Most people see the Grand Canyon from a viewpoint, or worse, from a plane window. Ernest "Ernie" Scheuer did neither — he walked across it. The retired mathematician from Los Angeles, born in July 1930, has now been officially recognised by Guinness World Records as the oldest man to hike the canyon rim to rim, completing the crossing at 94 years and 75 days old on 11 October 2025.
The route is no Sunday stroll. Scheuer descended from the North Rim via the North Kaibab Trail, then climbed back out on the Bright Angel Trail to the South Rim — roughly 21 miles with more than 10,000 feet of combined elevation change. His elapsed time was 33 hours and 45 minutes, though only about 15 of those were spent actually moving; the group camped overnight at Bright Angel Campground at the bottom of the canyon. He was joined by longtime hiking friends, a grandson who travelled from Virginia, and a cinematographer documenting the attempt. A friend, Lanny Deremer, even hiked down from the South Rim in the middle of the night to meet the team on the trail.
The record idea came, fittingly, on a hike, when a friend mentioned that Spain's Alfredo Aliaga Burdio had set the mark at age 92 in 2023. Scheuer had never attempted an overnight hike of that scale, but he stays fit with one or two local mountain hikes a week. His advice for anyone considering the route is refreshingly calm: the trail is straightforward but rocky and steep in sections, so watch your step and, in his words, keep one foot in front of the other. Rather than flagging on the final climb out, he says he felt a second wind — energised by how close he was to the goal.
There is a charming postscript, too. After submitting photos, video and witness statements, Scheuer received the record confirmation, and his next trip is to Berlin — to meet Burdio himself, the 92-year-old whose record started it all.
Why does this matter to travellers? Partly because it's a reminder that the Grand Canyon's most famous challenge is doable at a slow pace, with an overnight stop at the bottom turning a brutal one-day push into a far more humane two-day trip. Bright Angel Campground and Phantom Ranch sit at the canyon floor, and camping overnight lets you break the roughly 21-mile crossing in half. You'll need to plan ahead: permits for backcountry camping are competitive, water is limited, and summer heat makes late spring or autumn the smarter window. The rim-to-rim route requires logistics either way — the North Rim closes in winter and there's no road connecting the two rims inside the park — so most hikers arrange a shuttle or recruit a friend to meet them on the other side, as Scheuer's did.
And if a 94-year-old can manage it slowly and steadily, the real barrier for most of us is probably just booking the campsite.
