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Austin, David and John Take a Walk in the Park
October, 2008
Click here to see photos from this hike and related fun. Click here to see Dave's videos from this hike.
This Grand Canyon adventure began originally as a plan to hike the Nankoweap Trail as a two night backpacking trip. The
Nankoweap is widely considered to be one of the hardest of the marked Grand Canyon trails. However, this did not come to
pass as a backcountry permit is required for this hike and none were available during the time we had planned to go.
I then dreamed up the bright idea of attempting one of the most extreme day hikes you can do. That is, a day hike rim to rim at
the Grand Canyon and then turn right around and hike back and do it in under 24 hours. This has been done by previous
hikers and always with some difficulty as you can imagine. I did the research and originally thought that this is something we all
could do but as I indicated, with difficulty. About a month before we all met at my house and talked about the preparations
necessary for the attempt. Everyone understood the seriousness of the attempt.
To give you some background, I have hiked from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon to the North Rim as a day hike three
times. My best time was the last time when I did it in 10 ½ hours. I felt so good at the end of the hike that I thought then I could
have hiked back right then. Hiking rim to rim at the Grand Canyon is a serious hike. Depending on the route it is either 23.5
miles or 24.7 miles each way with 5,000 feet of elevation loss at the beginning of the hike and 6,000 feet of elevation gain at
the end of the hike. The reason for this is that the North Rim is approximately 1,000 feet higher than the South Rim. If you
have hiked before you realize the demands that the descent and ascent put upon your body, particularly your legs.
Descending puts a lot of pressure on your knees as well as jamming your feet into the front of your boots. Ascending taxes
your cardio conditioning as well as your calf and thigh muscles.
But back to the plan, as the trip date got closer I had more and more thoughts that attempting a hike of this magnitude might
be so much of a stretch to either ruin the experience or perhaps even be dangerous. The trip reports of other rim to rim to rim
hikers that I found (actually I only found one hiker who had done it three times with a friend) indicated that even extremely
conditioned hikers had a lot of difficulty. As I continued to read the three trip reports from these hikers I decided that a rim to
rim to rim day hike was too much and I let Austin and Dave know that on my own I changed the plan. My son and I have
wanted to day hike the rim to rim route at the Grand Canyon together for a long time. Maybe something could be arranged
that didn’t involve a Grand Canyon “death march”.
I put my travel planning skills to work. I wanted to arrange a hike where we could still hike rim to rim to rim but with a night’s
rest and refueling in between which I believed could be achieved by us with difficulty but still be enjoyable. I first checked hotel
availability at the South and North Rims. When I checked there was nothing available at the lodges inside the park at the
South Rim but there were some overpriced rooms right outside the park entrance. There was nothing available at the North
Rim. We could have camped at the North Rim but that would involved hauling at least a tent and sleeping bag and pad along
on a difficult day hike. That didn’t seem like a great solution. My next thought was to only do a South Rim to North Rim day
hike. There is a shuttle that operates between the rims but leaves the North Rim at 7 AM which didn’t work with our hike. I
called them and inquired about later departure times and was told that was possible but they wouldn’t know until a few days
before. I don’t like last minute planning so I checked the availability at the South and North Rim again and happy days a motel
lodge room had opened up at the South Rim and a Pioneer Cabin had opened up on the North Rim! The stars had aligned
and the final plans were in place. We would fly into Las Vegas, stay a couple nights there and then drive to the Grand Canyon
South Rim where we would stay in the park at the Yavapai lodge and then get up early and hike to the North Rim where we
would stay the night at the cabin, have a good meal, good night’s sleep and shower and be ready to do it all again the next
morning. Then we would jump in our car and had back to Vegas for a couple more days.
Well, it didn’t quite work out that way.
The plan started on track. We flew into Vegas via a direct flight on Southwest which was a first for all of us. We stayed a
couple nights at the Fiesta Henderson with rooms arranged by my casino host there Jane Quine. We then made the drive to
the South Rim on a glorious Monday morning arriving in the early afternoon. This was Dave’s first time at the Grand Canyon
so we walked down the Bright Angel trail and made a gift shop run. In the evening we attending a very interesting (they all are)
ranger talk about the people of the Grand Canyon area. The next morning we got up at 4:30 AM so we would be all prepared
to catch the Hiker’s Shuttle to the trailhead for the South Kaibab trail which would be our starting point. We started on our hike
at 6:30 AM with the usual level of excitement when you start a hike in the Grand Canyon. That is to say, very excited and
happy.
The South Kaibab trail is very steep, has little shade and no water which is the reason that most people use it to hike down into
the canyon from the South Rim and the Bright Angel trail to hike out to the South Rim. It was warmer starting out than we had
anticipated (around 50) so it wasn’t long before we were removing some layers. We also didn’t need our headlamps as it was
light enough to hike without them right away. The hike down to the river was overall uneventful with some of the usual glorious
Grand Canyon vistas as the morning sun played with the shadows in the canyon. David did have some issues with a bone in
one of his feet from a previous running injury but he didn’t think it would slow him down too much. I was worried a little bit as I
wanted to get down to Phantom Ranch as early as possible to miss as much of the heat at the bottom of the canyon as we
could. Because we started a bit later (the Hiker’s Shuttle starts at 6 AM in October compared to 5 AM in the summer and
because the hike down the South Kaibab took a bit longer than I estimated we were later than the optimal time when we arrived
at the river and Phantom Ranch.
At Phantom Ranch we stopped to rest for a few minutes and briefly check out the canteen there. Phantom Ranch sells t-shirts
that you can only get there and they change each year. I definitely wanted to get some but figured why take them all the way
to the North Rim only to bring them right by here again the next day. As you are to see that plan didn’t exactly happen.
We were now approximately 14 miles from the North Rim. While we were a bit later than I wanted we were still making good
time through this area. Dave in particular, was taking off like a greyhound at a dog track and I suggested that he slow down a
bit and resumed our slow and steady pace. The temperature, as I feared, kept getting warmer but for the first part of the hike
we were shaded by the canyon walls around Bright Angel Creek so it didn’t impact us that much.
When we emerged from the shade of the canyon walls it did begin to impact us. This is an open area that offers no shade
from the sun and is close to the bottom and therefore hottest part of the canyon. I would estimate that the temperature at its
peak was probably 80-85 degrees. That is pretty warm when you were working as hard as we were.
While all three of us were affected by the heat Dave, in particular, was more so. This was Dave’s first Grand Canyon hike and
also his first hike in the Southwest. He was fit, having run marathons before, but this hike with this heat was taking its toll on
him. In addition, Dave would freely admit, that his day pack was far too heavy for an extreme day hike like this. I would
estimate that it weighed at least thirty pounds.
Here is a summary of what happened next.
(1) We leave the shade of the canyon. Dave starts feeling the heat.
(2) During rest stops we’re all tired and hot but Dave needs to completely sit down.
(3) At Cottonwood Camp the question whether Dave will indeed make it to the rim without some sort of official assistance
starts to be asked. At this point, my son, Austin graciously offers to take Dave’s pack for him. Dave reluctantly agrees.
(4) We begin the ascent out of the canyon. Dave begins to feel some serious nausea symptoms.
(5) We pass an older couple hiking down into the canyon. Dave talks to them and the very nice woman hiker gives Dave
some anti-nausea tablets. Dave feels a little better.
(6) When it is obvious that we won’t make it to the rim before nightfall I ask Austin to go ahead of us to make sure Maggie
(wife, stepmom) knows that we are going to be far past my estimated completition time. I also ask Austin to call the shuttle
company and see if they have space for us tomorrow morning. Dave doesn’t think he could hike back the next day.
(7) Dave and I continue our slow trek up the trail towards our goal of finishing without the aid of Park Service helicopters or
a mule ride. As the sun goes down it starts becoming noticeably cooler.
(8) I tell Dave that our next goal is Supai Tunnel about 2 miles from the rim. That is his immediate goal. He makes a
comment about what a nice butt I have since I am hiking ahead of him. I extend the distance I am hiking ahead of him because
of this comment but yet I feel better because if he is telling jokes he probably isn’t going to die. Dave asks me about 148 times
how far it is. I debate whether to lie and tell him not far or just tell him the truth. I elect to tell him the truth.
(9) We arrive at Supai Tunnel. Once we stop hiking I notice is it quite chilly, probably around 45 degrees. Dave lays down
on the ground to rest. I start becoming worried all over again because he is lying directly on the ground with only shorts and a
couple t-shirts on. After going to the restroom there and noticing that it was a lot warmer in there I start thinking how I could
leave the unconscious Dave in the men’s room and then hike up to get help. Dave after a few minutes of rest and my nagging
gets up.
(10) We continue our slow, steady pace up the trail. Dave does seem to have gotten his second wind. I’ve told him many
times on this hike that I know it seems it will never end but trust me, sooner or later we will get there.
(11) Dave’s headlamp batteries go out. I have spares so we switch those out and he is back in business again.
(12) I’m ahead of Dave and I finally come to what I recognize as the final straight section of trail. I go back to Dave and he
asks me again, “How far?” I tell him that we are there. He smiles. At least I think he smiled because it was pitch black.
Well, we’re here, but wait we are still four miles from the North Rim Lodge and salvation! I spy a trail sign that indicates a trail
going into the woods. We start to take it but soon get worried about getting lost (remember it’s dark) and also about meeting
an amorous elk. A ranger told us that they were in rut. Now wouldn’t that be the end of an adventurous day, becoming the
b**ch to a 1,000 pound elk?
So we turn around and get back on the road and start hoofing it (no pun intended). After a bit a car goes by and I stick out my
thumb but they pass us by. The next vehicle is a small truck and Dave sticks his thumb out and the truck stops and we pile in
the back oh so happy. The gracious driver takes us right down to the lodge where we call Austin who is already in the room.
And guess what, he’s sleeping!
We meet in the lounge at the lodge looking for food but that’s all put away so Austin and I have a few beers and Dave a few
cokes. We alleviate our hunger with copious amounts of high fat potato chips while we all chatter away at the same time happy
to be done with our adventure but also proud to have achieved it. I want to congratulate Dave. I’ve done this hike when I felt
sick and it isn’t fun. Dave kept pushing forward when lesser men may have called for assistance.
We went back to the South Rim the next morning via the Trans-canyon Shuttle and then on to Vegas. It was a great adventure
and I’m happy to have experienced it with my son Austin Ridge, U.S.M.C. and our friend David Nixon.
John Ridge
Rochester, NY
October, 2008
Click here to see photos from this hike and related fun. Click here to see Dave's videos from this hike.
This Grand Canyon adventure began originally as a plan to hike the Nankoweap Trail as a two night backpacking trip. The
Nankoweap is widely considered to be one of the hardest of the marked Grand Canyon trails. However, this did not come to
pass as a backcountry permit is required for this hike and none were available during the time we had planned to go.
I then dreamed up the bright idea of attempting one of the most extreme day hikes you can do. That is, a day hike rim to rim at
the Grand Canyon and then turn right around and hike back and do it in under 24 hours. This has been done by previous
hikers and always with some difficulty as you can imagine. I did the research and originally thought that this is something we all
could do but as I indicated, with difficulty. About a month before we all met at my house and talked about the preparations
necessary for the attempt. Everyone understood the seriousness of the attempt.
To give you some background, I have hiked from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon to the North Rim as a day hike three
times. My best time was the last time when I did it in 10 ½ hours. I felt so good at the end of the hike that I thought then I could
have hiked back right then. Hiking rim to rim at the Grand Canyon is a serious hike. Depending on the route it is either 23.5
miles or 24.7 miles each way with 5,000 feet of elevation loss at the beginning of the hike and 6,000 feet of elevation gain at
the end of the hike. The reason for this is that the North Rim is approximately 1,000 feet higher than the South Rim. If you
have hiked before you realize the demands that the descent and ascent put upon your body, particularly your legs.
Descending puts a lot of pressure on your knees as well as jamming your feet into the front of your boots. Ascending taxes
your cardio conditioning as well as your calf and thigh muscles.
But back to the plan, as the trip date got closer I had more and more thoughts that attempting a hike of this magnitude might
be so much of a stretch to either ruin the experience or perhaps even be dangerous. The trip reports of other rim to rim to rim
hikers that I found (actually I only found one hiker who had done it three times with a friend) indicated that even extremely
conditioned hikers had a lot of difficulty. As I continued to read the three trip reports from these hikers I decided that a rim to
rim to rim day hike was too much and I let Austin and Dave know that on my own I changed the plan. My son and I have
wanted to day hike the rim to rim route at the Grand Canyon together for a long time. Maybe something could be arranged
that didn’t involve a Grand Canyon “death march”.
I put my travel planning skills to work. I wanted to arrange a hike where we could still hike rim to rim to rim but with a night’s
rest and refueling in between which I believed could be achieved by us with difficulty but still be enjoyable. I first checked hotel
availability at the South and North Rims. When I checked there was nothing available at the lodges inside the park at the
South Rim but there were some overpriced rooms right outside the park entrance. There was nothing available at the North
Rim. We could have camped at the North Rim but that would involved hauling at least a tent and sleeping bag and pad along
on a difficult day hike. That didn’t seem like a great solution. My next thought was to only do a South Rim to North Rim day
hike. There is a shuttle that operates between the rims but leaves the North Rim at 7 AM which didn’t work with our hike. I
called them and inquired about later departure times and was told that was possible but they wouldn’t know until a few days
before. I don’t like last minute planning so I checked the availability at the South and North Rim again and happy days a motel
lodge room had opened up at the South Rim and a Pioneer Cabin had opened up on the North Rim! The stars had aligned
and the final plans were in place. We would fly into Las Vegas, stay a couple nights there and then drive to the Grand Canyon
South Rim where we would stay in the park at the Yavapai lodge and then get up early and hike to the North Rim where we
would stay the night at the cabin, have a good meal, good night’s sleep and shower and be ready to do it all again the next
morning. Then we would jump in our car and had back to Vegas for a couple more days.
Well, it didn’t quite work out that way.
The plan started on track. We flew into Vegas via a direct flight on Southwest which was a first for all of us. We stayed a
couple nights at the Fiesta Henderson with rooms arranged by my casino host there Jane Quine. We then made the drive to
the South Rim on a glorious Monday morning arriving in the early afternoon. This was Dave’s first time at the Grand Canyon
so we walked down the Bright Angel trail and made a gift shop run. In the evening we attending a very interesting (they all are)
ranger talk about the people of the Grand Canyon area. The next morning we got up at 4:30 AM so we would be all prepared
to catch the Hiker’s Shuttle to the trailhead for the South Kaibab trail which would be our starting point. We started on our hike
at 6:30 AM with the usual level of excitement when you start a hike in the Grand Canyon. That is to say, very excited and
happy.
The South Kaibab trail is very steep, has little shade and no water which is the reason that most people use it to hike down into
the canyon from the South Rim and the Bright Angel trail to hike out to the South Rim. It was warmer starting out than we had
anticipated (around 50) so it wasn’t long before we were removing some layers. We also didn’t need our headlamps as it was
light enough to hike without them right away. The hike down to the river was overall uneventful with some of the usual glorious
Grand Canyon vistas as the morning sun played with the shadows in the canyon. David did have some issues with a bone in
one of his feet from a previous running injury but he didn’t think it would slow him down too much. I was worried a little bit as I
wanted to get down to Phantom Ranch as early as possible to miss as much of the heat at the bottom of the canyon as we
could. Because we started a bit later (the Hiker’s Shuttle starts at 6 AM in October compared to 5 AM in the summer and
because the hike down the South Kaibab took a bit longer than I estimated we were later than the optimal time when we arrived
at the river and Phantom Ranch.
At Phantom Ranch we stopped to rest for a few minutes and briefly check out the canteen there. Phantom Ranch sells t-shirts
that you can only get there and they change each year. I definitely wanted to get some but figured why take them all the way
to the North Rim only to bring them right by here again the next day. As you are to see that plan didn’t exactly happen.
We were now approximately 14 miles from the North Rim. While we were a bit later than I wanted we were still making good
time through this area. Dave in particular, was taking off like a greyhound at a dog track and I suggested that he slow down a
bit and resumed our slow and steady pace. The temperature, as I feared, kept getting warmer but for the first part of the hike
we were shaded by the canyon walls around Bright Angel Creek so it didn’t impact us that much.
When we emerged from the shade of the canyon walls it did begin to impact us. This is an open area that offers no shade
from the sun and is close to the bottom and therefore hottest part of the canyon. I would estimate that the temperature at its
peak was probably 80-85 degrees. That is pretty warm when you were working as hard as we were.
While all three of us were affected by the heat Dave, in particular, was more so. This was Dave’s first Grand Canyon hike and
also his first hike in the Southwest. He was fit, having run marathons before, but this hike with this heat was taking its toll on
him. In addition, Dave would freely admit, that his day pack was far too heavy for an extreme day hike like this. I would
estimate that it weighed at least thirty pounds.
Here is a summary of what happened next.
(1) We leave the shade of the canyon. Dave starts feeling the heat.
(2) During rest stops we’re all tired and hot but Dave needs to completely sit down.
(3) At Cottonwood Camp the question whether Dave will indeed make it to the rim without some sort of official assistance
starts to be asked. At this point, my son, Austin graciously offers to take Dave’s pack for him. Dave reluctantly agrees.
(4) We begin the ascent out of the canyon. Dave begins to feel some serious nausea symptoms.
(5) We pass an older couple hiking down into the canyon. Dave talks to them and the very nice woman hiker gives Dave
some anti-nausea tablets. Dave feels a little better.
(6) When it is obvious that we won’t make it to the rim before nightfall I ask Austin to go ahead of us to make sure Maggie
(wife, stepmom) knows that we are going to be far past my estimated completition time. I also ask Austin to call the shuttle
company and see if they have space for us tomorrow morning. Dave doesn’t think he could hike back the next day.
(7) Dave and I continue our slow trek up the trail towards our goal of finishing without the aid of Park Service helicopters or
a mule ride. As the sun goes down it starts becoming noticeably cooler.
(8) I tell Dave that our next goal is Supai Tunnel about 2 miles from the rim. That is his immediate goal. He makes a
comment about what a nice butt I have since I am hiking ahead of him. I extend the distance I am hiking ahead of him because
of this comment but yet I feel better because if he is telling jokes he probably isn’t going to die. Dave asks me about 148 times
how far it is. I debate whether to lie and tell him not far or just tell him the truth. I elect to tell him the truth.
(9) We arrive at Supai Tunnel. Once we stop hiking I notice is it quite chilly, probably around 45 degrees. Dave lays down
on the ground to rest. I start becoming worried all over again because he is lying directly on the ground with only shorts and a
couple t-shirts on. After going to the restroom there and noticing that it was a lot warmer in there I start thinking how I could
leave the unconscious Dave in the men’s room and then hike up to get help. Dave after a few minutes of rest and my nagging
gets up.
(10) We continue our slow, steady pace up the trail. Dave does seem to have gotten his second wind. I’ve told him many
times on this hike that I know it seems it will never end but trust me, sooner or later we will get there.
(11) Dave’s headlamp batteries go out. I have spares so we switch those out and he is back in business again.
(12) I’m ahead of Dave and I finally come to what I recognize as the final straight section of trail. I go back to Dave and he
asks me again, “How far?” I tell him that we are there. He smiles. At least I think he smiled because it was pitch black.
Well, we’re here, but wait we are still four miles from the North Rim Lodge and salvation! I spy a trail sign that indicates a trail
going into the woods. We start to take it but soon get worried about getting lost (remember it’s dark) and also about meeting
an amorous elk. A ranger told us that they were in rut. Now wouldn’t that be the end of an adventurous day, becoming the
b**ch to a 1,000 pound elk?
So we turn around and get back on the road and start hoofing it (no pun intended). After a bit a car goes by and I stick out my
thumb but they pass us by. The next vehicle is a small truck and Dave sticks his thumb out and the truck stops and we pile in
the back oh so happy. The gracious driver takes us right down to the lodge where we call Austin who is already in the room.
And guess what, he’s sleeping!
We meet in the lounge at the lodge looking for food but that’s all put away so Austin and I have a few beers and Dave a few
cokes. We alleviate our hunger with copious amounts of high fat potato chips while we all chatter away at the same time happy
to be done with our adventure but also proud to have achieved it. I want to congratulate Dave. I’ve done this hike when I felt
sick and it isn’t fun. Dave kept pushing forward when lesser men may have called for assistance.
We went back to the South Rim the next morning via the Trans-canyon Shuttle and then on to Vegas. It was a great adventure
and I’m happy to have experienced it with my son Austin Ridge, U.S.M.C. and our friend David Nixon.
John Ridge
Rochester, NY