Friday. Cloudy, rain at times with lightening and thunder. ~5°C at North Rim, ~10°C at South Rim, ~28°C in inner canyon. I started my epic day hike at North Kaibab trailhead. Finished at Bright Angel lodge. Took close to 12 hours including detour, mistakes and breaks. 05:38 North Kaibab trailhead (8241' - mile 0)
06:11 Supai Tunnel (6800' - mile 1.7)
07:21 Roaring Springs (5220' - mile 4.7)
07:46 Pump House Residence (4600' - mile 5.4)
08:17 Cottonwood Campground (4080' - mile 6.8)
08:43 Junction of Ribbon Falls spur
08:54 Ribbon Falls (3720' - mile 8.4 detour, 09:32 crossed the creek)
11:30 - 12:00 Phantom Ranch (2480', bought and wrote a postcard, rested)
12:07 Bright Angel Campground (2480' - mile 14)
12:15 crossing Silver Bridge (2480')
14:31 Indian Garden (3800' - mile 18.7)
Three-Mile Resthouse (4748' - mile 20.4)
16:42 Mile-and-a-Half Resthouse(5729' - mile 21.9)
17:30 Bright Angel trailhead (6860' - mile 23.5)
I was the only person on the shuttle bus from North Rim lodge.
From the start, many switchbacks in sand (almost like walking on a beach) besides green trees down to Supai Tunnel (potable water and pit toilet). Then, continues to massive cliffs of Redwall Limestone (a highlight). Quite a lot of flowers along the way. Yellow Yuca is most prominent. Roaring Springs can be seen from far away, cascading out of a cliff to form Bright Angel Creek, which I'll follow for the next few hours until Colorado River. This spring provides drinking water for every visitor in the park via pipeline buried under the trail in 1965-70.
Ribbon Falls is in a short side trip into a stone grotto. You cross on a bridge over Bright Angel Creek. There's a different trail out, to make it a triangle, but this southern trail is not always marked, and require a creek crossing. 
I wasted significant time trying to cross upstream, got one shoe wet, until I heard noise and saw a group of hikers crossing further downstream. I changed socks after crossing the creek, and it hits the main trail shortly. Soon it the trail enters the Inner Gorge, narrow and long, boxed in on both sides by 1.7 billion year old Vishnu Schist, becomes flat and hot (unadvised to be 10-4, as routinely the temperature soars over 100&def;F / 40°C). Fewer people than I thought for a Friday before a long weekend, maybe 2-3 dozen, age various from under 10 to over 60. Sometimes I was utterly alone.
Phantom Ranch has a cafe where I stopped to buy a postcard, refilled water, and took off my shoes for awhile, and talked to people. One hiker who came down from South Kaibab trail asked why I was using hiking poles. I actually used my poles so much, that my hands were shaking when I tried to write my postcard. They were to stay in the cabins. I like the campground further south, each has a spacious platform, right by the creek. It's much open here than inner gorge. I saw a deer right outside of the cafe.
Silver Bridge is another highlight. I crossed it in a downpour. Colorado River is wider than I thought. Deep green water. I didn't take any more photos after the bridge until Indian Garden (shade and water). This 4 miles is a drag. From now on, more and more tourists, especially from 1.5 Mile Resthouse and South Rim. ~10°C at the rim. I looked for my parents around Bright Angel Lodge. Soon it rained again. I took the park shuttle back to hotel, and no one was there. I was not as exhausted as I thought (thanks to the cool weather). But my right foot hit some rocks a few times down in the canyon, now the big toe is completely black and somewhat painful.
Planning
NPS trail descriptions: North Kaibab trail, Bright Angel trail, major trail map in Grand Canyon.
Logistics
In order to start the hike in the morning from North Rim, you need to arrive there the previous evening. The only accommodation in the park this side is Grand Canyon Lodge - North Rim (great location May 15 - Oct 15 only, 1.5 miles south of North Kaibab trailhead), or North Rim campground (0.7 mile south of trailhead). The lodge has a sign-up sheet for 5:30 and 6:00am complimentary shuttle to the trailhead. I later found out that you can request for any time, as it's provided by the security guard who works throughout the night. 
I stayed at the Frontier Cabin. A bit cold at night. The light was on before I entered. The main lodge is beautiful. I wasn't able to eat at dining room (big window overlooking the canyon) without reservation, and no more reservation was taken, even though the two couples right in front of me combined their tables to one. The Cafeteria's service is abysmal: the girl who served the food doesn't know the price nor the food. My elk chili costs $9.61 (see photo). The small (hot) quantity is put scrooped into the only available container: plastic. I couldn't taste any meat. There's a nice resting area with big bay window looking out, and big terrace on each side of this room. All great views. 
We flew to LAS Wednesday evening. Drove from Vegas at 8am Thursday. After a grocery stop and a gas stop, we checked in at Yavapai Lodge (one of the many hotels in South Rim) at 1:30pm. Repacked and walked to the blue Shuttle bus stop at 1:46. Called Kendra at The Grand Canyon Shuttle (928-606-9212) at 1:47 to warn the driver that I might be late for the 2pm departure at Bright Angel lodge (Transcanyon Shuttle is at 8am and 1:30pm). At 1:52 she called me back as I was about to board the shuttle, and informed me that the driver was coming to get me. 10 minutes later, the 14 seat van came with our chubby driver and a group of amicable youth from LA: Danielle, Paul, Andrew. Paul applied for their permits on Jan 1st right after midnight. A bit windy today and quite hazy (a slide fire started in Oak Creek Canyon Arizona on May 20th was burning through Coconino National Forest uncontained). The 220 mile drive took close to 5 hours, including a stop at the junction to Page (new road) for gas, and at Jacob Lake Inn. The driver talked occasionally, but I couldn't hear him. Andrew who sat just in front of me showed me his fancy photos. These three brought way too much gear. We saw a bull elk shortly after leaving the hotel area. Many charred trees. Route 67 on the north side has greener grass. Aspen trees mixed with pines. Around Kaibab Lodge, we saw many herds of deer west of road. Large expanse of grassland. Training
I trained for 2 weeks, 2.5 weeks before my trip. 1 hour in the gym 5 times a week, hiking on weekends. Gym: continue the work load after breaking sweat, slow down/stop only when heart rate is too high (around 200) and resume as soon as it drops. Hiked up to the summit of Mt St Helen once (same elevation gain, but shorter and steeper).
Packing
- fleece jacket, hat and gloves for the rim, long sleep Omni-Freeze Zero shirt, sun hat, capri pants, gaitors (lots of sand and loose rocks), boots (prefer high rise, hard, supportive), clean socks to change (even if you didn't step into a stream).
- 1 litre bottle filled with water, 1 tube of nuun hydration tablet (I used half), 1 pack of GU Chomps Energy Chews, dried pineapple (for bromelain, which seems too acidic during this hike), Peter Rabbit Organics Veggie Squeeze Pouch, dried seaweed (for salt), my favorite Lara bars (which I didn't have stomach for during this hike).
- hiking poles (for downhill and crossing a creek to/from Ribbon Falls), sunscreen, rain poncho, steripen (didn't use), an extra bottle (empty) with broad mouth to fit the pen, a square of moleskin, ibuprofen(took 1 pill), bandaid.
