Grand Canyon Double – North Kaibab to Grandview Point – 83 miles
The spectacular beauty of the Grand Canyon called me back. With the long Thanksgiving weekend, I decided to again do an extended double crossing (R2R2R) in a non-traditional way. I would descend down the North Kaibab, from the North Rim, but instead of going up the South Rim using the usual trails, I would run 20 miles upriver along the primitive Tonto Trail and ascend up the unmaintained Grandview Trail to the South Rim. Then I would head back the same way. The total distance would be about 83 miles. I had accomplished this double crossing back in October 2007 and knew it was a very tough challenge. If you look at the hiking guides and total up the recommended time to take for all these segments, it should be a ten-day adventure. I hoped to accomplish it in about 28 hours. Last time it took me 34:07 with plenty of sight-seeing along the way
