Bright Angel Canyon from Mather Point. ~1/2 of the route is visible.
Overview
I think the thing I like the most about the Grand Canyon run is that it has all the things I look for in the perfect trail run. It's got the length- nearly 50 miles. It's got two gigantic climbs. It's got an awful, flat middle section that one runs twice. It's got people - tourists, serious hikers, rangers. There is the remoteness. It's got wildlife. And most of all there is the beauty. All of this is packaged into this one perfect run.
It was a phenomenal run through and through. Even when the "defecation hit the ventilation," so to speak, there was still an element of fun. Yes fun, but also a pretty big challenge. The difficulty actually brought me to my mental edge. I was not prepared (nor wanting) to go to this edge in the Grand Canyon. The remoteness of the run can make things serious, quickly. To go to your edge, then fall over your edge, with no resources, no Emergency Medical Services, and not even a friend to get you out can (and most likely will) have fatal consequences. To run the Grand Canyon you need to do lots of planning, lots of training, have some experience to fall back on, and have backups in place. I made mistakes in most of these but what I learned by running the Grand Canyon in one day from Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim was priceless.
The Smooth Two Thirds
The first two thirds went pretty smoothly. The run down to the river was spectacular. I saw only several humans near the bottom and at one rocky outcrop one California Condor soaring below me. The running was easy singletrack and staired switchbacks (slightly out of synch with my stride). I felt great when I arrived at Phantom Ranch to refill my water. The campground was stirring and I had to step to the side to allow a departing mule train the right of way as I left Phantom Ranch for Cottonwood Campground.
The Grade was slightly uphill through the high-walled lower Bright Angel Canyon (the Box they call it as in box canyon) and the running was smooth to where it opened into a wide canyon and on to Cottonwood Campground. Several miles after Cottonwood the real ascent to the North Rim started and I cruised the nicely graded trail to the North Kaibab Trailhead then on to the Backcountry Permit Center/Administrative building where I could obtain more water.
The run back to Phantom Ranch was surprisingly comfortable, descending the switchbacks to the flats. I approached the flats still running. I was surprised at how much energy I still had and that I was running after 30 miles or so and 6000’+ feet of climbing and about 9000’ of descent. I was even more surprised when I came around a corner and a rattling started next to my foot.
It was one of those situations where the adrenaline immediately starts to flow. I didn’t need to turn around to know that there was a rattlesnake there. It had been sunning itself about 2.5 to 3 feet off the side of the trail in some boulders. It made me wonder what would have happened if it had been closer to the trail. Would it have been close enough to strike? Would it have been too startled to strike? Would I have been going fast enough to miss being struck? I am still not sure of the answer but I would like to have some idea of how to approach my next run in rattlesnake country before I enter that type of terrain again.
No Food At Phantom
The run down the flats was long. I find it hard to run flat distances for long periods of time. The pain tends to get to me. About two miles out from Phantom Ranch I found a place to reach the river and wet my bandana to clean my face, arms and legs. I took stock of my food and was stunned to find that my consumption had been higher than planned. I only had a quarter quesadilla, four nature valley bars, one package of Clifbar Shotblocks, and one GU packet left. This did not give me a whole lot of calories to climb the South Rim of the canyon. I decided (subconsciously) to go a little further between snacks, a big mistake when running long distances. When I arrived at Phantom Ranch and consumed that last quarter of quesadilla, I discovered I had made this ultimate mistake and now I had to fight to keep the precious calories down.
To puke would make me feel better temporarily. But then I would have lost calories, an important part of my exodus from the canyon. If I could hold them down I could use those calories to my advantage (the reason we eat) and climb out, probably feeling pretty awful the entire way. That is, unless I could recover. I sat by the water spigot at Phantom Ranch, analyzing my options. My first option, to stay the night at Phantom Ranch or to bivouac on the trail somewhere close by, would probably see me consuming the last of my food through the night. It would leave me at the bottom of the big ditch, with a long way to climb, with no food. In addition, my parents had been my calling contact but we had never set up a time that they would alert the necessary authorities as to my disappearance. I could just imagine my parents calling in the troops two hours after my scheduled arrival time. Maybe this option was doable but there were a lot of elements I didn’t like about it.
My second option was to shoot as fast as possible to the South Rim - either by way of the Bright Angel Trail or the South Kaibab Trail which was supposedly steeper but shorter by several miles. If I could make it my time would be pretty good but I would probably feel really awful… If I made it at all. The risks were high with this option as well and I liked it less than the first option.
I saw one other option, which was to use the food that I had to get as far out of the canyon as possible. If I could get above Indian Garden I would be in the day hiking zone and it would be likely that I could buy some food off of a tourist in the morning. I liked this option the most and put my wager on this square.
The Final Ascent
So I filled my water containers to their maximum capacity and started my journey out of the canyon, one foot in front of the other. I still struggled to keep that quesadilla down as I crossed the Silver bridge over the Colorado. I kept a slow walk, figuring that it was the most energy efficient way of moving toward my truck as possible. I still felt pretty bad after 15 or so minutes of walking but I decided to force down two of the six shotblocks. Five minutes later I was starting to feel better and my pace was able to quicken ever so slightly. Fifteen minutes later I ate two more shotblocks and my stomachs condition settled to something that was at least manageable. I put myself on a diet of feeding myself once every 15 minutes or earlier if need be and continued to walk my way up from the Colorado. I reached Indian Garden with three Nature Valley bars remaining, about 100 calories per 1,000’ of vertical relief up the remaining 2,800’ feet. My mood improved and I knew I could make it.
I started to look at my watch again and project the time that I would be pulling above the rim. Maybe I could do it within 15 and a half hours? Maybe within 16 hours? The sun went down as I climbed the switchbacks. My pace quickened as I climbed. I knew I could replace the muscle that my body was feeding on for energy. I consumed my final nature valley bar about 500’ from the bottom of the rim and hustled for the top.
I touched the sign for the Bright Angel Trailhead and stopped my stopwatch at 16:11. I had planned this celebration, taking my picture with the sign (again) and eating the last of my food before hobbling to the car. I had imagined arriving in the daylight looking all bedraggled, the tourists wondering what part of hell I was arriving from. Instead there was nobody around and I was extremely hungry and feeling sick. I cancelled the celebration and was dialing my parents as I walked to my source of food in the truck.
The Aftermath
I was doing my best to keep food down as I lay in my truck, parked at Mather Campground. I had called my parents and had driven to my spot and immediately crawled in back of my “Shredmobile” feeling pretty shredded myself. I had placed my can of Ravioli close by so I could eat the meaty pockets one by one and maybe puke into a trash bag I had also placed close by. I set a time of midnight to take an ibuprofen. I wanted to give my kidneys a chance to filter my blood a little and return their functioning to almost normal before taking the ibuprofen. I ended up falling asleep pretty quickly and waking up at 1:20am. Perfect timing for taking Ibuprofen, brushing my teeth and taking my vitamins. Sleep was fitful but welcome.
In the morning I lay there feeling perfectly fine. No pain at all… Until I got up. My calves were really stiff and took some walking around before they loosened up. But amazingly no joint pain! I had run nearly 50 miles with huge vertical relief and all I felt was muscular pain? No bad!
The worst part about this particular morning was the discovery that I had stashed 3 more GU packets in the pocket I always keep keys, sunblock, a lighter, a headlamp, and NO food. Ah well. At least the bar is set low so that I can run it much faster next time.
It took three or so days before I felt able to walk without pain. I did a several mile hike with Bob and the following day, skied about 2,400’ of descent off a shoulder of Mt. Snowden in the San Juan Mountains. This was the fastest recovery I have had yet from any ultra!
So, now I have completed one more of the ultras on my life tick list. The great thing is that there are many variations on how the Rim-to-Rim-to Rim can be run. It gives me more singletrack, more switchbacks, more colorful rock and amazing, rare wildlife to dream about for the next time I run it!
Yes I did. I bought myself a medal at the gift shop to have
something non-digital to remember the run.
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