I know there are a lot of lurkers out there who have run the Grand Canyon. Any advice for my first trip? I'm planning on going South Kaibob-North Kaibob and back, approx 42 miles, on April 11th. I think I could cover this in ten hours, though that all depends on how many times I stop to take pictures and how many beers I drink at Phantom Ranch.
Should I include Bright Angel?
What are the best parts of the run?
Any advice for shorter runs, as I'll also be running Sunday. Katie is also interested in a good route up to 20 miles long.
Any good local dive bars I need to visit?
I'm really behind on gathering the needed beta for this trip, so thanks for any help!
7 comments:
You are probably best sticking with Kaibob both ways since Bright Angel gets a rediculous amount of day hikers this time of the year, especially after sunrise.
There is a nice rim trail heading west out of the main park area you could do an out-and-back on. It will save your quads since you are going to be abusing them something fierce on the RtoRtoR run.
Good luck!
http://recoveringrunner.blogspot.com/2009/03/running-grand-canyon.html?ext-ref=comm-sub-email
http://ajwsblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/grand-canyon-r2r2r-report.html
http://adventurerun.wordpress.com/2009/03/25/encore-rim-to-rim-to-rim/
10 hours will be amazingly fast. Unless you're trying to set some kind of record. Slow down, take a lot of pictures. Bright Angel has a couple miles of sand just past the river and you're travel will be slowed by the donkey train. Yes, you have to get off the trail and let them by, they kick. Don't forget to stop at the bottom and get a shirt, the only place in the world to get one. More valued than an of my crappy marathon shirts. We took 9 hours one way but ran as a group of 6 and took maybe 200 or more pictures between us. Be ready for a significant temp change from the river to the north rim. We ran in Oct and went from low 30s at the start to 90s on the river. You may only do it once so enjoy the trip. Just my thoughts.
Kaibab from the South Rim is really steep in spots. Expect it to take about an hour to get down to the river (Black Bridge). More than double that time coming back up at the end of your run. I went down Bright Angel last October and there were definitely more people on that trail than Kaibab, except near the top where there were a lot of tourists. I thought Bright Angel was more scenic and interesting, but the views on Kaibab are solid, too. I came up South Kaibab and it's definitely a haul at the end of the run, but it's the quickest way out. Check out AJW's blog, as he has 2 different posts on his recent R2R2R. I figure if AJW can do it in 8:11 and he beat FastEd at Rocky by about 12 minutes, and you were ahead of Ed during last weekend's CRUD run, you should be done within 9 hours, right? Of course, the big unknown is how many beers are you going to drink at Phantom Ranch...
Thanks for all the help!
Doc, is a donkey train anything like a donkey punch?
Larry, after watching Fast Eddy get chicked at the last CRUD run, I'm thinking he only did four laps at Rocky.
JT - we'll be sure to step over your body when TEAM CRUD invades the grand canyon on May 2.
Here's to you stepping in one of the many shit piles I leave for CRUD, PD. Can't believe all of you guys are afraid of me at Collegiate Peaks!
By the way, leave some extra space in your car, you'll be bringing back the 30 pack of PBR Eric G will be owing me.
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