R2R Rundown

Part 1
Prep-Work.

Truth be told, I signed up for this hike without even investigating what it was. I joined a hiking group on a whim, as my hikes were getting too long and intense to be doing alone, and immediately found the sign up for a Grand Canyon Hike. I registered without so much as reading the hike description.

When I found out it was a rim to rim, I was excited, but stupidly assumed we were walking around the rim, from one side to the other. (I know, I laughed at myself too. That would be a seriously LONG walk!) When I got the waiver and the information packet, I started to panic a little. My panic increased when I realized I had signed up too late to do any of the prep hikes with the group, or attend any of the information sessions. Undeterred, I began preparing on my own.

The group leaders provided me with a TON of helpful information, and I spent the next month or so reading everything there was to read about the canyon, about hiking it, about what to bring, what lives in it, what the weather is like, what the trail is like, and so on. Still, I was nervous. Even more nervous when I joined the facebook group for the hike and realized that a lot of the people going seemed to be serious athletes/marathon people. Still I was determined.

The Mt. Wrightson hike calmed my nerves quite a bit, and made me feel more like I was up to the task of the canyon. That being said, the hike wasn't even half the length, and I'd never come close to doing anything for 24 or so consecutive miles.

I was a nervous wreck right up until the morning we left for Jacob's Lake. Then a sea of calm confidence washed over me and I knew I would be fine.

There were several things I worried about.

First and foremost was my knee. I'd come down Wrightson way too fast. I actually ran a lot of the way, and you know me, I'm not a runner. In the process I really screwed up my left knee. I had really severe iliotibial band issues for weeks afterwards. I hiked Squaw Peak anyway the following weekend, and had trouble the second I started the descent. I had to do most of it with my left knee locked to avoid insufferable pain, but I didn't utter a single complaint. I just gritted my teeth and made my way down. I took it easy over the next few weeks, tried iliotibial bands and knee braced to control it, but in the end decided that a simple ace bandage worked best, with the band over it when things got really bad. Truthfully, I really believed I wouldn't be able to do the canyon due to the shape my knee was in for weeks prior, but I wasn't about to back out.

The Monday before the trip I hiked around Tonto, and my knee was mostly fine, so I started to relax a little, but the fear was still present.

Second, I worried about the distance. I've never done anything that extreme before, both in terms of distance and overall elevation change. I did all the prep hiking I could, but none of it really quashed my worries.

Third, I was worried about how long it would take me. It took me 7 hours to do Wrightson, which was 10 miles and 8,000 ft total elevation change. Hike Arizona lists the average time for that hike at 4-6 hours. I hike slow and steady and take a lot of pictures. Hike AZ listed the R2R we were doing as an average of 12-15 hours, so I estimated it would take me about 16 hours. When they sent out the pace cards with a 12 hour pace schedule, I knew I was going to be way behind it, but figured I'd still make it out in a decent time. In the back of my mind though, I worried about my knee acting up, and though worst case scenario it might take me 20 hours.

Finally I worried about having enough food and water. All the available literature listed hydration, electrolyte/salt intake, and calorie intake as the biggest contributors to failure on this hike. I spent a lot of time trying to sort out what and how much I needed to carry. This was further compounded by the notice I received 48 hours prior to the hike that there was a break in the water line and I would need to hike 12.3 miles without being able to refill my water supply.

By the time I was packing my bags I felt I had most of these issues under control.