Hiking Grand Canyon National Park, 3rd: A Guide to the Best Hiking Adventures on the North and South Rims (Regional Hiking Series) [Formato Kindle]

This book could probably be considered a "standard" GRCA hiking guide. The first chapters do a good job describing the canyon's climate, history, and geology as expected from any decent guide. The trail descriptions are quite adequate to allow routefinding when the trail gets obscure, and advises on camp locations (which can be hard to find on some trails). Sufficient emphasis is given to water sources and their reliability. The main corridor trails (North Kaibab, South Kaibab, and Bright Angel) are of course covered well, but the book also covers many other less popular trails including several that aren't even on the USGS quads- Nankoweap Canyon comes to mind. Yet, oddly, the Escalante Route is not covered. The Beamer trail is covered as is all of the Tonto trail, and also the various access trails to those from the south rim such as Tanner, Grandview, New Hance, Hermit, South Bass, Boucher, and the South Canyon Route. A fair amount of coverage is given to the trail system around Horseshoe Mesa. On the north rim several shorter rim hikes are covered, as is the Clear Creek trail, North Bass, and the Bill Hall/Deer Creek system around Cogswell Butte. This is a good, solid GRCA guide.

Veteran hiking author and guide Ron Adkison passed way in 2009. His son, Ben Adkison is now in the process of updating his guidebooks beginning with this Falcon guide to the Grand Canyon. This is an ambitious project as, unlike most canyon hiking guides, 'Hiking Grand Canyon' focuses on some of the most difficult routes in this spectacular park. Indeed, the single most common description for hikes in this guide, nearly all of which are backpack trips, is "a rigorous backpack .... for experienced canyon hikers only." Happily, the book does include day hike options for most of the routes described.

Probably the biggest change in this guidebook over earlier editions is that it is now printed on glossy pages with beautiful photographs. The book also includes detailed descriptions of the hazards one faces hiking in the Grand Canyon, including not only dehydration but its all too common opposite, water intoxication. Descriptions of services, explanations of how to get a backpacking permit, and a detailed natural history round out the extended introduction to the third edition of this book.

The bulk of the book continues to be devoted to the trails (a fairly loose term: many of the hikes in this book are little more than routes) most of which are outside the main corridor of visitors. On the positive side, users of this book have an excellent chance to experience, if not solitude, substantially fewer crowds than more developed sites. On the downside, this book is mostly directed to experienced backpackers who are in top physical condition and who have the time (and vehicles; 4wd recommended) to access some of these locations. Most visitors to the Grand Canyon do not fall into that category. For these visitors, Best Easy Day Hikes, Grand Canyon, also by Ron Adkison, is probably a better choice. There is surprisingly little overlap between these books. But if you want truly experience the Grand Canyon on an extended and remote trip, the third edition of 'Hiking Grand Canyon' is an excellent choice.

This guide helped us plan a three day, two night backpacking trip. The descriptions of the hikes were excellent. I have two quibbles:
The time allotted for the hikes is much too conservative for people who are in good condition
The description of Ribbon Falls on the North Rim does not do it justice

Overall, the guide is fantastic.