Grand Canyon- Double Crossing aka “Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim”- BPL Group Run

this isn’t looking so good :(

Since the weather people are always wrong we are sure to see great weather.

You have ta look at tha details, ive been watching that storm…But its only a 20% chance of rain that day, So, thats an 80% chance it wont, (yesterday, the report said 40% chance…so its goin down… and even wen it does rain here it moves on pretty fast….im goin rain or shine, i wont melt.

seeing I'm flying a 1000 miles to get there, kind of goes w/o saying :)

well no mention today on the GC web site of the pipeline break that was posted April 5. does that mean its been repaired ?

hmmm, freezing rain, or scorching heat. which would we prefer ?

I received a reply yesterday from my friend who works with the USFS and lives at the S. Rim Village, he told me the pipeline is fixed and Cottonwood and Roaring Springs will be running soon if not currently.

Also the trails are clear all the way up N. Kaibab, he said there should be no need (as of now) for microspikes.

Water should be fine.

Now for that weather? Hmmm. I would rather take scorching heat than freezing rain, but I'm a desert rat. Ill take what I can get, looking forward to this.

If I have any say I'll take the cold weather. However, the cold-and-wet is another story. Hopefully those 50-60F temps will occur sans the possible precipitation.

Fun times. Freezing rain changes the game plan a bit. As Dan said…I love cold, but cold and wet for 12 hours or more is a whole different thing.
But hey, what can we do. I guess this means I'll carry a bigger pack, some raingear, and a synthetic puffy.

It still scares me less than scorching heat though….

Mike,
rain or shine, kind of goes w/o saying :)

A great "old guy" attitude!

I checked local weather just now,(sunday 8th) and now it says zero percent chance of rain for the 14th, just cool n cloudy. So, it went from 40%, ta 20% ta 0%…however its now 50% chance for friday, so it may b a lil wet when u arrive….its still 5 days away though, so im sure itll change again! Ha!

and also…just caus its rainin a lil bit up on the rim, has nothin to do with the weather in the canyon…bring sum rain gear stuff in the car, and see how things look at like 0400 saturday i suppose.

Im really glad this is going on this weekend! Its given me something good to keep focused on.

yup- now it's saying cloudy and 48, cool and cloudy would be ideal (for us non-desert rat types anyways :))

So how does the canyon soil hold up to a good drenching?

Water and cold could mean muddy conditions on the right types of soil and it could also mean icy conditions near the rims. I'll be bringing spikes, rain shell, insulation, two extra socks, and bivy with me just in case. Now figuring out how I would fit all that in my running pack is going to be a challenge. Fortunately, Most of this will actually stay in the car but might as well be ready.

from my past hikes I think the soil is mostly pretty sandy. However I did encounter some mud conditions on the last 500-1000 feet up to the north rim where there is more forest.

no spikes for me.
if there is any ice, it will be mild, and only for a short ways near the rim. not worth the weight for the entire run … for me.

I was thinking microspikes as well to throw in, but I'm just doing a carry-on- I'm afraid TSA might not let them go by :(

Figures.

Just read the BP magazine writup of the R2R2R and now I'm starting to think that it can't be done. Doom, Gloom, Death and Destruction. See below and make sure you read the comments on Page 3. :O

http://www.backpacker.com/hiking_new_life_list_monster_dayhike/destinations/14373

Should make for an interesting trip report! Defying Death and the Odds.

Sshhhh….Second thoughts can be contagious.
:)

I doubt there's anyone in our group that isn't wondering what's in store for them on Saturday. There are certainly plenty of daunting and scary scenarios that anyone can conjure up.

But that's also why we're all going out there. If the outcome were guaranteed, there would be no point to it, would there?

And it's very easy to second guess training. Was it enough? Have I done everything I can? Am I ready? I doubt there are many athletes on Earth, regardless of caliber, that don't dwell on these questions come performance day. I'm certainly going through plenty myself, possibly being too hard on myself, perhaps not being hard enough. Who knows.

I know there's going to be some pain waiting out there in some shape or form for all of us. I know things can go wrong. But I have to fall back on the belief that I'm ready, that I've put in enough big days over the last months and years to be ready, that I know my body well enough.

One thing I certainly can't afford to do right now is listen to any stranger's opinion of how crazy, stupid, dangerous, hard, or risky this is. So I stopped reading those comments in the article as soon as I could see where they were going.
Hard is a relative term, but I know that plenty of us have put in many hard days yet still finished knowing we could have gone harder.

I believe I've done enough to get me across and back in one piece….So what the hell, let's go see.

Craig,
I'm not really having any second thought at all. I was packing up for the trip and wanted to get more info on water to know how I wanted to pack out the Malto. I ran across that article with the comments and was quite entertained. It is amazing how many folks view a certain challenge as completely insurmountable or that "it must not be fun for others since it would be fun for me."

You do bring up an interesting point…… Now that we are done with the training how is their condition vs there desire or expectations. Scale of 1-10 where 10 is completely ready and 1 is Doom, Gloom, Death and Destruction.

I would say that I'm about at an 8. Overall the training went actually better than expected but I took off two points because I had limited elevation and I'm still 3 lbs. over my target weight.

How about others?

the thing about something like the RRR is that if you go slow enough you can go any distance. the only real question mark is being able to go xx distance in xx time.
so if somewhere along the trail on April 14, if you feel too stressed out, just slow down a bit, and it will be no problem getting the job done … rain or shine.

I'm not even going to read that Backpacker article, they enjoy sensationalizing everything and crank out garbage consistently. There editors are proficient with the use of hyperbole.

I am ready to do this ready or not.

I guess if I had to use your scale Greg, I'm like a 7. I have an idea what this is going to be like but actually getting out there and doing it is a whole different thing.

hmmm, 2 weeks ago I was an 8.5, then 2 days after Old Goat I caught a really bad cold. should be back up to 7 by April 14, or even 8 again if this week goes well.

the thing in my favor is I know exactly what to expect, and pretty much exactly how I'll react to it, so one foot in front of the other.

I am planning to pack powder drink mixes – other than plastic baggies rolled and put into a larger bag or plastic vessels does anyone have advice on how to pack this stuff well? I guess packing them tight is a big thing and maybe rolling them up and putting a piece of tape around to hold them tight..?

Hmmm…hard to rate it. I'd guess I'd say I'd grade my training thus far as a B-. I could've been more disciplined. But contrasted with other markers, I'm running stronger than last year when I ran an 8 hour 50K with 9000' last spring in Bishop(race was primarily at over 7000' as well). So overall, I guess I'm satisfied with where I am.

How am I feeling? Probably a 7. But we'll see what happens on Saturday. Maybe I'll be inspired for some personal heroics, maybe I'll just plod/hike the whole thing out.