Day 3,855 —R3 at the Grand Canyon: saw a Big Horn Sheep—

         

4 a.m.

There were 7 of us that started down the Brightangel trail. It was so dark, so even though we were right at the edge of the Canyon, I didn’t notice how high we were. I ran in the front for a while, but I stopped to record a video of everyone coming down the trail. My brother, who did not train for this run and was dealing with a hernia, was in the back. He almost backed out, but I convinced him that he would be fine.

When we got to the bottom of the Canyon, we turned on Tonto from the Brightangel trail and headed towards Phantom Ranch. By then Ben and I were running solo, and the other 5 guys were way out in front of us, but I was having a great time taking pictures. Ben and I saw a big horn sheep! And I happened to be recording at the time, so I slowly walked towards it, and it jumped up some rocks like it was nothing. I had never seen anything like that before. The only animal encounter I have had close to it was when I saw a Komodo Dragon on a tiny island in Indonesia in 2016.

Phantom Ranch 11.5 into the Run

Ben and I made it to Phantom Ranch, and no one was there, which was a little weird because this place had been advertised as such a destination. It took us a while to find the water spigot and the picnic benches, but we sat down. I ate some chips and had a vegan Kit Kat bar. By the time we started walking past Phantom Ranch, we were getting confused about how far it would be all the way to the North Rim. We figured the top of North Rim would be about halfway, so we figured we would be at the top at 23 miles. My watch at this point was about 2 miles off, but still, I did the math and I would be close to 29 miles based on what the sign said.

Decision Time for Craig and Ben

We ran into Craig, one of the guys who was in the front group. He was saying he had been hurting since the start and was done. We didn’t try to talk him out of it but said we would pass the news to everyone else when we saw them. We passed Cottonwood which is 5 miles from the top and Ben filled up his water, but I barely took any more water and hadn’t been sweating that much at this point. My brother was determined to turn around at 7 hours if he had not made it to the top of the north rim. At first, I was trying to get him to wait until 8 hours, but I was getting concerned, so when he put his head down at 7 hours and rested. I agreed that it would be smart for him to turn around, so we could maybe still finish together if I could catch him after I turned around at the top.

Running to the top of North Rim

I kept thinking that I was close to the top and even though I didn’t have any water, I was determined that I would be there soon, but every time I looked up, there were people over a thousand feet higher than me. Sometimes they were also across the Canyon, and it was hard to believe that they were on the same trail as I was, or that I would be there soon. I was thinking that I would run into the other 4 guys going the other way soon. I asked Ben if there was any other trail or way, but I kept checking my watch, and I was on the right trail. I finally felt tired and behind. I needed to run to the top and turn around and catch up with my brother, by this time I was getting hot, and suddenly sweating a lot. I didn’t have any water and kept thinking that I would have some soon at the top. I finally saw 3 of the 4 runners going down.

I was trying not to think about it, but if the top was halfway, I was looking at a much longer run. I clarified the distance to the top. Brent told me that it was 26.x not 23, which made me feel a lot better about the run, so it should be only 20 from the top back to the other side. Jay gave me some water, which I desperately needed, and told me there was no water at the top. If that was true, it would mean I would have at least 7 miles before I got water, and I was already to the point where I had been out for an hour. They said the other guy, Paul, was about a half mile from the top.

Brent said it was about 2 miles to the top, but those 2 miles felt like an eternity; I noticed the foliage changing which was encouraging, and there was snow on the ground. The snow was confusing, but at one point I did shove snow into my water bottle, thinking maybe my body heat would melt it, so I could sip the water that melted.

When I was about a half mile from the top, I ran into Paul, who was encouraging and gave me some water, which I desperately needed.

“Is there any water at the top?” I asked because I didn’t want to believe that there wasn’t any.

“There is water either a quarter of a mile away or a mile, depending on who you ask.”

This was good news I would walk the .25 miles if it came to that because I was so dehydrated, and if I didn’t get water soon, it might be too late for me to catch up and continue.

At the Top

I knew I reached the top because I saw the sign and cars in a parking lot. There was a shuttle there and plenty of people walking around. I sat for a moment to try to catch my breath. I decided to ask the shuttle driver about the water, and she said it was only a quarter of a mile from where we were.

“I could take you there though?” she said.

“Yes, please,” I said quietly. I was embarrassed that I needed help, but I would have asked anyone for water. I would have sat by the trail holding my empty water bottle out, hoping I might get enough strangers to each give me an ounce.

“Thank you so much,” I told the shuttle driver when she was driving me back.

“No problem, there was a guy yesterday I saw who was really looking bad. I offered to take him all the way back, but he had two friends with him that talked him out of it, but he should have really taken me up on the offer.” She made the same offer to me, which was such a tempting. It was at least a 20-mile run from where I was, which was going to take me around 8 hours to run. The shuttle drive was about 4 to 6 hours.

I said no thank you, but I knew if my brother was with me, and he wanted to take the shuttle, I would have agreed.

Heading Back

I turned my music on and sprinted down to the bottom of the Canyon as fast as I could. My watch told me that I had run a sub-7, and I was smiling so big to be going my own pace and to be having fun. When I made it to the bottom of the canyon, I was still pushing it and jumping over the flat stones that were there to prevent flash floods. I didn’t take a lot of pictures, but I had a blast running at the bottom of the canyon by the river. I saw some people with nets in the water, but I couldn’t figure out what they were doing.

Back at Phantom Ranch

The picnic benches were almost full, and I talked to two great guys who were also doing the R3. They were awesome company, shared some food with me, and confirmed what route I needed to take back. I got a lemonade and bought some postcards. I downed it quickly before I took off and got so cold I was starting to shiver. I quickly made it back across the bridge and found Paul. I was talking to Ben on the walkie-talkie, and he was at least 3 miles ahead of us, but I was still thinking I would be able to finish the run with him.

Paul said that he had gotten turned around at Phantom Ranch. He was moving steadily but pacing a little slower; however, it was getting dark, and I was happy I found him. It is always better to run with someone when you’re in the dark on a dangerous trail.

Only 6 Miles to the Top

Once Paul and I got to the final accent it was extremely slow-going, we went from 20-minute miles to 30-minute and then 40-minute miles. I checked in with Ben on the walkie-talkie.

“Daniel to Ben. Come in, Ben over.” I had called him a few times before, but I hadn’t heard anything.

“Ben to Daniel. Come in, Daniel over.”

“I am here, Ben, go ahead.”

“I made it to the top!”

“Congratulations that’s awesome! Paul and I are 2 or 3 miles away.”

He was so happy to be done, and I was happy for him. He said that the other three guys had made it already. They finished around 14 hours and Ben was closer to 15 hours. Paul and I were bringing up the rear, and I was paying attention to make sure that Paul was still behind me. I would hear his hiking polls and know for sure that he was relatively close. I didn’t mind sticking with him because it is always safer to be someone on a trail like this, but at this point, I did want to just keep moving faster because I was getting colder, but at the same time I knew how I would feel if someone left me at this point, so I stuck with him until the end, and we finished about 18 and half hours. Ben greeted us at the top, and we were so glad to be done. And then I started to shiver.

We made it!

The other guys were waiting for us in a warm car. I was feeling okay, but I was suddenly so cold when I stopped moving at the top. We immediately drove to a restaurant, where the other guys were waiting for us. I opened the door of the car and started shaking uncontrollably, so I closed the door and put on my only dry shirt and my jacket. I ran as fast as I could to the entrance of the building.

I was thankful they had a Beyond burger and French fries. It seemed to take a long time to get anything at the restaurant, but once I had some warm food inside me, I was happy and ready to go to bed. We all sat around the table and talked about the day. Ben had gotten sick. Sawyer was miserable and Brent and Jay were all smiles. There were 9 of us in total, and even though we all had a different day, it was amazing to hear and celebrate what each of us was able to accomplish. My brother probably did close to 40 miles with almost no training, so I am sure he is hurting, but how crazy is that.