Grand Canyon Rim to Rim

Me and a couple of buddies may go next spring, I started following a FB page “Grand Canyon r2r” this post was from that page yesterday. A lot of info on that FB page if you’re not on it.

From FB
All right, we just got back from doing rim to rim.

I am 55 years old and thought I did a pretty good job preparing. But I was wrong.

Things we learned
While we are all use to hiking 5 miles. Even 5 miles in the mountains.

5 miles in the Grand Canyon is much further. On average it took us twice as much time or more to hike what we were used to. So when it says 5 miles plan for 7 to 10 miles. Also, most pedometers were astronomically wrong in our group of eight. The night that we hiked 6.7 my pedometer showed that we had hiked 14 miles. ?

Also, there is almost no way to measure distance going north to south until Havasupi gardens. After that every mile and a half there is something significant.

The reason that is significant is, it’s hard to monitor your electrolytes, water, food, and distance without landmarks and familiarity with the trail. Fortunately, we had plenty of supplies.

Also, one of the ladies in our group had previously hiked the rim to rim and really felt it would be in our best interest to hike in the wee hours of the morning.

Honestly, I resisted this and after one day, totally understood why. I was very concerned about not seeing the views, but as the daylight breaks, you got incredible views and peaceful experiences. But once the sun comes up, everything is miserable and at times very dangerous. We started calling the son the death ray… just killer.

The Grand Canyon park recommends not hiking under the rim between the hours of 11 AM and 4 PM and I really do agree with that.

Also be sure to bring a filter that you have used and are comfortable with using for water. Supi tunnel had water when we went through it and the next day there was no water there for almost 5.5 miles also be sure to bring plenty of options for carrying water because there are no creeks during those 5.5 miles that you have easy access to.

I had to fill my hydration bladder twice out of the creek. So be sure your filter is ready to use easily, though most people will hike faster than I do. It was still 5 miles between opportunities to get water from Phantom Ranch and until we got to Havasupi gardens.

Also, we trained everywhere. In towns in the mountains, hiking trails and just focused on distance. But we really forgot to think about how are we going to get to the bottom and then out of the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

Stairs and steps. Stairs and steps, lots and lots of them. I wish we had trained better on stairs. There are erosion control, logs, or rocks set up all the way down and up the trail so you are constantly stepping up or over something.

All said though we had an incredible time. And the Grand Canyon is so much more alive to me now. I totally recommend this experience.

What is your experience doing anything similar?


This is not something you do on a whim

Good luck!


Take a lot of pictures and post them

Completed it today in 11 hours 30 minutes. It was an awesome experience. I highly recommend it. Photos and video do not do it justice. The canyon is majestic. Felt good for 21 miles and the last 3 were tough.
I took in 3 liters of water and 2.5 liters of Infinite Nutrition Go Far mix with water. I should have taken in a 2 more liters of water.
Checked this one off of the bucket list.

Congratulations! You need to post the pics anyway

For those of you looking for an epic adventure, you just found it. It was an amazing experience. I will leave a bit of information for anyone thinking about doing it.

Training: I have a Stairmaster in my home gym and do an hour 5 days a week. I run 1 day on weekend. I did training hikes in Chicot State Park. Good hill workout. My longest training hike was 19 miles around Chicot lake. I did other training hikes on service roads. All hikes included my backpack filled with water bottles for weight training.

Lodging: Flew to Vegas and drove 5.5 hours to a cabin at North Rim Lodge. I recommend planning well in advance since there are very limited accommodations. After the hike, we stayed at the Grand Hotel at south rim. It was a 4 hour drive back to Vegas.

Gear and clothing: 26 liter Osprey backpack with 3 liter bladder, headlamp with extra batteries, First aid kit, Garmin Forerunner GPS watch, Garmin InReach Mini 2 satellite device, Black Diamond trekking poles with cork handle (don’t use rubber), Danner Mountain 600 boots (highly recommended), Balega Blister Resistent crew socks ( I brought extra pair to change at Phantom Ranch - the performed better than Smartwool in training), Janji running shorts (lots of pockets), Janji tech hoodie, wide brim hat.

Nutrition: Drank 3 liters of water and 2 liters of Infinit Nutrition Go Far mixed in 33 ounce Smartwater bottles, took 3 gels, 1 Clif bar, 2 Honey Stinger waffles, large SlimJim, a lemonade and Modelo beer at Phantom Ranch (bring cash), and a little salt.

Pro Tip: I taped my feet with Leukotape P tape before the hike. The tape is really sticky and lasted the whole hike. I had zero blisters. This stuff is a must. No blisters but have 3 bruised toenails.

Pro Tip #2: Frogg Toggs cooling towel. This worked perfectly and I highly recommend.

We took off from North Kaibab at 4am and it was in the 40’s with a strong wind. The temperature at Phantom Ranch was 95 so plan on layers. We went up Bright Angel to south rim. Finished in 11 hours and 30 minutes. It was a physically challenging hike, especially the last 3 miles. I am really glad I did it and would do again.

I hope this is helpful to those considering it. Good luck.