A continuing story of Rich and Steve's Grand (canyon) Adventure.

In 1998 my best friend, Steve Tackett, and I decided to test our physical limitations and hike the Grand Canyon Rim to Rim to Rim. It was a 48-mile round trip with a self-imposed time limitation of 24 hours from start to finish.

But if you're familiar with our story, you already know that. If you just dropped in on this page, you can read about our first trip at: Rich & Steve's Grand Canyon Adventures.

This is an update on our second hike after skipping 1999 and going Rim to Rim to Rim again in the spring of 2000. Unlike most of my hiking stories, this isn't a short story. If all you need is a feeling of what it's like to hike the Grand Canyon rim to rim to rim in a day, my first story may be just what you're looking for. This story, on the other hand, is about the continuing journey of two men who found themselves making the transition from day hiking to ultra hiking and running. A transition that was easier than we thought, but also more difficult than we could have ever imagined.

After our first triple rim hike it took two years before we decided to do it again. Why did we wait two years after the first hike to do it again? Because we never actually intended on doing it again, and had you seen the way we looked after our first hike, you could see why. Only, as time went along, we couldn't help but wonder how we would feel and what our time would be, if we corrected a handful of mistakes we made on our first trip. What if we carried less weight, drank more water, and ate better food? What if we had it all to do over again? Could we take 2, 3, or even 4 hours off our original time? Even more importantly, could we come back up the South Rim in better shape and higher spirits than before? I guess you know there's only one way to answer questions like these, and that would be to do it all over again.

Then again, why do we even care what it would be like to improve on the above? We had already hiked the Grand Canyon rim to rim to rim in a single day, and you can go on meeting people for a lifetime and never meet anyone else who's done that. What do we care if we could have done it a little faster or a little better? For all the hard work and all the pain, what's it really worth? Personal accomplishment? Pride in a job well done? The challenge? Who knows, maybe it's a little bit of all the above? Whatever the underlying reason is that people do things like this may be, I know the main reason we're doing it is just because we want to. So until someone figures out why people do things like this (and finds a cure for it), people like us are likely to just keep on doing it.

Okay, it's a go, now what? Wait, I know. No, I mean, I know, WEIGHT!

First of all let's lighten the load and leave the CD and cassette players at home. What we thought would be a really great idea of listening to our favorite motivational music along the way almost immediately went awry. What we thought would be motivational quickly turned to irritating and distracting, so about half way up the North Rim, we had both turned off the music and begun to focus entirely on putting one foot in front of the other. It seems we had both underestimated how quickly we would tire of our favorite songs and way underestimated how many times those songs would repeat themselves in 24 hours.

What we did know was that we now had to carry these silent instruments of uselessness in our backpacks for another 30 miles or so. By the way, if it hadn't been against the laws of man and nature, as we came back down from the North Rim, crossing over the Colorado River on our way up the final 9 miles of the South Rim, I would have most assuredly tossed this now extremely heavy piece of useless electronics into the deepest, fastest flowing section of the river I could find. But before that, I would have turned it on and cranked up the volume, so I could hear its little circuits sizzle and pop as the cold river water rushed in and put an end to it's miserable little existence. Now you know approximately how much we regretted carrying any more weight than was absolutely necessary on a 48-mile day-hike.

In addition to leaving our music behind, we also decided to lessen the load by stashing our headlamps, spare batteries, windbreakers and gloves at the bottom of the South Rim as soon as it was daylight. We didn't figure there was any sense in carrying the additional weight up to the North Rim and back, when we wouldn't be using any of that stuff until later in the evening anyway.

Our next step in lightening the load was to prepare food stashes we could leave along the way. Our first stash would be dropped off about a quarter of a mile past Phantom Ranch. There we would leave only the amount of food it would take us to make it back up the South Rim again. Our next stash would be right at Roaring Springs, which meant all we needed to carry up the North Rim was exactly what it would take to fuel us to the top and back down to our stash again.

Had you seen how small our food stashes were, it could make you laugh, but to us it wasn't just a few ounces of unnecessary weight we were leaving behind, it was cargo weighed in tonnage.

After having lessened the weight within our backpacks, it was time to switch packs all together. Our original packs were the medium size Gregory Mirage daypacks and were the perfect size for the way-too-much stuff we carried on our first trip. Only, with the new, leaner-meaner, hiking essentials laid out, I was able to downsize my pack to the smaller Gregory pack, which is just big enough to carry a hundred ounce water bladder and our bare essentials stuffed tightly into its little pocket and net pouch. Additionally, I wore a small belt back, which gave me quick access to my instant energy food. Steve opted away from the backpack altogether and went with a belt pack & water bottles.

Now, if you read my first article, Rich & Steve's Grand (canyon) Adventure, I had the erroneous impression that I could easily live on Power Gel for 24 hours. Boy, was I ever wrong! I had gotten this impression from having fast packed 22 miles to the top of Mt. Whitney and back with no other energy source than a carbo fuel called Gookinade. Problem is, I was only thinking about how I felt when I reached the top of the mountain, which took 3 hours and 54 minutes. I wasn't thinking about how I felt when I got back to the Whitney Portal Store, where I quickly devoured a huge chicken burger and fries. Had I properly imagined hiking Mt. Whitney TWICE in a day, and without stopping in for a chicken burger in the middle, I would have had a better understanding that man can't live on Power Gel alone for a hike of this magnitude.

So the question is, what do we eat on a 48-mile day hike?

Well, as you can tell from the way I referred to our little food stashes it still wasn't all that much in volume, but it did add up to more than 5,000 calories in 20 hours. Specifically, each of my stashes would consist of an energy bar or two, a handful of jellybeans, a baggie of Wheat Thins and a baggie of powdered Endurox performance recovery drink, and/or a baggie of powdered Total Balance meal replacement drink.

How we came to the decision to eat 5,000 calories instead of 3,000 calories or maybe 9,000 calories was based on Runners World Magazine, Trail Runner Magazine, and various running books I've read, all saying you burn approximately 120 calories per mile while running. With the Grand Canyon being both easy downhill and difficult uphill, let's say it averages out to calorie consumption equal to that of a steady run of 48 miles, or 5,760 calories.

On top of this, we all need a couple thousand daily calories to fuel our bodies, even if all we did was sit around and watch TV all day. This takes us up to 7,760 calories. Lucky for us a well-nourished and rested body already has a couple thousand calories stored away and ready to go at any given time. Then, when you consider at least some of our energy will be coming from our (strategically stored) fat cells, 5,000 calories should be more than enough to fuel us through the experience.

Knowing how many calories we needed to consume was still the easy part. The difficult part was figuring out what form these calories should come in. A total depletion of energy during our first triple rim crossing already proved we didn't know what to eat on a trip like this and most of the available information about eating during exercise, refers to marathons or backpacking. Even though a marathon is a major calorie burner and so is backpacking, an average marathoner is at the finish line in about 5 hours, and a backpacker may take as many as three days to hike the Grand Canyon Rim to Rim to Rim, during which they'll spend more time sitting around the campfire, cooking and eating, than our entire trip is supposed to take.

Knowing our poor diet was a major factor in our first hike, I sought out the advise of an ultra-athlete friend of mine, Ron Hudson. He suggested, among other things, that we take Wheat Thins with extra salt. Ron said, not only would this provide us with the much needed sodium we were sweating out, but it would also be a nice taste and texture contrast to the constant supply of sweet carbs we would be consuming all day.

Akin to Ron's advice, and equally important, was an article I read in Trail Runner Magazine. The article was discussing the best energy foods to eat on an ultra run. Basically, it said anything you will eat on an ultra is better than anything you won't eat on an ultra.

What they mean by this is it's easy to find high-energy food bars on the shelves these days. They're in every health food store, super market, quick-stop grocery and gas station mini mart, but if you don't like the taste, you won't eat them. Say for example, you ate one of your favorite bars every 30 minutes for 16 hours straight. At 180 calories each, that would provide you with 5,760 calories, the amount needed to hike the Grand Canyon rim to rim to rim. It's even more unlikely you'll continue to eat bad or bland tasting bars after you've already eaten fifteen or twenty of them by early afternoon and still have five or six hours of hiking still in front of you. Even your favorite energy bar can be less than tasty under these circumstances.

If there's a trick to selecting the right assortment of high-energy foods for an ultra, it can be summed up in these few words "Personal Taste and Diversity".

With lessons learned, Steve and I set off at 2:30 A.M., May 13, 2000 . . .

on our second Grand Canyon triple cross. Our endurance did improve considerably on this trip. Ron's advice to add Wheat Thins to our diet was right on the money, but I still underestimated my sodium loss and didn't bother to add the additional salt he suggested. This turned out to be my undoing, because by the time we got back to the Phantom Ranch, with nine and a half miles to go � I was wasted. Since then I've read a little about the effects of low sodium in the human body and it's, to say the least, frightening. Here are just two little paragraphs on sodium deficiency:

"Sodium plays an essential role in the regulation of blood pressure and blood volume. It also assists with proper muscle contraction and the transmission of nerve impulses. Moderate sodium intake increases resistance to heat cramps and heat stroke, especially during periods of excessive fluid loss through sweating."

"Sodium deficiency can be attributed to starvation, vomiting, diarrhea, extreme sweating, or any condition with excessive fluid loss. Symptoms of sodium deficiency include intestinal gas, weight loss, short attention span, vomiting, heart palpitations and muscle weakness. Deficiency can cause a buildup of acids in the body, which can lead to arthritis, rheumatism and neuralgia."

Being a cold weather person by nature, I've never done all that well in the sun anyway. During our trip this year I drank over 4 gallons of water in 20 hours and 48 miles. Even with my Endurox replacement drink and salty crackers, I had flushed a tremendous amount of salt out of my system. As we started up the south rim from Phantom Ranch the sodium loss was catching up to me and by the time we reached Indian Gardens I was depleted. My sodium loss and dehydration cost us at least an hour and maybe two.

But, I'm getting ahead of myself.

As we started down the Bright Angle trail or spirits were high and so was the temperature. In 98 we were absolutely freezing as we started down the trail, this year we were comfortably cool. The warmer early morning temperature was nice, but we also knew we would be paying the price on our way back from the north rim. A comfortably warm morning meant 85 degrees, or more, near the canyon floor in the afternoon.

Our hiking pace down the Bright Angle Trail was what you may call a scurry. I say it that way because we weren't actually running, nor were we just hiking fast. We wanted to move quickly, but without the pounding of a steep downhill run, so we kind of scurried down the trail.

I love my Princeton Tec Solo headlamp. It's light, bright and with the halogen bulb and bumpy reflector, casts a smooth white light on the trail. Only we had a problem. With Steve leading the way and me close behind I quickly noticed that every particle of dust kicked up by Steve was being illuminated by my headlamp. It was like running through a micro-fine snowstorm of dust.

To solve the problem I took off my headlamp and used it as a standard (hand-held) flashlight. This turned into a blessing in disguise as I soon discovered not one, but four good reasons to hold my headlamp on the way down the canyon.

By daylight we had reached the bottom of Bright Angle Trail and it was time to stash our windbreakers, gloves, headlamps and batteries. With that done, we were off to Phantom Ranch � our first water refill station. We could have refilled at Indian Gardens on the way down, but in the cool morning air, we thought we had plenty of water for the entire trip down.

In hindsight, I should have drank more water on the way down.

Yes I felt great, but had I drank more water on the way down, I would have started up the other side fully hydrated instead of mostly hydrated. This was something that would be back to haunt me.

Just past Phantom Ranch we dug a hole in the sand and buried our first food stash. With most of our energy still abounding within us, it was hard taking time out to bury such a small amount of weight, but remembering something I learned in skydiving helped me stick to our plan. From day one we were taught to �Plan your dive and dive your plan�. Making mistakes in skydiving just isn't acceptable and the best way to make a mistake is to make last minute changes to the plan before you jump out the door. It took the Grand Canyon for me to recognize extreme hiking should be looked at in the same way.

Our next stop was Cottonwood Camp, our second water fill station. Next was Roaring Falls where we again took a few minutes to stash our little packets of food among the rocks, refilled our water for a third time and continued up to the North Rim.

Going up to the North rim should have been a fairly uneventful trip. Only Steve, who is generally a meticulous planner, had somehow deviated from the concept of plan your hike and hike your plan. At the last minute, fearing how the constant pounding our hike may affect his knees, added a pair of new (and thicker) insoles to his tried and proven hiking shoes. By the time we reached Cottonwood Camp and all the way up the North Kaibab Trail, Steve's pace had slowed little by little as he battled sore feet and blisters from his now ill-fitting shoes. In hindsight, of course, Steve could kick himself for making such a basic mistake, but I believe it's a mistake he will never make again.

For me, the most memorable part of the North Kaibab Trail was when Steve, who was about 20 feet in front of me said, "If you know what's good for you, you won't look up." Knowing Steve as I do, I didn't even think about looking up. I figured if the trail was becoming steep enough for Steve to say that, I'd just keep looking at my feet as I waited for him to say it was okay to look up again. When he said it, I immediately turned around and looked at where we had just come from. Yes indeed, that was a steep little section of uphill! I thanked Steve for the heads-up . . . or heads-down, as the case may be, and we continued on up to the North rim and our halfway point.

Now we come to a part where some of the more "macho men" may have to skip ahead, as it's rather humbling. As Steve and I reached the North Rim and checked our watches to make sure we were still on schedule, two women zipped up to the top where we were standing. Only they looked to be in much better shape and spirits than we were. It turns out Deborah and Les had left the South rim sometime after we had and (we learned later in an E-mail) they had gotten back to the South rim around 6:30 P.M., some 4 hours ahead of us. As humbling as it is, they were a great inspiration and gave us lots of encouragement for the return trip. On top of all that, Deborah took a picture of Steve and me standing on the North rim and E-mailed it to me. I now use that picture on the front page of our Grand Canyon hikes. So, thank you ladies for your friendship and inspiration.

Our stay on the North rim was only about 20 minutes, during which time we snacked a little, rested and once again refilled our water supply. Then it was off on our 24-mile trip back to the South rim.

Within 30 minutes or so after we headed down from the North rim, we ran across a friend of mine, John Carna, who had shown up late and started the hike several hours after we had. After a few minutes of socializing John continued up to the North Rim and we continued down to Roaring Springs.

As we reached Roaring Springs, we were feeling pretty good, so we quickly filled up our water, picked up our food stashes and continued down to Cottonwood Camp. Once there we refilled with water again and continued on to our next food stash just before Phantom Ranch.

A few minutes later we reached the ranch and met up with a couple more friends, Scott Laabs and his sister Marti. Scott and Marti had come down that morning and were hanging around Phantom Ranch waiting for us to pass by, where they planned to join us on the way back to the top. Scott and I are good friends so I was looking forward seeing him and his sister. I was expecting their enthusiasm to be contagious and their fresh company a nice distraction to the hill climb in front of us.

Anyway, when we got back to Phantom Ranch, Scott and Marti were ready to go, but by then I was really starting to feel the affects of our hike. It was now 13 hours and 55 minutes from the time we started and with the clock ticking away I was distracted into some idle conversation with someone at a picnic table, wasting precious time talking about nothing. With Steve's assistance, I eventually broke away from our conversation and we headed across the Colorado River and up the Bright Angle Trail towards the South rim.

About this time my buddy, John Carna, who we had last seen on the way down from the North rim caught up to us again. When John found us I was sick, dizzy and dehydrated. At that point John offered me water, Steve was offering me food and Scott was offering to carry my backpack, but instead of accepting any offers, it was all I could do keep from telling these people who were supposed to be my friends to shut up and leave me alone. Yes, dehydration and exhaustion does wonders for your personality and perspective.

Eventually we reached Indian Gardens where Steve's two sons, Jim and David met us with a thermos of hot chicken soup. To this day I remember that soup as being one of the best meals of my life. The warm broth, the noodles, the little bits of chicken . . . yes, it was meal fit for a king.

Anyway, our group had now grown to Steve and myself, Steve's sons, Jim and David, Scott and his sister Marti, and John Carna. It seems our little group had turned into a party of seven and our rest stop was turning into a layover. Again, with a little encouragement from Steve, we eventually got moving, and with no rest stops left, we were off and headed for the top.

20 hours, 6 minutes and 18 seconds after we had started out that morning we were again standing on the South rim of the Grand Canyon, having taken almost 4 hours off our time from two years ago. There we said our goodbyes, gave high fives and hugged each other before we headed back to our hotel for a fitful, but welcome night's rest.

The next morning, after a great/big breakfast at the El Tavar Hotel, we again found ourselves standing on the South rim of the Grand Canyon staring silently at the North rim, which appeared to be an unbelievable distance away.

Oh, one more thing. Even as I stood there looking back across the 48 arduous miles of hiking we had just completed, I couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to give it another go next year.