Camping Out Ideas - Camping the Grand Canyon, need some advice...?

Camping the Grand Canyon, need some advice...?

Me and my college roommates are going to go camping in the Grand Canyon over spring break. This will be my longest camping trip and I have no idea on what kind of food to bring/ what will last for the whole trip. We will be gone for probably 6 or 7 days. Also, I'm trying to find stoves and plates and such for a good price, any suggestions?

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There are lots of ways to camp at the Grand Canyon - you can camp in campgrounds with supply stores & showers, you can do backcountry car camping (basically driving out 4 wheel drive or backcountry roads to an isolated spot and stopping), and you can backpack. You can hike down into the canyon and camp, and you can hike down and stay at Phantom Ranch in a cabin. There's even a restaurant and gift shop there. If you're backpacking down into the canyon, you'll need to go ultra-light in order to accommodate weight for carrying water; I recommend either backpacker /MRE meals or freezerbag cooking. Both ways will pack up light, and require minimal cooking. (Some require no cooking at all!) For lightweight, fool proof cooking, look at Trangia alcohol stoves - no moving parts to break, ultra light and easy to use: http://www.campsaver.com/itemdesc.asp?ic=327550 http://www.ultralight-hiking.com/stoves-trangia.html For lightweight plates / bowls / cups... I've had good luck with Orikaso - the folding together part is tricky the first time, but cleaning is easy! http://orikaso.com/ Make sure you check the forecasts for when you're going and pack accordingly. There's a huge difference in temps from the North to South Rims, and from the Rims to the bottom canyon. http://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/weather-condition.htm Have fun, stay hydrated, and don't take unnecessary risks.
Stoves and food are the least of your problems First things first If you're planning on hiking the Inner Canyon You guys need to get a backcountry permit from the backcountry reservations office Go to http://www.nps.gov/grca .scroll down to Backcountry Trip Planner Once you've digested some of that ;Go over to your local bookstore and find a copy of the Sierra Club book Hiking The Grand Canyon by John Anerinno Once you've digested some of that then get back to me . If you post this Q in Travel >USA>Phoenix there's guy over there named sascoaz that knows a lot more about hiking the canyon than I do which means that he knows an incredible amount of stuff I can tell you right now that Spring break is primo hiking season in the backcountry of GCNP and that almost all of the best sites will be spoken for The BRO may well send you and your group over to an overflow area like Ruby Creek which if you're an experienced hiker is no big deal but since you're not you're going to up to your eyeballs in navigaton problems that you haven't even thought of yet Better road trip : Head for Moab UT -camp out in Arches NP Drive over Capitol Reef NP via Hanksville UT camp out there Drive over to Zion NP via Escalante UT & Mount Carmel Junction UT camp out there Go to GCNP via Hurricane UT >Colorado City AZ >LeesFerry AZ >GCN Safe trip Edit : Contrary to what you may have just read ,you do not have to be an ultralighter to hike the Canyon As matter of fact in some cases that paradigm will work against you. I know for a fact that I stepped off the S.Bass trailhead w a / 70 lb pack which contained 1.5 gallons of water and a quart of white gas+ what was in the tank I went down S.Bass to the Rio >down river to Elves Chasm then back over to Boucher on Tonto West .Since nobody had been on Tonto West since god knows when the BRO couldn't tell me about water sources so I added 2 gallons and headed upriver Despite really hot temps on the Platform - the uphill run on Boucher was hiked under blizzard conditions. Since i don't really care about weight, I had the gear to cover that contingency and it was just another hike in blizzard conditions Stove was a reliable dinosaur -a Svea 123 Quite simply put the best backpacking stove ever made Edit 2 I'm sorry it's 5:00 AM and I'm cranky but i gotta ask Who the hell keeps giving me thumbs down for spot on totally accurate answers? C'mon crawl out from under the rock that you've hiding under and introduce yourself
Check out the website thecanyon.com. It gives a lot of good advice, and information on camping in the Grand Canyon. Most important to remember is safety and preparation. Every year, people die in the Grand Canyon, because they were not prepared for the hike upon which they embarked. Really educate yourself, so you won't become a statistic.
Your question tells me that you should not be backpacking into the canyon where assitance and ammenities are minimal and EXPENSIVE. Campgrounds on and near the rim are available. Get some paper plates, cups, utinsils, and a cooler. There is a supermarket right in the village at the South rim. You can hike all over the place from there. A trip from the rim to the river and back takes all day. You could do an over night in the canyon without too much technical gear. Carry some sandwiches, granola bars, water and a sleeping bag. You can rig a daypack for this. Have fun but be careful. There are alot of people that undestimate "The Canyon". North Rim is nice too but more primitive. I'd go south for the first trip.
Just be careful with camping in the Canyon in places not specified for that. A lot of people and I mean it , have died there by attempting to do things that haven't looked as difficult at first. The canyon is famous with it's dangerous floods and change of weather without a warning. Just make sure no matter what you decide to do that you let the local rangers know exactly where you are camping and for how long.