Backpacking the Gem Canyons of Grand Canyon National Park (Video)

I had not originally intended to put together a film recap of my March 2025 backpacking trek through Grand Canyon National Park’s Gem Canyons on the western Tonto Trail. That’s pretty evident with some of the early shots in the below film, as I was not shooting with a YouTube format in mind.

That changed about halfway through the trip when I realized just how much footage I had, and I reacted accordingly. So, if you make it through the first half of the video, the second half is much better produced (and far more informative). Heck, I wouldn’t blame you if you simply skipped to that point, even though there’s still plenty of beautiful Grand Canyon footage in the first half!

This documents what originated as a 7-day, 6-night trip in from the South Bass Trailhead (after a 7 mile road walk to reach said trailhead) that would eventually exit out the Boucher Trail. We’d navigate Serpentine, Ruby, Turquoise, Sapphire, Agate, and Topaz Canyons along the South Rim before exiting up and out the infamous Boucher Trail to Hermit’s Rest.

In reality, it became a 5-day, 4-night trip along that very same route, albeit with no side trip down to Crystal Rapids on the Colorado River and with an expedited climb out on the final day that skipped a would-be camp at Yuma Point.

That’s all discussed in the video, of course!

I’ll have a more detailed, written account of this trip available later this week. For now, though, let your eyes watch some classic Grand Canyon and Tonto footage!

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