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These hikes are recommended for people who have some prior experience elsewhere and are NOT intended for people are completely new to hiking and backpacking in general. The Grand Canyon is harsh and unyielding environment and it is not recommended that you begin your hiking or backpacking career here. If you do choose to attempt this, try to limit your initial day hikes to the shortest possible extents, no more than a few miles at first.
Hiking in the Grand Canyon is not like hiking anywhere else. One of the biggest problems is that the easiest part of the hike, the descent into the Canyon, comes first, when you are fresh and rested, and the hardest part, the climb back out to the rim, comes at the end, when you are already worn out and tired. This is not to say that the descent is easy, it is not, but it is somewhat easier than the climb back out. This type of hiking is the complete reverse of hiking in the mountains where you typically (unless you start at the top) get the hardest part of the hike, the ascent, over with when you are well rested and then do the easier part, the descent, when you are tired.
Another problem with the Grand Canyon is the arid desert environment in which it is located. This environment will suck the moisture out of your body without you even realizing it - usually until it is too late. Some people do not understand why this is happening because they do not appear to be sweating that much. They don't realize that they are sweating and that the sweat is often evaporating on their skin or clothing as soon as it leaves their bodies. Many people also do not realize the significant amount of moisture loss than can occur during the simple act of breathing. To combat these situations you need to consume a lot of water while hiking in the Canyon. To prevent the loss of electrolytes (the minerals that your body needs to function properly) you also need to eat food or add some sort of electrolyte replacement to your water. Just drinking water alone is not a fool proof defense and if your body gets low on electrolytes you can still develop problems.
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