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Recommendations to prepare for one of Earth's greatest hikes.  On the West Rim Trail in Zion National Park. Quotes: "Nowhere else is the simple act of putting one foot in front of the other so provocative, so destabilizing, so densely freighted with rich and interlocking layers of meaning.” - Kevin Fedarko, from his book A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon. "They (people) love to complain about how soft people are today. Then I look at their profile photo and realize the last time this person did a push-up was probably when Commando was in theaters. If you think people are soft, start by not being soft yourself. You have the power to do something hard and train every day." - Arnold Schwarzenegger To hike the Grand Canyon rim to rim in one day requires mindful and effective training. It can make the difference between a positive, enjoyable experience and one that is a once-only, miserable experience. This will be our fifth Grand Canyon rim to rim hike. In 2024, we hiked north to south with our friend Jeff (Epic Grand Canyon Rim to Rim Hike In One Day). This year we will hike south to north, with an increase of at least 1,000 feet elevation gain compared to last year, over a shorter distance. These are our recommendations for an enjoyable and safe rim to rim hike in this incredible canyon, one of the seven natural wonders of the world, based on our experiences:
The hip strengthening exercises below create stability and endurance necessary for long distance hiking, scrambling, and climbing. I also threw in some of this year's photos. Fred and I, in our mid-60's are so grateful to be able to do these hikes, especially with our friends. Many people are unable to experience the awesome grandeur of the changing colors and terrain descending and climbing back out of the canyon. To be able to cross the green and blue Colorado River, see 1.7 billion-year old basement rocks and walk along Bright Angel Creek's rushing white water is something we'll never forget. Hip Strengthening for Better Hiking and Injury Prevention - Sue Birnbaum, MPT
These are some of the exercises I do to create strength and endurance in my hip stabilizers: the gluteus medius, gluteus maximus, piriformis, and deep core muscles.
Your gluteus maximus (largest butt muscle) is described by a physical therapist as "a steering wheel and stabilizer for your legs." (from the book ROAR; see reference below). Your glutes kick into action first to keep your pelvis stabilized and then direct your knee and quadricep movements. Up the chain, your abdominal muscles, back muscles, and obliques help you keep moving in a solid, stabilized unit (optimally, if they're strong!).
** It's important to recruit your deep core muscles by getting into the habit of automatically contracting or "zipping up" your abdomen, pulling your navel toward your spine before you start moving with these exercises.** Check with your physician before performing these exercises. There's thousands of foot steps on the 22-mile GC rim to rim trail. Strong hip stabilizers will help prevent hip pain! Side Steps onto Box and Side Step-Overs
Keep your pelvis level throughout the step up, prevent your knee from bending (caving in) toward midline, keeping your knee tracking over your foot. Box step-overs train your ankles, knees, hips, core and dynamic balance functionally for scrambling over rocks. Reverse Lunges with Dumbbells
The further away from your spine you hold a given load, the more spinal loading (torque) occurs, the stronger your trunk muscles - including core muscles - have to be to keep your spine stable and strong. I contract my scapular stabilizers to keep the shoulders down away from my ears, keeping my chest elevated. Keeping an erect posture gets those spinal muscles to work! Knee should not go in front of your toes as you lower down. Banded Squats with Dumbbells into Thrusters
I am trying to prevent my knees from moving toward each other - overcoming the force of the band squeezing inward by contracting my gluteus medius to abduct my hips, keeping knees tracking over ankles. Keeping your arms extended forward creates a big challenge for your back and abs. Thrusters are an explosive movement by the glutes to push dumbbells up, requiring scapular/shoulder control and core stability. Bridging with band-resisted leg movements If my hips start to get sore, I do this basic physical therapy exercise. The key is to push outward against the band, keep your hips up and not to let your pelvis dip down to the side. Think of it as a reverse plank - I could do a little better keeping my hips up in line with shoulders and knees. Zion National Park with Lindy and Jeff. We hit slippery snow so we couldn't get as much elevation as we wanted! Clockwise from top left: Walking up West Rim Trail to Scouts Lookout, Lindy's "little men", Fred on plateau after Scouts Lookout, Sue and Fred, heading back, Walter's Wiggles looking over Refrigerator Canyon on the way up to Scout Lookout. Training in St. George area Clockwise from top left: Robin on ridge to Peak 4416 - Red Cliffs Desert Reserve, Sue and Robin on Padre Canyon Trail, Jeff near Three Ponds Trail in Snow Canyon SP, Robin looking at Peak 4416, celebrating Scrub Benchmark's summit, lost on the Whiptail Trail, Snow Canyon, Walter's Wiggles - Zion, Fred on the ridge to 4416, petroglyphs on Land Hill near Ivins, Fred coming up canyon in Snow Canyon, the "Vortex", cholla in Snow Canyon. Related
References
Sims, S.T. 2016. ROAR: How to Match Your Food and Fitness to Your Female Physiology for Optimum Performance, Great Health, and a Strong, Lean Body For Life. Rodale Books. RodaleWellness.com
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See spectacular views of three states: extreme southwestern Utah, Arizona's Virgin River Gorge and Nevada's Virgin Peak from the summit of one of the highest points in the Beaver Dam Mountains.  On Scrub Benchmark's summit: the view to the north of West Mountain in the Beaver Dam Mountains (left), and the Pine Valley Mountains on the right horizon to the northeast. Location: Beaver Dam Mountains - Beaver Dam Wash National Conservation Area, managed by Bureau of Land Management, west of Ivins, Utah.
Distance/elevation gain: 7 miles out and back/2,550' gain. Terrain: steep gravel service road to summit with loose rocks. Coordinates: 37.053315, -113.817280 Prominence: 2,065' Date Hiked: March 28, 2025. Trailhead: Coordinates: 37.015882, -113.817280. Accessed from Mojave Desert Joshua Tree Road Scenic Backway (Bulldog Pass/Apex Road). Maps and Apps: AllTrails, Stavislost, Beaver Dam Wash National Conservation Area Map. Vehicle: 4 WD best on gravel road to trailhead. Geology: Callville Limestone of the Pennsylvanian Period (~300 Ma). This sedimentary rock was laid down in a time of swampy forests and shallow seas that advanced and retreated over millions of years. The Beaver Dam Mountains are a northwest-trending anticline (an arch-shaped fold in rocks) located in between two major provinces: the Basin and Range and the Colorado Plateau. History: the Mojave Desert Joshua Tree Road Scenic Backway follows the Old Spanish Trail - a trade route that extends from California, Utah, New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona and Colorado. Quote "The finest quality of this stone, these plants and animals, this desert landscape is the indifference manifest to our presence, our absence, our coming, our staying, or our going." - Edward Abbey, in Desert Solitaire, reflecting on his last day as an Arches National Monument park ranger in the 1960's. Related
Because this hike has one of the most elevation gains in the St. George, Utah area, Robin, Jeff, Lindy and I tackled it to train for our upcoming Grand Canyon south rim to north rim hike on May 21. The magnificent views on the summit of this highest point in the Beaver Dam Mountains near the Arizona border more than made up for the straight-up steep gravel road with its annoying loose rocks and heart-pounding pitch. There's an advantage to living in St. George if you love geology: if you go west, you can explore Basin and Range territory. If you go east, you get to explore the Colorado Plateau province. Since I am inclined to want to hike in the Red Rock Country of the Colorado Plateau, I thought we would try something different and venture into the limestones of the Beaver Dam Mountains, which straddle these two provinces. This hike is about as straightforward as a hike can be. In our 4 WD, we turned onto Bulldog Pass/Apex Road (AKA Mojave Desert Joshua Tree Road Scenic Backway) from Old Highway 91 out of Ivins, Utah. We parked at the unmarked road that goes to the peak (see coordinates above) in a wide flat area. Driving back afterwards, we continued southwest on this road until we reached its southern entrance onto Highway 91, passing Tabeau Peak and driving through Bulldog Canyon, with the Bulldog Knolls rising overhead to the north. The hike passes by interesting limestone ledges and a few caves. It starts out on a pleasant incline, but then becomes really steep as you enter an old burned area close to the communication-towered peak. There's nothing to block the incredible 360-degree view of three states. Seeing the Virgin River Gorge below, in northern Arizona from the top was spectacular, as I usually see it when I'm IN the gorge, driving on Interstate 15. To the south rises snow-covered Virgin Peak above Mesquite, Nevada.
Grateful for my Hiking Buddies This was a pretty good training hike for the Grand Canyon rim to rim hike, since you can get a decent gain (>2,500') without snow in early spring. I'm lucky to hike with Robin, Jeff and Lindy. They're really fun and make hiking an even more positive experience! Next time I do this hike, I want to include Tahoari Peak. From Scrub Benchmark, you would follow its west ridge and then drop down south to hike Tahoari's north ridge, like Stav Basis did (stavislost). Keep On Exploring!!
 Starting on road leading to Scrub Benchmark.  Limestone ledges.  Looking on the left side of the road while ascending.  Road begins to narrow and steepen.  Jeff on steep and loose section.  Robin and Lindy. Tahoari Peak is the third "bump" from the right on the ridge above.  It's a steep one!  Last steep section to the summit of Scrub Benchmark! Cool Stuff on Scrub Benchmark's summit: peak register, Jeff, Sue and Lindy, Lindy's "little men" posing next to the benchmark survey disc, communication towers. Note: this survey benchmark has an arrow on it. Usually these arrows point to a disc with a triangle on it, called the "triangulation station", or the main survey point. A triangulation station usually has 2 or 3 reference markers surrounding it. This particular disc says "No. 2". I measured the direction of the arrow pointing to 150 degrees.  Lindy, Jeff and Robin - trois randonneurs exceptionnels!  Looking south from near the summit into Arizona and the Virgin River Gorge (left), and Mt. Bangs and Virgin Peak in Nevada (right horizon).  Scrub Benchmark survey disc looks over the service road at the top.  The rest of the crew descending the slippery road. I am the slow one going down. Another look at Tahoari Peak, highest on the ridge in this photo.  Almost to the car - just around the corner!
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Sue and Fred
About this blogExploration documentaries – "explorumentaries" list trip stats and highlights of each hike or bike ride, often with some interesting history or geology. Years ago, I wrote these for friends and family to let them know what my husband, Fred and I were up to on weekends, and also to showcase the incredible land of the west.
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