Rim-to-Rim

Yesterday I was given the privilege of joining 3 faculty members from the geology, biology, and engineering departments in a rim-to-rim run across the Grand Canyon. One of those bucket listers I could not pass up.

We left Flagstaff a little after 4am and got to the South Kaibab trail around 6 for a 6:20 start. The sun was beginning to rise as we came up to a good view to the east.

The weather started to immediately warm up as that sun was hitting the trail. Quite few layers were shed. Many people were out as it was the last weekend of the year for the North Rim's Grand Lodge to be open. Quite a few rim-to-rim runners were out as well, including a friend of mine running rim-to-rim-to-rim (rrr).

Approaching the Tip-off we really got a good view of what we had left. Let's just say I wasn't thinking about the distance, I was focused on the vistas. We crossed the Colorado at a little over 1.5 hours pulling into Phantom Ranch at around 2. There were 4 water stops on the north side.

The North Kaibab Trail was pretty much an interstate as we made our way to Cottonwood Campground, the next water stop. Along the stretch, we stopped at Ribbon Falls to take in the sights.

From Cottonwood it was another 3 to Roaring Springs and around 4.2 from Roaring to the rim. That last stretch was painful. I ran out of GU and bonked at the last water stop, 1.5 from the top. I finally came in around 5:55, barely breaking 6 hours...I'll take it! And then I realized I had 1.5 to go to the lodge. I took all my layers out of my Camelbak, threw them on, and made the trek. To pass the time I whistled the theme song to the original Zelda game on NES. That got my energy moving...a quest for warmth!

Abe, the geology prof had reserved cabins a solid 13 months prior and we were to stay there that night. The other two guys' families drove up the day before to meet us. We all had dinner at the lodge that evening as the sun set through the big windows. A fellow grad student also was on the trip, though he was hiking. We roshambo'd for the other bed, I got lucky.

I got up the next morning and watched the sun rise from Bright Angel Point. We left for the South Rim to pick up the remaining car adding another chapter to my adventure book. Peace for now friends.

Mark