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Grand Canyon Double Crossing Run Report

(by Karl)

Muslims have their Mecca. Country singers have their Nashville. Emperor penguins have their special spot in the Antarctic. And ultrarunners have the Grand Canyon. Those of us that choose to lose brain cells by running long miles in the backcountry feel a beckoning to come and run across that certain spectacular Big Ditch and back again. I’ll admit that part of my decision to come to Flagstaff for graduate school did have something to do with it being the closest university to that notorious gulch.

Prior to moving to Arizona I hadn’t had a chance to come on a Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim trip. Boy, was I missing out.

As we started organizing the trip, we had a pretty large group of interested folks, but I ended up with a little group of great companions: Jared Campbell and Jay Aldous from SLC, and Matt Zinkgraf from Flagstaff. We chose to start from the North Rim, partly because it was closer to Utah for the guys coming so far already, but also because none of us had started from that end before. The temperature was forecasted to be 12 degrees when we were camping the night before the run, but as ones who had already lost plenty of brain cells, we stuck with our plan.

Saturday morning Matt and I woke up to the sound of Jared rustling our tent. “How’s the temperature out there?” I asked. “Balmy,” Jared replied. I thought that would be a lie worth trusting, if only to get me up and going. It turns out it was 30 degrees, a great temperature for the highest point of the run. We were off by about 7am, partly to try to get Jay back to Kanab for a dinner appointment he had set for 6pm.

It was incredible to go through all the seasons several times in one day. The top of the North Kaibab trail is well over 8,000 ft, and within 2 miles we had dropped so much elevation that we were shedding layers right and left. We felt great, snapping pictures and enjoying the moments. Of course the view was spectacular, so we had to be careful to not stare too much and take a pretty long tumble. The temperature was very pleasant and none of us drank much water until we got to Phantom Ranch, where we filled up our water and took a little break.

Leaving Phantom the temperature started to rise a bit, but we since the trail starts to head up to the South Rim at that point, it never got too hot. The others remarked how much nicer it was to do the run in November than warmer times of the year – not too hot at the bottom of the Canyon. The water situation can be a limitation for some off season times, but this worked out great with two water sources at the bottom of the canyon, plus some water stashed at the top of the South Kaibab on the South Rim by Matt’s girlfriend Jess.

Matt headed back with Jess, and Jay turned around partway up the South Rim climb, but Jared and I opted to go to do the full deal. I was in a good running groove and enjoying chatting with Jared, but unfortunately I didn’t get into a very good nutrition groove, and ended up bonking hard a couple miles before the climb back up to the North. Jared saved me with what he said was an extra gel flask. It turns out he bonked before the top in his attempt to keep me fueled and happy (Thanks Jared!). In any case, we were glad to get back to the cars before dark at around 5pm.

There’s no better way to experience the Grand! I can’t wait to come back to do the run again.

Thanks to Jared for the pictures. Also check out Jay’s report here.


Dear Karl,

I am really glad you got to go. Really. But you realize that it's my turn next year, right? There is a chance I will take you along - but it is slim.

Sarah




Comments

Marci L said…
Sounds like a fantastic time. Sarah...you are hilarious!
December 05, 2010
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