Realized on the Bright Angel Trail that I was planning my water all wrong

I did the Bright Angel Trail down to the 3 Mile Resthouse two weeks ago and ran into a ranger named Dave who asked to see my water plan. I had been stashing bottles at fixed points based on distance, but he pointed out I should plan around the heat and sun exposure on the climb back up instead. That one chat made me redo all my route notes for the Grand Canyon this fall, since the way out is always slower than the way in. Does anyone else plan water by time in the sun rather than miles?

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caleb_ross129d ago

Planning around "the way out is always slower than the way in" is spot on and honestly most people never get it until they're hurting. I read a trip report a while back from a guy who did Rim to Rim and he said the same thing, that he counted hours in direct sun on the climb instead of miles, and it saved him because the exposed switchbacks up Bright Angel cook you way worse than the shaded parts. He said he drank almost twice as much on the way up even though it was fewer miles. What Ranger Dave told you lines up with that. Sun exposure plus altitude plus the uphill grade is a triple hit, so miles just don't tell the real story. I started writing my notes with estimated sun hours per section and it changed how much I carry between refills.

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