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| Hiking | 44.50 Miles |
11,000 AEG |
| | Hiking | 44.50 Miles | 16 Hrs 30 Mns | | 3.10 mph |
| 11,000 ft AEG | 2 Hrs 10 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | Swore I'd never do this again, but my companion for most of my other GC hikes from Idaho called me about 6 months ago to let me know that we were going back. Group of us were all hitting monumental birthdays this year and no better way to beat Father Time than doing another R3. Unlike the last time when we did it on a whim for my 50th birthday, I now had time to train. We wrote up a list of everywhere where we screwed up the last time we did a R3 and prepped.
Despite a lot of curveballs among our group of six including bad backs, bum knees, a bout of Covid and other bumps and bruises we all showed up generally healthy and ready to roll. I've become an expert in logistics and corralled five other guys from around the country to fly into Sky Harbor early on Wednesday morning and get them to Tusayan by dinnertime. Hit the hay at 7 PM in anticipation of the alarm going off at 1:30 AM. Rolled out of bed, got everyone into our cars and were awaiting the taxi in front of Bright Angel Lodge by 2:45 AM. Quick taxi ride out to South Kaibab and after last minute prep hit the trail at 3:20 in the morning.
Made decent time in the dark and were at Phantom Ranch in a little over two and a half hours. Didn't stop and kept pushing on to Cottonwood to take advantage of the cool weather. Ended up bumping into a guy from my neighborhood that I see a few times a week walking his dog who was heading to Cottonwood for a few nights of camping. Got to Cottonwood and the water had not been turned on yet, so headed quickly up to Manzanita for our first break of the hike. At Manzanita we all rearranged our packs, filled up with water and prepped for the first big hurdle of the day. The climb up to the North Rim was toasty and entirely in the sun. But the bonus for sweating up that big climb was that the water at the North Rim had been turned on early and it was cold.
Hung out on top for about 20 minutes while we shared the faucets with two other groups of hikers and runners and then hit the trail back down. Still warm when we got back to Manzanita, so we all made sure to top off our water because we knew we had about an 8 mile stretch to Phantom Ranch without any place to get water. All of us nervous about hitting the Box at 2 PM in the afternoon. But to our surprise, most of the Box was in the shade. Still warm, but not as bad as my last time hiking through it. Finally made it to Phantom Ranch to discover we missed the canteen's open to the public hours by 20 minutes. Had been anticipating an ice cold lemonade and instead settled for lukewarm tap water and a 5 Hour Energy.
So buzzing with a boost from my energy drink we headed out for the final climb up Bright Angel. Kept a nice steady pace up until Indian Gardens when sunset approached. Pulled out our headlamps and got ready for the final push. This was the worst part of the day for me. First time ever to get blisters from while wearing Darn Tough socks and a first time for having them on the ball of my feet under my big toe. Every step up hurt and around the Devil's Corkscrew I could feel the last remaining effects of my Valley Fever from three years ago. Huffed and puffed up the last few miles and topped out after 10 PM.
For the most part, this was much more enjoyable than my last R3 due to actually prepping for it, sleeping in Tusayan for a few hours before we started and having a much better handle on my food choices. Kept a steady 200-250 calories an hour split between gels or candy bars then washing it down with Tailwind or Liquid IV. Looking at my splits averaged about 20 minute miles going down or across and 30 minute miles going up. Not a negative, but having a group of 6 instead of 2-4 people seemed to slow us down a bit. We'd get bunched up on the descents and it added an extra 10 minutes at every stop while all six of us got water. Overall a good day, happy that my moving time was under 17 hours. If it was cooler, we could have shaved off another hour I'd guess. |
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