I’ve had a love affair with the Grand Canyon ever since I first saw it at the tender age of 12. It all started with a short sunset visit to the South Rim. A year later, this visit was followed by a mule trip down to Phantom Ranch and back, and later, after I had graduated from college, an overnight hike to Indian Gardens with my then-boyfriend. After I finished grad school, I started getting into the longer distance: first a day-hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back and, soon thereafter, my first rim-to-rim-to-rim (R2R2R or R^3).
Today, I have multiple R^3 under my belt as well as hundreds of trail miles below the rim of the Grand Canyon - many of them far beyond the corridor trails. And still my love affair with the Grand Canyon goes on.
Swimming the Colorado = COLD. Pictured here… my friend Emma Murray during a week-long escapade below the rim in the spring of 2018.
This week, I’m hoping to tackle a new project in the Grand Canyon that’s got a little extra spice: the R^3-alt. If we’re friends on Instagram you have already heard me talk about it, but I’ll say it one more time: this is NOT the Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim. Though similar in name, and in elevation profile, the R^3-alt is a completely different beast than the marquee Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim.
The trails of the R^3-alt are wild and rugged. They are infrequently travelled, hard to get to (33 miles on a dirt road, oh yes!), and much less developed than the corridor trails. The real kicker, though, is this: at the bottom of the big ditch there is no bridge across the Colorado. So, how exactly does the R^3-alt work then? Easy: you have to swim the river - twice.
I’ve been intrigued by the R^3-alt ever since I first heard about. It’s an adventure route of the purest kind, and I can’t wait to go play on it together with the excellent Christin Healey as my partner. If we can get to the trailhead that is: after recent early-season rain & snow on the South Rim, there is no guarantee that we can even get to the start of our intended canyon adventure. But hey - we might as well try.
If you want to follow along, we’ll have the GPS active while we’re out there at http://www.sunnystroeer.com/gps. Cross your fingers for passable roads so we can get to the trailhead!