Hiking to Shiva Point (and beyond)

September 12, 2024

I’d done almost 50 Grand Canyon summits by this time in late 2024, and Shiva Temple had seemed like a glaring omission for many years.

I’d been nearby to the Shiva Saddle just once, and that trip was from the inner Canyon. I’d never even done the route that leads from the North Rim, near Tiyo Point, down to the saddle.

This gap in my experience was especially prominent to me, because 2024 was my sixth full season of living and working at the North Rim. Surely I could have found time to get out to it by now!

But I suppose there are always other things to be doing. A work season is a work season, where I’m often tied down at my job. Plus Shiva Temple is a fairly long and grueling hike without any reliable water, best done at the very beginning of the hot summer season, or toward the end of it. The hike is accessed off of the Point Sublime Road, notorious for its bad condition, and this year in 2024 was my first season at the North Rim with my own high clearance vehicle.

So there’s plenty of reasons, I suppose. Or excuses.

The Forest Approach to Shiva Point

So I finally set out to do it one morning in September. I left housing near the Lodge at 7:00am, which was an impressive, early for me at the time, considering that I worked night shifts.

I parked at my usual spot on top of the big hill immediately east of The Basin, and started walking at 7:30. This added some extra walking distance, but it was worth it to me, rather than battling the steep hill and sandy meadow in my front-wheel-drive vehicle.

I startled a herd of bison on the edges of the meadow, as the Tiyo Point Trail entered the woods. I barely saw them, but unmistakably heard their ruckus as they ran from me and stirred up a cloud of dust.

The morning’s walk in the forest was silent and wonderful. The wilderness qualities along this area of the Sublime Road never fail to deliver. I saw a red-tailed hawk soaring above as it repeatedly made its distinctive cry.

It was neat to arrive at the aged sign that marks the junction of Tiyo Point and the unofficial Shiva Point, the latter of which is now a route. It’s apparently an old road to Shiva Point, but I found it to be mostly indistinguishable from the surrounding forest. The branch to Tiyo Point is significantly more trodden.

As for the sign itself – I always regarded it as one of the more iconic landmarks among Grand Canyon’s backcountry hikers – a marker seen by those coming to tackle a classic George Steck Loop.

I’d been to Tiyo Point before, but had never taken the fork toward Shiva Point until today.

Shiva Point (and beyond)

I was pleasantly surprised to find a cairn marking the southernmost promontory at Shiva Point.

What was less pleasantly surprising was the condition of the route down into the Canyon. Friends had told me in the past that the route to Shiva Saddle is “like a trail” and “beaten in by the bison.”

I found this to be true for maybe 50 yards down from the rim (and later in the cairned Coconino break), but the descent from the rim was more brushy and filled with downed-tree obstacles than I’d hoped.

It was slow-going through all the Kaibab and Toroweap as I descended to a drainage, crossed it, and side-hilled my way along it toward Shiva Saddle. Some time and energy were wasted in finding the best place to cross the drainage, and I was constantly second-guessing my route-finding choices… since I expected there to be more of a “trail.” After crossing the drainage, it’s necessary to traverse a wooded ridge in the Toroweap to its southern end.

It was 11:00am when I came to the end of the ridge, where there was a cairn marking the beginning of the descent to the saddle. I spent a lot of time here, weighing factors like the remaining time before sunset, my water supply, and overall energy level. I decided to call it a day.

Shiva Temple looked big and intimidating from here, especially as I considered the descent to the saddle, climbing up the far side, and then turning around and doing it all again – a mini sort of Rim to Rim.

Once the decision was made, I was free to take my time on the return and enjoy the day, rather than pushing for the goal of the summit. I spent two and a half hours at the top of the Coconino break, and didn’t turn to retrace my steps to the North Rim until 1:30pm.

More views below the rim:

The returning walk was a little less taxing, now that I was more familiar with the route. I was back at Shiva Point at 2:30, where I lingered again and enjoyed the views and solitude.

At Shiva Point:

The Returning Walk in the Forest

I turned away from the rim at 3:10 for the walk back through the forest toward my vehicle. It was a relief to call it an early day, since this was my Sunday and I was due back at work at the North Rim Lodge the next day. I now wouldn’t be exhausted on the first day of my work week – another factor that led to the turnaround.

I was lucky to see the bison herd again on the return – this time a little more close and personal!

This was ultimately a great hike in a remote part of the Canyon over some terrain that I’d never walked before, which is always rewarding. It also functioned as a very effective scouting trip – a great sort of psychological head-start for the next time, when I’d come to climb Shiva Temple for real.