The hardest thing I've ever done
Inside the Grand Canyon: 120°F heat, 1am starts and the toughest terrain I've ever tackled
We've officially passed the halfway mark! 1,111 miles covered and I'm now well into the second half of this epic 2,000-mile run down the Colorado River.
Last week, we entered the Grand Canyon, the most dangerous, terrifying stretch of this run. The terrain was brutal, the heat unbearable, and the whole experience totally outside my comfort zone. I knew it would test every fibre of my being. I just didn’t know how much.
Getting through the Grand Canyon meant completely reorganising our lives around extreme heat. Some days started at 1am, packing up camp by headtorch and heading into the darkness so we could cover as much ground as possible before the sun came up.
We climbed and descended steep, exposed trails, carrying everything we needed on our backs and carefully managing our water between the few places we could find it. We tackled Nankoweap, the hardest named trail in the Grand Canyon, and pushed through long stretches with almost no shade as temperatures climbed north of 120°F (48°C).
There were moments when I just sat down and cried.
Once the sun was up, there was nowhere to hide from it. We carried umbrellas and cooling gear, crouched wherever we could find a scrap of shade and, when we finally reached the river, I would lie in the cold water desperately trying to bring my core temperature back down.
The temperature swings were diabolical. On the canyon floor, I was sliding off my sleeping mat in the heat, while days later on the North Rim I was shivering through the night.
Then there were the monsoons.
Flash floods can turn normally dry parts of the canyon into raging torrents in minutes, so we were constantly watching the weather and adapting our route around what was safe. When we reached the Little Colorado River, it was in flood and far too dangerous to cross.
In one of the most remote parts of the canyon, a group of rafters from OARS came to our rescue and helped us continue.
Later, with tears in his eyes, guide Ross Duncan read us a poem by Pete McBride about this river: “Use me wisely and I will sustain you, use me as you have, and I will break.”
There’s really no better way to put it.
The Grand Canyon stripped everything back to the basics: keep moving, find water, stay cool, get through the next mile. Somewhere between the 1am starts, unbearable heat, flooded rivers and moments where I wondered whether I could keep going, I learned more about this river than I ever could have from a map or a report.
And with the federal government finalising the rules that will determine how the Colorado is managed for years to come, I came out of the canyon feeling like I’d run through the middle of a story that is still being written.
I’m already back on the trail, making my way across the Arizona Strip towards Las Vegas. The Grand Canyon might be behind me, but the 100°F+ heat certainly isn’t. There’s barely any shade out here, and another 30+ miles to cover each day.
So that’s where you’ll find me... out here in the desert, probably hiding under my umbrella as I make my way through the long, hot miles to Vegas!
With gratitude,
Mina | #KeepTheRiverRunning
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