Monday, May 31, 2010

Oops, I Did It Again



Yep, just 30 days removed from my last "rim to rim to rim" I made a last minute (or last second, rather) decision to head North and do it one more time before the Summer heat hits (and the heat hit while I was in the canyon...).  I'll keep this report shorter than usual -you're welcome! ;-)  Left Scottsdale around 10:30 p.m. Arrived at the S. Rim around 2:30 a.m., organized my stuff and headed down just before 3:00 a.m.





Less than 30 minutes after I began, I ran into 3 other guys from Phoenix (Marcus, Joseph, & Jeron) so I tagged along with them most of the way over to the N. Rim.

<--- Marcus (10th or 11th R2R2R) and Joseph - jammin' along.

After Marcus and Joseph kept up a little faster pace up the N. Rim, I was more than happy to hang with Jeron the rest of the way - we separated for a while but met up again back at the Supai Tunnel. He had a very short-lived "suffer-climb" those last few miles of the North (I think a lot of us did, to be totally honest -myself included.) and recovered quickly and was back in business for the trip to the S Rim. I think we were both just happy to enjoy the day and no need to hammer through it too hard (and pay the price on the climb out). Got pretty hot as we headed back down N Kaibab, and instead of running ALL the way to Phantom Ranch we shifted to hike mode from Cottonwood on down.  It had to be 100 degrees in the inner canyon.



Total time was slightly over 18 hrs.  (Marucs and Joseph rocked it in about 15 1/2 hours). Took about 7 hrs 30 min to reach the N Rim and took our sweet time coming back.  While I was going to shower at the campground afterwards and crash in the back of my car (happily), these guys were super-generous and offered to let me rinse off at their lodge (and even offered an extra bed they weren't using - how cool was that? WAY cool.)  I owe them a round or two of drinks!! Marcus, Joseph, and Jeron - you guys rock!


Half way.  At the N Kaibab Trailhead for 15 min of rest, my PB&J and time to head back!  Only 24 hot miles to go!


Jeron headed down N. Kaibab towards the Pumphouse.

~3 miles to go!  Ready to be done!
Done!  And Tired!

8 comments:

  1. You so totally rock John! Super jealous on this end!!!

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  2. Thanks for sharing your experience here and for the pics. What is the total distance for the whole thing?

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  3. It's roughly 48 miles and 22,000' of total elevation change. You drop 4,500' over the first 9.5-ihs miles, gain approx 5,500' over the next 14-ish miles (with some rolling hills in between), and then turn around and come back. It's fun!

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  4. That does sounds like a lot of fun. I will have to get to doing that at least once in my life.

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  5. Has anyone come up with a formula or calculated how many calories one burns doing this?

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  6. I think it's about 4 billion. ;-) Either that or something in the 5,000 - 10,000 range (I've heard random numbers thrown out there, but honestly no idea.)

    At 155 lbs and 1,000 minutes and climbing/hiking for ~just~ 9 hrs says I burned ~4,725 calories.
    http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/calories_burned.asp

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  7. I am looking to do this October 1st and am looking for someone to train with. When do you do your training trail runs? I am a little nervous because I am not in the best shape of my life. I am not in terrible shape and I have done this before, so I think it is possible. I just need someone to push me on my training.

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  8. With a wife, kids, and two jobs (and newly appointed as Mr. Mom), I train when...uhh....when DO I train? LOL. I haven't done much at all lately but when I get in my groove it's usually one long run on the weekend and whatever I can fit in during the week. Most often the long one is a two- to five-hour run/hike somewhere in the McDowell Mtns in Scottsdale starting around 4-5 a.m. depending on the temps. Having said that, I've done R2R2R six times and a few of those have been "less than ideally trained" and still managed to struggle my way through them - and finish with a smile on my face.

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