14er vs. Grand Canyon Rim to Rim

[Will_E]

It’s harder to do North Rim trail both directions than rim to rim. I’ve done it twice, both times in a single day, these are my stats from when I did it in 2015. It was 107° at Phantom Ranch on this day. The heat was brutal. Not as hard as doing San Luis in winter, but definitely tougher than Barr trail.

[12ersRule]

That's a pretty sick pace, Will, especially in that heat!

[martinleroux]

It was 107° at Phantom Ranch on this day. The heat was brutal...

107°! No wonder you found it tough. That's the tricky thing about the R2R; the N Rim is closed for half the year and when it's open it's usually very hot in the inner canyon. If you want to enjoy the experience the best times of year are (a) just after the N Rim opens in mid-May, with a very early start each morning to avoid the heat, or (b) late Oct or early Nov. The N Rim lodge closes in mid-Oct but the road's open until Dec 1. Most R2R2R records have been set in early Nov.

[Scott P]

My daughter did the Rim to Rim at age 3. The trick is that we did it in four days.

For an "average" hiker, the Rim to Rim is really only hard if you do it in one day and/or if it is hot. If you do it in 2-3 days, and the weather isn't scorching hot, it really shouldn't be that difficult for an "average" hiker.

[jimwei]

My last Barr up and down took 20 minutes longer than the S-N portion of my R3. But R3 was very leisurely with lots stops to take pictures. So those are fairly similar imo.

A better data point to compare: FKT on R2R is 2:39. PPM record is 3:16. But PPM has 2 extra miles so subtract 13 minutes from the record makes it 3:01. So Barr is a bit longer but not by much.

Really? What about Pikes Peak via the Barr Trail? That's a class 1, it's a 24 mile round trip, and it's got 7,600' of gain and the same amount of loss. R2R has 4,500' of loss and 5,800' of gain (or the other way around).

Of course there are many 14ers that are easier than the R2R, assuming that the weather's nice and the altitude doesn't bother you. But I don't see how you can claim that "there is nothing comparable in CO".

[nunns]

It’s harder to do North Rim trail both directions than rim to rim. I’ve done it twice, both times in a single day, these are my stats from when I did it in 2015. It was 107° at Phantom Ranch on this day. The heat was brutal. Not as hard as doing San Luis in winter, but definitely tougher than Barr trail.

That's awesome. You must only weigh about 55 pounds, based on only 2300 calories burned on a 30 mile hike.

Sean Nunn

[Will_E]

It’s harder to do North Rim trail both directions than rim to rim. I’ve done it twice, both times in a single day, these are my stats from when I did it in 2015. It was 107° at Phantom Ranch on this day. The heat was brutal. Not as hard as doing San Luis in winter, but definitely tougher than Barr trail.

That's awesome. You must only weigh about 55 pounds, based on only 2300 calories burned on a 30 mile hike.

Sean Nunn

Yeah, the algorithm Apple uses to calculate calories has steadily gotten better over the years. I had to turn off heart rate tracking to save battery on the watch on the way back up.

Also, for reference, I do Barr trail up and down in around 8 hours.

[pakofnm1021]

I recently did longs peak 14er in CO. I’m planning to do rim to rim north to south.
Has anyone done both hikes if so how would you compare longs peak to r2r?

[Ed_Groves]

I haven't done R2R, but hiking down to the river and back to the south rim in late February was really nice in 2022. Microspikes and trekking poles were essential for the icy areas, but the temperatures were 20s to 40s with sunshine which was perfect weather for hiking.

[desertdog]

I did Rim to Rim as a day hike a couple times. I’d say a 14er is easier. I left my car on the South Rim and took a shuttle van to the North Rim and spent the night, got an early start. I would look a taking the South Kaibab out rather than the Bright Angel. It is a little shorter, less people, and more scenic. The down side is there is no water, so bring plenty. You can fill up at Phantom Ranch. Heat and dehydration is your enemy on this trip. Hanging out at the bar at the El Travor Hotel when you are done is great!

[Shredstick263]

I recently did longs peak 14er in CO. I’m planning to do rim to rim north to south.
Has anyone done both hikes if so how would you compare longs peak to r2r?

Did R2R2R on October 6th last year (South Kaibab to North Kaibab and back) and have summited Longs via the Keyhole. I don't think the two really compare at all -- there's no class 2 or 3 -- it's just a well maintained trail the whole way. No rock hopping that I remember, either. Assuming you did Longs from the trailhead, I'd feel pretty comfortable about finishing the R2R hike. You've got one huge advantage in that you're only climbing to 7k feet of elevation on the south rim. Way easier than getting to 14,000. It's easy to go too fast the first half since you're descending, but pace yourself a bit and you'll be fine.

[oldschool]

My experience and comparison...

I did Long's last year. It took me 12 hrs. It's 15 miles RT approx.

I did an R2R2R a few years back. It took me 15 hrs. It's 42 miles.

Mike