Location
Arizona,
US
Distance
42.7 mi
Description
GPS Track
R2R2R-alt-Freriks.gpx1.33 MB
FKTs
Male
Female
Mixed-gender team
| Rob Krar, Mike Foote | 11h 32m 9s | |||
| Eric Senseman, Tim Freriks, Jim Walmsley | 12h 20m 54s | |||
| Peter Bakwin | 16h 15m 0s |
| Jason Hardrath, Nate Bender | 13h 44m 17s | |||
| Josh Sanders | 14h 0m 56s | |||
| Stephen Anderson | 15h 13m 0s |
| Ella Nuttelman | 15h 46m 17s | |||
| Suzanne "Sunny" Stroeer | 20h 10m 15s | |||
| Suzanne "Sunny" Stroeer, Christin Douglas, Lexi Miller | 22h 27m 20s |
| Darcie Gorman, Brendan Nicholson | 19h 18m 36s |
Comments
I'm going to attempt this FKT tomorrow morning. I'll be going solo/unsupported (the 2nd known solo traverse and first known night swim for the R2R2R). Should be wild. Will use Garmin & Suunto GPS watches per usual but also take a SPOT tracker (link below). I'll do a write up after wards about the "light and fast" gear set up I've got. I'm jacked to go for this.
SPOT link: https://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0NnT03EZDXJlkxjCQXcsBYW3mzaFIolhE
Josh's excellent report from his failed FKT bid: https://www.joshsanders.net/blog/alt
I'm going to head into the canyon again before this next winter storm hits. I created a new SPOT link (although I think the previous link will still show my new updated tracking?). Fingers crossed the upper rim sections of trail are runnable and not too slippery after the snowfall on Wed/Thu... but hey, there are no bad days in the canyon.
http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0i8W07u5WLU…
So stoked to hear how this went man!
Updating for Josh:
He completed the R2R2R-alt in 14h00m56s, with the S Rim to N Rim segment in 5h51m27s. Detailed report here: https://www.joshsanders.net/blog/altredemption
Just finished watching Jamil’s video and while impressive the cowboy’s R2R2R Alt. is hardly unsupported. Thornley on the ground giving them beta.
Looks supported to me.
Yes, and Jamil accompanying them on one side, as well... definitely supported.
This means Josh's time should be the FKT.
Hey this route is on fire ?
Looks like @ariazoner attempted this amazing route on October 26th, managing a 17:18:xx
https://www.strava.com/activities/4251968097
Here's whats awesome!
He's announced he is going again!!!
https://www.instagram.com/p/CHLz3SXFXNq/?igshid=1egupu01g2khf
Follow him on strava and IG for more details.
With stoke,
Jason
On Oct 26, 2020, I completed this route in 17:18:05 starting from the North Rim. This is a good option as the road was in great shape. I've never driven to the South Bass Trailhead but I've heard it's rough and my car rides low. There's also a separate fee to cross the Havasupai Reservation. The temps were 19 degrees and my water froze. I also made a wrong turn just after crossing the river, which you can see here. With much better weather and a familiarity of the route, I returned on Nov 5, 2020, and completed it again starting from the north, in 16:35:15. To my advantage, I switched up the river crossing and spent less time in the water. Not being a swimmer, I carried a pack raft. I think my transitions were fast enough, but wearing a pack certainly slowed me down on the trail. Parts of the North Bass are runnable both ways, but both times, I was unable to run as much as I would've, had I been pack-less. At any rate, this was an awesome trip and I'm thinking about returning for a third go. It's a gamble, but this time I'd try and drive to the South Rim then chill hike down to the river - camp & stash - chill hike back up while doing trail maintenance, then send it the following day. I think this would make a big difference as the South Bass Trail is not as runnable on the up and only half the distance, making it better for carrying the pack. This would also leave me pack-less for all but the last few miles, plus I'd experience the waterless (South Bass Trail) in the beginning and end, instead of in the middle. Speaking of water, sources along the North Bass were running clear and I was able to drink from Shinumo & White Creeks plus the Colorado River! However, the slightest bit of weather could change things dramatically. If attempting this route, planning for the weather and current river conditions is critical to your success. More details, photos, and tips from these trips can be found here. Anyone else thinking about hitting this soon? The current 10 day forecast looks unfavorable but the current FKTs were set weeks ahead. Still time in 2020? According to them, yes. According to Mother Nature, we'll see!
FKT Community,
It is from an endless well of STOKE I announce that Nate Bender (FB and IG) has convinced me to join him on a run through this phenomenal R2R2R.alt route. We both had chats with Sunny Stroeer (FB and IG) and Josh Sanders (FB and IG) about the route, both of whom were gracious and giving in their beta advice.
I chopped up one of my old tri wetsuits from the Ironman days and rented a bike (Zach's Bikes) so we can respect the closure of reservation land by biking some discontinued forest land roads to access the South Bass Trailhead (which we confirmed permissions for) which will be an 8-10 mile adventure each way in itself (no one can confirm if these old roads are even still passible). ...you know it is an adventure when its an adventure just to get to your adventure...
Our attempt will start between 2 hours and 90 minutes before sunrise on Saturday, Dec 12th 2020.
Live tracking here: https://share.garmin.com/natebender
If it goes, this will be my 56th FKT this year (closer to my 59th attempt for the year) so needless to say I am fatigued but this is just too golden of an adventure route to not give it a go with the weather window we have.
with stoke,
Jason Hardrath (IG or FB)
Journey to 100 FKTs
Thanks for announcement. Brrr! With stoke indeed - hope it goes well.
"You can't get lost on an adventure."
Buzz,
It rained. It sleeted. It snowed.
But R2R2R.alt WENT!
It was a FULL VALUE ADVENTURE!....drive 15 hrs to GCNP, meet up with Nate, pile into rental truck, find hidden jeep trail forest road paralleling reservation on forest land, mtn biking to the trailhead, sleeping in sub-20 degree Temps, start 1hr before Sun rise, route finding, super brisk swim, climbing into a snow storm on the north rim, shivering uncontrollably in wet gear while running out of snow into rain, barely getting warm, then diving into a second cold swim to the waning light, climbing like men possessed back into the snow on the south to stay on pace, briefly resting, biking out in snow, then driving the obstacles of the jeep trail (this time snow covered) to return to civilization. 20 hrs of go time from start of R2R2R.alt to return to civilization.
Sleep 3 hrs in car.
Now driving the 15 hrs back home. Wildest weekend trip ever!
Still stoked,
Jason
My attempt for one hell of a day
Rim to rim to rim, alternative route, solo: South Bass trailhead to North Bass trailhead
Weather: 100 degrees and sunny
Total time: about 24 hours, including mtb ride to and from the trailhead
Distance: about 42 miles, not including ride to/from the trailhead
Bike to trailhead->run down to the river->swim across->run up the other side->run back down->swim back across in the dark->run back up back to the trailhead->bike back to the car
(2:45am start) After a 7 mile ride from the closed gate to trailhead, locked up my bike to a tree and began the journey down South Bass. I could immediately tell this was going to be a tough one because the trail was not maintained, loose, steep, and sometimes nonexistent.
Made it down to the river (7.5 miles) in two hours flat, taking longer than expected due to the poor condition of the trail.
Swim was supposed to be the crux of the day, but during the first crossing the river was flowing slowly. This made it easy and fun to cross. Was relieved to get that out of the way.
Then I made my way to North Bass trail, which was fine for the first few miles but then turned into unmaintained trail that hasn’t seen foot traffic in months and required many miles of bushwhacking and route finding, with only cairns to guide my way.
As the sun came up, it felt like I was in a preheating oven. Only having a very limited number of natural water sources and my body not letting me eat, I began to develop dehydration and hunger, which persisted for the rest of the run. I ended up having to take breaks every couple of minutes on the way up due to the heat and it crushed my dreams of finishing in sub 14 hours. But I made it to the top, where I refueled and dreaded running back down.
Was able to run much of the way down, although my body temperature was extremely high until the second river crossing.
Finally got back down to the river at 7:30 and it was pitch black. I was gonna have to send it across in the dark if I wanted to get this in the bag, so I went for it and made it.
Could barely stay awake on the way back up south rim, fighting my inner voice to lay down and take a nap (but then it wouldn’t count in my book).
Threw on some heavy metal and forced my way back up the south rim.
Got on my bike and rode back to the car, having to stop a few times as the gps wasn’t working great.
While I wanted to do this one faster, conditions wouldn’t allow. But the whole point was to get it done and that I did.
On Tuesday May 17 I completed what I believe is the first Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim Loop in the Grand Canyon, linking the standard corridor crossing with the alt route on the Bass Trail. I went clockwise from the Bright Angel TH, supported on the North Rim, finishing back at the Bright Angel TH. My watch read just over 100 miles with 15,000 feet or so of gain. I had a fairly pedestrian time of 2 days 7 hours 17 mins, due to a few factors, including loosing the overgrown N Bass Trail several times in the dark, a 7 liter water carry, and a nap before the second crossing to prevent hallucinations on the somewhat exposed North Kaibab Trail. I’ll have a more detailed write up soon if this becomes a recognized route.
https://maps.suunto.com/move/
https://maps.suunto.com/move/
https://maps.suunto.com/move/
Me, Kawika Tarayao and Ben Paxton will be heading out tomorrow morning for an unsupported FKT attempt. Our current plan is to start around 5am-ish but is still being debated.
Follow along:
https://share.garmin.com/MarcusBarton
Marcus Barton (IG | FB | Blog)
We didn't succeed in completing our first attempt. We turned around about 2 miles shy of the North Rim. There were many issues we faced during the attempt, but the primary one was our lack of water once we left White Creek about 5 miles away from the Rim. We were carrying about 3 liters each, but about a mile into the push to the top, we were just going through the water too fast due to the heat. The temps were much higher than we had planned and we were concerned about dehydration. After a lengthy discussion, and not knowing if Queen Anne Spring was flowing (park rangers said there was no water for the top 5 miles of North Bass), we decided to turn around.
It was still a fun-as-hell day in the Canyon and we had a good time. On the way back some stomach issues hit Kawika, but he powered through it all the way out on South Bass. He's a beast.
Really looking forward to going back and applying everything that we learned.
Those of you looking to do this one for the first time, make sure you plan on where you will get water and when. This should also take into consideration what time of day you will make your push up the North Rim. I think we just made a big mistake of trying to do it at the hottest time of day.
Also, the folks holding the FKTs for this route ARE ABSOLUTE BEASTS because these trails are no joke. Most of them are pretty technical and hard to find. Huge thanks to anyone who built a cairn to show the way. Also, you'll be tunneling through willows, agaves, manzanita, and scrub oak for what seems like miles at a time.
I'll be posting up video and pictures soon.
Marcus Barton (IG | FB | Blog)
Marcus,
I was so stoked to see a team getting after this incredible route again! - its such a deserving line - such a different day out that the standard R2R2R, much more adventurous. I am very psyched to see your triumphant return here!
with stoke,
Jason
Attempting tomorrow solo/unsupported. Slightly concerned about the fact that there’s a freeze warning all the way down to the river level but we’ll see how it feels this time around.
Primary motivation: I really want to finally see North Bass in daylight!! Last time was down and up N Bass in the dark. So I’ll be starting quite a bit later this time, and plan on a night swim for the return crossing.
Finally had time to write up a more in-depth piece on the river crossing. Hope this will help some future runners: https://www.sunnystroeer.com/blog/2024/1/7/practical-advice-the-r2r2r-a…
Whelp... Here we go again. Second attempt. Me and Ben Paxton will be heading out tomorrow morning for an unsupported FKT attempt. We hope to apply many lessons learned on our first attempt to complete the route. Very, very doubtful we'll top the lists of the BEASTS that hold the current FKT, but, what the hell, let's try to get our names on the board. Our current plan is to start around 5am-ish.
Follow along:
https://share.garmin.com/MarcusBarton
Marcus Barton (IG | FB | Blog)
Whelp.. did better time this time: 17 hrs 34 mins. 17:34:20 to be exact. Had a few nav issues (highlighted in the video).
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jonelLmRaKY
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/12873258889