Whether your goal is Rim-to-Rim, Rim-to-River, or any of the Canyon's iconic hikes, you'll no doubt find some useful information in this first-hand, from-the-trail account of my attempt at my first Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim—a double crossing of the Grand Canyon. Primarily the domain of trail and ultra runners—which I am not—I knew I wanted to do R3 as a hike. That made it somewhat difficult to plan, as I figured it would take me around 20 hours to complete, meaning I'd have to hike all the way through the night if I hoped to finish in daylight. 

In this episode, you'll hear my struggles every step of the way, as they happened, and also my recollections for those times I was just too tired or hurting too badly to speak into a microphone.

This is part one of what the Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim hike—43.9 miles with more than 22,000 feet of elevation change—is really like.

P.S. If I can do it, you can, too!

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The all-new Grand Canyon Shade Tracker is LIVE!! This incredible interactive tool lets you see when and where you'll have precious shade on your Grand Canyon hike—every hour of every day of the year. Check it out at gcshadetracker.com. Another free resource from Bright Angel Outfitters aimed at making your Grand Canyon adventure the best and safest it can be.

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For the best and most helpful Facebook groups dedicated to hiking the Grand Canyon, search for:

• Grand Canyon Hikers
• Grand Canyon Rim to Rim
• Grand Canyon R2R2R Run!
• Grand Canyon R2R+ Training
• Grand Canyon Hikers and Backpackers