The nearest person was camping the night in Ruby Canyon about nine miles away. After a couple more miles, I arrived at the Pasture Wash Ranger Station. I enjoyed blazing my own trail above this wonder of the world. He wanted to know how far I was going. Wow! The trail is named after John Muir – an author/environmentalist from history and has 160 miles to follow the similar footpath as the Pacific Crest Trail. I’m in very good company. I struggled for over 15 minutes on this puzzle. The Tonto Trail generally follows the path of least resistance as it meanders, sometimes very deeply, back into drainages. Oh well. If I ever get back there, I’ll be sure to consult your past reports for more info and insight. The Tonto Trail is not level at all, but rolls and at times takes some tough descents and climbs to cross near the red walls of the side canyon. 100-mile race fitness can teach you what to do. Great job, and good advice and cautions to others who might try Grand Canyon running. I apologized. After slow going for awhile, I continued cross-country back to the road. Will I try it again and try to make it all the way? In past years, I’ve had difficulty figuring out where the trail continues on the other side of the creek, but this time I knew what to expect. I’m usually hiking in the canyon about once every week…maybe one of these days I’ll see you there! “Looks like you have come a long way.”   “Yes I have, I ran all night.”  Before I knew it, the top arrived and I was done! I turned on two GPSs to track the miles and keep my pace up. I reached dry Boulder Creek (mile 64.8) at 4:54 a.m. The Tonto Trail will also act as a shakedown hike and training hike for my 2019 Pacific Crest Trail thru -hike attempt. I looked up and was able to pick out the area on the rim where I peered down on this canyon yesterday afternoon. I noticed that they didn’t descend into the canyon, only flew over it. Its contour was the same as other sections of the Tonto but there was one huge difference. Next up was civilization! Going between drainages on the ridges, it is smoother and when it goes in, or needs to cross drainages, it is rugged and reminds me of the tough Zane Grey 50 course. Nice run Davy! Aww, man, that is some awesome trail out there! Gee, I have run a 50K in half that time before. When you had blisters at the beginning I knew you were in for it. Hiked the AT in 2017, check out the journal! Without careful attention and experience with the trail it is very easy to lose the trail and end up in a cactus patch. After that, I felt much better. He didn’t ask any more questions. As I descended into Hermit, the trail goes above the campsite area. My climb continued. We were dayhiking west while you were headed east. Good luck with your future plans!! It was dry when I had been there before so I started to wonder if I was going the right way. Do not take this trail lightly. Mind blowing, as usually. Start Date: Friday, August 2. He had hiked down and up the South Bass Trail to the river and back today. Going deep into each side canyon was always  a challenging experience. Start Date: Friday, August 2. I need to get back to the Grand, it is a very solemn place and one I truly felt home in. Finally I just had to stop and take off my shoe. Trails continue on either side but on each end they become remote “routes” instead of established trails. Location: South Rim Trails. Half of it is rugged and rocky, the other half is smooth but very crooked, widing around all the bushes and cactus. There is water in this canyon, but it is full of minerals and can give you the runs, so I skipped this water source. This was the guy who I had been told camped at Ruby Canyon last night. Tonto Trail; Trail summary. I decided to cut my run short, skip the last ten miles of the Tonto, and climb out Grandview Trail. Still confused, I finally came upon a campsite of backpackers. It’s nice when people understand and don’t give you those blank looks wondering if you are a crazy person. They don’t last very long. I warned them that I really stunk badly. “Where’s your sleeping bag?”  I explained that I would be running through the night. I continued down toward the east junction, looking for a nice place to camp for the night. It weaves in and out of all the side canyons, attempting to stay up on the Tonto Platform about 500-1000 feet above the Colorado River. The self-support with a pack makes the entire run that much tougher. They even took pictures of me. I know I still had a long way to go. I approached him and called out a greeting. That really surprised me because I knew it would have to be a couple very good ultrarunners. As I looked closer, it looked like within a few days or a week that the entire desert would be in bloom. I reached my first water source, Ruby Canyon (mile 8.7). He had given another guy a ride out here in the morning and I guess I could have hooked up with him too via the backcountry office. She had seen R2R2R runners before, but never a through-runner on the remote Tonto Trail. What a waste of time! I reached Boucher (pronounced Bu-shay) (mile 30.1) at 3:50 p.m. But then I came into a rugged canyon and it slowed me back down. Thank you. Camp along East Horseshoe M esa Trail before connecting to the Tonto Trail. Ultrarunning History Podcast and Stories - ultrarunninghistory.com. I was feeling amazing and ran very fast for a couple miles on the easy trail section. Image via Peretz Partensky. Among them were some knowledgeable runners and canyon hikers. I took my foot out and spied a point sticking up from the insole. Grand Canyon Conservancy is the official nonprofit partner of How great was this! You would think that the smooth parts are easier and faster. TONTO TRAIL EAST DISTANCES April 2018 use area code >>> BA9 BB9 BB9 BC9 BC9 BD9 BD9 BE9 BF5 Horseshoe Mesa - BG9 BH9 Grapevine Creek BJ9 n BJ9 - Little Colorado CBG - CIG ea <<< use ar code TONTO TRAIL EAST DISTANCES (miles) Tanner Beach Tannner Trailhead Cardenas Creek Nevills Rapids Hance Rapids New Hance Trailhead Hance Creek Grandview Trailhead Cottonwood … Anyhow I like to mix it up, train minimally, run long and race strong and protected… Anyways awesome adventure that I hope to one day emulate! It certainly was nice to always have whatever I needed with me in my aid station on my back. I crossed over the creek (mile 14.9) at 10:58 a.m. Hiking along the Tonto Trail under these conditions was quite magical. I told him that I had planned to find snow below the rim and melt it for water. I also chowed down on a bunch of quesadillas. Permits were available because South Bass is so rarely used. It was a wonderful dinner. Hikers seldom follow the entire Tonto Trail, normally using it to connect with rim-to-river routes. As part of that, I also spent about 55 hours running the trail at night. But once I ran the Tonto Trail in shorts and came away with bloody scratched legs and splinters to pick out for the next several days. Hikers seldom follow the entire Tonto Trail, normally using it to connect with rim-to-river routes. They mentioned that they had also camped here last April and wondered if I was one of the guys who were also running that trail then. I would then head east (up-river). He was amazed to hear that I had run all the way to the trailhead. Another thing that really slowed me down is the beauty of the canyon. That waste of time was frustrating. This is the other realistic danger. I knew what to do and what to expect. So this time I concentrated more. Soon I finally found the trail again and was on my way. 1:14:24. I’ll find out more.) My feet were it bad shape, but they did much better going uphill than down. I suspect Scott Jurek and Joe Grant covered this segment a couple hours faster in 2010, I’ll try to find out. Helpful. The trail didn’t take you all the way out to the river gorge for spectacular views. Highly recommend this trail. I now hoped to get in 40 miles before dark and do 30 miles before dawn. The past few days had been very windy. I have only kayaked through the Canyon and hiked some of the popular side canyons. There I saw a guy setting up his tent. There are only a few short sections that exposed near huge cliffs. Conveniently, a park shuttle is available from the trail to Mather Campground. Finally I hit the home stretch, the last few hundred feet below the rim. If I went all the way, that would be only 100 per hour. Some couldn’t believe I was passing them after I had run all those miles. For the last three miles to South Bass, I ran on the main dirt road. Thanks! This road could be impassible to vehicles. You don’t want to do this on the exposed Tonto Trail. This is probably a once-in-a-lifetime experience, so I made sure I took in the sights along the way. Along the way there are bail-out points to climb out of the canyon. Temperatures can reach 120 degrees in places and there is very little shade. I was now in familiar surroundings, having visited this area twice before. They all flew toward me, about 20 per hour. I had turned my lights on and the campers at Monument of course noticed my amazing green light. I was a funny sight, not your usual tourist. I was ready to explore a little before dinner, so I ran three miles out and back on section of the Tonto, west of my starting point, where I wouldn’t be running tomorrow. There were several routes and I was confused about which trail was right. He was shocked but understood and wished me luck. Running into a side canyon was always hotter because the sun was in my face and the breeze at my back. Views of the river could be seen with the rim far away that I have climbed up before. One was very big and would work nicely. Even going short sleeves is a problem. I read on Scott Jurek’s Facebook page last year that he and Joe Grant ran from South Bass to New Hance trailhead in 32 hours, in April of 2010. It was so great to be out running in the cool morning. I was almost out and dreaded running the next hot five miles without water. As dawn approached, I packed up my things, and cleared up my campsite making it look like no one had ever been there. During the summer of 2020, the Bush Fire burned 193,455 acres and forced a closure of the Arizona National Scenic Trail that will likely last until Spring of 2021. Not wanting to repeat my dehydration blunder from yesterday, I drank 2 ½ bottles right there at the creek. A ranger lady called out a greeting. This time on the Tonto Trail, I used both a handheld and a bright headlamp spot light. I’ve backpacked almost all of the south side of the Canyon, done a R2R2R dayhike, and run one marathon…. I reached South Kaibab trail (mile 55.4) at 1:20 a.m.   On the way to Cremation Canyon, I was starving. Finally I got past all that activity and then only heard a dull buzzing behind me. Through-hikers have accomplished this in several days, but I have yet to hear about runners accomplishing it without stopping and camping for the night. Hi Davy! My feet were a mess. I reached Lonetree Canyon (mile 61.6) at 3:27 a.m. I thought you were pulling my chain when I asked your name! My feet were in bad pain but my legs were feeling great. I could also now again hear the familiar buzz of helicopters and planes as I reached the area that they could fly over. 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