Customer Reviews

Hiking the Grand Canyon - The Corridor Trails [VHS]

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The footage in this video covers more beautiful scenes from the Grand Canyon than all but a handful of people on earth will ever see. In addition, you get valuable geological and topographical information that will make your hike more interesting and memorable. Having this video also saves you the trouble of shooting your own footage (and carrying your own video equipment). Finally, the hiking information is relevant to preparing to make your hiking at the Grand Canyon exactly what you want it to be.

If you are like most people (99 percent of them anyway), you will come to the Grand Canyon, ooh and aah a little from the rim, and go to the next place on your trip. This video will give you many of the views that can only be seen by hiking down. So you can get a lot of benefit from very little effort. That's a very good deal.

Before going on, I want to also praise this video for choosing to cover all three main trails to the Colorado River from the north and south rims. Even those who hike the Canyon will seldom do all three of these trails. I got useful ideas about the potential benefits of doing the two trails I have not yet hiked. In addition, the computer graphics in this video are simply outstanding and make the narration much more meaningful.

I have only two quibbles about the video. I found Jeannine McNamara's voice as narrator a little hard to listen to. The narration script does a good job of describing the dangers of doing these hikes (dehydration, falling, heat prostration and stroke, flash floods, rapid currents in the Colorado, and being hit by rocks), but I thought these were repeated a little too often.

Let me tell you a little about my experience hiking the Bright Angel Trail, so that you will realize why you will benefit form this video. I had first come to the trail as an adult with my two sons when they were young. My older son, then 5, wanted to hike down a little. He and I loved it, but it scared me because he wasn't really old enough to be careful. I promised him we would come back someday. We did not return until 20 years later. Hoping to make the experience something special, my wife arranged for a special early morning tour by a park ranger. That tour gave us a lot of background that is not in the video. I highly recommend doing this. The fee is well worth it, but there is limited time for rangers to do this. You have to schedule well in advance. Part of the tour included hiking down about 500 vertical feet on the Bright Angel trail. When it was time to go back up, my older son and I looked at each other and said, "We're going to go a little further." The ranger with us warned us that on a July day it was really too late to be getting started to hike the whole trail, and briefed us on what else we needed to do about food and water while encouraging us to stop before it got too hot. We followed the directions (similar to those on the video) and had a magnificant hike. We spent the heat of the afternoon resting in the shade at the bottom, and hiked back up to finish just before sunset. This was one of the best days of my life, and made fantastic a memory that my son and I will treasure forever. I intend to share this video with him tomorrow night to help us recall our wonderful time together. The material on the video exactly matches what we saw, down to the big-horned sheep and deer we passed on the trail.

We were pretty impressed with ourselves for doing this until a 74 year old man and a 12 year old boy passed us going up just before dusk. They had started by flashlight at 3 a.m. and had been down the Bright Angel Trail and on to the base of the North Rim and back in one day. I suddenly realized that I needed to come back and hike the Canyon again with my grandchildren in about another 20 years.

If you are like me, hiking the Canyon will be one of the high points of your life. Be sure to take those you love with you (or at least as many as you can persuade after showing them this video). Plan ahead. Everything takes reservations months ahead, including staying in the park so you can get an early start. The video will tell you what to do.

After you have enjoyed your hike, I suggest you think about other places where the grandeur of nature can provide a wonderful hiking experience that fits with your interests and physical abilities. Plan you next family hike today!

See the world up close!

I like the author of this video hiked through the GC for the first time in 1993 and was hooked. I have returned many times since always finding something new just below the rim. I can say easily that the canyon changed my life and my view of the world around me. This video comes the closest to showing to the world that world below the rim that hikers find. I think that anyone who is interested in hiking there should definitely see this video. It gives the most information on geology and trail conditions I have seen in any video (even the one from the backcountry office). I give this video the highest rating because I believe from my own experience that it deserves it!

Hiking the Grand Canyon is not only an assest but a necessity for anyone drawn to the beauty and mystery of this natural wonder. It is obvious from the presentation that much time and thought went into creating such a practical guide. Detailed computer graphics, picturesque video, and a superbly performed voice-over of all information make this video as enjoyable as it is useful. Five stars! Here's hoping the creators will search out other US trails and parks to present to the populace. As an east-coaster, I'd like to suggest the Appalachian Trail.

The video hikers have been waiting for has finally arrived. Computer animations lead you through the corridor trails. The Bright Angel, North and South Kaibab trails are covered in full. These rim to river trails can be extremely dangerous even for an experienced hiker. As webmaster of HikeArizona.COM, which focuses on day hiking, I've avoided these longer trails in the past. Having viewed the video I feel more prepared and confident in tackling a trip down to the river.

Important information about pace and hydration make this video valuable. Additional general information about preparing for the worst may save your life. Profiles of the canyon's layers have boggled my mind in the past. You can read all you want but the visual presentation makes more sense. All the above plus trail specific information make this a great video.

Ironically few videos cover this beautiful canyon. I'm pleased to highly recommend, "Hiking the Grand Canyon" - the corridor trails. Let's hope the future holds a second video highlighting other canyon trails. - joe

This video is a great resource for anyone who would like to hike the Grand Canyon. It provides basic information about the canyon, its geography, its weather and its dangers. Everything is presented in very understandable language with plenty of computer graphics and video images. If you have never hiked the canyon, this tells you how to go about it with lots of helpful hints, useful tips and precautions. It includes detailed descriptions of the three main trails.

If you are an experienced hiker already familiar with the Grand Canyon who wishes to explore the less familiar, this video may be a bit basic for you. Then again, you might just learn some new things from it.

Ken McNamara and crew have combined actual trail footage with animation to document and explain the most popular trails in the Grand Canyon. The viewer is treated to a complete explaination of the three main trails in the Canyon: The Bright Angel, The North Kaibob, and The South Kaibab.

Trail tips from what and how much to drink to prevent dehydration, when to hike, milage points, where to camp, and tempatures are discussed. A geology of the canyon's formation is reviewed as well.

As an outdoorsman, an avid hiker of 30+ years, and in my position as Webmaster for a hiking website, I am asked to review many hiking books and videos. This one sets the mark for providing the exact infomation hikers need to know in a format that is both entertaining and infomative.

Hikers and non hikers will find this film full of usefull information and enjoyable. bob@boulrich.com

This review compares this dvd (Corridor Trails) with a recently released Grand Canyon trail guide, which is also carried by Amazon.

I got this dvd (Corridor Trails) a few years ago and found it very helpful as an introduction to the Grand Canyon.

Recently, another dvd guide to GC trails has become available "DVD Hiking Guide - Grand Canyon National Park". I also have this dvd. Here is a quick sum-up of some of the differences:

Trails Covered: "Corridor trails" covers the 3 corridor trails (Bright Angel, North Kaibab and South Kaibab). "DVD Hiking Guide - Grand Canyon" covers 14 trails (the 3 corridor trails, and 11 more - one of which is the classic Rim Trail).

Video Footage: Both dvds include video footage taken from the trails. "DVD Hiking Guide.." includes more footage of the animal life, streams and plants that can be seen along the trails. It also includes tips on where to see fossils and indian paintings ("Corridor trails" lacks this information).

Orientation/Maps: Both "Corridor Trails" and "DVD Hiking Guide - GC" use maps to orient you to the location of the trails..and at times to your location on the trail. "Corridor Trails" also has a 3D flyover from rim to rim. This is cool, and is not in "DVD Hiking Guide.."

Both dvds are getting well-deserved 4 & 5 star reviews.

Ken McNamara first hiked the Grand Canyon in October of 1993 with video cam in hand. Enhanced with a combination of computer generated animation and trail footage to orient hikers to the Corridor trails of the Grand Canyon, Hiking The Grand Canyon: The Corridor Trails showcases the three principle trails of "The Bright Angel"; "The North Kaibab", and "The South Kaibab". The result is an invaluable video primer for the Grand Canyon novice showing on-the-trail footage, weather, equipment, even what time of year is best for traveling the trails. Hiking The Grand Canyon is practical for the aspiring trail hiker and a great visual and information treat for the dedicated armchair traveler as well.

This Video is a must see for anyone even considering hiking in the Grand Canyon. This is a detailed and complete guide to the Corridor Trails, including The Bright Angel Trail, The North Kaibab Trail, and the South Kaibab Trail. Every aspect of Canyon Hiking is covered. Computer animation siquences give detailed information about the Canyon that both hikers and non hikers will find interesting and useful. Hiking times, weather, and water consumption are amoung the many topics covered. This video should be manditory watching for anyone planing a hike into the Grand Canyon.

bob@bobulrich.com

I received the DVD and the book Hikernut's Grand Canyon Compagnion in excellent condition and good in time! No doubt!
Unfortunately the quality of the video is in poor condition (read OLD).
Both, DVD and book are very helpfull to organise the hike I was/am planning. For example; I learned that I am much too late to book my stay at the bottom of the canyon! ;-(