We just finished September 2017’s R2R and R2R2R.  I knew I had neglected the blog for a long time, but I just realized how long.

2016’s June R2R2R was exceptionally hot, as are the forecasted temps for this month.  Despite an early June hike date, the inner canyon was 115 and 117 on hike days.  Dangerously hot.  We pushed the start time back to 1 AM to give us a chance to get through The Box both directions.  It was the best decision under the circumstances, but never again will we R2R either direction over 110 degrees.  You  just can’t prepare for it and the rocks magnify the heat.

We saw multiple hikers with broken blood vessels in their legs and swelling from the heat, unable to pump blood out of their extremities.  Seasoned rim to rim hikers and runners who had never had this occur.

It was 115 on our South to North day.  We got an early start and made it down and through Phantom with no problem.  We made it through The Box, started resting often in what little shade there was which is almost none.  We took the detour to Ribbon Falls to get into the cold water.  In all these years I had never detoured to Ribbon and it was an amazing break from the heat.

Around Cottonwood the heat really became a factor.  By the time we left Manzanita (the last water stop as you start to climb out North Kaibab) we were moving slow.  One of our group became ill and I dropped back with her, she began vomiting every 20 minutes or so the entire way out.  A down-to-her-knees level of vomiting.  She is an experienced outdoors woman and Grand Canyon hiker, and she had never ever been sick like this.  We switched her from electrolyte flavored drinks (even the thought of the fruity flavor made her ill now) to plain water and salt (my preferred method).

We were alone by this point and even anti-nausea medication was not making any difference.  She never gave up though, never gave in, but I was not so sure I was going to get her out of there that day.  There is no way to get help and we encountered almost no other hikers that afternoon.  The people we did see were only marginally better off than her.  17 hours later we finished our crossing and she was OK the next day but we all realized that was a life threatening situation.  You just can’t get upside down with high heat and hydration, heat illness and exhaustion will strike even the fit and experienced endurance athlete.   Never again will we hike over 110 degrees.

I did not hike back North to South in that 2016 heat, but some in our group did.

That day it went to 117 degrees.  We pushed their start time back to midnight and told them to ride out the hot hours and wait until after 3 or 4 to climb out the Bright Angel Trail.  We always climb out Bright Angel Trail and we never hike up and out South Kaibab, no water and no shade.  They ended up sitting in the creek at Indian Gardens for 3 + hours then headed up in the late afternoon but even then it was difficult, extremely hard, and dangerously hot.  We were lucky.

June 2017

In all of these years, I have never been able to get a room at Phantom Ranch.  June 2017 was my lucky break and my husband and I went down there for 2 nights for a special occasion.  The smart people cancelled in light of the approaching heat, lol.

The forecast was not looking good and it teetered just below my 110 degree limit.  We got a late start on the way down and we did not start down from South Rim to Phantom until 11 AM and that day.  It was 109 official degrees.

I don’t know the temps on the trail.  At Indian Gardens the clocks said 100 in the shade and 110 on the trail, but then we started the brutal descent next to the black rock on the Devil’s Corkscrew and wave after wave of heat began.

We came upon a man near the bottom of the Corkscrew.  We heard about him from a few hikers we passed along the way “Guy alone in the Corkscrew, in trouble, out of water, share water if you can, someone is going to look for a ranger at Indian Gardens”.  Solo hiking is the absolute worst, dumbest thing to do down there.  You can get heat sick in an instant, wander off trail, be confused, make bad decisions, die.  Sure enough we found the solo and gave him water.  He was middle age, visibly physically worn out, and all he had were 2 tiny plastic bottles for water.   Both empty.  He had spent the night before at Phantom but he refused to turn around with us and head back to Phantom.

Some decisions we live with, some decisions we live in spite of.

Speaking of Park Rangers … we didn’t see any this trip.  Not one.  We heard there are normally 4 at Phantom but recent budget cuts to the National Parks cut that number down to 1 and the only 1 down there then was out on search and rescue looking for a missing 72 year old man.   We normally see them intervening at the top of Bright Angel helping tourists not hike down farther than they should, but there were none this time.   Cuts to park budgets are horrible, so anyone thinking they might get rescued if they get in trouble should really think again.  There is certainly no 911 down there.

Phantom itself was a delight.  It is gorgeous down there.  The stars, the sights.  The cabin was darling, the food (only available to those staying at the cabins) was amazing, they even had beer and wine so I finally had my first beer in the Canyon!!  But mother nature gave us 114 degrees that weekend so when we could no longer sit on boaters beach with our legs in the Colorado River we resorted to laying on the tile floor in the cabin to try and cool off.  It was just too hot in the afternoon to do anything else.

I had printed off an hour by hour forecast for both Phantom Ranch and Indian Gardens before we left, off NOAA.  Go to forecast.weather.gov, search Phantom Ranch Grand Canyon Arizona (and then Indian Gardens Grand Canyon Arizona), and down under additional forecasts and information click on Hourly Weather Forecast.  Print it out and take it with you.  We studied it and realized our best bet was to set the alarm for midnight and to begin our River to South Rim via Bright Angel no later than 12:30 AM.  And so we did.

The night sky was amazing, the Milky Way was a cloudy ribbon in the sky.  It turns out midnight is the witching hour for white little moths and scorpions so we saw a number of new friends along the way.  We made it to Indian Gardens wells before daybreak and we hiked out as the sun started to scorch us again.  

The decision to hike at midnight was fantastic and a highlight to be repeated in years to come.


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Nothing kicks off summer like the opening of the North Rim for the annual 6 month summer season.  I can’t wait to return in 3 weeks.

For those of you headed into the inner canyon soon – it is going to be HOT this year.  I mean double dog diggity hot.  Today was 104 in Phoenix which is P.D.H. for May 12th.  The temps at the bottom of the Grand Canyon mirror Phoenix.

I have not posted much lately because we have been in the Grand Canyon on another amazing whitewater raft trip.  I’m so happy about that.  It gave us a chance to almost die hiking Thunder River Trail (not kidding, we all ran out of water and a 6 mile hike ended up as an 8.5 mile hike where we rose and fell the same 500 feet about 4 times … and we never reached our destination), slept under the stars, touch the Great Unconformity (where 1.2 billion years of rock is missing in the Grand Canyon), see waterfalls, slept outside in 2 sandstorms, did slot canyons in water where I had to swim,

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Mile 150

and meet a whole bunch of awesome hikers and boaters who all love the Canyon.   And we lived for a week without power, phones, and stress.

I tried out my hiking shoes (failed), new socks, and other gear.  A wonderful hiking prep and BY FAR the only way to see the Grand Canyon.

My hiking group will return to hike r2r2r in 3 weeks and I’m so very excited.  Because no matter how pretty the place is, the people you are with either make it or break it for you.  True.

3 months until we hike !

by Jean on February 27, 2016

OH BOY, 3 months until our feet hit the trail for R2R2R 2016.  Several of us will be down there in a couple of months for some inner canyon hiking, hard to believe we may hike in or out on snow.   I’ll post after we get back on trail and water conditions.  And then a month or so later we will be roasting in over 100 – 110 degree temps.   Love it.

I am on my yearly quest for better hiking shoes (always take 2 pairs just in case your “good” pair turns “bad”).  Have not found them yet!

I’ve added Vagal Nerve Stimulation this year to cut down on inflammation, so I am very excited to see what it does for my abilities and recovery this year.  Last year, hiking soon after a heat stroke, was a challenge but I am all better and my tests are normal.   Ready to go!

So excited to hike again soon, this is the highlight of each year.

17.5 inches of snow on South Rim – Just WOW

by Jean on January 14, 2016

Why hello, my neglected blog.  I promise to update you soon as the 2016 R2R2R summer season rapidly approaches and my hiking once again becomes a priority.  We did escape recently on a trek up to see the 17.5 inch snowfall at the South Rim that fell over a 2 day period last week.  To think that in 5 short months it will be well over 100 degrees is difficult to do when standing on such arctic ground cover.

I’ve never seen this much snow there.  I could peer over and see snow covering the bathroom roof and rock ledge down at the 3 Mile Resthouse down Bright Angel Trail.  I could also look into the upper “box” canyon from Phantom going towards Cottonwood and snow was visible on the lower levels where the box opens closer to the approx Ribbon Falls (?) area.  So much of the North Rim was white.  It was … well … a winter wonderland-spectacular kind of view.

Enjoy!  Grand Canyon Jean

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No water, hikers. Not kidding, read the NPS updates!

October 26, 2015

  Rule #1.  Educate yourself about current conditions. If you aren’t a geek like me watching the National Park Service News Releases … well, you should. Once you step below the Rim you’d better darn skippy have water to drink or a water source to drink from.  Or you, well, you die.  Pretty clear, yes? […]

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Dream Come True, a Visit to GC … upper 80’s years old

October 11, 2015

It was a wonderful week at the Grand Canyon.  A couple of upper 80 year olds saw where a daughter Rim to Rim to Rims.  This was a first peek at the spectacular South Rim.  After dinner at the El Tovar, in the darkness of night, we looked into the inky blackness and we saw […]

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June 2015 R2R2R. Whew.

August 19, 2015

June 2015 R2R2R.  48.3 miles in 2 days according to the GPS, 20,000 feet elevation change, 100+ degrees. This post is a little late for several reasons, most of all because I’ve been recovering from the trip (!), work (!!), and a mini-stroke concussion (!!!) of sorts. Our R2R2R 2015 hike was a success.  24 […]

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Snow on North Rim – on Memorial Day Weekend !!

May 23, 2015

This photo was taken Friday night (yesterday) on the North Rim.  5/22/15.  There is nothing like kicking off summer with a little winter, eh? Total wardrobe change. On day one, hiking Rim to Rim going South Rim to North Rim, you hit the tall pines around the Supai Tunnel.  That is when I notice the […]

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Wicking Sports Apparel Failure – Overheated – Repeated Yawning

April 30, 2015

Did my efforts to stay cool and dry in a high performance wicking tank make me sick, fatigued, bloated, dizzy – and spike my neurological testing?  I think so. I bought a tight fitting tank top to hike in, it sounded like a warm weather hiker’s dream tank.  It has special high performance fabric that […]

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75 days out, WTB? (what the blister?!)

March 14, 2015

A blister is not what you want to see when you are 75 days away from an R2R2R hike. Practice hike in the shoes you want to wear at the Canyon in the months leading up to the hike.  And ever don’t try to make bad shoes “work”.  Want to try different socks a couple of […]

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