Rim2Rim2Rim Grand Canyon

[Mike M]

Heading out w/ the guys in mid April for a run, here's what I've tentatively come up with

[Adan Lopez]

Mike,
Not to nit pick at you but why leukotape and duct tape? Ha ha! Look at me! I dont even know what my whole pack weighs and here I am picking your gear list apart! awesome.

Getting close my friend, cant wait to high five you on the way down!

[Mike M]

Adan- please pick away my friend, that's why I posted it up :)

my thought was that if I have a blister I'd probably go w/ the Leukotape as I've had good luck w/ it, the duct tape was added if the need arose to tape an ankle or achilles and shoe or pack repair; I could probably eliminate the Leukotape if I had to, but w/ the Benzoin it only weighs 6 grams

[Art …]

Mike I'll just mention a couple quick things, then maybe more later.

your pack is a bit on the heavy side but you gotta use what you have.
yours = 17.1oz , mine = 10.6oz

your carried clothing seems pretty minimal by my Southern California standards, but you being from Montana, your blood is probably thicker.
yours = 14.2oz , mine = 18oz if weather is good, 28oz if weather is iffy.
I'll be carrying a Patagonia Nanopuff no matter what (9.7oz).
I'm prepared for temps down to 25-30* unless the last minute forecast calls for it to be hot.

water
I'll probably only carry water in my 2 – 21oz handhelds for two thirds of the run. then fill my spare 24oz pack bottle for the other third.
there should be adequate water unless its really hot.

your 7.5 lb pack weight is probably the max you want to carry.

[Sean Staplin]

Are you going to do the run non stop? What is your expected time. What time in the morning are you going to start?

I have run North rim to south. Took 5 hours for me.
My gear:
Runners
long shorts
short sleeve shirt
long sleeve shirt
light weight ball cap
fanny pack
perpetuem and bars for food
1 litre water capacity
TP (did not use)
Headlamp (did not use)
Mini bic
camera
watch
socks
asics gel runners
sunglasses

My philosophy on trail running is take as little as possible to be as light as possible. Safety in speed. For R2R2R I would only add a wind jacket and gloves and change to a body hugging running pack for the extra bars and bottles of perpetuem. The weather for me was perfect, 40-75. Did it in mid November. Make sure you are in really great shape and have run for the time expected. I had a few 4 hour mountain runs with 4000 vertical under my belt and that last hour was tough. That hill from the spring to the south rim seems steep after running for hours. :) Always wanted to do the R2R2R, Good Luck and tell us how it goes.

[Mike M]

Art- yeah the 5.5 is a little heavy, I was hoping to get by w/ the Talon 4 (11 oz including two empty 22 oz bottles)) lumbar pack, but could see I was going to run out of room w/ it- I still may experiment a little w/ it- possibly one handheld and then the two 22 oz bottles that come in the Talon???

agreed- clothing I've definitely parred it down (very hard to do for a Boy Scout!), I'll have my nanopuff w/ me- if it's going to be on the cold side it'll go in- mine weighs 10.8 oz

water- my thoughts exactly, I'm hoping to leave the platy empty for the majority of the trip (I'm thinking both up sections of N & S Kaibabs I'll need the extra water???)- w/o the full platy my pack is ~ 5 # (and decreasing w/ food consumed)

are you carrying a pair of extra socks? that's one item I've been thinking of adding

Sean- no, not non-stop- had several set backs in my training so the conditioning is not there for a non-stop. I'm planning on 14-15 hrs, it's possible I may be turning around at Roaring Springs (32 miles) as a plan B depending on how I feel- that will still be quite a feat for me :)

we're getting started around 4:30-ish so the headlamp will see some use for sure (hopefully only once!!!!)

I'm pretty sure I'm the rookie of the bunch, my running "career" started last May :)

Mike

[Sean Staplin]

Mike I think I might start at 3 am, and have the option of having more daylight at the end if needed. Otherwise have a great time. I am jealous of your trip.

[Eugene Smith]

Mike,

Your list looks solid to me, but I'm a R2R2R rookie so take my words lightly. Art is right about the pack, but it's what you're familiar with, so keep it.

[David Chenault]

Looks good Mike.

[Art …]

Mike –
no extra socks for me, I've never changed socks for a 50 miler, but that's a personal choice.

your camera looks nice and light. mine is 2oz heavier and I'm still on the fence about bringing it.

[Mike M]

thanks gents :)

Art-thanks, I know my trail runners let in a fair amount of fine dirt- might be sufficient to just clean the feet a bit and shake the socks out

camera is not optional for me- first time to the Grand Canyon and I want a LOT of pics :)

Mike

[Sumi Wada]

A couple of thoughts.

Not sure what the "fire" items are for. No open fires are allowed and you don't seem to be taking a stove.

While I realize it's part of the '10 essentials', you don't need compass, map, signal mirror. On the corridor trails in April, you're never going to be alone for long. I might take a whistle anyway.

I hike in trail runners and have never worn or wished I had gaiters on the corridor in the GC.

What happens if it rains?

[Mike M]

Sumi- emergency only on the fire stuff- VERY highly doubt I'll need it, but have been involved in too many SAR efforts to leave home w/ out it

ditto for the compass, map, mirror- again I concede low likelihood of using those items, but hard habit to break leaving them behind

Dirty Girl gaiters are simply for keeping pebbles, sand and other foreign items out- nothing more frustrating than having to stop for a small rock; besides these have skulls on them! :)

if rain is high probability, I'll have a rain jacket I can add (same goes for a very chilly forecast-I'll have some other arrows to grab from my quiver)

I hope it doesn't rain, not sure of the soil types in the GC, but rain here means nasty mud which would make things very challenging

Mike

[Sean Staplin]

Well, if the DIrty Girls have skulls, you gotta have em. :)

[P. Larson]

My DG's have skulls.

[David Thomas]

Mike:

I followed a suggestion on BPL last month and got a 2.5 oz "Sea-to-summit" daypack off of ebay and I'm going put a few more miles on. I've used it (carefully packed) for some miles last week.

I'd bag the mirror and lighter and knife and whistle – It's the main trail corridor:

North is one way, south is the other.
Need to get a message out? Tell a passing Boy Scout.
Need to start a fire? Rub two Boy Scouts together.
Need to trim a blister patch? Bring small scissors, not a knife.

Of course, most of it is water and food, and while there is water further on, don't scrimp on the food. I've got many 40- and 50-mile days under my belt of successfully gulping water at water stops and carrying relatively little, but YMMV – my wife's certainly does. But 2.34 quarts – more than half a gallon – seems heavy to me for April on a fast-paced trip, but I'll be slugging down a quart whenever there's water. -David

Editted to participate in the Great Sock Debate: My standard is a pair every 10 miles. I'd be doing laundry on a thru-hike, but changing often (and having options) has helped me on the 50-mile days. It also might allow you to forego the weight and heat of the gaiters. I HATE pebbles in my shoes, but slightly higher socks and much more frequent changes have been my solution.

[Art …]

Re Great Sock Debate …
David – that has got to be some kind of sock changing record, every 10 miles ?
are you used to hiking in wet conditions or something ?

p.s. Pack
that does look like a really nice, inexpensive, ultralight pack.
maybe too light for running, but for power hiking looks great.
I need to find a place to check it out personally.

[Mike M]

^^ nice taste in gaiters! :)

David- that's a light pack!!!

for a couple of ounces I'll probably keep those bits just for peace of mind, you never know when a Boy Scout might need something along the way :)

as far as water, it should be the vast majority just two hand helds, the 1 L platy bottle is for reserve; this last weekend I did a run that was just a little over 3 hours and the two handhelds weren't enough- I started to really have to miser the water at the end and was definitely on the dehydrated end of the scale when I got back to pickup- my runs of two hours the two handhelds seem just about right

if my thinking is right, I should be fine to Phantom, fine to Cottonwood, more than fine to Roaring Springs w/ just the handhelds- if the angels are really singing and I go on to the NK, I'll have the liter platy filled up at Roaring and possibly on the way back at Phantom for the SK

Mike

[Eugene Smith]

Mike,

Considering your plans are up in the air for a full R2R2R and you're planning on making a decision on the fly, I think your setup looks good and gives you a margin of safety and flexibility for what will be a very long day. Other than the fire kit and knife I think everything else is paired down well, really a few extra ozs arent going to break your back.

I take it you're intending to nix trekking poles?

Why the doubling up on Capilene 1? Maybe pack a Cap 2 or equivalent T-shirt and use arm sleeves instead, gives you greater temp regulation w/o having to stop and remove or add a top. Just a thought.

[Mike M]

Eugene- yup- nixing the poles (hand helds would make really tough anyways)

that's something I never really gave any thought to be honest, am liking the leg sleeves that Dan recommended for my calves, don't have those listed but am pretty sure I'm going to be wearing them :)

I substituted a SAK classic for the Ladybug (saves 0.1 oz) because the scissor would be handy, nixing a wetfire cube and the mini Bic, leaves me w/ 0.3 oz for the fire kit (sparklite and 4 tinder tabs) btw I'll be sending those TSA no-no's to you in about a week :)

Mike

[Mike M]

figured I'd update this thread seeing as I made it out alive :)

first the weather forecast changed on us drastically a few days out, calling for snow & rain with highs in the mid 30's and this time the weather man was spot on

that meant carrying a puffy for safety sake and also a rain shell, that meant my Talon 5.5 was too small and I went w/ my Talon 11- fortunately it only weighs 6 oz more

in addition I added rain mitts and a balaclava to the above

my clothing worn changed to a LS Cap 1 top; the windshirt was worn the entire length (the hood came in dam(n) handy w/ the blizzard like conditions both in the morning and evening on the South Rim, the DWR also did a great job and never needed the rain shell; R1 tights, Cap 4 beanie and the glove liners were worn almost all of the run

Having the small emergency items gave me a little peace of mind (as did the extra layers); I don't think I'd change anything if I were to run it again in similar conditions- I'd certainly go to the smaller pack if the weather was going to be warmer

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