Rim2Rim

Monte and I had the amazing experience of hiking the Grand Canyon Rim to Rim Saturday.  

We prepared and trained for the challenge...we are so glad we were able to be apart of it.

Knight Trucking who does shipping for the fan coil plant at Monte's office invited us to go with them.  They take a group from their office and some people they work with each year.  

Honestly we were nervous but figured we were up for the challenge...we are Canadians that have done a fair bit of hiking in the Rockies.

I have knee issues that worried me...but I somehow tricked my brain into thinking if I was consistent with the tylenol and ibuprofen, stretching, and knowing the descent was first it would all be fine.  (the descent is what causes me trouble)

We were a little more worried about endurance then anything...a  mer 21ish miles.

We spent Friday night in a motel on the south rim with plans to hit the trail around 5 am.

Sadly sleep eluded me after midnight...I was concerned about being warm enough and strong enough.

I forgot how much you warm up hiking and the closer to the bottom we got the warmer it was.

The first pick shows us at the start of the South Kaibab trailhead...we stepped onto the trail at 5:22am

It was a little trippy hiking in the dark with headlamps for the first hour.  Not sure if I was a fan.

The sun coming up over the canyon was amazing.

 We were passed by a supply train of burrows.

 I didn't take a ton of pics on the way down...for the first hour it was dark...and the next two it was the least of my worries.  About 1/3 of the way down my knees started acting up...things went from bad to worse to a place they've never gone before.   I'm still not sure how I made it down.  It took 3 hours to go 7 miles.  Generally when the path flattens out or even goes to an incline thing get so much better...unfortunately the steps down and distance was a whole new ball game.

We made it to the bottom...stopped to snack...add moleskin...and regroup.  This is called Phantom Ranch.  You can book bunk houses here and eat meals...for an extreme price.

After the descent it is another 7 miles winding through the canyon along the river.  The scenery is breath taking.

We made it to Cottonwood campground.  About 2/3 of the way through our experience.  The trail was fairly level...I did curse ever 6 inch rock ledge placed in the path...they became daunting to even step over.  Just before Cottonwood there was a descent that on a normal day wouldn't seemed like much but it about did me in.  

After Cottonwood it is time to start climbing out...another 7+ miles.  I think these were called roaring falls.  I stopped to lean against a rock and was too soar to move from behind the tree to get a pic.

The scenery on the way out was gorgeous.  The north rim is a lot less busy then the south so it was much more serene.  

Our trail.  Those steps were killers.  I kept trying to decided which knee hurt worse so I knew which leg to step up with.

You can see a bridge we crossed and parts of the trail along the way.  We would ask the odd person coming the other way how far they'd come.  Everyone kept saying 5 miles...even if the person before said 5 miles...after I thought we'd gone at least a mile or so.  We finally heard of a tunnel that was 2 miles from the top.

The welcome tunnel...only 2 more miles to go.

Up into the trees and almost out.

North Kaibab trail head.  

I was hoping to make the trek in 10 hours...unfortunately due to my knees it was 12.  We both felt fine cardio and endurance wise it was my stupid I T Band.  I would love to be able to start from the bottom then hike though the canyon and out...pain free.

Alas Monte was a trouper and stuck with me even though it was a painfully slow.

We will definitely do it again...I just may parachute down first.

(The trail was full of crazy people doing a rim to rim to rim run...what the heck!)