Hiking the Grand Canyon: A Sierra Club Totebook

Most importantly, the authors neglect to stress that in order to successfully complete long hikes at the Grand Canyon, you must be physically prepared. Several times a year I hike rim to rim and then back the next day. This is 24 miles of hiking with some serious elevation gains. Oftentimes I pass many sick, debilitated and unprepared hikers who quite obviously didn't do any physical preparation for this hike. Physically fit people should be able to do it in 3-4 hours coming up, but many are stuck on the trail for 12 hours and suffering. This could be avoided by exercising and hiking for months in advance in order to enjoy and relish the spectacular experience.

The author does detail the debilitating and life-threatening heat conditions that exist in the Canyon. I recommend to anyone planning long hikes *not* to attempt them in the summer! Temperatures frequently exceed 110 degrees and heat exhaustion and/or heat stroke can result. The best months to hike in the Grand Canyon are October, November and April.

The Grand Canyon (even with the terrible crowds) is a sublime experience and Phantom Ranch is the best part of the canyon. Forget the mule and use your own two feet. It's a magical experience, a great hike and one you will want to do again and again!


ONE of the guides that works for the Grand Canyon   November 17, 2005
bukhtan (Chicago, Illinois, USA)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful

This guide seems to have excited a lot of controversy. And I can understand why. John Annerino's guide to the Grand Canyon is just as individualistic as all his other books.
Mr. Annerino is a rough-and-ready writer, something of a non-fiction Jack Kerouac of the Southwest and the Borderlands. His literary principle is enthusiasm for his subject. And when his subject is a complex but highly organized entity like the Grand Canyon system, the book winds up structured in a way some of his other books don't. What you can't miss is his knowledge of this canyon.
I found this book an excellent update, if only partial, of the Naturalist's Guide to Hiking the Grand Canyon by Stewart Aitchison. He covers more trails than other, more current guides, such as the Falcon guide by Ron Adkinson, who doesn't write up the platform trails east of Grandview on the South Rim, the Beamer Trail, or Comanche Point. (A new edition is due out of the Falcon guide; maybe the deficiency will be made up.) Not to mention areas further afield, such as the Arizona Strip.
Some have criticised the lack of maps. This is valid, but the tendency of late seems to be for publishers to include only very sketchy maps, rather than copies of topos. And maps are easy to get for the Grand Canyon.
I have been more surprised that some object to Mr. Annerino's admonitions to the user to get in shape and keep in mind the peculiar hazards of the GC, comprising both desert and middle-latitude sky-island. Given the peculiar fame of the Canyon, its allure for travellers from all over the world, including those who aren't really in shape, and the UN-reality of the Canyon upon first contemplation, I believe his warnings are in order.
On top of this, I found Annerino's review of history and other trail lore very entertaining. And you have something to read when you're resting, without carrying MORE weighty books down and around and up.
My advice to Canyon hikers is to consult ALL the guides you can get. John Annerino's guide is, in my view, an indispensable part of the small group you'll read again and again. Another, more recent, is "Hiking the Grand Canyon's Geology", by Lon Abbott. But keep in mind, whatever you use, that access issues can change, so check with the National Park Service and other hikers. I recommend the Internet Yahoo groups for the Grand Canyon, as well.


Complete Guide to Grand Canyon   June 29, 2003
4 out of 5 found this review helpful

This is the only guide to GC I've ever used. It's taken me safely in and out numerous times. It has the necessities of info. on water, temperatures, distances, obstacles to the routes, elevations, etc.

It seems there is a trend towards people wanting to be held by the hand on their hikes: graphics of the trails, topos included in the guidebook, campsites designated, viewpoints mentioned, etc...

The reality is, one's better of getting the USGS topos, a compass (assuming you know how to use it), and with basic info. provided by a great guide like this, you're set. The detail of this guidebook is in the depth of general information: years of monthly temp. averages, highs, lows. Years of averages on precipitation. It is also reliable in determining the difficulty of a trail and what type of hiker it's suited to.

This book lets you sit down, determine what trail you want, the best time of year, for temps, precip., etc, based on YOUR preferences. The route descriptions are to the point and don't get bogged down in unnecessary detail.

If you don't want much adventure, take the huge practically paved trails (such as Bright Angel - you'll still be physically challenged and be immersed in tremendous beauty) or hire a professional guide, don't blame a great guide book such as this.

Happy hiking.


An excellant reference. The Arizona Republic   October 28, 1999
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

An excellant reference for the Toroweap Trail and many other Canyon trails is HIKING THE GRAND CANYON by John Annerino. "Plummeting an astonishing 2,600 vertical feet in a mile, the Toroweap Trail is an avalanche of a route waiting to throw you to your knees during the descent and to suck the last drop of moisture out of you during the debilitating crawl out," Annerino wrote. Enough said.


A great resource.   November 19, 1999
Try the Sierra Club Totebook HIKING THE GRAND CANYON by John Annerino. It's a great resource with mileage logs, trail descriptions, ratings, history, water caches, and just about everything else you need to know to overnight or spend a couple of weeks in the Canyon. We don't go unless we have one copy with us.