Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board OT: Grand Canyon Rim to rim to rim

All,

I plan to hike from South Rim to North Rim then back to South Rim in the end of the Apr in one day (~46 miles). Normally, I hike with my boots, I am thinking about go with my running shoe this time. I remember that I saw quite a few posts here about GC before. I am wondering whether anyone here could offer me a few suggestions. Especially on the shoe.

Thanks for advance!

mt_hiker

How strong are your ankles? I have weak ankles so I tend to hike in hiking boots. For a Scout training hike for Philmont last Saturday we did the 11 mile loop at El Moro Canyon above Crystal Cove. I knew it would be a quick hike so I wore running shoes. I stressed one ankle more than I prefer due to the lack of support.

My two trips to Phantom Ranch I used boots, but then again I had a pack for a multi day trip. I have not hiked from Phantom Ranch to the North Rim, but the trail tread on the south rim trails can easily handle running shoes, but if it is wet the trails can get fairly muddy in spots.

I did an RX3 at the end of May, and the beginning of October last year, and was well served by trail runners both times. The trail thread is well groomed most of the way. However, there may still be ice and/or snow on the North Rim in April, which could present a whole other matter.

I did it in March '06. The day after a snowstorm. The South Kaibab Trail was icy for the first couple of miles. I was wishing I had Yaktrax or something similar. The North Kaibab was OK with some verglas......until I hit the tunnel. Then I had to posthole all the way to the North Rim. It was slow going. You're going a month after I did but storms are not unheard of in April. I don't believe the North Kaibab fully thaws out until mid-May in a normal year but maybe someone here knows better.

The main corridor trails, especially the bottom half of the North Kaibab, are virtual freeways and I saw no need for boots. I wore running shoes with gaiters and except for cold feet I was never wishing for more. I wore neoprene socks in the snow. If you're worried about ankle stability there are lots of strengthening exercises to be found online.


Have fun!!!

My ankles were weak before, but I have been strengthening them recently. 2 weeks ago, I did 20+ miles trail run, my ankles kept up with it. In R3, I just want to hike, but don't want to have a heavy boots.

Thank you all for the replies.

mt_hiker

I did South to North to South over 2-days and wore trail-running shoes - they worked out well.

I'd like to try to do it in one long day sometime.

Good luck and have fun!

Assuming that you don't have to deal with much snow, go with the trail runners. Last two years that I have done R2R2R in October, I used trail runners. This is favorite suffer fest. Have fun!

All,

Just to close the loop on this. I completed my first R3 last weekend. The running shoe is proved to be a great choice for this tough hike. The North rim is not yet open, but the drinking water is already available in Cottonwood campground and Supai tunnel. There are still minor construction under going near Supai tunnel, but the entire North Kaibab trail is 100% snow free and in the great shape.

Thanks everyone for the kindly advises again!

mt_hiker.

Congratulations on the R3 (Rim-2-Rim-2-Rim) hike!

I am curious -- How long did it take?

What time did you start the hike. How much food did you carry? how much water?

What were the temps at North Rim and at the river?

My original plan is 20 hours, the actual time is 20 hours and 51 minutes. We planned to start at 3:30AM Saturday morning, but checking the weather at Friday, the forecast suggested that there was a high possibility of snow shower and thunder after noon at North Rim with ~40 miles gust wind. So we changed the plan to start at 10:40PM Friday night.

The weather is near perfect from the south rim (south kaibab TH) to north rim, but I don't pay attention of the temps. I started with 2 layers (long shieve and wind stopper), took the wind stopper off at Phantom ranch, put it back on near north rim. The north rim is chilly, I only stayed there for 3 minutes because of the cold. I got back to Phantom ranch at 12:40PM, the temp is 90+ F. I took almost 1 hour break there just to stay away from the heat. In bright angel trail, near river is still hot when I started again, I hike with long shieve and short, need to put the wind breaker on again in Mile 1.5 rest house.

I am a person afraid of cold rather than heat, so I am very happy with the temp mother nature gave me this time.

Regarding the water,
1. South Kaibab to phantom ranch 0.5 liter. (~7 miles)
2. phantom ranch to cottonwood camp 0.75l. (~7 miles)
3. cottonwood to north rim back to Supai Tunnel (~9 miles) 2 liter.
4. Supai tunnel to cottonwood (~5 miles) 1 liter
5. cottonwood to phantom ranch (~7 miles) 1.5 liter
6. phantom ranch to indian garden (~5.5 miles) 1.5 liter.
7. indian garden to TH, don't pay attention since miles 3 & 1.5 provides the drinking water.

I carried more water than I needed in north kaibab since I didn't know whether the water is available or not in the trail. I always drink a lot during the break.

The main reason I didn't get this done by 20 hours are:
1. I almost twist my thigh when I descent from Supai tunnel, stop 10+ minutes to stretch and walk slow for next 30 minutes or so due to the pain.
2. the long break in phantom ranch due to heat.

After I started again, I know that unless I pushed very hard I won't complete it in 20 hours, not 100% certain about my thigh, I decided to take a easy pace, great views, friendly hiker along the trail, deers, blossoming cactus, it turns out to be the best hiking section.

I met a pair of R3 runner, they were targeting 11 hours! Other pair of frequent R3er, they started at 1:30AM, probably finished 20 minuets ahead of me. Unbeilable!

I am just glad that I completed the R3.

Regarding the food, I weight 155 lb, 5'8 tall. I carried ~4000+ calorie.
6 power bar: 1500 calorie
6 power gel: 600 calorie
gatorade powder: 600 calorie
trail mix: 1000 calorie
sandwich: ?
canned meat/fish: ?

I did't finish them all, the canned food is mainly untouched. It is the first time I hike this long, I thought that I might need to treat my body a little bit. Won't carry them again next time.

Weight again last night, seems that I gained a pound instead of losing any.:(

mt_hiker