Tuesday, this week, I completed the Rim to Rim hike of the Grand Canyon for the second time. 21.5 miles of pure endurance. I know I know what was I thinking, right? Well I had planned on doing the Rim to Rim last October, but the weather turned bad, so that didn't happen. I continued to train for this May. I went with my dad and my cousin Chandler, my sister Kaye was our driver. While we hiked from the North rim to the South rim she drove the car around to pick us up - THANK YOU!!!!! My mom stayed home and took care of Karlee and my sister's little girl Malia, again thank you! This hike was amazing, it is such a beautiful hike. You go thru so many different layers/colors of rock, and the views are spectaular. This time I didn't bring my camera so all the pictures I will post were taken by both my dad and Chandler. We went from the North rim to the South rim.
North Rim - Trail head
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We started our hike at 5:40 am at the North rim of the Grand Canyon. We hiked 7 miles down to Cottonwood, a drop in elevation of 5841', we had a 20 minute rest/snack. We continued on for another 7.5 miles to Phantom Ranch, we again had another 20 minute rest/snack. We hiked up 7 miles to the South rim, a climb in elevation of 4780'.
Some views of hiking down the North rim
Phantom Ranch - getting geared up for the South Rim Climb
Some of what we climbed out
Switchbacks we climbed on the South rim
We all finished the hike in less than 11.5 hours, this was pretty darn good. I finished the 21.5 miles in 10 hours and 40 minutes, beating my previous time, by a couple hours. What a personal accomplishment this is for me. The last 50 feet of the hike is always such a great feeling. You have such a burst of energy come over you, your body almost doesn't even ache . . . almost.
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Here we are in our victory lane . . .
Me climbing out at the South rim.
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Chandler and my Dad climbing out.
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This was my cousin Chandler and I's 2nd time going through the canyon, and my dad's 10th time going through. My dad is AMAZING!!! The weather was beautiful, minus the 1 hour of 40-50 mph winds that we ran into climbing out of the South rim (no thank you!).
Here we are! Showing the # of times thru the Canyon.- - - - -
Lessons I learned this time around:
- Drink Lots of Water (Chandler got 'Charlie Horses' in both quads, with about 4 miles left to go - Poor guy)
- Wear good shoes
- Trim your toe nails (I did, and still I think I may loose some toe nails. oh well...)
- A Good Attitude makes for Good hiking
- Train - lots and lots of cardio
- Second time around more enjoyable - knowing what to expect
Grand Canyon Rim to Rim Hike May 2009
8 comments:
Heather, I am sooo proud of you! And jealous!! I'm glad you had such a good time this time around...not that you didn't before, just a little more difficult. Hope you don't loose quite as many toenails as you did last time! :) Loved the pics...makes me miss it! I will do it againn someday...hope you can come when I do!
You are amazing!!!
I am soooooo jealous! What an accomplishment, great job!!!
That is awesome Heather. Quite an accomplishment! The pictures turned out beautiful.
You're awesome Heather!!! I hope you don't have as many toenails fall off this time:)
You're an animal! You better go next time, so you can keep me going till the end! Great pictures.
You go girl! You are totally awesome, and what a view!
You are so awesome!! What a great acomplishment. I would love to do that some day. You will have to give me some tips when I am ready to train for that.
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