Running the Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim

Late last September my friend Gail and I escaped Juneau's rain and hiked the Grand Canyon from the North Rim to the South Rim.  The following day I ran from the South Rim back to our campsite on the North Rim. The distance each way was 25 miles.  We loved the dry, non-technical trail and the cloudless sky!  Here are a few photos from the two day event (and the best photos were taken by Gail):

Our view off the North Rim the afternoon before our hike across on Day 1

We started around 6:00 a.m. off the North Rim.  It was windy and in the mid-30's.  We quickly encountered a few other hikers and runners as we descended several hundred feet into the canyon towards Cottonwood Camp.  A few hours later as the trail flattened out we had stripped from fleece to only shorts and t-shirts.  The canyon was beautiful with the middle third of the traverse relatively flat.

Cooling down near Phantom Ranch

We stopped near Phantom Ranch for a 45 minute lunch. The weather was warm and dry which felt wonderful to those of us who reside in a rain forest.  Also, this was the last weekend where the camping areas had running water spouts, and we sure made use of them!

The temperature at the last rest stop four miles below the South Rim 

We crossed the bridge over the Colorado River about an hour after our lunch stop and watched some rafters navigate the rapid current. The elevation for the river crossing was 2400 feet, so we knew we had a big climb ahead of us since the South Rim sits at 7260 feet. We took our time and set a steady pace in the sun.

Here's Gail as we near the South Rim



Riders on mules passed us and the closer we climbed towards the South Rim, the more people we came across.  

Almost done with Day 1

We reached the trailhead for Bright Angel shortly after 5 p.m. and we were both tired but felt pretty good (Gail is an amazingly robust hiker and outdoors woman).  It didn't take long before Gail and I were toasting each other at the bar.  It took us 11 hours and 18 minutes to hike the 25 miles from the North to the South Rim.  Yee ha!

Gail and I on the South Rim at the end of our hike

In our day packs we had carried t-shirts for the overnight at the hotel.  We were asleep by 10:00 p.m. I woke at 5:30 a.m. and within 30 minutes was heading back down the trail on my return trek to the North Rim.

A photo from the South Rim towards the North Rim

I felt pretty good during the morning, mainly since I was running downhill on a beautiful, sandy trail. In Juneau we're so used to slippery, technical trails, that R2R was a runner's dream.

 Running down from the South Rim - Day 2

I met a few people throughout the day.  One woman, about a mile after Phantom Ranch, was so startled as I ran past her that she swore at me and took a swing at me with her hiking pole!  I also ran past a couple of deer and past the mules at the ranch stables.

 



I peered down at the switchbacks ahead

I felt good despite the hot sun and yesterday's long hike across, but climbing up to the North Rim was a challenge in the heat.  I traded off between hiking and running and took one long break in the shade with two female hikers.  The North Rim is at 8250 feet in elevation, so there was an additional 1000 feet of climbing this time across and I felt every inch of it with the hot sun on my back.  But, the rocky landscape was so stunning and I was so focused on reaching the Kaibab Limestone layer that I forgot about the heat and just thought about how fortunate we all are to share this amazing public land.  On that note, it is astounding that the Grand Canyon National Park is not designated as "Wilderness" land by Congress.  The Wilderness designation would offer the Canyon the highest level of wilderness protection.  At the bottom of this entry I've footnoted a paper on this issue and if you're concerned about protecting one of our nation's greatest natural resources, let your Congressperson know.

A large hole in the rear of my 10 year old running shorts  -lovely 

I arrived at the North Rim around 1:00 p.m. (6 hours and 55 minutes) and showered and relaxed and waited for Gail to join me (she had taken the bus around the canyon after going on a shorter hike in the morning).  I had split my ragged running shorts about halfway across, stretched over a small stream and trying to douse my face in water.  Probably I looked like an extreme, sweaty mess to the tourists I tromped past during my last uphill mile!

What should we do tomorrow?

 That evening Gail and I toasted each other, perched on the North Rim.  We chatted with others about whether the Government Shut-Down would occur the next morning and whether the park would actually be closed (the answer was "yes" to both questions and Gail had to do some quick thinking to re-plan the remainder of her camping trip).

The start of Le Grizz in tiny Polebridge, Montana

Still feeling the runner's high from R2R, two weeks later I ran Le Grizz, a 50 mile ultra in northern Montana.  This race was also impacted by the Government Shutdown, and the course had to be re-routed outside of Glacier National Park (big thumbs up to the race director who set up a stellar course on short notice).  Le Grizz was mainly run on dirt logging roads.  I finished in 8:55 and qualified for Western States 100 (when will that ever happen again?!).  And then I returned to the autumnal rain in Juneau and snuggled in with Kari and the dogs for the winter.

Note: Peter Jacques and David M. Ostergren, The End of Wilderness: Conflict and Defeat of Wilderness in the Grand Canyon. Review of Policy Research, Vol. 23, No. 2 (2006).