My loyal reader(s) will recall that some time back I did the Grand Canyon R3 (Rim to Rim to Rim). You may also recall that I ran into a spot of bother. This, as you might imagine, has been causing me some amount of nagging reflection. Yes, I did it, but hardly in what anyone could call good style or form. Far from it in my opinion. I’ve come to realise over the years, that for me, there are some things that require some sort of resolution, or perhaps even absolution. And as by now you are probably guessing, this is going to be one of those things.
After some careful thought I figured that I could get at least part of what I was seeking by going back to the Canyon and doing a solid effort on a less lofty goal. Specifically the R2, or Rim to Rim. The next question you might ask, is what does this guy mean by a ‘solid effort’? Well… that is a good question. One that I believe I have a simple and realistic answer to. In our R3 effort it took us 9 hours to reach the north rim. So… anything under that is a bonus in my book. I think that 8-1/2 hours is reasonable. Plus, along with a decent time I also don’t want to feel like death warmed over upon completion.
I’m sort of writing this story concurrently to the preparation work I have been doing. I have a group of friends that are doing a hiking based south to north crossing. I plan to tag along, but shoot for a faster time. They started their training in earnest, early in the new year. By training I mean mostly by (well actually all by) hiking. Typically two times per week, with increasing distances and elevation gain. I have been accompanying them, although often I will run sections. I will also do supplemental runs, and some non-running kettlebell based training, along with some pre-hab, physiotherapy type work. It has been going well, although one never really thinks that they are fit enough. Additionally I’ve been working on keeping my weight under better control. I am also writing a companion piece on my updated views on Heart Rate Training, so stay tuned for that one also.
When one does a tally, or reckoning of the various pros and cons of this enterprise, some things come to light. For starters, I’m a year older so that right there goes in the negative column in a big way. But… there are a bunch of things in the plus column. The biggest one most likely, is that I don’t have to save anything for the trip back. Somewhat related is that this time around I should be able to start out fresh, with a reasonably good nights sleep. Another big one is that I can carry much less weight. Almost all of the effort will be in daylight which should allow for a slightly higher pace. I’ve also had a full year to better dial in nutrition and hydration strategies. And no more sketchy Thai food…
Everything had been going great training wise for the rest of the people as well, until disaster struck. One of our guys, the main guy actually, crashed his bike 5 weeks prior to our attempt. Broken pelvis in two places, and three broken ribs. Yikes! Poor guy. We were all heartbroken. He had been working so hard on this; both in the training and in the planning. We had a complex logistics scheme that relied on him. That, along with some hiking team compatibility issues that now called into question if the trip would even happen at all. After a few days of uncertainty we decided that we would carry on. Even our broken but ever stalwart leader indicated that he wanted to join us as support and crew chief. We were overjoyed at that news; especially the fact that he felt that his recovery was progressing at a good enough rate to allow him to do that.
As I write this particular sentence it is exactly four weeks until we set foot on the trail. And like I said earlier, one never thinks that they are fit enough. With two weeks of tapering and rest, it only leaves two weeks of actual training. How much fitness can be realistically built in two weeks? The answer is not bloody much. The best one can really expect is to not lose any fitness and to not get injured. The good thing is that I have more or less been diligently following my training plan. Whether the plan is any good will of course remain to be seen.
Flash forward to six days prior. This is pretty much a rest week, with peaking and tapering done. Just nervously going through the days hoping not to get sick or injured without trying to live in a bubble. One thing that I do to pass the time is to watch the long range weather forecast like a hawk. This is where it’s starting to get interesting. Real interesting. Typically one of the drawbacks of going into the Canyon at this time of year is combating the heat. As late as last week the forecast was calling for 36° C at Phantom Ranch. Warm yes, but not so bad compared to what it could be. Imagine my surprise however, when I woke up today and found out that they are now calling for a high of 25° C! What??? The catch is that they are also predicting rain showers and perhaps thunderstorms throughout the day. I guess we will see…
Everything finally fell into place. Our little band arrived at the South Rim on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. After we checked into our hotel we performed the usual rituals of talking to the rangers at the backcountry office about the current trail and water conditions, and we scoped out where we would start from the following morning, plus took the obligatory photos at the rim. I was a bit like a kid on Christmas Eve; excited and antsy, and almost considered going then. I was ready to hit the trail and the only thing stopping me really, was the logistics on the other side. All that was left for us to do was have a small dinner, organise kit, and get in the sack early.
True to form, a fitful and restless sleep followed. The 0300 alarm didn’t help matters much either. The first order of business was coffee. Some crappy pod, but at least it was warm and had some caffeine. Outside it was as dark as the inside of a cow, along with being cold and windy, but next up was walking over to the cafeteria to heat up our breakfast in the microwave. To our surprise there was already a small gathering of suitors there, all gunning for the same thing… a rim to rim crossing. Turns out doing the R2R has become a pretty commonplace occurrence. Three people were getting their sad looking instant oatmeal heated, whilst we on the other hand were smugly brandishing our steak and egg burritos… pro tip ladies…! There was one other dude there who looked dressed for a polar expedition, and was plying us with a bunch of clothing related questions. I told him to ditch all the heavy winter crap. (Insert foreshadowing here…)
We had been told that they were cracking down on people driving to the trailhead, and ticketing violators, so our crew chief Tommy could only take us to within about a half a kilometer of the trail. That would have to be close enough. He dropped us off and we said our quick goodbyes; the plan being that he would drive over to the North Rim and pick us up later in the day. Although our group was five in number, we would be doing our crossings somewhat separately due to our different aspirations and fitness levels. Two of the gang were first timers and hadn’t really put in what we thought was the requisite training and preparation. The rest of us, both privately and publicly, expressed our doubts and concerns about them, but they were adamant about their ability, yet also indicated that they planned to ‘do their own thing’, and once we dropped in, that we were to consider them as an independent group, which is exactly what we did. We expected them to take a long time.
The other two were experienced, strong, and well matched in their fitness and in their goals. We had trained a lot together over the winter and spring, and I knew they would do just fine. And then there was me. I was the only one that was really shooting for a time goal. What this meant was that I would essentially be on my own for virtually all of the trip. But as you soon find out being alone on the trail was nigh on impossible.
It became immediately apparent that there was going to be a boatload of people on the trail today. Many of them with the same goal: R2R
Right from the get go we came upon a group of about ten people at the trailhead milling about, getting ready to head out. I wasted no time whatsoever. I said “see ya” to my group and headed on down. Our newbies were kinda shocked I think, at how rapidly and without any fanfare we started out. They were probably already at a five minute deficit by the time that they had realized we had left. As soon as we hit the lip of the trail we could see a long line of headlights snaking down into the inky depths. I of course, was hell bent on passing all of them (which I ultimately did). It was very windy and cold and before long it started to rain, and hail, and snow. I had to soon stop and pull out my trusty Patagonia Houdini jacket, and then try to wrestle it on without losing it to the void in the ferocious wind. The trail rapidly turned to thick slippery mud with deep puddles. The slick goo was clumping to my shoes making them heavy and the footing treacherous. I had no choice but to trust in the forecast, because the alternative could have made for a very long and uncomfortable day. I was almost thinking about calling it. So much for making a quick time to Phantom Ranch, but even with moving as slowly and gingerly as I was, I was still able to pick off everyone in front of me, and only two young and fast runners passed me on the way down.
Fortunately after an hour or so of this, the rain let up and I was getting to the lower layers of the canyon where the trail surface was better drained and not near as muddy. I stopped briefly at the Tip-off to shed my jacket, tighten my shoes and use the bathroom. To my surprise a fast moving mule train was approaching from above. Apparently they had passed everyone as well. As I was getting ready to rejoin the trail the wrangler called out asking if I was was walking or running. He waved me forward when I said running. I passed one more person on the way down (although many were coming up) and it seemed like I was the first visitor of the day to Phantom Ranch. I had been hoping for a two hour time, but the conditions slowed me to two and a half hours, which was not much better than my previous best time on the segment.
I stayed there exactly nine minutes, and did not even sit down. I topped up my carbohydrate and electrolyte flasks, and filled my hydration bladder. I rearranged my food locations, and had a quick bite, used the bathroom and started running. I didn’t run all the way to Cottonwood but I ran a fair bit. Enough to make up for my lost time. It rained off and on and several times I briefly stopped and swapped out my jacket. It was during this section that I was passed by several groups of fast moving runners, all doing the R3. It was a really great segment to run through. I’ve had the good fortune to run in a lot of really spectacular places, but the Grand Canyon is probably one of the ‘coolest’ places on the planet to travel through, regardless of whether one is hiking or running. I didn’t need to fill up water at Cottonwood, but I did anyway, following the dictum of “always hike away from water”. It was around here I started seeing more and more people coming the other way. Some of these sad sacks were doing the R2R north to south. Pretty late in the day in my opinion. One group looked like they shouldn’t even be walking at the mall, let alone what they were attempting.
I took a proper sit down stop at Manzanita where I ate some food and topped up carb and electrolyte drinks; About ten minutes in all. There were more people here with late starts on the R2R. Plus by now I was passing hikers who were heading up to the North Rim. Folks that had been camped either at Cottonwood or at Bright Angel. I was excited to see this part of the canyon since it had been shrouded in darkness when I was there last year. There were some spots that gave me pause to think… considering that we had then navigated sections via headlight that had spectacular drop offs where it would have been all to easy to have stepped of the edge into the abyss. I was also kind of gobsmacked at how lush this section was; not at all like the south.
Soon after this section I started to see the first R3 runners coming back. All of them looking solid. I was going pretty well myself until I reached Supai tunnel, but it was here where my fast pace started to catch up to me. I slowed down considerably, and was starting to show the signs of the exertion. It was somewhere around here that I came across a lightly loaded but separated couple who were also headed uphill. If you recall, I previously said that I was the first person into Phantom that morning. Well, it turned out that I was wrong about that. I don’t know what time these two started, but it must’ve been frightfully early. They were moving pretty slow by this point in the day. Even slower than me if that was even possible.
Eventually though I rounded that last corner and could see the sky peeking through the trees. This marked the parking lot at the end of the trail. And who was standing there, but good old Tommy waiting patiently, with a beaming smile on his face.
We were having a ball
With the cats downtown
The hands on the clock
Just a zoomed around
– the Blasters
Eight hours moving time. Not too bad. Right on my stretch goal. I gotta admit however, that I was pretty knackered and shagged out. I could tell that I had pretty much emptied my clip. So, whilst I was chuffed with my time, I wasn’t so pleased with my physical condition. Even though I didn’t feel like death warmed over, there was certainly no way I could conceive of turning around and going back to the South Rim. It was obvious that some sort of next level fitness would be needed for any type of future R3 redux.
There was going to be some time to kill whilst we waited for the rest of the crew, so I changed into some dry clothes and we went to the bar. About one and a half hours later we got the call that the next two were approaching the rim so we went back to pick them up. They were about two hours behind me, but it was a very solid time for them. PR’s all around! It ended up being yet another two hours before our stragglers showed up. If I’m being honest, I was actually pretty surprised that they did as well as they did, and that it didn’t turn out to be some kind of epic. One was pretty haggard however and not too happy looking, or sounding. She vowed this to be a one and done kinda thing. Both then, and reaffirming again in the following morning at breakfast. We shall see. Time has a funny way of changing one’s perception of events. I know that most of our crew is already planning for 2026. I’ll plan on going for sure. It’s now become kind of a yearly ritual. I’m just not decided on what I want to do: Beat this years time, go for another run at the R3, or maybe just keep my mates company.
A few days later upon our return home, we heard a story about a man who just a few days prior to our trip had died on the trail very close to the top of the North Kaibab. He was 74, and apparently very experienced and fit. One never knows when your ticket is going to get punched I guess.
