Rim To Rim To Rim: Grand Canyon, Part 4

This journal from an internet hiking buddy, Rich Hale, who has done the rim to rim to rim four times before hanging up his internet site, adventurehiking.com, a few years ago:

In 1998 my best friend and I decided to hike the Grand Canyon - Rim to Rim to Rim.

Depending on the route you take, the distance from the South rim to the North rim and back is between 48 and 50 miles. A hike most people would prefer to do in three or four days. We, on the other hand, had heard about an informal race/event where they do the entire distance in under 24 hours.

I say race/event, because only a handful of runners are actually racing, yet most all the runners and hikers do share a common goal. That is a goal of having a completion time of under 24 hours. You see, the story we heard is if you complete the hike in under 24 hours, you have done "The Death March".

On the other hand if you take 24 hours and 10 minutes, you haven't done the Death March; you have merely gone hiking in the Grand Canyon for "Two" days.

Exactly why we decided to do this is still a mystery, but we did it, and if you ever do something like this yourself, it would be wise if you didn't let the memory of pain fade too quickly, because if you do, you too may end up doing it again and again.

	1998 - Trip No. 1	This is a record of our first triple rim crossing. Although lacking the detail of our second trip, it gives the reader a little insight into the event. Just don't make the mistake of reading this story and thinking you've learned everything you need to learn before hiking the Grand Canyon.

	2000 - Trip No. 2	The story of our second Rim to Rim to Rim crossing and a more detailed look at the hike, mistakes we made and how to avoid them. Don't even think about going rim to rim to rim without reading this one.

	2001 - Trip No. 3	This story is fairly long and gets into the heart and soul of a of the experience. I expect this to be of greater interest to those who are enticed by such an endeavor than those who wonder why in the hell anyone would ever want to do such a thing. Again, I write of what went wrong as much or more than I write of what went right. I do this for a couple of reasons: First is because I find things like quivering muscles, sleep deprivation, and dehydration more memorable and entertaining to write about than say an evening stroll in the park with Fido and Fifi. Second is anyone can write a success story - without it being of any real value to the reader. I have a sincere hope that my writing about what we did wrong, as well as what we did right, will help future Grand Canyon hikers have a safer and more enjoyable hiking experience. This was supposed to be our final triple rim hike, but I seem to remember saying that about our first and second hikes as well, so if you see another hike listed below this one, I guess we changed our minds . . . again.

	2002 Trip No. 4	Time permitting I'll write up our 4th triple rim hike and post it here. . . . okay, it's way past my deadline for a 2002 update, but it's only a hobby.