Monday, July 24, 2023

Grand Canyon 2024

** Jay and Aaron finished in just under 13 hours; Ryan was a few min ahead and Josh was about 5-10 min ahead.  Coming up Bright Angel everyone had their own cadence which makes sense at that point. No falls, no injuries, everyone felt better than anticipated upon completion.  The cab to the trailhead was the only logistics fail.  We called, it rang for a very long time, we were on hold and then they told us to call back in 30 min. The clock was ticking on us starting before the mules so we jumped in the rental car and parked at a trailhead near South Kaibab.  We got lucky as very, very few spots.  We had to walk about a half mile to South Kaibab trailhead but we were into the Canyon by 4.40am.  We got incredibly lucky on weather.  Was heavy wind all day but low 50s when we started, cloud cover and wind all day.  Highest temps were probably 85-90 from river up to the Garden which is reasonable for the Canyon. 

Heard this on a podcast on 10-14-2024:  The Canyon is 1/3 physical, 1/3 mental, 1/3 logistics

Route (aaron will have printed copies for everyone)

#LegMileageElevationG/LWaterMinClockAvg PaceRest and Tactic
0SK Trailhead072604:45 AMideally no later than 4.45am to be ahead of mules
1SK to Phantom7.17260 - 2545-4715P906.15am125 min rest at Tipoff which is 4.6 down and 2.7 left; 5 at Phantom to fill up water and regroup before the box.
2Phantom to Cottonwood72545 - 408015351058:00 AM155 min break at Cottonwood
3Cottonwood to Pump House1.44080 - 4600520PH308.30am215-10 min break for water
4Pump House to North Rim5.44600 - 82404160NR12010.30am222x3-5min breaks along way; 10-15 min rest at NR
5North Rim to Pump house6.88240 - 4600-4160PH90noon13steady move the whole time
6Pump house to Cottonwood1.44080 - 4600520PH1512.1511top off at Pumphouse as Cottonwood likely out
7Cottonwood to Phantom5.44080-2545-1535PH601.15pm11Push to Phantom, Phantom 10-15 min, refuel, snacks and lemonade
8Phantom to Gardens4.52545 - 38001255G902.45pm1810 min to regroup and top of water in case 3 and 1 out
9Gardens to BA trailhead4.93800 - 686030603/11204.45pm24rest at 3 mile and 1 mile rest house, get water if available
43.912 hrs
pump house = Manzanita Day use area


Grand Canyon Alerts (trail closures, water outages, weather)

Weather at South Rim; Weather at Phantom Ranch


--------

Day 0 - Sat - Aaron / Ryan / Josh fly into Phoenix - hotel in Old Scottsdale (4.53 to 6.15pm flight for Ryan; Josh lands at 4.20pm, Aaron lands on Delta at 5.12pm) - Josh picking up car; scoop up Aaron and Ryan - if any of our flights are really late, we can just Uber separate if need be; find dinner that night


Day 1 - May 19 - Sun

  • pickup cooler, ice, drinks, addl sunscreen for trip - Walmart, CVS or Target
  • Jay fly into Phoenix 9.34am; pickup car / Jay and head out
  • Pick a place on way to Flag or in Flag for afternoon easy run. Maybe run in Flag if not too hot
  • Lunch in Flag and/or run and/or afternoon rim run at Canyon
  • Aim to be at hotel at Canyon Rim: 4-5pm
  • Yavapai Lodge on Canyon rim, 2 rooms with Queen beds for 1 nite; $283.22 per room
  • Buy any last min supplies on way up and in Grand Canyon Village; RunFlagstaff.com - Tailwind, Gels, bars, breakfast, etc
  • Dinner, lights out early
  • Dinner options - limited at Grand Canyon Rim so need to look into this and/or grab pizzas in Flag to bring up or eat at rim
  • Grab breakfast items for am

Day 2 - May 20 - Mon

  • 3.30-45am wake-up
  • Check out 4am- bags in car, move car to edge of Bright Angel trailhead
  • Cab to trailhead at 4.15am; Xanterra taxi; 928 638 2822 or 928 638 2631 (ext. 6563)
  • There are bathrooms at the SK trailhead next to the bus stop
  • 4.45am at latest drop into Canyon (mules typically start 30 min before sunrise)
  • 12ish hours (5am-5pm)
  • Sunrise approx 5.20am; Sunset approx 7.30pm
  • Weather approx - 40-50s in am; up to high 90s in Canyon
  • Aim to depart RIM at 6pm...won't get to Flag until 7.30-8pm, dinner and out
Day 3 - May 21 - Tues
  • Contingency, need to be in Phoenix following day to fly home
  • Hang in Flag
  • Day 2 Hike/Run and hang in Flag and/or Sedona
  • Stay night in Flag 
Day 4 - May 22 - Wed

  • 8am departure; arrive at airport no later than 11am; potentially am run before we go
  • Return car, work, fly home - Ryan flight 2.10pm-9.10pm; Aaron 1.37pm-3.45pm into SFO, Jay 1.35pm

-------

Approx costs based on 3 nights (Sun, Mon, Tues) 4 days...Aaron/Ryan/Josh, Jay 3 nights

  • Approx $1200 per person
  • Airfare to/from Phoenix - $500-$600 each
  • Rental Car/Gas (share 1 car/van) - $150 each (if 2 cars goes up a bit)
  • 1 night Grand Canyon Rim - $140 each
  • 2 nights Flag - $100 each
  • Meals / Beers - $250-300 each

---------------------------------

Aaron Pack/Provisions

Glide on neck, legs, chest, arm pits before

hat, tech-t, light shorts, Hoka SpeedGoats, Balega socks

For Pack:

  • Credit card, $20 cash, medical card, band-aids, small sunscreen
  • Phantom Ranch is open during daylight hours. Snacks, drinks and medical supplies 8am-4pm; credit cards and cash accepted, lemonade, apple, bar/candy (approx 1pmish)
  • map, route directions
  • Wind breaker (start with it on)
  • water filter, water purifying tablets
  • 4 soft bottles; 2 500ml on front chest, 2 in back empty to start; preload 1 on front with Skratch and 1 with Tailwin

Fluids / Nutrition
  • 1.5 water bottles per hour; 500ml (17 ounces) at burn rate of approx 20+ ounces per hour
  • 19ish bottles to account for not totally full and spillage: 9000ml (306 ounces) - 2.4 gallons
  • 8 bottles containing tailwind or skratch
  • 700-900 calorie burn per hr; approx 9500 burn
  • 200-300 digest an hour; 3,000 intake
  • eat approx every 90 min; 8ish times (Phantom, Cottonwood, NR, Cottonwood, Phantom, Gardens, 3 mile, 1-2 somewhere on the trail)
  • approx 30 nutrition items in pack; 3500ish calories; 424ish supplemental addition at PR
  • 6 tailwind - approx 200 each: (50g carb, 50g sugar, 630mg sodium, little pot and mag):1200ish calories
  • 4 skratch - approx 120 each: 480ish calories
  • 4 skratch energy chews - 160ish calories (19g carbs, 13g sugar, 35mg sodium, no pot): 640 calories
  • 6 gels -approx 100 each: 600ish calories
  • 4 electrolyte packs (1000mg sodium, 200mg potassium, 60mag, 10 calories each)
  • 4 bars (120ish each), nut/trail mix, cherrios: 600ish calories
  • supplemental and phantom ranch: 2 lemonades, apple, candy bar (2x75,75,200) 425ish calories