Zasada
Footballguy
Grand Canyon R2R2R Report
(Another long one, brevity is not a skill in my repertoire)
Prologue
Ever since I found out that R2R2R was a "thing" (watching FKT videos/reports of the dual-crossing), I had a goal to complete this run. It's everything I love about trail running: Lots of vert, beautiful scenery, and physically challenging.
I think I originally set the goal three years ago, and various things put me into a cycle of deferrals. Injury, COVID, work, etc.
Finally in 2022, I was healthy and ready to go.
The huge weather variances of the Grand Canyon (cold up top, hot at the bottom) really only provide two seasonal windows to make this run work: The most optimal is (arguably) mid-October, when all the water sources are still available, there is little chance of ice at the rim, and the heat isn't too brutal at the bottom. The other option is ~March, which provides cooler temps at the bottom, but you risk ice at the top, and all of the water sources between the bottom and top of the north rim are shut off for the season. You have to rely on streams for water, with appropriate filtration/purification.
I never really considered the spring option, and each year planned the run for mid-Oct. This year, I timed it for the weekend before the seasonal water sources begin to get turned-off, and the chances of more reasonable late-summer temps are highest.
I've had a great stretch of training, about a year without injury. Almost all of it has been easy miles, just driving volume in Zone 2. The biggest challenge has been trying to keep some semblance of mountain legs, getting up north as frequently as I could, and running the limited trails down south when I couldn't. I would say my cardio for this run was in great shape, and mountain legs were "adequate" (but not peak).
A buddy of mine I run with up north was also very keen to do this challenge, and joined me for it. We met in Flagstaff, jumped in the rental car, and headed north to the Grand Canyon. It took 60 minutes to enter the park due to understaffing at the entrance. Annoying, but we were in no rush.
Got to the hotel (very spartan) in the village. Went out to recon the trailhead. ~9K round-trip walk, and being the idiot that I am, I didn't wear proper shoes and developed a small blister on the sole of my foot as a result. Idiot. I was concerned it would derail my run at some point the next day, but it proved to be inconsequential in the end. Thankfully.
We grab dinner, back to the room, got all our gear out and set for the next morning, and hit the hay.
South Kaibab Descent -- Trailhead to Phantom Ranch (11K/7mi, 1,433m/4,700' of elevation loss)
Wake up 0300. Poop, Mountain Dew Zero, bagel. Gear up, triple-check that we haven't forgotten anything, and get in the car to drive to the parking lot. Lot is about 1km from the trailhead.
We had been weather-stalking for 10 days, and the forecast indicated 2C/36F at the rim for our kickoff, and 33C/94F at the bottom during the afternoon. 12% humidity! So I brought a jacket and mittens for the morning. But as we're in the car, it's clearly not that cold. Car temp reads 10C/50F. YES! Dump the mittens, but keep the jacket in the pack, just in case we have an unplanned overnight in the canyon.
0410 start. And clearly we weren't the only runners picking this optimal weekend to do this. We could see a handful of headlamps already far below us on the trail.
As with my ultras, I had created a pace sheet to plan how long it would take to complete the run. I estimated 7.5min/km (12min/mi) on the big downhills. Always hard to gauge: How technical? How steep? How many switchbacks?
We budgeted about 1.5 hours to make the descent to Phantom Ranch (at the bottom, just on the other side of the Colorado River). But the trail was slower-going. More technical, steeper, and the dark didn't help. Plus a wrong turn at Skeleton Point (I suck). Took us 2 hours to get to Phantom Ranch.
We passed about a half dozen groups of 2-4 hikers/runners on the way down. Didn't get passed at all. A pretty uneventful start to the run. It was dark, and only when we got to the Phantom Ranch were we able to remove the headlamps.
Found the water spigot at Phantom ranch, topped-off the chest flasks, had my three oreos, and got back to the trail.
Phantom Ranch to Manzanita (13.4K/8.3mi, 579m/1,900ft of net elevation gain)
This section would be our first trip through "The Box", which, on our return, would be the hottest part of our run. But with the sun up, we're getting all the great sights of the canyon. The colours, the cliffs, Bright Angel Creek running alongside us -- all of it. Awesome. The grade averaged about 4-5% uphill, which is very runnable for me. My running buddy, who was still recovering from injury, was slower than I was this morning (not usually the case). I was trying to push the pace a little, wanting to make the return through The Box as early as possible to hopefully miss the hottest part of the day. But I found myself frequently having to stop to allow my friend to catch up. And when we got to Cottonwood, he confessed that he was already feeling fatigued.
We passed a couple groups on this section. I was trying to be mindful to drink. With the humidity so low, it was hard to track how much I was sweating, and didn't want to find out the hard way that I was getting dehydrated. So at Cottonwood, I cameled a litre of water right there, and then refilled my two chest flasks with spring water and tailwind. Three more oreos, as well.
My fueling strategy was precisely the same as with my two prior ultras: Non-caffeinated Tailwind, and three oreos every hour or two at the start. Then, at the halfway point, switch to the caffeinated Tailwind. Worked perfectly, once again. Just had to make sure to keep drinking. My shirt was dry, but I could already see the salt starting to cake up on it.
This section took us about 2hours. Slower than I had hoped, but we kept a running pace for much of it.
North Kaibab Ascent -- Manzanita to North Rim (8.2K/5.1mi, 1,169m/3,800ft of net elevation gain)
Coming out of Manzanita, I got in front of my friend a bit, and stopped to wait for him. Two groups passed, and my friend wasn't trailing them. After a couple more minutes of waiting, he gets to me, and said that he had to stop to barf. Things were going downhill for him, fast. He ran out of water before Manzanita, and despite refilling and drinking, he was looking pretty rough.
We took it slow from there to the top. Which wasn't a bad thing, because the sights were also the most beautiful. All the colours and bridge crossings were incredible. Stopped to take lots of photos. As we got further up, my friend was having to take more and more frequent breaks. He was in that place where he could go 100m, but then have to stop to fight back the barf. He tried salt tabs, drinking more, but couldn't keep a meaningful pace. We got into a cycle of 100m of climbing, then a few minutes of resting, and repeat.
When he first told me that he was starting to fade, I was prepping a motivational speech in my head, which I would use at the North Rim to keep him from quitting. But by the time we got to the North Rim, he knew -- and I knew -- he was done. We sat down and made a call to the shuttle for him to catch a ride back to the South Rim.
After making sure he was going to be OK, and seeing him really improve over the course of about 30 minutes, I decided that I would solo the return. So, I pooped, muled some more water, refilled my bottles, and got started back down again.
(Another long one, brevity is not a skill in my repertoire)
Prologue
Ever since I found out that R2R2R was a "thing" (watching FKT videos/reports of the dual-crossing), I had a goal to complete this run. It's everything I love about trail running: Lots of vert, beautiful scenery, and physically challenging.
I think I originally set the goal three years ago, and various things put me into a cycle of deferrals. Injury, COVID, work, etc.
Finally in 2022, I was healthy and ready to go.
The huge weather variances of the Grand Canyon (cold up top, hot at the bottom) really only provide two seasonal windows to make this run work: The most optimal is (arguably) mid-October, when all the water sources are still available, there is little chance of ice at the rim, and the heat isn't too brutal at the bottom. The other option is ~March, which provides cooler temps at the bottom, but you risk ice at the top, and all of the water sources between the bottom and top of the north rim are shut off for the season. You have to rely on streams for water, with appropriate filtration/purification.
I never really considered the spring option, and each year planned the run for mid-Oct. This year, I timed it for the weekend before the seasonal water sources begin to get turned-off, and the chances of more reasonable late-summer temps are highest.
I've had a great stretch of training, about a year without injury. Almost all of it has been easy miles, just driving volume in Zone 2. The biggest challenge has been trying to keep some semblance of mountain legs, getting up north as frequently as I could, and running the limited trails down south when I couldn't. I would say my cardio for this run was in great shape, and mountain legs were "adequate" (but not peak).
A buddy of mine I run with up north was also very keen to do this challenge, and joined me for it. We met in Flagstaff, jumped in the rental car, and headed north to the Grand Canyon. It took 60 minutes to enter the park due to understaffing at the entrance. Annoying, but we were in no rush.
Got to the hotel (very spartan) in the village. Went out to recon the trailhead. ~9K round-trip walk, and being the idiot that I am, I didn't wear proper shoes and developed a small blister on the sole of my foot as a result. Idiot. I was concerned it would derail my run at some point the next day, but it proved to be inconsequential in the end. Thankfully.
We grab dinner, back to the room, got all our gear out and set for the next morning, and hit the hay.
South Kaibab Descent -- Trailhead to Phantom Ranch (11K/7mi, 1,433m/4,700' of elevation loss)
Wake up 0300. Poop, Mountain Dew Zero, bagel. Gear up, triple-check that we haven't forgotten anything, and get in the car to drive to the parking lot. Lot is about 1km from the trailhead.
We had been weather-stalking for 10 days, and the forecast indicated 2C/36F at the rim for our kickoff, and 33C/94F at the bottom during the afternoon. 12% humidity! So I brought a jacket and mittens for the morning. But as we're in the car, it's clearly not that cold. Car temp reads 10C/50F. YES! Dump the mittens, but keep the jacket in the pack, just in case we have an unplanned overnight in the canyon.
0410 start. And clearly we weren't the only runners picking this optimal weekend to do this. We could see a handful of headlamps already far below us on the trail.
As with my ultras, I had created a pace sheet to plan how long it would take to complete the run. I estimated 7.5min/km (12min/mi) on the big downhills. Always hard to gauge: How technical? How steep? How many switchbacks?
We budgeted about 1.5 hours to make the descent to Phantom Ranch (at the bottom, just on the other side of the Colorado River). But the trail was slower-going. More technical, steeper, and the dark didn't help. Plus a wrong turn at Skeleton Point (I suck). Took us 2 hours to get to Phantom Ranch.
We passed about a half dozen groups of 2-4 hikers/runners on the way down. Didn't get passed at all. A pretty uneventful start to the run. It was dark, and only when we got to the Phantom Ranch were we able to remove the headlamps.
Found the water spigot at Phantom ranch, topped-off the chest flasks, had my three oreos, and got back to the trail.
Phantom Ranch to Manzanita (13.4K/8.3mi, 579m/1,900ft of net elevation gain)
This section would be our first trip through "The Box", which, on our return, would be the hottest part of our run. But with the sun up, we're getting all the great sights of the canyon. The colours, the cliffs, Bright Angel Creek running alongside us -- all of it. Awesome. The grade averaged about 4-5% uphill, which is very runnable for me. My running buddy, who was still recovering from injury, was slower than I was this morning (not usually the case). I was trying to push the pace a little, wanting to make the return through The Box as early as possible to hopefully miss the hottest part of the day. But I found myself frequently having to stop to allow my friend to catch up. And when we got to Cottonwood, he confessed that he was already feeling fatigued.
We passed a couple groups on this section. I was trying to be mindful to drink. With the humidity so low, it was hard to track how much I was sweating, and didn't want to find out the hard way that I was getting dehydrated. So at Cottonwood, I cameled a litre of water right there, and then refilled my two chest flasks with spring water and tailwind. Three more oreos, as well.
My fueling strategy was precisely the same as with my two prior ultras: Non-caffeinated Tailwind, and three oreos every hour or two at the start. Then, at the halfway point, switch to the caffeinated Tailwind. Worked perfectly, once again. Just had to make sure to keep drinking. My shirt was dry, but I could already see the salt starting to cake up on it.
This section took us about 2hours. Slower than I had hoped, but we kept a running pace for much of it.
North Kaibab Ascent -- Manzanita to North Rim (8.2K/5.1mi, 1,169m/3,800ft of net elevation gain)
Coming out of Manzanita, I got in front of my friend a bit, and stopped to wait for him. Two groups passed, and my friend wasn't trailing them. After a couple more minutes of waiting, he gets to me, and said that he had to stop to barf. Things were going downhill for him, fast. He ran out of water before Manzanita, and despite refilling and drinking, he was looking pretty rough.
We took it slow from there to the top. Which wasn't a bad thing, because the sights were also the most beautiful. All the colours and bridge crossings were incredible. Stopped to take lots of photos. As we got further up, my friend was having to take more and more frequent breaks. He was in that place where he could go 100m, but then have to stop to fight back the barf. He tried salt tabs, drinking more, but couldn't keep a meaningful pace. We got into a cycle of 100m of climbing, then a few minutes of resting, and repeat.
When he first told me that he was starting to fade, I was prepping a motivational speech in my head, which I would use at the North Rim to keep him from quitting. But by the time we got to the North Rim, he knew -- and I knew -- he was done. We sat down and made a call to the shuttle for him to catch a ride back to the South Rim.
After making sure he was going to be OK, and seeing him really improve over the course of about 30 minutes, I decided that I would solo the return. So, I pooped, muled some more water, refilled my bottles, and got started back down again.
Last edited:
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Starting to get anxious for this thing. 
