hiking grand canyon rim to river | our craziest and longest hike ever 

thank you!

Thank you! You’ve been to some really beautiful places!

Thanks for the tips! We'll definitely need a redemption hike. We had trained with that gear at longer distances, so it was quite a shock to have that happen. But it was a learning experience for sure. Do you have a better recommendation for a hiking pack for Tyler and I?

@@jadecordial The Canyon is the perfect storm of altitude, sun and dry air exposure, and a trail that is basically 10,000 uneven mule steps to the bottom, and 10,000 back to the top, with the addition of sand. It's just about overwhelming to the body, because it never lets up. You start out with all that elation, and thinking "this is down hill, it's a cruise" and then you go from, "I'm fine, I've got this." To "I AM NOT OK, and I don't know how I'm getting out." And it all happens in an instant. That section starting right after "Tip Off", all the way to Black Bridge, is so steep for about 1.5mi, that it just destroys you. Then you come off the bridge, and it's sand over rocks, for 3/4's of the 1mi into Phantom. You arrive at Phantom, destroyed. You can see my daughter and an I, absolutely wrecked, in our early R2R vids. We did the walk-of-shame, a few times. We call it the walk of shame, because our goal is always to run 100% of it. Sometimes the Canyon wins, sometimes you win! It's part of why it calls us back. Regarding gear and packs. It's 17.5mi along this Rim2River route. If you train, and can "get-a-move-on" during the drop to Phantom, you should be able to do the entire route, with an Ultra Runner style "race pack." They are snug to your body, so they don't drift side-to-side (which wears out your hip flexors and quads), and they keep the weight right against your chest, and your spin. This keeps the weight from multiplying itself, via the leverage of torque. Again, very important, because you're not walking on a normal, mostly flat/groomed type of hiking trail. Your body is flexing all over the place, trying to navigate the mule steps... so anything on your back, is going to apply weight and twist (torque) that your muscles have to fight against. So check out the race packs from Salomon, Ultimate Direction, and even Naked. We run in the Naked Running Band, but that's probably too small for the time duration of this hike. As you train up, do some hiking math on how fast you can probably come down the S. Kaibab, and then apply that math to what your start time needs to be, in order to not be smoked by the sun, on Devil's Cork Screw. Typically, that means that you arrive at the S. Kaibab trail head, just at twilight, and drop in. Apply that math to how much water (electrolyte mixed drink) you'll need, to get you to the other side of the Black Bridge. There is a water spigot to the left of the trail, about 100yds after the bridge, where you see all the river rafts park. You'll see us use it in my 2021 video where we run your route. Carry just enough water to get you to this location. Why? Because all extra weight on your legs, coming down the steps of S. Kaibab (the leg muscles have to repeatedly tense-and-hold in a braking action) just destroys your legs. So you want to be as light as possible. We run down it, with no water at all, for this reason, but we do hit a GU Roctane with caffeine, at or before the Tip Off, and we'll rinse that down with a peeled tangerine. Then we send it, for that last drop to Black Bridge. Just think in terms of: How can you stay lighter. How can you protect against, and reflect the sun (some type of running short, instead of the black, long, spandex), have good air flow, keep the body core temp low, and fuel with what won't just sit in the stomach. And carry the 5 hour energy drink, so that you have a back up plan, incase the wheels start to come off!! If you can get into Spin classes, you'll be soooo much stronger, without putting extra/excess hiking or running miles on your knees, especially Tyler, if he's got a nagging knee injury from HS sports. The barefoot style shoes will also help prevent knee injury, because the foot returns to operating like a hand and a spring, instead of just thudding down onto a shoe heel, which sends that unnatural force up through the knee. And once you get into barefoot style shoes, you won't want to wear "normal" shoes, ever again. The journey of switching into Vivos would make great content for your channel.

Thank you for all the information! I have the altra zero drops and they seem to work really well, but I've always been interested in vivos. I have a lot to look into now! @@austinado16

I've hiked rim to rim and to river in a day. I personally would use a fanny pack that can hold two water bottles or a hydration vest. Light colored long sleeve top, wicking and shorts are all you need. It's critical that you drink on a time schedule and get plenty of electrolytes. But the main advice I would give most people is that you need to train your quads and knees. Eccentric contractions and sissy squats. It's hard to prepare for the elevation change, especially down.

I totally didn’t even mention how long it took 🤦🏼‍♀️ We were on track to be done in 9 hours but after the cramping it took us 12 hours! Entered at 8am and didn’t get out until 8pm. We definitely underestimated how crazy it would be near the end haha

What a silly comment. This is a video about MY experience. There are plenty of videos and images of the Grand Canyon already out there. But thanks for watching!