The Support Role in Grand Canyon National Park's Rim to Rim Hike

All finished. Leaving the South Rim with Kimmy Yo & Jill G after their successful one day Rim to Rim Hike!

This is a story about being the “Support Role” on the Rim to Rim Hike in Grand Canyon National Park!

I remember the first time I had heard about someone I knew being in a “support role” for an outdoor adventure. My friend Michele’s sister is a ultra runner and Michele had notched herself a few half marathons in Death Valley National Park simply by being in the support van for her sister. I was familiar with support roles in driving or clothing for half or full marathons (dumping off clothes, water refills, etc) but this was a bit different because you were competing in a way but also supporting with emotional energy and physical support.

Now her sis was competing in Badwater: The World’s Toughest Foot Race, one of the most grueling runs you could encounter in the world, and was doing a 135 miles herself. But Michele was getting in about 20 or so miles PLUS she was in charge of reiki, food, drink, and moving the van from location to location.

Headed to the REMOTE North Rim section of the Grand Canyon.

I fell in love with the idea of being in the Support Role for some larger scale Outdoor Adventures when the opportunity arose. Rim to Rim in the Grand Canyon is as good as it gets!

You get to have an incredible workout, take part in support someone else’s dreams, and get out in nature in a different way of being was VERY enticing to me. This was several years ago. Michele’s sis had retired from ultra running and my brother was on hiatus with raising my nephew.
Good things happen to those who are patient I like to believe! I waited for my chance…

Just south of Lee’s Ferry near the Navajo Bridge aka the start of the Grand Canyon from the North.

This story isn’t about the one day Epic Rim to Rim Hike that Jill G and Kimmy Yo just completed. You can check Kim’s IG page out HERE for all the deets and photos of that (they are some badasses BTW.)
CONGRATS TO THEM!!!!

Nor is it about the actual Rim to Rim Hike. I wrote about that back in the day HERE after I had done it with my friend Matt. (Gratitude to my Dad who was our support vehicle for our hike.)

This article is about the idea and logistics of what it entails to run the support role for the Rim to Rim Hike, especially on a deadline of one day!

The view of the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

Let’s first off start with the fact that you have to be a bit of an outdoor adventure or nature junk head to want to do something like this!
The reason why you need a support role on the Rim to Rim Hike is that while the North Rim can be seen from the South Rim and vice versa it’s actually a 4.5 hour shuttle ride to get to the North Rim from the South.

Throw the COVID19 wrench in when we were doing this and the shuttle service is not running b/c you can’t enter the East entrance to the park and you have a SIX HOUR drive from Rim to Rim. Jill and Kim were fine figuring this stuff out. But it was finally my time to get to offer up being in the Support Role I had dreamt about since Michele shared with me about running across Badwater/Death Valley with her sister while rubbing her calfs and giving her Reiki (or some combination of that shit!)

A more unknown fact about the Grand Canyon is the North Rim and South Rim are not alike in any way whatsoever. The North Rim is remote, difficult to reach, is covered in alpine forests as you can see with this fall foliage, and is closed from October thru May to vehicles. Consider a visit to the North Rim even if you have been to the South Rim. It’s almost like two different parks.

They agreed to let me be in a support role and I felt like I did when I sold my first hot dog running a food truck in college! I was PUMPED UP!!!
I tried my best to stay out of their way in terms of providing opinions about the trail but rather in the days leading up to it just answering their questions as they came up. I think that’s one item that a support role can be neat in providing value. If you have done the adventure you can be a fly on the wall for your team.
Logistically a support role for Rim to Rim can provide several items but I’ll share my list below…

This bridge about 3 miles in on the North Kaibab Trail was my turning back point to head back up the trail and continue my support role for the day.

My core Support Roles for this Rim to Rim Grand Canyon Hike were:

1. Shut the F up unless there was a question you could answer. (A good practice always when working with groups. This was their day not mine.)
2. Hike down the North Kaibab Trail until day light just in case headlamp hiking was cumbersome for the lead hiker and we needed to switch around. (Side note: It was 18 degrees at the trailhead!)
3. Drive the Rogue from Jacob’s Lake Inn 45 minutes to the trailhead so they could save their energy the morning of the hike. We arrived at the trailhead and began moving shortly after 5am.
4. After about three miles in I hiked back out with their winter jackets they no longer needed (they had a 80 degree TEMP SWING that day from North Kaibab Trailhead to “The Box” in the bottom of the Canyon.”) That was a straight UPHILL hike btw and had me breathing heavy.
5. Drive six hours to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.
6. Stop to get snacks/drinks in case no restaurants were open when they finished.
7. Check into the hotel and bring their bags in.
8. Fill up with extra water in case spigots were off or their filter systems weren’t working.
9. Begin hiking down until appropriate stop point to meet them. Met them about three miles down.
10. Hike back out with them and be prepared to carry packs or get help if in dire straits.

Ready to head back down the South Rim after a long car ride!

All in all the day went about as great as it could! The biggest hiccup was me spilling water all over my hands in 18 degree weather and almost getting frostbite on the hike in. Kimmy Yo & Jill G were fine, the support role person was the problem ha!

There were no injuries, no dehydration, water spickets worked, they had enough food, and I ran into no accidents or confusion on hotel check-ins!

They hiked a marathon with 5,000 descent and 3,500 feet of ascent in 13.75 hours finishing in the dark with headlamps just like we started at 505am. That was partly due to their decision to hike it late in the year with limited hours for sunlight but cooler temps. Pick your poison!

I wound up with about 12 miles of hiking 2,500 descent and same ascent plus 400 miles of driving and buying a lot of chips and IPA’s. I got the chance to hike down the Grand Canyon for sunrise and hike up for sunset.
I enjoyed seeing several other folks finish their Rim to Rim Hike and give them congrats that I had seen earlier in the day. I also got dozens of questions from down hikers as I strolled up the North Kaibab Trail at 7am
(Did you hike Rim to Rim all night?
Did you already hike to the bottom of the Canyon today?
What the hell are you doing here right now?)

Jill & Kim less than one mile from the finish!

But most importantly I got to have an amazing life experience and provide a valuable role to two incredibly important people in my life.
I was given the chance to see the Grand Canyon in a way I never had before and I got to be part of one of the biggest outdoor feats one can accomplish in the US. We turned it into a fun road trip, an enjoyable vacation, and a way to connect more together as we always have.

The Grand Canyon is my favorite National Park and this was my 5th visit here. I have done a unique and different thing each time visiting and that’s what makes it so special. If you can only go to the South Rim and take a photo DO IT. But you’ll never understand why it is my favorite of the US Parks.
Go below the Rim, come in the winter, hike Rim to Rim, visit Phantom Ranch, head to the North Rim, provide a support role, drink beers on a rafting trip, backcountry into the slot canyons, you catch my drift right?!

I’ll probably hike Rim to Rim again someday but without a doubt being a Support Role for someone else was a far more enriching Outdoor Adventure Experience than just hiking it again.
It was a day I’ll never forget and that’s enough for me.

Thanks for reading homies! Have you ever done a support role? Or hiked Rim to Rim?

Comment below with your experience and as always if you want to write for the site and have some unique outdoor adventure stories/pictures to share just message us!

Cheers to the dirt paths and windy roads,
Mike R

Sunset on the South Rim. Never disappoints.