Hike Camp

Hike Camp
My sons and I want to hike and camp in the Grand Canyon next summer.?

What do we need to know? What do we need for just a night or two of camping below the rim? Do we need reservations? Where do we get them if we do?
Added: I am 57 years old and my sons are 21 and 17 respectively. We would really like to camp at one to three nights in the canyon.
We have all had some hiking and camping experience with Scouts, but nothing like this.

No Actually you don’t want to be hiking the Inner Canyon any time between May 1 and October 1
You will be a lot better off if you made this your “over the Christmas Holidays” trip
The mean average Highs & Lows for the Inner Gorge are
May >H -92 /L-63
June>H-101/L-72
July>H-106/L-78
August >H-103 / L-75
In addition July and August are monsoon season in AZ and aside from the hypothermia inducing realities of getting cold and wet in a major no BS T-storm , there is also the very real danger of getting hit by lightning as you hike in open spaces of the Canyon
So if you tell me who you and your kids are >ages ,hiking experience, etc and
I will cobble together a safe do-able 4 day hike for you
The reason that I don’t suggest 2 day hikes is that while losing elevation in the Canyon happens rather quickly ,asking tired muscles to turn around the next day and regain it at half or possibly a third of the speed that it took to lose it can be very dangerous.
From an experienced hikers perspective it’s counter- intuitive to be climbing uphill at the end of a long day on trail > It is also counter-intuitive to know that in the Canyon safety can be above you But so it is.
Update :
Here are three possible over night campsites that are actually do-able in early June or late August:
They are all dry campsites> In hiker parlance that means a CS w/o any water at all >So you’re gonna have to pack it all in
Save some pack weight and cache some water and some food for the uphill trip at the base of the Coconino
They are all above the Redwall
They are all spectacular in their own way
They are all exposed
1) The saddle between Cardenas & Escalante Buttes
It’s BB9 on the NPS Use Area map
Park at Lipan Point and walk back to the Tanner trailhead
I have been literally up to my azz in snow while hiking the upper stretches of the Tanner in winter
2) Horse Shoe Mesa >
BF 5 on the map
Park at the Grandview Point Parking area and use the Grandview Trail to do your downhill run on
The GV trail is rugged at any time of the year and will definetly get your attention when if it ices off in winter
3) The saddle between Yuma Pt & Whites Butte at the head of Travertine Canyon
BN9 on the map
Unless it’s in the middle of winter take the shuttle from the BA trailhead to Hermits Rest >In the middle of winter just drive it.
Down the Hermit to Dripping Springs make a left
Dripping Springs to Boucher Trail
Make a right
To Yuma Point and then downhill to the Saddle
The stretch from the junction of Dripping Springs to Yuma Point is often nicely described as “exposed ”
On one occassion I found myself dodging lightning bolts while hiking it and on another occassion I found myself in the middle of a no BS blizzard while heading uphill
Still it’s one of my favorite walks in the Canyon.
Required reading
The Corridors of Time >Ron Redfern
The Complete Walker IV> Colin Fletcher
Hiking the Grand Canyon >John Annerino
Have fun
>>
Update 2 :
After reading your Q’s&A’s I’m pretty sure that you guys aren’t going to get yourselves killed doing this .However my advice about not doing this in summer is still very much valid
Try one of these multi- day hikes
1) Down Tanner all the way to the Rio
Use UA BA9 for 2 nites
In the middle of the afternoon of day 3 head uphill and make a dry camp on the Escalante/ Cardenas sadddle UA BB9
Day 4 is a short But steep hike out
There are some really cool day hikes in the Tanner Delta area including the one down river to the top of Unkar Overlook
One safety benefit is that the entire trail and camping area is visible from the Desert View Watchtower overloook
Here’s an image
Your CS is somewhere on the beach below

http://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view?back=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3Fp%3DDesert%2BView%26ei%3DUTF-8%26fr%3Dks-ans%26fr2%3Dtab-web%26xargs%3D0%26pstart%3D1%26b%3D21%26ni%3D20&w=500&h=333&imgurl=static.flickr.com%2F81%2F238722905_be30a1a48b.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.flickr.com%2Fphotos%2Fxriva%2F238722905%2F&size=131.5kB&name=Desert+View+III&p=Desert+View&type=JPG&oid=3160bd3d8f616d5c&fusr=xriva&tit=Desert+View+III&hurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.flickr.com%2Fphotos%2Fxriva%2F&no=38&tt=269,065&sigr=11dra3pvm&sigi=11d48fc7d&sigb=13lfroelb&sigh=113t72l04

Instead of a signal mirror I always carry one of these in my pack

http://www.campmor.com/outdoor/gear/Product___81285

Possible hike # 2 uses Hermits Rest as your starting ending point
Day 1 takes you all the way down the Hermit Trail to the Tonto junction ,make a left and follow that to Hermit Camp UA BM7
Day 2 takes you down-river on the Tonto West to Boucher Creek .
The usual CS at Boucher is below the Tonto/Boucher jct at the place where Tonto West separates from Boucher and heads down River
Day 2 & 3 hike the area
and then in the middle of the afternoon on Day 3 start your uphill hike making a dry camp either on the saddle at the head of Travertine Cyn or just below Yuma Point
Here’s an image of Yuma Pt >Boucher Trail
breaks downhill and to the left
Enjoy your hike

Btw >I’ve used a lot of geological shorthand in my trail descriptions .You will find that that practice is quite common among Canyon hikers and authors of guidebooks.