Location: Grand Canyon National Park
Date: November 5th, 2022
Distance: ~ 54 miles (including some extra sections)
Time: ~ 15 hours
Elevation gain: 13,600 ft
Route info: https://www.trailrunproject.com/trail/7011064/rim-to-rim-to-rim-r2r2r

The R2R2R has been on my radar for a while now since it's such a classic route, but I never lived closed enough to make it a short trip. I briefly contemplated trying it in June when I moved out to Utah but the weather window wasn't quite right (and my legs were shot from the White Rim). I threw out the idea to some friends though and settled on the 1st weekend in November to give it a go, and it really worked out beautifully.

Ultimately just James and I made it down to the Grand Canyon for the run and the area had just received its first snow of the season a few days prior. Temps were looking to be in the low 20's at night rising to 60's down at Phantom Ranch which made planning and stowing layers a bit tricky. My greatest stressor? Whether to start out in shorts or wear light pants overtop.

The morning of I made the game time decision to wear some light pants and we set out around 5AM with the hopes of maybe finishing in the light? We had stayed at the Mather Campground and instead of shuttling to the trailhead decided to run approximately 3 miles to the South Kaibab trailhead for the start and then finish by running around 1.5 miles from the Bright Angel trailhead back to camp. The campground was actually really convenient from an access standpoint and the warm bathrooms were clutch for the cold weather out there.

The descent down the South Kaibab really flew by and we were greeted by some gorgeous sunrise colors and views from the ridgelines. Previously I'd hiked down Bright Angel a handful of times for river trips but had actually never explored South Kaibab. I was surprised how quickly we could see the river, and the trail overall felt more shorter and scenic than Bright Angel - I'm a big fan now!

In what seemed like no time at all we were at Phantom Ranch and refilling our waters. We chose to take it extra slow down the trail so as to save our quads for the rest of the run, but started to pick up the pace running out of Phantom. Following Bright Angel Creek out of Phantom was a new experience for me as I'd never hiked on the North Kaibab Trail, and it was both beautiful and a perfect grade for running.

Around 6 miles later we found ourselves at Cottonwood Camp which still had water running which was perfect. James was having some knee and stomach problems at this point so he decided to call it for the day and head back to Phantom while I gave the rest of the North Rim a go. I started to push a bit harder, letting my heart rate creep into the 150's, knowing that I was already about a third into the run.

I had gotten beta that the climb to the North Rim was the worst part of the run so I came into it expecting something horrendous. In the end it was definitely slow going in parts and it was hard to anticipate where the end of the trail was, but luckily there wasn't any snow on the trail and time passed fairly quickly as I distracted myself with Fritos Flavor Twists (my new favorite), dried mango (my forever favorite), and sour gummy worms.

At the top of the North Rim I took in the view of Humphrey's Peak in the distance and talked myself out of begging hikers for some extra water. Then I started to shuffle down the descent with the intent of moving expeditiously to Manzanita to fill up my waters. The rest of the trail from Manzanita to Cottonwood to Phantom was prime for running. Not too steep, mostly downhill, and then almost flat for the few miles before Phantom. I felt good, opened up my stride, and dropped a few 9 minute miles in there.

At Phantom I met up with James and we set off to tackle Bright Angel. I think both of us forgot how long it was - especially since descending down the South Kaibab was so quick. We kept a consistent pace under 25 min/mile on the uphill though and made it to Indian Garden before darkness truly set in. From there it was a 4 mile slog as we stared up at numerous headlights working their way up the trail. The rest was was a blur until I reached the rim.

In the end I clocked just under 15 hours for the R2R2R proper plus extra for the runs to and from the trailheads from the Mather Campground. I'd love to go next year and start from the North Rim and ascend/descend South Kaibab to see how much time I can shave off.

Overall it was an awesome experience and logistically pretty easy since the trails are so obvious and multiple water stops means you're never going more than 6-12 miles without access to water (depending on the season). I was also pretty impressed by how many other people were out there either running R2R2R or hiking rim to rim. I would have expected the crowds to slow in November but I'm glad so many people are getting to have that experience!

For now I'll stash the running shoes for the winter and start to focus exploring the backcountry skiing around Salt Lake. Feel free to drop a comment below with any questions about running the rim to rim to rim!

Key Gear

These are affiliate links to some of the gear I used for this run. Proceeds from this help keep the site running. Thanks for the support!

 Shoes: Hoka Speedgoat 4

 Pack: Salomon Adv Skin 12

 Poles: Black Diamond Distance Carbon Z

 Powerbank: Anker PowerCore Slim