Devin's Adventures in Multisport: May 2013

As of this writing, the fastest known time for the Grand Canyon Rim to Rim to Rim (R2R2R) run is held by Rob Krar at 6 hours 21 minutes 47 seconds. What this means is that he started at one of the two Grand Canyon rim trail heads ran across the canyon to the other rim trail head then turned around and ran back. That’s exactly what I did this weekend… although not quite as quickly

The neat thing about Grand Canyon R2R2R is that it isn't a race. There is no race entry, no actual start or finish line, no race numbers, no clock, no medals, no aid stations. Yet, if you ask just about any experienced long distance runner if he or she has heard of R2R2R, you’ll likely get a nod. There is just something about the idea of standing at the edge of the Grand Canyon and looking over the side at the river a mile below you and the opposite wall 24-ish miles away across the clear desert air and thinking, “I wonder what it would take to run over there and then come back.”

This is what brought me to the Grand Canyon for the first time in my life. I wanted to take the challenge and see if I could go the distance. It’s a pretty big commitment, though. With very few extreme exceptions, once you step into the canyon, it’s on you to get back out. Because of this, the warnings are ubiquitous. Everywhere you go, you will see signs reminding you that every year, people die in the canyon because they thought they could get in and get out and they were wrong. Walking from the rim to the river and back is an 18-19 mile journey with a minimum of a mile of elevation gain at altitude.

But I did it. We did it. I was part of a group and we all made it out and I’m still alive to write about it, so let me begin.

My running buddy Dave Shaw and I had been throwing around the idea of running Grand Canyon for a few years and it would come up in conversation and then fade away in the endless fog of race schedules and life plans. In 2012, my wife’s friend Paige wanted to put together a Grand Canyon R2R2R trip for Memorial Day weekend 2013. My wife told me about it because she knew it was something I always wanted to do and I was training for my third crack at the Rocky Raccoon 100 mile trail run in February of 2013. Now we had an event and a date. The event suddenly became very real. Our excitement was contagious and before long, Paige’s little outing had swelled to nine more people just on our side of things. In addition to Paige’s group, it was me, Alida, Stef, Mark, Belinda, Rosie, Chad, and later on Laura and Alessandro jumped in on the party. We fell into two groups. A larger group planned to hike down to the river and back and a few of us wanted to push through for the full 48 mile R2R2R journey.

I am stating the obvious when I say that Houston, Texas is flat. It’s also about 30 feet above sea level. Those two things do not relate well to training for the Grand Canyon. There isn't much I can do about altitude training, but we had an idea for hill training. Our friend Belinda works in the Williams Tower, which is the third tallest building in Houston at 66 floors and 902 feet tall. We hiked the stairs over and over. We did this several times each week for weeks leading up to the trip.

The Grand Canyon group (minus Chad, who was still driving in from Durango)

Soon enough, Memorial Day weekend approached and we flew out to Arizona on Friday. We rented a car in Phoenix and drove up to the park, where we had lodge reservations. Everything they say about the Grand Canyon is true. Pictures can’t describe it accurately, although that never stopped anyone from taking pictures. The scale of the canyon can only be experienced in person and even then it’s difficult because there is no frame of reference. We met for dinner and then went back to our rooms to make last minute preparations and get a good night of sleep. The adventure was scheduled to begin around 5AM on Saturday morning.

The alarm went off, breakfast was eaten, water bottles were filled, packs were stuffed, and buses were ridden. In the end, all nine of us assembled at the South Kaibab trail head for some photos as the sun came up and off we went.

We broke up into little groups pretty quickly. Stef and Mark wanted to stretch their legs, so the two of them went off ahead. I stuck with Chad and Rosie since we three were the ones running the full distance. Alida and Belinda settled into a comfortable pace with their trekking poles. Laura and Alessandro sort of did their own thing and drifted off ahead of us as well pretty early on. Within an hour or two, we had strung out along the trail and each group advanced at its own pace.

The south rim of the Grand Canyon is the place from which most people experience it. There are two major paths leading from the south rim to the river. There’s the South Kaibab trail, which is steeper and about seven miles long. There is also the Bright Angel trail, which is about nine miles long and slightly gentler and also has the advantage of three water stops along the way, of which Kaibab has none. The plan for everyone was to descend the south rim on Kaibab and ascend along Bright Angel. In hindsight, I still think this was the best option for all of us.

Look at this dork

I should take a moment and talk about my choice for clothing and equipment. I decided to go with a primarily white kit for maximum sun protection. From head to toe, my clothing consisted of a running cap with wraparound side and rear flaps (think French Foreign Legion), my white Houston Dynamo cycling jersey, white Zoot arm sleeves, white Pearl Izumi long triathlon shorts, white 2XU calf compression sleeves, Thorlo running socks, and my relatively new Newton Terra Momentum shoes. I also had a bright orange lightweight wind/rainproof Brooks running jacket.

Gear-wise, I wore my sunglasses, Ultimate Direction PB running pack, and RoadID bracelet so they could identify my body. We opted for tight tri shorts over loose running shorts because on long runs, we have all experienced chafing, especially when the running shorts get wet and rub against our thighs. We might have looked a bit odd out there in bicycle jerseys and triathlon shorts, but it was very effective, as the cycling jerseys had three massive pockets at the bottom of the back that are easy to access and gave me additional food and trash storage.

I also brought quite a bit of running tech on the trip. I always wear my Garmin Forerunner 910xt and heart rate monitor. Since I knew part of this run would be at night, I brought my Ayup headlamp and a spare battery. I purchased a Spot satellite tracker so that friends and family could track our progress as we moved through the canyon. I also brought my iPhone, intending to do a zombie run. Because these things have batteries that run down, I also brought a supplemental USB battery as well as the necessary cables for the GPS watch as well as the iPhone. Rosie purchased a GoPro camera with a harness and chest mount. I wore that as well and got several hours of video of the Grand Canyon.

The Ultimate Direction vest is pretty great and I think the PB model that Rosie and I wore was just right. It has enough capacity to really stuff it, but it still sits lightly and the front-mounted water bottle holders make for easy access. Rosie carried two of the 20oz water bottles up front and a 70 ounce water bladder in the back. My load was similar, but I opted to swap out one of the front bottles in favor of a Katadyn pump water purifier. I didn't know it at the time, but that decision saved the R2R2R trip for all three of us.

OK, back to the run. As our little group (myself, Chad, and Rosie) worked our way down the trail, a park ranger came upon us as he was ascending. I’m a little bit proud of the fact that he never even asked us if we were planning to cross the canyon. He told us he had some bad news on the north side and I immediately feared the worst. There had been a water line break and two of the four stops along the North Kaibab trail had no working water taps. This meant no drinking water refills from the Phantom Ranch campground near the river to the Supai Tunnel stop less than 2 miles from the north rim—a distance of over 12 miles on the more rugged and difficult north side of the canyon. Fortunately, I had brought my water filtration pump and when I mentioned it to the ranger, he informed me that nearly the entire North Kaibab trail follows a creek with easy access to pump my own clean (and cold) water. He said it was safe for us to continue and asked us to spread the word to other hikers about the water outage. A round of high fives ensued and we continued down the trail in high spirits.

A bit further down the trail, we were greeted by Laura and Alessandro hiking up towards us. This seemed strange. Had they already hit the river and started their ascent? How was that possible? It turns out they were coming up the trail looking for us because Stef had taken a tumble on the descent and badly hurt her ankle. It was just bad luck, as she tripped on nothing while running on a flat clear piece of trail. Mark was with her. By the time we got to her, her ankle had swollen up pretty badly and it was clear she couldn't continue. Luckily, a passer-by had given her a cold compress, which helped. Chad had some duct tape that we used to somewhat stabilize her ankle as she made her ascent. We stayed with the group as the rest of our party trickled down to meet us. Finally, we had to part ways. Stef and Mark would make the long slow ascent back to the rim and Alessandro and Laura would join them. The rest of us continued onward.

The five of us down by the river.

By the time we reached the river, the sun was starting to get high in the sky and the difference in heat from the south rim was amazing. We took a break to eat and drink and fill out a survey from one of the park volunteers at the bottom of the canyon. I also wanted to wait on Belinda and Alida to make sure they were still doing well. Getting to the river was half the distance for them, but only a third or even a quarter of the physical work. We hung around and rested for nearly an hour and a half, until they showed up. It was probably longer than we should have waited, but I felt a lot better knowing Alida was doing well and in good spirits. We all gathered to take a photo and then we went our separate ways.

With that decided, I topped off my water, soaked by arm sleeves in water, reapplied sunscreen, and we headed north along North Kaibab trail. Unlike the south side of the canyon, there is only one major trail from the river to the north rim. It is also about twice as long as the south run trails since the river isn't exactly in the middle of the canyon. Soon we came to the Phantom Ranch campground, which is more like a little city at the bottom of the canyon. There are lodges, mule stables, an even a cantina where you can stop and buy lunch and drinks. There were lots of people milling about as well. Most of them were campers. Some were about to leave. Some had just arrived. It was a hive of activity. As we moved on from it along the flat region of the hike, the number of people we saw dropped off dramatically. We would go 15, 20, 30 minutes or more at a time without seeing people. The sun was relentless and we were thankful for the small creek that flowed along the side of the trail to let us stay cool and wet as we went. Finally, when we had run out of water, I decided to break out the purification pump and see how well it worked. It didn't take long to fill all of our bottles and water packs and get moving again. When we stopped, Chad and I would work the refills and Rosie would go find a shady spot to nap for 10 minutes or so. That girl can sleep anywhere.

It wasn't long until we found the break in the water line. It was right in the middle of the hiking trail and caused a bit of a trick for those who wanted to get around it without getting wet. After some fancy footwork, we got by it and moved on toward the Cottonwood campground some seven miles away. The going was easy and aside from the heat, it was a pretty easy hike. We walked some and jogged some. We looked forward to Cottonwood even though we knew there would be no running water there. Each stop along the way is like a mental checkpoint where you reassess your distances and stop to sit for a moment and talk with people.

We're most of the way up to the north rim enjoying a much-needed break.

Things started to turn uphill a bit at Cottonwood and by the time we got to Roaring Springs, we were getting into the real ascent of the canyon. I spoke with another Park Ranger there about our plans and that we were already running behind schedule and would likely be hiking through the night. She told me there were some tricky spots with sheer drop-offs ahead and that we should make a real effort to reach the rim and back to Roaring Springs on the descent before dark if possible. That sounded like a good idea.

After Roaring Springs, the trail did indeed get much steeper as we started to work our way up the cliff wall. The views were incredible, and it was a bit off-putting to walk on a four foot wide strip of trail with a sheer wall of stone on one side and a drop of several hundred feet on the other. No guard rail to be found. It’s certainly a time to keep your wits about you as you hike. As the hike got steeper, our food situation started to become apparent too. We had not planned on bringing food for such a long hike. I had eaten half of my food already and we were still hours away from the north rim. Rosie and Chad were in similar situations. I started rationing my food, which was a mistake. I ran low on energy towards the north rim on a particularly heavy ascent and I had to bum a couple of carbohydrate gels off of Rosie and eat them just to give me the sugar to get me going again. We decided that when we reached the north rim, we would have to make the mile hike to the shop to buy some supplies. I had money with me so I wasn't worried, although I had no idea what my vegan options would be. As we got closer to the north rim, we started coming across other hikers with more frequency and by the time we reached the Supai Tunnel water stop, we knew we were less than two miles from the top.

Halfway done at the north rim.

The north rim of the Grand Canyon is about a thousand feet higher than the south rim. It is around 8200’, which is a mile and a half above sea level. The grade of the climb was very steep with lots of switchbacks. We were averaging upwards of 30 minutes per mile by this point. Still, our spirits were high and the other hikers seemed to enjoy us joking with them and making fun of ourselves. Rosie struck up a conversation with another hiker named Chen, who we had leapfrogged several times. He told us he had a room at the lodge on the north rim. He was alone and his room had three beds. That was seriously tempting, but I felt like if we stopped for the night, it wouldn't be a true R2R2R trip and besides, we would wake up stiff and sore the next morning and still have to cross the canyon to get back. We decided to push on through the night.

At the north rim, we were discussing our food options and making the hike to the store when one of our fellow hikers offered up the rest of his food to us. He was done for the day and had all kinds of mixed nuts, bananas, trail mix, and granola and energy bars that he no longer needed nor had any use for. We gladly accepted and a few other people who thought we were crazy for trying a double crossing gave us their leftovers as well. In fact, we gathered up enough food that we thought we could make the crossing on what we had. We told these hikers that it was good karma and it would come back to them. As the sun started to get low in the sky, we were nearly the only hikers still at the north rim trail head. There were a pair of carbon fiber trekking poles that were left there and I was sorely tempted to take them and use them as they would have made the trip much easier. But they were also nice enough that someone would surely miss them and likely come back looking for them and it felt doubly wrong to take them after receiving so much generosity from strangers just prior. I did find a good walking stick and gave it to Rosie. She ended up keeping it for the rest of our journey.

I was a bit scared of those big cliff drop-offs and I wanted to get as far forward as I could before dark so we picked ourselves up and started back into the canyon with the loose goal of finishing up before the sun rose. We made it to the Supai Tunnel right around the time it got dark enough to turn on our headlamps. It appeared we would hike the dangerous section in the dark.

My Ayup headlamp is powerful. It’s really powerful. It’s the strongest headlamp I know of and that’s why I bought it. I discovered that the beam can be seen on the canyon wall hundreds of feet away. I lit up a distant waterfall at night, which was a pretty neat sight to see. The reason I mention this is because when I shine this powerful headlamp over a ledge at night and I see nothing but black below me, I know it’s a long way down. If I hadn't been so exhausted by this point 14 hours into the run/hike, it probably would have bothered me a lot more than it did.

The descent went much better than the ascent. We even managed to jog a little bit. We had enough food to keep us going and, amazingly, we were still in really great spirits. We talked, joked, told stories, talked about movies, anything to pass the time. Every now and then, we would see approaching headlamps and exchange pleasantries with other hikers. We passed several other groups who were also doing R2R2R and intentionally chose the night as the time to do it. That had not occurred to us, but it made sense. Night time at the rims was pretty cold—down in the low 40s. But down near the river, it never got below the low 70s at night. We had put on our jackets at the north rim, but it wasn't long until we had to take them off as we returned into the canyon.

There was also a full moon and no clouds. The moon was so amazingly bright, it cast shadows on the canyon walls and the solitude of our journey, along with the strange animal sounds and otherworldly appearance of the moonlit canyon made it feel like we were not on Earth anymore. Few people get to experience the Grand Canyon by the light of a full moon. If you ever get the opportunity, seize it! We hiked down past Supai Tunnel and on to Roaring Springs making great time. We pumped some more water and then went on to Cottonwood where the trail flattened out. We knew it was a long hike to Phantom Ranch and the Colorado River before we started our ascent up Bright Angel trail for the last 9 miles of the trip.

Because the moon was so bright, we came across a pair of hikers coming toward us with their headlamps turned off. They were also hiking R2R2R and we stopped to talk with them for a while. All of us turned off our lamps and just stood there in the dark chatting while we rested up and had some food and water. Nobody thought it was unusual in the least. It was after midnight by the time we reached Phantom Ranch and the place was deserted. Lots of tents and the cabins were full, I’m sure, but nobody was wandering around.

The animal life at night was very interesting too. We saw dozens of small white frogs hopping across our path. Our headlamps (especially mine) would stir up flying insects and bats dive-bombed us, sometimes flying right at our faces before turning aside less than a foot away. It was freaky, but we got used to it. We saw a few scorpions, a big centipede, and a pair of mule deer that were bedded down for the night. They raised their heads to watch us as we went by, but never got up. We were in their territory and they were not afraid of us.

Eventually, we reached the Colorado and crossed onto Bright Angel trail to make the final nine mile push to the rim and our finish line. By my rough estimate of 30 minutes per mile, I figured we would finish sometime around 7AM. We would get the chance to see a second sunrise inside the canyon.

By this point, our run had become a hike which had become a death march. We would go a half hour or more without saying more than a few words. I had blisters on both heels, which is unusual for me. I feared I had blisters on my toes (it turns out they were just sore) and the balls of my feet were bruised from hiking along the rocky trail. I was mostly in the lead, but sometimes I would follow behind Chad or Rosie. We finally reached the Indian Garden campsite around daybreak. We had about 4.5 miles to go, but I also knew by my elevation reading, that we were only 1/3 of the way up the canyon and had over 4000 feet to go. It was going to be a hard trek.

This was the only time when I felt a little discouraged. The fact that we were taking so long made me wonder if this even counts as a R2R2R run since we walked nearly the whole thing. Rosie plopped down next to me at one point and I asked her if she thought this was worth the trouble. In my mind, Alida would be upset with me because I told her to expect us around midnight and now the sun was about to come up and she didn't know where I was. We all felt broken and we would be spending at least half of our last day at the park sleeping. Did we mess up? It was kind of a moot question since we had to get out of the canyon one way or the other.

Looking around, Indian Garden looks like a really nice campsite. If I ever come back to camp in the canyon, I think I will spend at least one night there. The facility is clean, there is a lot of space, and the view is very pleasant. The south side of the canyon is much more open and with larger vistas. The north side has more interesting ravines, cliffs, rock strata, and waterfalls to keep you entertained.

As we pressed on for the final section of the climb, pre-dawn hikers began to trickle down the canyon and passed us. Some people asked when we started and it was fun to answer “Yesterday morning” and see the looks of disbelief. One camper told me I was a brave man to spend the night in the canyon without a heavy pack. I had no use for a tent or a sleeping bag. We were moving the whole time.

There were two stops left. They were aptly named “3 mile stop” and “1.5 mile stop” due to their distance from the south rim. They both had shelters with benches and fresh water. At the three mile stop, I struck up a conversation with a man who was leaving the canyon and he offered me two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. It seemed like too much to offer a stranger, but there was no way I could refuse that. I’m pretty sure those calories and that sugar gave me the strength for the final push.

As the sun came up, we felt more energized, but the step climb on top of 24+ hours of trekking took its toll and I’m sure we looked like death as we hiked up past fresh-faced families going down into the canyon for the day. Still, we exchanged “Good Morning” with everyone we saw. We also missed no opportunity to tell anyone who asked what we were about to finish. Damn it, we earned some bragging rights.

We reached the south rim right around 8:00 in the morning. I finally clicked off the Garmin with a total time of 26 hours 32 minutes and 15 seconds including all breaks. I know a few people who have gone R2R2R and none of them have a time this slow. I’m kind of proud of that in a perverse sort of way. Once we had cell phone reception, Chad texted Sabrina, who had been following our progress over the Internet from Houston. Then he texted Alida so she could come meet us. We called a few people to let them know we were safe and finished. Then the three of us just sat there and looked at the Grand Canyon as the sun rose over it. I’ll keep good memories of that moment. There was nothing left to do but just hang out and wait for Alida and Belinda to arrive.

Do we look tired?

Rosie wanted breakfast. All I wanted was a hot shower and a bed. Luckily, our hotel room was only five minutes’ walk from the Bright Angel trail head and it was easy to get back to the room. I had a small shred of gentlemanly politeness in me so we let Rosie shower first while we sat in a stupor on the floor of the hotel room. We were far too filthy to get in bed like we were. Alida and Belinda talked with us and gave us food. I have to say they were pretty well-prepared on the food side. There was a lot of fresh fruit and even some meals to be had. I took a shower and changed clothes. Alida gave each of us a massage as we emerged from the bathrooms. I also had a beer in celebration. At some point, I blinked my eyes and when I opened them, it was 2PM.

Here's the final tally, according to my Garmin 910 GPS log.

A proper elevation profile for a trail run.

Getting out of bed was a painful experience that day, however even a short walk did wonders to loosen me up and dull the ache. I was thirsty, I was hungry, I was tired, and I was sore, but I was finished and I was successful. We were successful.