In preparation for a south to north rim Grand Canyon hike in about 4 weeks time I decided to simulate a canyon hike using a mountain. This means climbing to the top of the mountain to start and then walking to the bottom and back to the top.
I started at the Echo Canyon car park and hiked up and over Camelback and down the other side to the beginning of the Cholla Trail and then back again.
Times taken in minutes:
Up Echo Canyon: 41
Down Cholla Trail: 24
Up Cholla Trail: 47
Down Echo Canyon: 22
Total time was 2 hrs and 14 minutes.
In case you want to compare your time against mine: I didn't stop for any breaks and kept the clock running all the time. I drank about 1.5 liters of "hydralyte" water. I had a bowl of crunchy cereal in the morning before settings off and didn't use any of my energy gels or eat anything during the hike. I obviously ran most of the down parts.
(Note to self: Put ice in water pack next time and drink more during uphill parts of hike.)
2 comments:
You left out the number of rattlers spotted and negotiated with during said hike...Additionally, you may have improved your time if you had eaten something quicker for breakfast than say crunchy cereal, we all know how long that takes to eat and with a quicker breakfast meal, you could have left earlier it would have been cooler temps allowing you to move at a more rapid pace.
I do blame the cereal for slowing me down. There were no rattlers on the trail unfortunately so no negotiation was need. I did, however, have my pocket guide to quick snake phrases in my back pocket in case that happened. I was prepared.
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