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| Hiking | 50.31 Miles |
13,812 AEG |
| | Hiking | 50.31 Miles | 18 Hrs 53 Mns | | 2.66 mph |
| 13,812 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim (aka Tri-Rim).
This has been on my bucket list for years. I've "done" it a handful of times, but always with the *asterisk of spending a night on the north rim between the two crossings. So, this time, the goal was to do it continuously. My friend was kind enough to organize the trip and extend an invite to me and several others. But, as time went on, the group dwindled down to the two of us.
We set out for the South Kaibab trailhead at 12:15 a.m. under a full moon, and promptly got lost ....
We couldn't park at the trailhead, so we parked close by but missed the turn off and ended up hiking almost a mile before we realized our error. We ended up hiking out to Yaki Point, when it became clear that this was not the SK trailhead (for some reason, I had in my mind that the SK TH WAS Yaki Point.) So, as if R2R2R is not long enough, we started out by adding 2 more miles before we got "started." Haha!
Thankfully, that was the last of our navigational challenges. From there, we enjoyed a beautiful night hiking under the full moon, and rarely needed to turn on the headlamps. Made it to the river around 3:15 am.
Wore my Tevas for the first 14 miles, but got a blister anyway, so switched to my trailrunners for the final 35-36 miles.
Weather was fantastic--not too hot in the canyon, not too cold on the rims.
Felt relatively good after arriving at our halfway point on the North Rim at 8200 ft., but was nervous about the return trip. But, with no other options, we plunged back into the deep for another 24 miles.
Intermittent cloud cover and a slight breeze kept us cool. Made it back to the river almost exactly 12 hours after we had first reached it, at 3:15 pm.
Then it was time to grind out elevation from 2,400 at the river to 6,800 at the south rim. Thankfully, the angle of the sun kept the river trail in the shade (and cast amazing evening light on the opposing Canyon walls), and by the time we turned up Pipe Creek, we enjoyed more shade.
I had a good second wind carry me to the top of Devil's Corkscrew (the first major climb), and then we slogged our way at a decent clip to Havasupai Gardens (fka Indian Gardens).
I often preach about the "carnage" that can occur from Havasupai Gardens to the rim, which involves climbing 3000 over the final 4.5 miles. Normally, I'm still feeling strong on this stretch in a "regular" R2R, but I was depleted and felt a much closer kinship to others who I have seen hit the wall hard on this section of the trail.
After a short break at HG, we began the final ascent, still marching along at a steady but slightly slower pace. With 2 miles to go, darkness set in and out came the headlamps, as the still full moon had not risen above the rim just yet.
The final 1.5 miles / 1000 ft of gain was painful, but I must have passed 40 other, headlamp-clad fellow sufferers over this stretch.
Reaching the Bright Angel trailhead at shortly after 7 pm, my elation at "crossing the finish line" after 50 miles and just shy of 19 hours of hiking, was quickly met with my body reminding me what I had been suppressing for several miles. I managed to keep all the cookies intact, but both my hiking partner and I were not feeling well at all.
We were very grateful to our friend who lives in Tusayan and graciously agreed to pick us up and shuttle us back to our car by the SK trailhead. He was a true lifesaver! While we waited for him to arrive, we were delighted to find out that the outdoor bathrooms at the BA trailhead were heated, so we locked ourselves in our respective stalls and tried to warm up, stop shivering, and keep our stomachs from rebelling!
Back at our motel, we grabbed some hot chocolate from the lobby, shuffled our way to our room, took showers and were out by 9 pm--nearly 22 hours from when we had last awoken.
A day later, I felt much refreshed and began enjoying the sense of accomplishment. When asked if I'd do it again, my response was: You don't ask a woman who just gave birth if she's ready to have another one! Give it some time, and "we'll see ....
Posting this now, a week later, I think the amnesia is already setting in, and I can see myself doing this again. :-) |
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