Grand Canyon , Rim to Rim to Rim.
(Personal project, link in bio)
72km
3200m elevation
10hours 59mins moving time
16 hours elapsed time ( we made the most of it all)
On 13 September 2024, at 5 a.m., Michael Gilling and I set off into the darkness, descending the north side of the Grand Canyon.
In the carpark, the temperature was a measly 4°C, but within an hour of following the trail into the canyon, it had risen to 18°C — and it continued to climb throughout the day.
I’ve been curious for a while whether it’s possible to carry multiple cameras (that aren’t GoPros) on adventures like this — to document the journey while still being part of it, rather than having a film crew meet you at certain spots to get shots before moving on. After a few hours, I started longing for empty hands instead of a couple of cameras, but eight months later, I’m pretty happy I had it all with me.
Sharing 72 km with my close friend and cousin Michael, in a part of the world we’ll most likely never find ourselves in together again, is something we made sure to truly enjoy while in the Canyon. There were hard parts, funny parts, sunny parts, dark parts, cold parts — and a whole lot of beautiful parts.
My dad walked down couple kms to meet us as we were climbing back up the north side. I had felt like vomiting for the last two hours of that climb, and having him there, just plodding behind me, letting me know how far I had left while I wrestled everything to get to the top — that was a pretty special moment.
Michael had his own moments too —shedding tears from the sheer beauty of it all as the moon came up, and from emotions he’d been holding onto since his mum passed a few years earlier. None of this was captured — we were cooooooooked on that last climb — but sometimes it’s best not to capture those moments. Sometimes it’s better just to be there: mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually, with the people around you and the land that surrounds you.
