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Anyone done Rim-Rim-Rim in Grand Canyon?
#18979 10/06/11 07:37 AM
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Headed to AZ on Tuesday for the R-R-R hike. We are starting on the South Rim and headed north. We have a cabin reserved on the north rim and then will return the next day. I'm having some pain in the bottom of my left foot (it's always something - though the ear is healed) and I'm going to do it in my running shoes. From the pics and videos the trail looks pretty smooth.

Anyway, just wondering if anyone has done it if what advice you might have. We are thinking about a 0600 start each day. The water chart I downloaded shows most of the water sources are May-Sept, but there are enough year round that I think we will be ok. We don't even have to carry much food because we can stop at Phantom Ranch each way and the cabin is supposed to be making us a sack lunch for day two.

Any advice from those who have done it?.........................................DUG

Re: Anyone done Rim-Rim-Rim in Grand Canyon?
DUG #18995 10/06/11 02:21 PM
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I did a R-R-R back in ....oh... about 1974.

...and it was Rim to River to Rim. grin

Re: Anyone done Rim-Rim-Rim in Grand Canyon?
DUG #18998 10/06/11 06:26 PM
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I haven't done R-R-R yet -- but WILL be doing it next year October. (Rim to Rim then Relaxation!)

Interestlingly, Dug -- after quite a bit of research, study, and self reflection, I concluded my start time will also be 6:00 AM (from the North Rim to the South Rim).

Unlike you, I'll be taking the shuttle back to the North Rim after my day hike to the South Rim. (So, instead of "relaxation", I guess it's also a third rim? blush)

I'm really looking forward to doing this at age 67. My plan is to return to Whitney for an encore peformance there at age 70 (first day hike climbed at 59). (And possibly via the MR.)

Re: Anyone done Rim-Rim-Rim in Grand Canyon?
Whitney Fan #19014 10/07/11 09:59 AM
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Rooting for you Whitney Fan!!!

Re: Anyone done Rim-Rim-Rim in Grand Canyon?
Rod #19020 10/07/11 03:58 PM
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My version of RRR?

Eyeballs gaze from North Rim to South Rim to North Rim.

Have fun, Navy

BTW, wifey-pooh and I will be there 11-19 to 22-11 to do South Kaibab to river up Bright Angel in a day!


Journey well...
Re: Anyone done Rim-Rim-Rim in Grand Canyon?
DUG #19023 10/07/11 05:21 PM
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I saw a video on a trail site. It was of two guys that did Rim to Rim to Rim in one day from the the south rim. The last climb to the south rim was brutal. Good luck and watch out for the BS!

Re: Anyone done Rim-Rim-Rim in Grand Canyon?
DUG #19084 10/10/11 07:50 AM
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Re: Anyone done Rim-Rim-Rim in Grand Canyon?
DUG #19095 10/10/11 05:39 PM
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Legend:

1) Honey do this...
2) Honey do that...
3) Honey do this too...
4) Honey do that first...
5) Honey do...


Verum audaces non gerunt indusia alba. - Ipsi dixit MCMLXXII
Re: Anyone done Rim-Rim-Rim in Grand Canyon?
DUG #19116 10/11/11 09:39 AM
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Dug

I just did the R2R2R this last weekend (Sat and Sun). The water is available in many spots (except on South Kaibab trail). It took me average 11:30 hours to complete. I started at 6 AM and finished at 5 PM. It was cold in the North Rim (low 27). The trail is not in good shape in some areas (North Rim to the tunnel) and some of the Bright Angel trail. I would use stronger shoes. The sack lunch is basically powerbars, M&M and such.

Good luck!

Nei


Always happy to meet new hiking friends.
Re: Anyone done Rim-Rim-Rim in Grand Canyon?
DUG #19208 10/14/11 01:21 AM
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Done. Three of us left about 0540 from the south rim via the Kaibab trail and head north. We took just under 12 hours due to massive picture taking and because one member was suffering from jet lag. The uncle of one of my hiking buddies had flown in from New York and got in the truck to the Grand Canyon only two hours after landing at LAX. We slept on the ground at the campground nearby and due to my buddies cell phone messing up the time, we got up an hour early.

Luckily I made friends with some Navy folks on the climb up the north rim and they told us to look for their friend at the top to get a ride to the lodge saving us a road walk.

The jet lagged uncle threw in the towel and made reservations on the rim to rim shuttle. We resupplied, made our 8:30 dinner reservations and got to bed by 10.

At 0500 we were up and getting ready to meet the 0530 shuttle to the TH. It was chilly for the 1st couple miles, but not too bad. The two of us made good time down to Phantom Ranch and picked up our bag lunches which we ate there. Then we started the push back up the shorter, steeper south kaibab trail. We had more shade than I expected, but there were plenty of hot exposed areas. Just under 11 hours later we were on the shuttle back to the truck meeting up with my buddies uncle.

Splitting it up over two days made it much more enjoyable. It wasn't easy, but it isn't in my top 20 hardest hikes. We plan to return next year with my son and do it as a 24 hour, no hotel trip.

The running shoes were perfect and seemed to be favored by most day hikers on the trail.

Good times..................................DUG

Re: Anyone done Rim-Rim-Rim in Grand Canyon?
DUG #19224 10/14/11 08:31 AM
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Awesome job! Can't wait to see the pictures!

Re: Anyone done Rim-Rim-Rim in Grand Canyon?
DUG #19227 10/14/11 09:33 AM
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Way to go Doug! Gotta do that some day. Been to the north rim, been to the south rim - just not in between . . .

Re: Anyone done Rim-Rim-Rim in Grand Canyon?
Bulldog34 #19229 10/14/11 10:53 AM
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Originally Posted By: Bulldog34
Way to go Doug! Gotta do that some day. Been to the north rim, been to the south rim - just not in between . . .


There's a hole in the middle. smile If I was only going to hike in one direction I would go north to south. Much easier IMHO.

We thought about returning via the Bright Angel trail since one of our team dropped out on the north rim and could have easily moved the truck over, but we heard enough bad things about it to keep with our original plans. Not saying the bad stuff is true, just saying there were plenty of complaints. I guess I'll have to find out for myself. Working on uploading pics now...................................DUG

Re: Anyone done Rim-Rim-Rim in Grand Canyon?
DUG #19230 10/14/11 11:14 AM
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What were the complaints about the Bright Angel Trail? I thought it was a fabulous trail (the part that we hiked)....

How did you find the Kaibab? I'd heard some not good review on it in the past...

Re: Anyone done Rim-Rim-Rim in Grand Canyon?
SoCalGirl #19232 10/14/11 11:41 AM
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One of our team has done Bright Angel four times to the river and back and pretty much says it sucks. He (and 8-10 others I talked to during the the trip) say the added miles aren't worth it and the views aren't as great as South Kaibab. Trail conditions on South Kaibab are very good, probably one of the best sections of trail I've been on. Parts on North Kaibab aren't as nice near the top, but I've been on a lot worse. The section that I was most displeased with was a long, sandy, steep, uphill slog that reminded me of trying to hike up a sand dune. Then again it was in the last 15 minutes of the hike.

Bright Angel does have water available and South Kaibab does not.

If I remember my trail research, Bright Angel TH is lower than South Kaibab and longer making for an easier time. In theory anyway. The only way for me to comment properly is to go out and do it myself.

There was never a section of trail that was bad enough to make me regret wearing old running shoes instead of my boots. In the past I've tried shoes in Kings Canyon and regretted it.

Overall it was one of my favorite hikes ever. I'm glad I was able to go get it done with almost no conditioning hikes this year. It's a toughie, but very doable, at least at this time of year. I wouldn't want to be anywhere on that trail during real heat.......................................DUG

Re: Anyone done Rim-Rim-Rim in Grand Canyon?
DUG #19239 10/14/11 08:20 PM
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Doug, congrats on your successful R-R-R. You peaked my curiosity when you mentioned your 20 hardest hikes. I like researching extreme hikes. Would you care to share your list?

Re: Anyone done Rim-Rim-Rim in Grand Canyon?
RenoFrank #19243 10/15/11 05:50 AM
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Originally Posted By: RenoFrank
Doug, congrats on your successful R-R-R. You peaked my curiosity when you mentioned your 20 hardest hikes. I like researching extreme hikes. Would you care to share your list?


(My version of an extreme hike may be different than someone else's idea of an extreme hike. I'm not trying to be anything, I'm just a chubby retired Navy guy who pushes himself. Your mileage may vary.)

Here's a few - A 70+ mile loop in King's Canyon that was supposed to take 48 hours (it went 60), KC-WP via Colby Pass (48 hours), KC-WP via Forester Pass (48 hours), Mineral King-WP (48 hours), OV-KC-OV day hike, KC-Forester Pass-KC day hike, KC-Simpson Meadow-KC day hike, Half Dome and Clouds Rest via Happy Isles as a day hike. All of the KC (Kings Canyon) hikes started at Roads End and used one of the many trail heads there.

There is a loop hike in Mineral King over Franklin Pass and an unmaintained section of trail, but I don't remember the whole route right now - it was pretty tough.

There's another route in KC that starts at Roads End (like most great hikes do for me) and takes you over Kennedy Pass through a lot of "unmaintained" (not there) trail before you hook up with the trail on the north side of Granite Pass and come back. That one was always tough to get done in 24 hours, but a lot of it was route finding. If there was good trail on the north side of Kennedy I could probably do it in 20 hours.

A few years ago when I had a different hiking partner (who we don't talk about because of the problem on the 70+ Kings Canyon Loop), we would start the hiking season out with Half Dome/Cloud's Rest as our first hike and usually Whitney as our second or third. Then we would cram in as many 24 hour day hikes in KC as we could before wrapping things up with some sort of 48 hour hike. Normally they would involve starting on the West Side and hiking to the Whitney Portal with a Whitney summit side trip. Out of the three big crossings I made it to the summit and to the portal in 48 hours once. Another trip it was 52 hours and one trip I was too tired to go for the summit. The 70+ mile loop I got split from my douchebag partner and later got sick.

I've never successfully day hiked Simpson Meadow from Roads End, but I came close once, doing it in 26 hours.

My all time favorite extreme day hike would be either Forrester Pass from Roads End (and back of course) or my favorite solo day hike of Onion Valley to Kings Canyon (Roads End) and back in 23 hours.

If you want an extreme hike it's easy to put something together in King's Canyon since it's so deep. Start at Road's End, pick a pass and hike to it and back. If you want a tough two day hike start at Road's End and go to Mount Whitney via any route.

And if you really want people to wonder if you're a little nuts, do it with only a can of cake frosting for food. smile

If you want route info or more details, LMK. I haven't done any big hikes since I split with my old hiking partner in 2009. I think my son (days away from 15) will be able to go 20+ hours next year.

Good luck and have fun. You only need two things for a fun hike - MILES and GAIN..................................DUG

Last edited by DUG; 10/15/11 06:49 AM.
Re: Anyone done Rim-Rim-Rim in Grand Canyon?
DUG #19245 10/15/11 06:41 AM
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Here are my pics -

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30467211@N04/sets/72157627899085652/

I'll posts the others pics on my Flickr page once I get them.....................................DUG

Re: Anyone done Rim-Rim-Rim in Grand Canyon?
DUG #19251 10/15/11 08:53 PM
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Thanks for the info. Since I live in Reno, I'm not familiar with Kings Canyon. I've been looking for a place to access the John Muir Trail close to Whitney. Maybe in KC? I've never back packed but thought I might try it for a couple of nights. On your described 24 and 48 hr hikes are you back packing (sleeping)?

Re: Anyone done Rim-Rim-Rim in Grand Canyon?
RenoFrank #19253 10/15/11 09:33 PM
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Originally Posted By: RenoFrank
Thanks for the info. Since I live in Reno, I'm not familiar with Kings Canyon. I've been looking for a place to access the John Muir Trail close to Whitney. Maybe in KC? I've never back packed but thought I might try it for a couple of nights. On your described 24 and 48 hr hikes are you back packing (sleeping)?


No sleep on a 24 hour hike. On the 48 hour hikes I carry a sleeping bag, pad and emergency bivy (mainly to keep the expensive bag clean). We usually plaln for 4-6 hours of sleep but it never works out that way. Most super long hikes start at midnight since we use a "calendar" day, not just any 24 hour period. (hey, our silly game, our silly rules).

You can access the JMT out of KC via Bubbs Creek or several other spots or come in from the east via Onion Valley. Just depends on how much of the JMT you want to do................................DUG

Last edited by DUG; 10/15/11 09:34 PM.
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