Congrats! That is one big adventure, and a long time in the making. We did Grandview trail in the Grand Canyon as an overnighter, coincidentally as a student at NAU. I think we covered close to 20 miles over two days and were spent. You’re rockin’ it, especially post-COVID.
Congratulations! You certainly earned this one. I do have one question though - why did you feel it had to be done in one day? Seemed like the river would have been a great place to camp and rest overnight and continue the next morning. You seem to like marathon-style challenges - was that also part of the goal?
Great point. I did want to try and do it in one day....that was certainly part of it. Had it been any longer though, I probably would have done it as an overnight. I will say, part of the reason it took so long was because much of the trail by the river and up to the center point just didn't exist. It was a lot of off-trail bushwhacking and route-finding. I probably lost 2 hours due to this. I did also look at another approach in my planning that would have been over 40 miles round trip. That would have absolutely been an overnight if I went that route.
Fair point. I do lock my bike up when I take it to trailheads, and sometimes cover it, but it's really no different than if someone wanted to break into my subaru at the trailhead. I'm not too worried about it at a ridiculously remote trailhead like this one. If I were in Boulder or something, I might take more security measures.
