Grand Canyon Rim2Rim2Rim: 45mi and 10,600ft

At 7am I found the first rays of sunlight hitting me. “Ahhh, my companion for the day” I thought to myself knowing it was going to be a long day and while I would see some people, the sun would travel from east to west while I ran from the Grand Canyon South Rim, to the North Rim, then back to the South Rim.

My alarm went off just before 5am. I woke up in my car, not well rested. The night before I drove in and while I was able to fall asleep before it was too late, I heard a knocking on my car around 11pm. A couple had locked themselves out of their car and was wondering if I had any tools to help them unlock the car. I couldn’t help them and said so. They asked to borrow my phone which I happily obliged. They then asked if I could run them into town, “Sure no problem.” While I was happy to help, I was perturbed to be losing an hour of sleep before a big day. 

At 6am I found myself boarding the Hiker Express shuttle to take me to the South Kaibab Trailhead where I would descend to the Colorado River, climb up and out to the North Rim on the North Kaibab Trail, then turn around and return to the Colorado River. I would finish the day by hiking out along the Bright Angel Trail to the main Grand Canyon Village area where I would walk a few minutes to my car waiting for me at Lot D/Backcountry office. 

The descent down the S. Kaibab trail was beautiful, descending through hundreds of millions of years of geologic time. I began with my headlamp stashed and found myself stripped down to my shorts and sunshirt within the first half hour, never needing to put another layer on until I returned to my car. I reached the Colorado River around 8am, having passed two mule trains en route, one descending with cargo and one party climbing out of the canyon with tourists on their back. I leapfrogged with another runner who was doing a loop down to the river and back to the South Rim and he gave me some beta for what was coming up. I stopped briefly at Phantom Ranch, an outpost just off the river that has a small store/cafe with limited hours (8am-4pm, 7pm-8pm when I was there), meal service for those with reservations, and a few cabins and some tentsites. I bought a postcard and a stamp, wrote out a quick note, and dropped it in the box to be carried out by mule train. It is kind of funny that blank postcards are carried down by mules, filled out and stamped at the bottom, then carried out with some ink on them. 

From Phantom Ranch, I had about 7mi of relatively flat terrain with only a moderate incline following a stream up, before the climb to the North Rim started. I put in some music and was able to run this in about another hour and a half. I reached Cottonwood Campground around 10am, filled up on some water and walked/jogged to Manzanita resthouse, another 1.5mi further. I ate and drank my water through here knowing that Manzanita was the last water source until the N Rim IF I chose to walk a bit to get some water from a faucet. From Manzanita the climbing really started. I slowed down to a walk, occasionally jogging some flat sections. There was beautiful terrain through here and I enjoyed as the view changed while the trail climbed, switchbacked, and meandered up. I saw a gully with bright yellow cottonwoods and passed through some tall orange cathedral spaces. While climbing up and out my head coined the phrase “excellence on a magnificent scale” to describe the grand proportion of the landscape I was travelling through.

I topped out on the North Rim about 2.5hrs after leaving Manzanita at 12:30pm, 6hrs after I stepped off the bus on the South Rim. At the top I spoke with some other hikers, two of whom were also doing the Rim to Rim to Rim. The other two hikers had been out for a morning jaunt. They asked if I needed anything and I said “yes actually, if you have any extra water it can save me some effort.” I was carrying way too much food too so I passed some off to them. “Go far, go light” they said to me. Yessir, absolutely. I sat for a few minutes and analyzed my body. This was my best “out” if I needed to bail. I felt sore and tired already, but felt that I had enough in my tank to get me down and out. I pounded some sour patch kids, drank some water, and set off back down the trail. Pretty quickly I realized I was going to be walking much of the descent-bummer. I had used my legs up pretty quickly running downhill at the beginning. Truth be told, I wasn’t in excellent running shape. I had taken most of the last month and a half off, hoping that my PCT-built muscles were still around. I did know I had the mental capacity to push on a long day out. 

While descended I saw some familiar faces I had passed on the way up. A few people asked what I was doing and I told them. One couple was blown away and said “We are doing half of what you are doing across 3-days.” Lucky them, they get to spend nights in the Grand Canyon. 

I reached Manzanita then Cottonwood pretty exhausted already. I tried to gather the strength to run the flattish trail between Cottonwood and Phantom Ranch but I couldn’t muster the energy. I opted to walk knowing that would slow me down. Forward movement is still forward movement. I finished “Let My People Go Surfing” by Yvon Chouinard, a book about Patagonia (the company), their ethics, and the guiding philosophy on how to do good for the people and the planet as a business. It made me think about how to lead a life examined, how while the responsibility doesn’t fall on the consumer, we can still demand better alternatives from corporations.

I cruised through Phantom Ranch. Unfortunately the cafe was closed as the staff was serving dinner to guests. I could have used a hot coffee pick-me-up as the day was wearing on me. I stopped at the water fountain at Bright Angel Campground, drank some (bad) instant coffee cold, hydrated up, then took off at a walk. As I crossed the Colorado River on a bridge, I watched the sunset on the rocks. I said goodbye to my companion for the day. I began the climb out to the South Rim, at this point more of a trudge than a walk. The trail wasn’t too technical nor steep but I was feeling the nearly 40 miles I had already done that day. By the time I reached Indian Garden, around 8pm, I had seen one other hiker descending the trail that evening and I felt very solo walking through the night. I took my last break, drank some water and refilled. I set-off leaving the glow of campers behind me. I saw one ranger halfway between Indian Garden and the South Rim who was descending in the dark. He asked if I was alright and I said “Yeah I think I will make it.” I gave him my info nonetheless in case my contact person didn’t hear from me by midnight. I topped out on the South Rim at 10:30pm. The last few miles were a bear. I struggled to put one foot in front of the other. I could keep climbing up but my muscles stiffened up considerably for any steps down. I struggled mightily when I stepped off the curb to get to my car. I checked in with my contact person, drove to where I had camped the night before, and passed out. 

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