GRAND CANYON R2R2R

Ne zamandir yapmak istedigim bir projeydi Grand Canyon R2R2R. Guney Rim'den Kuzey Rim'e, oradan tekrar geri Guney Rim'e kosma projesi. Toplamda 45mil+ ve 3200 metre irtifa kazanimli bir rota. Gecen yaz Turkiye'deyken eski dagci arkadaslarimdan Hakan, Phoenix'e bir konferans icin gelecegini soylediginde kendisine bu projemden bahsetmistim. Hakan'in planlar belli olunca ben de hemen SF'ten Phoenix'e ucak biletimi aldim. 12 Kasim'da orada bulustuk ve direk Grand Canyon girisinde kalacagimiz motel'e dogru yola ciktik. Karnimizi doyurup cantamizi hazirladiktan sonra sabah 5te Ziyaretci Merkezi'nden bizi baslangic noktamiza goturecek servis aracini yakalamak uzere yola ciktik. Kosmaya/asagiya dogru kafa lambalarimizla inmeye basladigimizda saat sabah 5:15 idi. South Kaibab denen bu patika baya dik ve tozlu bir patika. Yolda bizden once baslamis gruplari gecerek devam ettik. Ben uzun mesafe kosular ve yarislar daha once cok yaptigim icin beni neyin bekledigini az cok biliyordum. Hakan kisa mesafelerde hizina yetisemedigim bir kosucu olmasina ragmen bu tarz bir organizasyonu ilk defa yapiyordu. Ama O da benim gibi eski dagcilardan oldugu icin endiselenecek bir durum yoktu tabi ki de! Biraz dinlendikten sonra geri donuse gectik. Bol bol fotograf molasi verip manzaralardan da keyif almaya calistik tabi ki. Geri South Rim'e cikmak icin indigimiz dik patika yerine Bright Angel denen biraz daha uzun ama daha mulayim bir egimi olan ve Colorado Nehri manzarali patikayi sectik. Sahane bir dolunay esliginde rotayi 17 saatte bitirdik. Cok yorulduk ama bitirdigimizde cok mutluyduk. Harika bir macera yaptigimizda hemfikir bir sekilde hemen motele geri donduk. Ertesi gun oglen ben SF'teydim bile! Hakan da konferansinda! :)

Grand Canyon R2R2R has been on the books for quite some time now (10500ft elevation gain over 45+ miles). Over the summer, when my long time friend Hakan told that he may be coming to Phoenix for a conference, I mentioned him about this run and after his plans were finalised, we decided to do it. I flew to Phoenix from San Francisco and we drove straight to the motel we were going to stay at the entrance of Grand Canyon National Park. After dinner and preparing our backpacks, we got up early to drive to the shuttle at 5am in the Park that would drop us at the South Kaibab trailhead. We started running down at 5:15am and passed a few big groups on the way down. The trail was very steep and dusty. I am used to long distance running and various format long races. Hakan is super fast in short-er distances but was new to this format. But he is an old mountaineer so there was no concern at all! Although we started our way back slow, we picked our pace but didn't forget to stop to enjoy the views and to take photos. On the way back up to the South Rim, instead of the steep trail we came down, we took the Bright Angel trail which is relatively longer but goes up more gradually. Besides, it had the views of the Colorado River under the Super Moon. After 17 hours (lots of stops and rests) we got back to the South Rim and went straight to the motel. We were very tired but ecstatic about our little adventure. The next day by midday I was already in SF and Hakan was already at his conference :)

Info
Written by Gulnur Tumbat On Tagged , , ,