Grand Canyon Rim to Rim to Rim (R2R2R) Run Report

4/17/2010

A couple of months ago I was looking for something new to do. I was preparing for Ironman France and then the Canadian Death Race and needed something else to run. I searched around and came across the Grand Canyon double-crossing and thought - "That's what I've got to do". I had a free airline ticket to use and made some reservations. I found a few groups that were running but none really worked with the time I wanted to run, so I decided to do it solo.

Pre - Run:

I flew down to Phoenix on Thursday night, stayed the night and then drove up to the canyon on Friday. About a 4 hour drive and I really enjoyed seeing the change in landscape from cacti in Phoenix up in altitude and through various vegetation up to 7000ft. at the canyon.

On my way, I stopped, after getting off of the interstate at a gas station. It's about 50 miles off of the highway to get to the canyon. I saw this Suburban with 4 guys who looked to be in running clothes and I asked if they were running the canyon. They were, but were hiking and camping at Indian Garden and making it a 3 day adventure. Nice guys - I ended up seeing these guys many more times over the next 2 days.

Arrived at the Grand Canyon and did some walking around to check things out. After looking around I was getting a bit nervous about the challenge tomorrow. It sure looked like a long way across there. Also, when I went to the Back Country Info Center, I learned that there was a water problem in the canyon and water was limited and I was a little worried about that. I did carry water purification just in case I needed it. I saw my Suburban group again at the Info center, so talked to them some more.

Spent most of the evening relaxing, preparing my pack for an early start, and went to bed early. My pack seemed very heavy and I removed a few things, but still it was pretty heavy. I had emergency supplies plus 4L of fluid.

THE RUN !

I had my alarm set on my phone, watch, and also a wake-up call for 2AM. Got up, ate some cereal and had some coffee. Checked my pack and off at about 3AM. Drove up to the Canyon and parked right next to the trail-head. Only about 20 steps from the truck to the start.

I had 2 options to choose from for the first section and decided to do the Bright Angel Trail. While this trail is slighly longer by about 2 miles, it has water at Indian Garden, and I could park closer to the start.

I was ready to go and hit the trail at just before 3:30 AM. Temperature was about 32 F, so a little chilly.   Very dark out, as the moon had set already ! Those stars were so bright, it was amazing. I didn't see anyone else out but would see about a dozen people throughout the day running. My headlamp was on and off I went, down, down, down. The locals call this trail Mule Cr@p 1 and the other option Mule Cr@p 2. You can see what I had to avoid...... On the way down, the trail is very uneven and has many logs across for erosion that I had to be on high alert for. One trip and over the edge I could have gone. I hit the first rest area (1.5 mile rest area) right away and then 3 mile rest pretty quickly. Down to Indian Garden, which is a campground, is about 4.6 miles and I think I was there in about 2 hours, so I really slowed in the last bit. After leaving Indian Garden I was on the lookout for the turn to the right to stay on the trail to the river. It was still dark after Indian Garden and again the trail is very uneven. A few creek crossings that didn't require getting wet, and I was at the river at 8 miles. It was cool to see the river and make the turn for the river trail for about 1.5 miles. Arrived at the Silver Suspension Bridge and there were a few people crossing from the other direction, so I asked them to take my picture. I was amazed at how powerful the river looked. Ran over the bridge and then up to Phantom Ranch. There were some campers around - it was about 6:30 AM. I saw a guy from St.Louis, so we talked for a few minutes and then I was off again. 10 miles down.

Phantom Ranch is at about 2400 ft. elevation, so I have gone down about a vertical mile. The climb to the North Rim is 14 miles and it's much higher - at about 8200 ft. Left Phantom Ranch and was running pretty steady. The grade was pretty gradual and I was feeling good. A few miles outside of the Ranch, I was passed by 2 guys from a Colorado group. I found out later one of these guys started 2 hours after me. He was some guy that was training to actually win an Ultra in the summer. Amazing to see him run by me so fast. The trail here ran next to Bright Angel Creek and was very cool ! About 5 miles from Phantom Ranch, I came to Wall Creek. I had heard of this and was prepared for it. Wall Creek is the one spot without a foot bridge and required a stream crossing. The creek was flowing pretty good and is close to a pretty big dropoff (don't slip). Crossed the creek without much trouble, and the water was about at the knees. My feet were wet now and I just kept on going up to Cottonwood campground and right on through. I didn't fill up with water here or at the Pumphouse residence (a mistake I would find later).

After the Pump-house residence, the real steep climbing starts. From her the trail seems to go up, up, up forever. Switchbacks, trails cut into the side of the hills, and pretty big rocks. Throughout the run, I looked at those big rocks and thought "those rocks come down from somewhere", so I was kind of on the lookout and listening for rocks. As I was climbing the North Rim, I heard a rock coming down and stopped and jumped up to the wall, and down comes this rock about 12" x 6" that landed about 8 ft. from me. I am super-glad I didn't get whacked on the head or I'd be super-dead.

Much of this portion was a walk the steep sections and run where it was close to flat. It was absolutely relentless. My personal cutoff was 7 Hours. I told myself that if I wasn't across in 7 hours, I was going to turn around. As I got about 2 miles from the top, I was at 7 hours, but I said - "I"m this close, I'm going for it". Through Supai tunnel and then the snow started. Heavy drifts that had to be crossed, dodge down trees, and a keep from falling off of the edge. Managed through the snow and FINALLY made it to the top in about 7 1/2 hours. Snow at the top was very deep. Quick picture, snack, and a drink and off I went. Probably stayed there about 15 min.

On my way back down, I ran into the Suburban guys about 5 min down from the rim. Nice to see them again. Down, down, down I went. Passed a few others heading up and down I went. Legs felt much better going down. After a few miles, my legs were starting to feel the pounding (14 miles of downhill is pretty tough on the legs). After about 4 miles down, I ran out of fluid and was very worried. I couldn't wait to get to the Pumphouse residence and hoped they had water, and I was prepared to hit the creek in that area and purify. I finally made it and filled up and still purified, as I wasn't sure if it was potable. Ate my sandwich, chips, and had a Red Bull (sustenance). The Suburban group caught me and we talked a bit and off I went running with them. Passed Cottonwood and on to Phantom Ranch.

Made it to Phantom Ranch at 4:05 PM - I had been looking forward to a snack here but was extremely bummed to find that I was 5 min too late. Oh well, only 10 miles to go, though it was 10 miles and 5,000 ft. of climbing. Changed socks and found I had some pretty big blisters. Time to grit my teeth and get going.   The temperature had increased quite a bit through day.  Temperature in the canyon was about 95F, but at least there was a light breeze, so it didn't feel too bad, but that thermometer doesn't lie..... it was hot.

Headed out and crossed the river again, back down the river trail then turn and ready to head up. It took me about 2 hours to get back to Indian Garden. On my way through here, the Suburban group told me to be on the lookout for their campsite. I actually didn't see it, but they saw me and were cheering me in. Stopped to talk for a few minutes, fill my bottles and they gave me some snacks.

Only 4.6 miles to go and it was getting dark. The run from here was more of a hike now. My legs were killing me and the elevation was getting high. I noticed I had to be tired because my HR just wouldn't go above about 145 bpm. Hiked and hiked and hiked. Once I had to turn on my headlamp I thought it was cool that I could look up and see people ahead and down and see headlamps below. That was just a cool experience to know others were out there too still. I passed 2 women about 1 mile from the top and pushed on. Popped back tot he top at about 8:30 PM and wow was I sure glad to be back. When I walked off the trail, there was a couple walking along the rim and they were kind enough to take my picture. They were kind of shocked to know that I went all the way across and back.

TOTAL TIME: 17:05      GPS DISTANCE: 47.75 MILES.

I was absolutely exhausted and so glad to be back. This was one of those runs that there was no other option than to finish, so though I was tired, I knew I just had to push on. This really boosted my physical and mental toughness in preparation for this year's other races to come.

Post Run:

I relaxed in the back of the vehicle for about 20 min and sent a few emails to people to tell them I survived and was back. Headed out and stopped for a hamburger on the way to the hotel. Showered and right to bed. I was so sore that I really didn't sleep very good because my legs were so stiff. Sunday I could barely walk and went back to the canyon for a bit more looking around before heading back to Phoenix.

What an awesome run ! I would recommend this to anyone looking for a great run location and experience. I'll remember this run forever !