Extreme Hiking: America’s Best Hard Dayhikes

By Michael Lanza

Imagine this: You’re heading out on a long, beautiful hike deep in the backcountry, but instead of a full backpack, you carry a light daypack. You’ve avoided hassles with getting a backcountry permit. There’s no camp to set up and pack up, because you’re not backpacking, you’re dayhiking. Yes, I love backpacking—living in the wilderness, getting into that mindset of not knowing or caring what day it is or what’s going on in civilization. And I do it a lot. But sometimes, I’d rather knock off a weekend-length—or longer—hike in one big day. Continue reading →

One Extraordinary Day: A 25-Mile Dayhike in the Grand Canyon

By Michael Lanza

There’s not another hiker in sight as my friend David Ports and I start down the Hermit Trail on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, even though it’s nearly 8 a.m., hardly an early hour to hit the trail. And that’s just the first conspicuously unusual circumstance at the outset of our hike. The second obvious oddity this morning is that it’s overcast—a welcome sight here—and actually chilly enough that we’re wearing the light jackets we brought.

But most unusual aspect of this hike is that we’re only carrying light daypacks—and cruising along almost effortlessly—for a walk of nearly 25 miles, with some 4,000 feet of elevation gain and loss. That’s because we’ll do it all today. Continue reading →

One Photo, One Story: A 25-Mile Dayhike in the Grand Canyon

By Michael Lanza

In the Grand Canyon, where vistas reaching for miles tend to make you feel very, very small, hiking an inordinately long distance in a day sometimes seems like the only way to get a sense that you’re making any progress. (Think hard enough and you can rationalize any crazy endeavor.) On a 25-mile dayhike from Hermits Rest to the Bright Angel Trailhead—on a day when clouds and sprinkles granted us blessed relief from the usual searing heat of mid-May—I got this shot of my friend David Ports as we passed through the shattered canyon of Monument Creek, just beyond the fragile-looking spire that inspired the creek’s name. Continue reading →