Grand Canyon Rim to River - June 10, 2023

Good advice

 Preparation

Our original plan was to run from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon down to the Colorado River and then up to the North Rim, and return the next day. Severe winter weather damaged the North Kaibab Trail and the need for repairs closed the last couple of miles of the trail below the rim.  In addition, the rock slides that damaged the trail also destroyed the water line to the Grand Canyon Hotel on the North Rim, closing it until well after our planned arrival on June 10.

We decided on doing a rim-to-river run from the South Rim instead, as we had flights and the hard-to-get South Rim hotel reservations in place, and it would still give us a change to see the canyon. Deferral risks never doing it.

Having no experience in running in the Grand Canyon, and only only one brief visit to the South Rim in 2017 we turn to others for advice as to preparation.

Ready to go!

Our Arizona friend Cathy has run rim-to-rim and rim-to-river in the past, and she enthusiastically agrees to join us and recruit others for the adventure. She provides invaluable advice as to preparation, including clothing, hydration, nutrition and equipment. I supplement that by joining several Facebook groups dedicated to hiking and running rim-to-rim in the Grand Canyon.

On South Kaibab.
(Photo by E. Burki)

Frequent running partner Emaad and I add some hill work to prepare for the descending and ascending that the run will entail - 4860 feet down South Kaibab Trail, and 4460 feet up Bright Angel Trail, according to the National Park Service, but there really anything we can do to replicate the Grand Canyon. We run once at Sugarloaf Mountain, and I spend some time on a treadmill at 20% incline, but it is more like a pro forma effort rather than a serious one.

The other parts of the preparation are serious. June 10 is summer at the Grand Canyon and temperatures at or above 100 at the bottom are the norm. So hydration involves a backpack filled with 56 ounces of Gatorade and two water bottles, each with 16 ounces of water for the start. Fuel is a waist belt filled with gels, shot blocs and various sorts of bars totaling 2000 calories. A long sleeve shirt, to provide warmth at the start (it can be chilly before sunrise at 7000 feet), then coverage from the sun later, and something to wet down during the climb out. A cooling towel, hat and handkerchief, to block the sun and to provide for wetting down for cooling. Trekking poles, to transfer weight from the legs to the arms during the ascent. Gaiters, to keep sand and dirt out of the shoes.

Hard to see South Kaibab switchbacks.
(Photo by E. Burki)

Down South Kaibab

Jim, with Cathy beside him, pick up Emaad, Kevin and I outside Maswik Lodge at 0445 and drives us to a trail near the turnoff near Yaki Point Road (closed to vehicles). Native American music plays in the car on the way, surprisingly both soothing and appropriate. We exit the vehicle and thank him, and walk the quarter mile or so to the South Kaibab Trailhead. The temperature is about 40 degrees, but doesn't feel particularly chilly.

Obligatory photos taken and restrooms used, we head down at 0504. I've brought a headlamp, but there is no need for it in the predawn light. We immediately head down a series of switchbacks as we move away from the rim. The trail is broad and smooth, without any of the rocks and roots that are endemic on eastern trials, but with steps that make developing a running rhythm difficult. Stopping to take photographs also disrupts the running, but we are here to experience the canyon, not to race.

We pass a Park Ranger headed up.  He had gone down in response to a call about a women in distress but whatever was the problem has been resolved.  Later, on Bright Angel Trail, we see signs warning hikers and tourists, "down is optional, up is mandatory."

O'Neill Point.

South Kaibab does not disappoint in that regard.  The descent is along a ridge into the canyon, so there are views in all directions. Ahead and below is O'Neill Butte, and then we skirt around it (about mile 2) and continue down. In another mile we are at Skeleton Point where we pause for more photos before descending another series of switchbacks.

Cathy and Emaad take in the
view on South Kaibab.

I chat with a hiker ascending the trail.  He is wearing a shirt remembering his deceased father, and tells me he has hiked down the trail in his memory, as it was something he loved to do.

A mile and a half later (and 900 feet lower) we arrive at The Tipoff where we take advantage of the toilet facilities. We chat we hikers whom we have been leapfrogging since leaving the rim. 

My legs are feeling wobbly. I'm not feeling dizzy or otherwise exhibiting signs of heat-related or stress issues and am not have trouble moving, but when I stop I'm having trouble balancing.  I take out my trekking poles which I was saving for the ascent, figuring they will be useful now.

Kevin takes off, and we will see him next at Phantom Ranch. Emaad and Cathy are pulling away from me, but the keep an eye out for me and occasionally wait for me to catch up to them.

Read the last sentence: "42 men . . ."

We finally spot the Colorado River far below, and marvel as to how we will get there.  But another series of steeper descents and switchbacks brings us toward the tunnel to the Kaibab Bridge.

Emaad and Cathy wait for me there, but before I reach them on the switchbacks, I slowly lose my balance and gently fall/sit on one of the steps.  I try to use my poles to stand, fail, and try and fail again. A hiker comes by and offers a hand to pull me up, which I gladly accept.

A Community Helps 

We were not the first here.

More picture taking and we cross the bridge. I stop to take pictures of Native American ruins and a sign commemorating the construction of the bridge.

Forty yards later I see Cathy sitting on the ground and blood running down her shin.  She had fallen and a rock had sliced an inch-long cut in her leg.  Emaad takes out his first aid kit, applies antiseptic and a gauze pad to cover the wound and stop the bleeding. But he doesn't have any tape to hold it in place.  We ask a passing hiker and he provides a roll of elastic open weave tape. Emaad wraps it around Cathy's leg, and then discovers that he left his mini-Swiss Army knife in his room. He tries to rip it with his teeth but that does not work.  We ask the next hiker if he has a knife and he produces one. First aid successfully completed, we go on to Phantom Ranch (mile 7.5), arriving about 0910, where we meet up with Kevin.  He has taken a soak in the Colorado River before going to Phantom Ranch.

Approaching South Kaibab Bridge.

After the traditional lemonade there, and spending several minutes sitting and snacking, I mail pre-written and stamped postcards so they can be carried out by mule (the only way to supply the camp). We top up our water and I add a lemonade to one of my handhelds. Cathy notes that the temperature is 90 degrees, an observation greeted with relief, as summer temperatures there routinely exceed 100 degrees. On the way down the trail, Kevin steps off the trail to soak in Bright Angel Creek.

We turn right to cross the other bridge across the Colorado and get on the River Trail.  Kevin takes off. (We won't see him again until we are having a bite to eat hours later at Maswik Lodge and he comes in clean, dressed and with his wife and son).

Cathy has warned us that the River Trail is largely level and sandy. I meditate that the river had deposited the sand there when its flow was free, before completion of the Glen Canyon Dam in 1963. We turn up a bit (every step up now is one less later, I think), but then descend again, meaning we will have to reclimb that bit again.  There are rafts on the river, and some are pulled to the shore below us.

Mules have the right of way.
(Photo by C. Blessing.)

After about a half mile we step aside for a mule train, headed by a pair of wranglers, on its way to Phantom Ranch. The mules ignore us and pass by.

Up Bright Angel

Finally (about mile 9.5) we reach the River Resthouse.  We refill our water, soak our hats, towels and sleeves in Pipe Creek and chat with the ranger stationed there.

Now it is time to go up.  My legs have entirely recovered - going up is easier than going down. Up we go. Bright Angel Trail follows the Pipe Creek drainage and crosses the creek several times, with us wetting ourselves down at every opportunity. 

(An aside here - why is this Bright Angel Trail?  Bright Angel Creek is at least a mile upstream and on the other side of the Colorado River. Bright Angel Trail follows Pipe Creek and Garden Creek. The trail that follows Bright Angel Creek is the North Kaibab Trail.) 

Every time we look up, the rim looks no closer, even after we have climbed 2000 feet in elevation. And it looks impossible to get there. There is a large red wall looming near the rim and yet another wall closer to us. Eleven miles in a series of switchbacks gets us up the first wall, and a steady uphill allows us to climb 500 feet over the next mile.

Up Bright Angel.

The next mile (only 200 feet of climb) gets us to Havasupai Gardens. As always today, we refill our water, soak our hats, towels and shirts, grab a bite and go on.

Since the trail follows the creek drainage, there are buttes are either side and the views are not as spectacular as those from South Kaibab Trail. Very good, but one has been spoiled by the earlier views, further enhanced by the early morning light. 

I've been lagging behind Emaad and Cathy and they have been waiting for me to catch up. Over the next 1.75 we ascend another 950 feet, including a series of switchbacks, to reach Three Mile Rest. The thermometer there reads 80 degrees at  about 1315. Gaining altitude (2300 feet since River Rest) is lowering the temperature. There is a pavilion, toilets and water there and I sit down.  A hiker strikes up a conversation about my Leki trekking poles, a brand he highly praises. Emaad grows impatient and is concerned that Cathy may be anxious if Kevin tells Jim about her fall and bloodied leg. I tell him to go on and not wait for me.

Bright Angel Trail.
(Photo by E. Burki.)

By now we are sharing the trail with day hikers. Cathy was playing "bad hiker bingo," filling squares with "person in flip-flops," "person without shirt," "person without water," and the like when she added a new one: a hiker blasting music from a Bluetooth speaker attached to his pack. 

Upward for another 1.5 miles, and more switchbacks (climb another 1000 feet), to One and a Half Mile Rest (16.3 miles at 1405). As always, refill the water, wet down, no hurry, look around at the views, play bad hiker bingo.

Almost done!

I fall in with a trio of hiker/campers and we exchange stories in mutual admiration.  I tell my usual well worn running stories (Emaad isn't their to roll his eyes at another rendition of "Ken's Greatest Hits") and they tell of their love of hiking and camping.  It almost makes me want to camp in the back country, but only if I could get someone to carry all my gear, pitch my tent and cook my food. And that would defeat the wonder of camping in a place far from others.

The last hour to the rim (another 1000 feet of ascent and more switchbacks) goes quickly. Stops to look back at the trail far below continue to amaze at the beauty of the canyon and the wonder of the journey - I was down there! How was that possible!

On the rim I find Emaad and Cathy (they were about 10 minutes ahead) and we recruit a tourist to take our picture at the iconic Bright Angel Trailhead rock. 

By the Numbers

About 18.1 miles in 10:07, according to my GPS.  NPS official distances: From South Kaibab Trailhead to Phantom Ranch, 7.4 miles. Descent from trailhead to the river, 4780 feet, then ascent of about 100 feet to Phantom Ranch. From there to Bright Angel Trailhead, 9.9 miles, ascent of 4460 feet.

My calves were trashed on Sunday, but still walked a couple of miles along the rim trail from Powell Point back to the village. On Monday ran 3.7 miles at Buffalo Park in Flagstaff.

Rim to River Complete!

(Photo by C. Blessing.)