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| South and North Kaibab Trail |
I made contact with a couple of my running buddies from Virginia about my R2R2R attempt. Jeff Garstecki said that there should be plenty of water resupply points so 1.5L should be fine. Martha and I have been out west for the past week, mostly in Montana above 7,000 feet. So, my initial altitude acclimation should be okay. We flew from Bozeman to Flagstaff yesterday, rented a car, and drove up to the Grand Canyon. We stay in a hotel in Tusayan, which is about 15 minutes south of the South Kaibab trailhead.
My goal is 14 hours, which I figure I need to make the first crossing in
about six hours to allow for going slower for the return trip.
September
22
Getting dropped off
My alarm goes off at 3:30am. I
quickly go through my morning routine and eat two blueberry muffins, washing them
down with a pint of chocolate milk. We
leave the room around 4:20am and drive to the Canyon. The entrance is unmanned at this time of day,
but there is an honor box to drop your money.
Since I am a veteran, I am free so we just drive to the south rim. We get to Yaki Point Road, and the signs at
the entrance say it is only for employees and no drop offs are allowed. So, I hop out of the car, kiss Martha, and
jog down to the trailhead about a half mile away. The temperature on top here is 44
degrees. I have a small Camelbak
backpack with 1.5L bladder, hat, gloves, Houdini jacket, two bagels, butter,
potato chips, and beef jerky. I start
with shorts, a long sleeve shirt, and a buff on my head.
Mile
7.1 2:05:12 Phantom Ranch
Crossing the Grand Canyon via the South and North Kaibab trails is easily broken into thirds. The first third is down the South Kaibab trail across the Colorado River to Phantom Ranch. The descent is rather steep with erosion planks in the trail every six feet or so. Immediately below the trailhead, it is noticeably warmer. 10 minutes into my adventure, I stop and take off the long-sleeve shirt. I have a small headlamp that is working nicely, but there is also a nearly full moon providing great lighting. I pass a hiker just before I stopped to take off my long-sleeve shirt. Later, I passed a hiking couple at The Tipoff point, which is 4.4 miles from the trailhead. They say they are hiking all the way to the north rim. The sun rise is beautiful, and I see the Colorado River for the first time. I continue to run all the way down to the river and then cross the black bridge. It is ow only about a half mile to the Phantom Ranch. It is still nicely cool, and the sun has yet to shine down into the canyon. I stop only long enough to take a picture before heading up the North Kaibab trail. My legs are a little jelly-like after 4,700 feet of descent in only seven miles.
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| Black Bridge over Colorado River |
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| Phantom Ranch |
This first part of the North Kaibab trail is smooth and only slightly uphill as it follows a creek up a narrow canyon. I meet two runners coming the other way, who appear to be doing a rim to rim, from north to south. Then the backpackers come in droves. Most of them stayed at the Cottonwood Campground last night and are probably staying at the Bright Angel Campground, which is right next to the Phantom Ranch. It is interesting that there are many more women backpacking than men, at least on this morning. There are several couples, but then there are groups of women, 5-8 or more. The sun first begins shining down on me around four hours into my trek, just before I make it to the Cottonwood Campground. I sit down at the first picnic table, and eat a bagel with butter poured on it. I empty some sand and small rocks out of my shoes before refilling my Camelbak.
Mile
20.7 7:31:52 (3:13:44 split) North
Kaibab Trailhead
After
Cottonwood, the trail gets steep in a hurry.
My initial thought is that I should be able to do this section in a
little over two hours. Reality sets in
as I meet another R2R2R runner, who tells me that I have about two more miles
to go. I also meet a couple of day hikers
who ask me how far to the Roaring Springs.
I tell them it is about 45 minutes away, and then I ask them how long
they have been hiking from the top.
There answer is 2.5 hours! It
ends up taking me another two hours from this point. The desire to stop short and turn around is
great, but that would leave this unfinished and tempt me to come back to try it
again. With the sun out, the temperature
is rising quickly, but it is not yet too hot as I climb higher. I meet a lot of day hikers coming down from
the north rim. My quads start to cramp a
little as I make it the final stretch up to the north rim. So, I am an hour and a half behind the time I
wanted, and clearly I am not going to do this in 14 hours! At the north rim, I talk with a couple of
people while I eat some beef jerky and potato chips. It is a really nice day in the shade at 8,200
feet elevation. The north rim is about
1,000 feet higher than the south rim. I
text Martha and tell her I am going slower than planned, so it will be probably
close to 10pm before I get back to the south rim.
Mile 27.2 10:19:22 (2:37:30 split) Cottonwood Campground
My initial thought is that I can make good time
going downhill from the north rim. This
goes well for about 30 minutes, but then my legs are cramping, so I stop and
just walk. It is painful going downhill
walking, but I manage to keep the legs from cramping too much this way. Every time I see other people, I just want to
run down the hill to look like a real ultra-runner. However, the temperature is rising quickly,
and I know I need to take it easy if I am going to make it. About an hour into this section, I have
second thoughts that maybe I should have stopped at the north rim. However, I figure it would take me at least
two hours to hike back up, and then I would have to call Martha to come get
me. (The drive from the south rim to the
north rim is almost four hours.) Even
with my dead legs, I still make it back down to the Cottonwood Campground in
less time than it took me to go up. I stopped
at a water point about a mile back and ate the other bagel I had with me. So, I just refill my Camelbak and press on
towards the bottom and Phantom Ranch.
Coming down from the North Rim
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| Roaring Springs |
Mile
34.3 12:54:53 (2:35:31 split) Phantom
Ranch
My
legs have recovered relatively well, but I do not run this nice gradual
downhill section because it is now blazing hot!
Instead, I power hike my way to the Ranch. Along the way I see several backpackers
struggling in the heat trying to make their way to Cottonwood for the
night. There is a little bit of a
breeze, but it is still very hot. I
refill my Camelbak on the way to Phantom Ranch out of the creek running beside
the trail. I don’t have anything to
treat the water with, but this stream is fed by the Roaring Springs, and it is
swiftly moving. About a mile from
Phantom Ranch, I start to smell dinner being cooked. It smells so good, and I begin to dream about
a nice meal to fortify myself for the climb up to the south rim. When I get to Phantom Ranch, I go up to the
window to see what I can buy to eat. The
nice lady tells me that they are closed right now as they are serving the cabin
guests for the next hour and a half; however, she can sell me something from
the snack bar. I walk around to the
other side of the building to the snack bar, where there are a few candy bars
for sale. I decide to buy a Slim Jim,
string cheese, and a cup of lemonade.
They also have beer, but they only sell that to the cabin guests. So, no hearty meal and no beer for
Darin! I sit down at a picnic table with
three other guys and talk to them while I eat my meager food. It is 98 degrees here, and while it is a dry
heat, it is still very hot if you aren’t sitting in the shade with a
breeze. The guys are from Chicago, and
we have a nice conversation before I decide I should get going. I leave Phantom Ranch about 5:40pm, thinking
that I have a good chance to make it before 10pm.
Black Bridge again across the Colorado River
Mile
37.0 15:07:53 (2:13:00 split) The Tip
Off
There
are intermediate checkpoints going up the south rim, and I mark my progress at
each of these. Initially, I am feeling
great. I cross the Colorado River again
and start the climb. I am moving well,
and I figure the quicker I climb the sooner it will be cooler. I meet a couple of backpackers coming down,
and he asks me if I need anything. I am
covered with salt from all of the sweating I have done today, but I respond
that I still have several salt tablets left.
I am dripping sweat at this point, and it remains very hot. Soon after this, feeling good leaves me, and
this time, it isn’t my legs cramping. It
is a queasy stomach. Okay, I need to
take this slower and wait for the temperature to cool off. The sun sets a little after 7pm, but it doesn’t
get any cooler. The rocks and sand have
absorbed all of the radiant heat, and now are keeping the air nice and
warm. I start a rhythm where I walk for
five minutes, and then sit down for five minutes. I finally make my way to this point, and now know
I still have about 4.5 miles to go.
There is no water on this climb up the south rim, so I need to ration
how much water I am drinking.
Mile
38.4 17:09:54 (2:02:01 split) Skeleton
Point
During
one of my many rest breaks, two guys come along hiking down in the dark. Jeff and James are just starting to experience
backpacking, and they stop to talk to me.
They are amazed that I have gone this far and keep congratulating me on
my accomplishment (that I haven’t finished yet!). They are offering all sorts of items, and
when James mentioned he has an extra liter of water, I seize the offer and have
him top off my Camelbak. He also insists
on giving me a granola bar. After several
minutes of talking with them standing and me sitting down or even lying down, I
realize that these guys aren’t going to leave until I start moving again. (I think they were a little worried about
me.) So, I stand up, thank them for
their generosity, and continue my climb while they continue their hike
downhill. I go about 100 yards, before I
sit down again to take another break. My
five minute rest breaks have now turned into at least 10 minutes. At some point, I stop for about 20 minutes as
I take a little catnap waiting for things to cool off. Finally, about 10pm, the air begins to feel
not hot. I manage to get a cell phone
signal and text Martha to tell her I am running further behind schedule, but am
doing okay. I reach Skeleton Point, and
I am elated! I now only have a mere
three miles and 2,000 feet of climbing left.
Mile
39.9 18:12:27 (1:02:33 split) Cedar
Ridge
With
the cooler temperatures and with a greater water reserve, I am able to increase
my rhythm. I am now hiking for almost 10
minutes in between my five minute stops.
The moon begins to rise, and the Canyon is beautiful in the
moonlight. The stars are awesome, and I
lean back and stare up at them during my stops.
I am super motivated to reach this point in only an hour since I left
Skeleton Point. It looks like I just
might survive this adventure and finish before midnight!
Mile
41.4 19:07:03 (54:36) South Kaibab
Trailhead
I press on for the final section of the climb. I only have 1.5 miles and 1,100 feet of climb left. I start counting the switchbacks as a way to mark my progress. I have no idea how many switchbacks there are as I wasn’t counting them on my way down. My pace quickens, and I don’t run out of water until I have about 15 minutes left. I am walking for up to 15 minutes before I take a break. My count ends up at 16 switchbacks as I reach the trailhead and the parking lot. I have made it!
This little
adventure ends up being a bit harder than I expected. Although I live at a low altitude, I think I
am reasonably acclimated having spent the past week at 7,500 feet in Big Sky,
Montana. I didn’t have the climbing legs
that are needed to run this quickly, but it would be interesting to do this
when the temperature was cooler. I am thinking
that a late October run would be much better.
The trail is not very technical so running in the dark is not a problem.
I now have a
quick turnaround for my next race. I am
making my third attempt at a 100 miler this year in order to get my name in the
Western States 100 lottery. The Indiana
Trail 100 is October 9-10 in northern Indiana, and I am hoping it will be my
coolest weather at a race this year. I
ran Cooter Creek near Charleston, South Carolina in April, and it was 75
degrees; I dropped at Kettle Moraine in Wisconsin in June when the temperature soared
to 94 degrees; I dropped at Burning River in July in Ohio when it was 86
degrees and very humid. The soreness in
my legs does not completely clear up for a week and a half. So, here’s hoping for some cool, fall weather
in northern Indiana. Until then…
Never stop
running,
Darin
Interesting run. Amazing to go all the way down the canyon, back up, and do it all again. Can't imagine the strength and endurance. Definitely an accomplishment!
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