For those who would rather watch an 11 minute video instead of read go here
Here is my 9.8 lb gear list (including 2 lb of camera gear) which kept me warm and comfortable down to the low 20s F
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1sJ3L1cVqFrDQXLSpByXQvJXja4K1Ii-ALTPeGrEHbPM/edit?usp=sharing
Hiking the Grand Canyon is something I’ve always wanted to do. I’d never even been to Arizona let alone see the Grand Canyon, so when I had some time off from work I decided the pull the trigger. The timing was perfect too. From what I understand the Canyon can get pretty hot in the summer time (over 115 F or something ridiculous), and winter can have the Canyon under snow (especially on the North Kaibab Trail), so I decided to plan my trip for the end of March / early April. I ended up starting the trail at the South Kaibab Trailhead on March 31 at around 8:00 am, hiking to the North Rim (which was still closed—a word on that in a moment) and camping overnight, and on April 1 around 7 pm at the Bright Angel Trailhead. For anyone thinking of doing the hike, I would definitely recommend to take the South Kaibab going down to the Colorado River, as there is no water between the trailhead and the River (you can access a pump just on the other side near the Bright Angel campground (if I’m remembering correctly).
In terms of weather, everything worked out perfectly. Temps when I started at the South Rim were around 30 F at 8:00 am, but warmed up to 80 F in the Canyon on the first day and 85 F on the second day heading back. When I got to the North Rim, there was plenty of snowdrifts (some of the signs were nearly buried in snow) and temps overnight were around 25 F, maybe a little colder.
One of the reasons for wanting to the do the trail in 2 days was permitting. If you know anything about GCNP, you have to apply months in advance for a permit at any of the campgrounds below the Rim (Bright Angel, Phantom Ranch, Cottonwood, etc.). By hiking to the North Rim in one day and camping there overnight, I avoided this hassle. When I called/emailed, they still asked that I get a permit to backcountry camp at the North Rim, so I paid the $18 and got a permit, although I’m not entirely sure that’s necessary. Maybe some AZT thru hikers can chime in? When I told the rangers I was planning to do a 2 day Rim2Rim2Rim they thought I was insane. Personally, I didn’t think it could be that bad since I’m used to 25 miles, and even though there’s quite a lot of elevation gain (11K? 12K)? the trail is well graded and compared to the AT in my backyard here on the East coast, it didn’t seem like it could be that “hard.” Aside from the permit issue, I also was kinda on a time crunch and it didn’t really make sense to do 15 mile days (I’d be sitting around in camp by probably 2 in the afternoon).
In terms of the hike itself, I was blown away by the views. I’d watched a bunch of Rim2Rim2Rim videos on YT and looked at pics, but nothing does it justice. I would say that the R2R2R is probably one of the favorite shorter hikes (sub 50 miles) I’ve done to date. It’s definitely worth the trip out to Arizona even if you don’t live around there. There is just so much variety in the terrain—desert, streams, the Colorado River of course, and alpine forest on the North Rim. You’ll also see plenty of wildlife (bighorn sheep, deer, etc.). I ended up shooting almost 100 GB of video in 2 days since I kept stopping every 10 minutes and setting up walk by shots (if you watch the vid you’ll see what I mean).
In terms of the elevation gain, I definitely felt the climb up the North Kaibab. 5-6k of gain in a day isn’t huge (you can easily do that on the AT in a day), but the continual up up up can be wearing mentally, and for me this was my first real hike of the year. Other than doing a few short day hikes on the AT to train, I was not in thru hiking shape for sure. The other issues is that I am coming from sea level (NYC area) and the North Rim is 8200’. I would say that if you are reasonably fit and used to doing 25 mile days and train a bit, you can do the hike in 2 days. I mean the FKT on this trail is only a few hours and looking at what Stringbean just did on the AZT recently, it can’t be that hard right? On other hand, on the way back up Bright Angel I saw people lying on the ground (day hikers) when the sun was setting, and I knew that they weren’t gonna make it until after dark. People die every year in the Canyon apparently, since there is no road that goes out of there. If you hike down, you have to hike back up. It’s kinda the opposite of summiting a mountain, going down is easy, but getting back up isn’t.
In terms of gear, I plan to do a full gear video, but basically I was rocking a 9.6 lb base weight, at least 2 pounds of which were camera gear. So if you don’t carry a camera, you could get by with a sub 8 lb gear list, even in early spring like I did. My big four: ZPacks Hexamid Solo tarp (now called “pocket tarp”), Neo Air XTherm pad, ZPacks 10 classic quilt/bag, and my custom DCF SWD 40 L pack. My kit was pretty dialed in, since I used virtually the exact same gear that I did on my recent section hike of Shenandoah Nat’l Park on the AT around Xmas.
The big challenge for this hike was adjusting to the different temps. I don’t think I’ve actually experienced this wide degree of temp difference in two days (25 F – 85 F ). I got a little dehydrated in the Canyon because I wasn’t expecting temps that warm (the previous night in my hotel room in Tusayan it was like 22 F outside), and I forgot to bring electrolyte tablets. I definitely would never attempt this hike in July or August (or even June probably).
I’m hoping to put together a how-to video guide on how to hike the trail. as well as a post-hike gear video on all the gear I brought on the trip.
Bottom line: if you haven’t hiked the R2R2R, you need to!
