Grand Canyon yet deep enough below the rim to give a more immersive feel than viewpoints from atop the Colorado Plateau. It's also reasonable as a half-day hike, with an elevation change of just 600 feet (183 m). After taking nearly an hour to descend 1.5 miles down to Ooh Aah Point we surprised ourselves by completing the uphill return in about 55 minutes. I thought it'd take us 90 minutes!