In all of life, there are certain physical challenges that shape you.
On March 14, 2011, exactly 12 years ago today, JoAnne and I set off for an epic adventure that would change our perception of the world and our perception of what we were capable of accomplishing. We set out to hike the Grand Canyon from the South Rim to the North Rim and back to the South Rim in one day – commonly referred to as R2R2R.
Neither of us are “elite” athletes
In 2011, we both turned 40. Neither of us had been college athletes, neither of us had competed in any major endurance sports and neither of us had ever hiked this type of distance or elevation before. We had never been to the Grand Canyon.
In early 2010, I read a trail running magazine that listed the Grand Canyon as a “bucket list” hike. That was all it took for me to begin the process of talking JoAnne into this epic and incredibly difficult adventure that we would never forget.
This was our joint “midlife crisis”
As I began to study the details, we discovered that the complete trip would be over 40 miles in one day, and would cover over 20,000 feet of elevation gain and loss over those 40 miles.
We started in the spring of 2010 and went hiking or trail running every weekend for almost a year. We took in a few extra long hikes, but never more than 25 miles in a day.
On the day of the Grand Canyon hike, we were excited, but nervous.
The Grand Canyon is beyond comprehension
There is a book in the visitor center entitled Death at the Grand Canyon. The book, that I read only AFTER we completed the hike, details all the various ways that people have died while at the Grand Canyon. Rattlesnakes. Flash floods. Heat stroke. Drowning. Rock slides. These are all real and possible. But the greatest fear we had was falling. There are no rails. The path is only 4 feet wide in places and the drop can be as much as 1,000 feet straight down. Oh, and we had to leave by 3am to get to the other side in time to turn around and to make it back before sunset.
Our Route
We parked our rental car at the parking lot of the Bright Angel Trail Head. This is where we planned to finish the hike. At 3am, we met a taxi at that parking lot and he drove us over to the South Kaibab Trail Head. Our plan was simple. Follow the South Kaibab Trail from the South Rim to the Colorado River at the bottom of the canyon. Follow North Kaibab trail from the river to the North Rim. Retrace our steps back to the river. Then hike up Bright Angel Trail from the river to our car.
After arriving at the river, we planned to stop for our first of many “mini meals” near Phantom Ranch, the most popular of all Grand Canyon campgrounds.
Our first stop of the day – Phantom Ranch
I have never experienced a sunrise quite like this one!
As we began our journey, we voiced a quick prayer thanking God for this opportunity to see His creation in a new light. We started hiking around 3:30am – in total darkness. Of course, the stars are brighter than anywhere I have ever been, but still, it was DARK. And the stillness and quietness of the early morning hours were both peaceful and maybe a little eerie.
As we plunged down into the canyon, the 7+ miles from the trail head to the river took us around 3 hours. During that 3 hours, the landscape changed, reformed, reshaped and transformed before us like watching a a flower go from a sprout to bloom in a day. The jagged rocks of the canyon contrasting against the rising sun made the shadows dance and move every few minutes as we descended to the bottom. It was thrilling and amazing to experience. Going DOWN into the canyon as the sun was going UP made for some remarkable images and scenes.
Already, only 15% into the trip, we were in awe and had shared a lasting memory.
The Colorado River is no joke
We crossed the river twice on our hike. Once as we finished our first leg of the trip and once as we were about to begin the final leg of the trip.
While the Grand Canyon is amazing in 1,000 ways, the Colorado River is no joke. It is wide, churning, and brown, scary at points and always intimidating. The second crossing, after we had hiked well over 30 miles, was over a grated bridge. I must admit, it took me a minute to muster the courage to cross. The water rushing under my feet (probably combined with muscle and mental fatigue) made me question my life decisions…
The “floor” of the canyon is NOT flat
We continued on from the river to make our journey to the north rim, and we had to traverse the floor of the canyon. It was a different kind of difficult. Rocky, hilly, dusty and surprisingly warm. We started the morning with the air temperature at 28 degrees. Now, several miles across the base of the canyon the temp was 80 and it was sunny. This was going to be the longest part of the hike. The river – North Rim – back to the river = 28 +/- miles.
We stopped multiple times to eat and snack to keep from losing steam. You might notice in the picture that JoAnne has a pack of OREOs.
No matter where you are in the world, no matter what you are doing, no matter who you are with, OREOs are always a good choice.
We felt so……
During this time of the hike, I began to have a myriad of feelings. First, I felt like a man’s man as I was conquering THE. GRAND. CANYON. Yep, we were awesome. Secondly, I felt……little. This place can swallow you up so fast and you can get lost and literally no one would be able to find you. The feelings of insignificance began to well-up inside of me and I felt like a single grain of sand on the largest beach in the world. But lastly, JoAnne reminded us that God created each of us special. While He created all of this, he created us, too. We weren’t insignificant after all.
A basketball goal – here?
At the foot of the north rim, just before you begin the incredibly painful and quad-crushing climb, there is a ranger station. Due to the fact that we were just coming out of winter (and we would soon find out that we, in fact, were NOT out of winter) the ranger station was not currently inhabited and the water spigots were still winterized. However, we hiked right past the station and to my utter surprise, there was a basketball goal outside the ranger station.
How much would you have to love basketball? It is my understanding that all building materials on the north rim side of the canyon are delivered by helicopter. So, I ask again, how much would you have to love basketball? There is a river running right down from the ranger station and the ground is rough and rocky. How many basketballs have been lost over the years to a ball hitting a rock and bounding right into the river. Once again, I ask, how much would you have to love basketball?
Four feet of snow!
The north rim of the Grand Canyon is at 8,000 feet above sea level while the south rim is at “only” 6,000 feet. So with the higher elevation, the weather is quite different. We encountered snow up to four feet in places! We were so miserable, so tired and so cold that we didn’t take the time for photos. We were happy to get off the north rim and get back to the canyon floor.
Upon completing the longest stretch of the hike, going from 80 degrees, basketball goal, snow and ice and back to the river, we had covered well over 35 miles and we were back at the river, looking up at the south rim wondering what we had gotten ourselves into.
SAND?!?
A couple of things to note as we crossed the Colorado and were about to head up Bright Angel Trail.
First, we were completely spent. No energy. No legs. No appetite. No interest in continuing. I forced trail mix down my throat like a wood chipper, but JoAnne just could not bring herself to eat. No amount of coaxing and pleading was going to get her to eat. Zero appetite.
Next, as we crossed the bridge we encountered SAND! Do you know how hard it is to walk/hike on sand when you feel great? Imagine starting the final 9 miles of a grueling hike by walking on the unforgiving nature of sand. It was a terrible joke. JoAnne lost her pace. Without food and walking on shifting sand, she was slowing down considerably.
Laughter is good medicine
A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
Proverbs 17:22
Knowing that laughter is a gift from God, we decided to put this proverb to the test. Is laughter truly “good medicine”?
For over 12 hours of continuous hiking, we had not stopped talking. This trip was so fun for our marriage as we talked about anything and everything. It was magical.
However, we were out words. We stopped. For the first time all day long we pulled out our iPods. We had downloaded a few comedians onto our respective iPods and we started listening to them simultaneously. In only a few minutes, I began to hear JoAnne laughing out loud and at the same time witness her pace quicken. It was happening before my eyes. She was feeling better simply by laughing. Those comics carried us up for about 5 of the worst switchback miles of the trip. Thank you, Jerry Seinfeld. Thank you, Jim Gaffigan.
Its always darkest before the dawn
The darkest, coldest, hardest miles were still ahead. The top 3-4 miles of Bright Angel Trail remain in the shade all day long. So the sun doesn’t directly hit the trail at all. This means that even though the air temps get above freezing, the trail will have a sheet of ice in the higher elevations during a good portion of the spring.
We encounter ice and it was terrifying. The sun was long set, and we were shivering, and the ice was unwelcomed. I slipped and slid at each switchback and found myself on my hands and knees more often that I care to count. Many times my only source of light, my headlamp, would be shining over a large vast of nothingness after a slip and fall.
Thank goodness for last minute purchases
The day before, we were walking around and exploring and a ranger just happened to mention that there was ice for several miles on Bright Angel. On a whim and without much thought, we purchased ice crampons. Crampons are things you strap over your shoes or boots that allow you to dig into the ice for better traction.
This purchase saved us.
After a few slips and falls, JoAnne said “hey, lets use the crampons that are in the bottom of our backpacks!”
We were so delirious it took a “light bulb moment” to get us to do what we should have done an hour or two prior.
Bright Angel trail was a tough way to finish. There are a few tunnels. We thought there was only one. So when we walked through the first one, we thought we were near the end of the trail. Little did we know we had a couple of more hours ahead of us. The canyon was playing tricks with our minds.
At this point, the adventure was no longer about our physical abilities. It was 100% mental.
I have never been so thrilled to see a rental car in all my life. The hiking treadmill was finally over. I was dehydrated, sick and out of my mind. JoAnne had to drive us back to the hotel. But not before we took two photos.
One was a selfie with a small cannon camera and the second was of my stopwatch after we finished.
It only took us 18 hours and 42 minutes to do something that would last a lifetime.
