36 hours. 45 miles. 20000+ feet of elevation change (down, up, down, up). 120 degree heat. 20 liters of water consumed. Two traverses of the Grand Canyon, and two absolutely knackered legs.
On Monday, my friend Liv and I walked across the breadth of the Grand Canyon, descending from the North Rim along the North Kaibab trail, following Bright Angel Creek through its box canyon to the Colorado River, and then ascending the Bright Angel trail to the South Rim. We liked it so much, on Tuesday we did it again (actually we had to get back to our car on the other side), this time descending the South Kaibab trail to the Colorado, and returning to the North Rim via the North Kaibab trail. To put it simply, it was a grueling hike, mostly due to the heat (at times it was 108 in the shade! and at 5pm, it was still 115!), but the distance and elevation change certainly contributed to the challenge. The last mile of each day my legs felt like blocks of cement--sitting down to a meal and a beer at the top never felt so good!
The rewards however, were some stunning views of the Grand Canyon, an exceptional hike, a seemingly broken body (strangely, a good hurt), and the satisfaction of saying I crossed the Grand Canyon on foot. Twice.
Below are some of my photos (and a few of Liv's), which only begin to tell the story of two monster days... 
Thursday, August 14
Rim to Rim to Rim
3 comments:
Awesome undertaking!
Awesome photos!
don't know how you two did it in that heat!
love m
Nice mustachio, weirdo. We miss you; glad you're having such a good time. My dad and I went white-water tubing on the South Toe last week when it was 4.5 feet flooded. No Colorado River but pretty fun.
not to be pushy, but some of readers are getting impatient. =)
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