Training for Grand Canyon Rim to Rim: Kolob Arch, Skyline Trail and Goblet Squats!

Standard route for Grand Canyon North Rim to South Rim in one day (North Kaibab Trail and Bright Angel Trail)
Distances/Elevation gain/loss:
North Kaibab Trail = 14 miles/5,700 feet loss.    Bright Angel Trail = 9.4 miles/4,350 feet gain.  Note: I've seen various estimates of "net elevation gain" that are higher.  Since there is not any major regaining of lost elevation, I am estimating gain by difference between Colorado River and south rim.  
Elevations:  north rim = 8,200 feet, south rim = 6,850', Colorado river = 2,500'.

Related Posts

Rim to Rim training Part 1

Cactus to Clouds Challenge

Rim to Rim Training Part 1

All Fired up!
As Pat Benatar's song goes, we're "All Fired Up" for next week's Grand Canyon rim to rim hike!  Her song is a fitting accompaniment to the goblet squat video below.  Fred and I needed elevation training, so we went to Palm Springs, my old stomping grounds, and hiked the Skyline Trail for a gain of 4,700 feet, the same Bright Angel Trail gain on the south rim of the Grand Canyon. 

​We encountered too much snow at 8,000 feet in the Pine Valley Mountains just to the north of St. George, preventing a good elevation gain.  My last post, Grand Canyon Rim to Rim In One Day:  Training in St. George, Utah, explains how we got creative with emulating distance and elevation.  We did great on the Skyline; we're now ready for the big hike!

Skyline Trail to 5,300 feet - Palm Springs, California
​Walking on the infamous Skyline Trail always brings back great memories of conquering the epic Cactus to Clouds hike with my old friends when we were hike leaders for the Coachella Valley Hiking Club.  It's the quintessential desert hike; a tough, nearly 8,000-foot climb that begins in Palm Springs at 500 feet elevation and ends at the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway Mountain Station at 8,400 feet.  It's a perfect training hike for GC rim to rim and the longest trail of three that make up the Cactus to Clouds Hike (C2C), a grueling 10,300' gain up to Mt. San Jacinto summit, a hike Ray Wilson and I created in 1993.  It is now considered one of the toughest in the U.S., and on many challenge-seekers' bucket lists.  We accessed Skyline via North Lykken trail.

We climbed on the Skyline to 5,300 feet, stopping when we hiked 7 miles in and saw an elevation loss ahead of us, just short of Rescue Box 2.  The yuccas at mid-mountain were gorgeous, promising abundant flowers, evidence of a more-than-usual rainfall the previous winter.  The ribbonwood tree forest is beautiful as ever, with its grey and red bark peeling into long ribbons that give them a shaggy appearance.

Chaparral yucca with San Jacinto Mountains in the background.  Skyline Trail ends at top of far ridge.

New goal:  hike to the tram this October with some of our hiking buddies.  Oh, the nostalgia and the beauty of this mountain!
I'm grateful that I can still be hiking it 31 years later - let's say that the Advil this time was very helpful!

La Verkin Creek Trail to Kolob Arch - Zion NP
This long hike features attributes found in Zion National Park's main canyon, including an arch, sandstone cliffs and a river but without the throngs of people.  It's in the northern Kolob Canyons section, has a spur trail to impressive Kolob Arch, and also meets up with the Hop Valley Trail, a route to the main Zion Canyon.  We hiked 7 miles in to Kolob Arch and back for a total of 14 miles, the same distance as Grand Canyon's North Kaibab Trail.  It drops down from the parking lot at Lee Pass Trailhead into the La Verkin Creek drainage.  The same mileage as our Skyline Trail hike, but not nearly the same elevation gain.  

We've got one more training hike on Zion's West Rim Trail this week with Lindy and Jeff, and then we should be good to go for the Grand Canyon.  We are lucky to have such inspirational places, some of the most beautiful on Earth, in which to train!

 

Strengthening exercise for powerful hill climbing:  Goblet Squats 
I have found that since I started doing CrossFit and working on strengthening my legs, I have more stability and power for steeper hiking.  Goblet squats can be done with a kettlebell as well as two dumbbells, each resting on your shoulders.
Strengthens your core (trunk) muscles, glutes and hips.  Points to remember:

• Feet hip-to shoulder-width apart with toes pointed slightly outwards.
• Hold dumbbell or kettlebell at your chest with your elbows pointing down.
• Pull in and "zip" up your abdominals, raise  your sternum up, squeeze shoulder blades together.
• Look forward:  inhale as you squat, holding weight against chest - don't lean forward - keep trunk upright.
• Lower hips to below knee level, then squeeze your glutes as you push to stand through your mid-feet and heels.
• Keep your knees tracking over your toes.
• Exhale, repeat and know you are that much stronger to climb hills!

Forsyth Creek - Pine Valley Mountains in mid-May.
It's a late spring here; ran into packed snow on the trail at 8,000 feet.  Trees are just starting to bud.
photos captured with my new Sony mirrorless camera.

La Verkin Creek in Kolob Canyons section of Zion National Park.

At the beginning of La Verkin Creek Trail - Kolob Canyons of Zion National Park.

Jeff and Fred on La Verkin Creek Trail - Zion National Park.  This morning was cold starting out - 31 degrees!

Kolob Arch, 7 miles from Lee Pass on the La Verkin Creek Trail.
La Verkin is the name of a nearby city between both entrances to Zion National Park.  Origins for its name may have come from an alteration of the Spanish word for the nearby Virgin River -- la virgen.

Mile #14 - on the way back to the Lee Pass trailhead!  Beautiful Zion hike.

Scott and Fred on the Skyline Trail overlooking Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley, California.

Near the beginning of the Skyline Trail.  Prepare before you go far on the Skyline!  The steepest part is the "traverse" at the end of the hike.  I have seen a person in serious trouble on one of our Cactus to Clouds hikes.

Getting higher - overlooking Palm Springs.

Oh beautiful yucca!

At ~ 4,000-foot elevation on the Skyline looking at the final climb to the Palm Springs Aerial Tram on far ridge.

One of the first views of the San Jacinto Wilderness, where the Skyline Trail that leads to the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway Mountain Station terminates on the ridge way up there!  We are heading to the ridge on the right.

Chaparral Yucca on the Skyline Trail with the Little San Bernardino Mountain Range across the Coachella Valley in the background. 

A good look at what is to come on the Skyline Trail.  The tram station is just to the right of the arrow.  Coffmans Crag, the white granite just below and to the right of the arrow, is a good landmark to see the final "traverse", a green and steep spot of trees to the left of it in this photo.

The Skyline Trail is not one to be taken lightly.  People have died on this trail.  On one of our Cactus to Clouds hikes, a man caught up to us who had lost his hiking party.  He was severely dehydrated - required a helicopter rescue.
Left, right from top to bottom:  Ribbon Wood tree (Adenostoma sparsifolium), Chaparral yucca, North Lykken trailhead sign, metal sign commemorating Jane Lykken Hoff, "trail boss" of the Desert Riders, contents of Rescue Box 1, Skyline warning sign, Rescue box 1, and boulder sign at the intersection of North Lykken Trail and Skyline Trail.

Bill Baker entertaining at the Sandbar Restaurant in La Quinta, California.  This is a popular place to sing along to some old classics, sip a dirty martini and have fun!  

Sue at the turn-around point on Skyline at 5,300 feet.

Yucca and Ribbonwood trees.

Celebrating long friendships with our hiking buddies in Palm Springs.  I have known these friends for over 30 years!  We have shared many miles on desert trails and many memories.  Love you guys!
from left to right:  Scott, Vickie, Maria, Sue and Fred.
Vickie, Maria and I are in the photo below - 31 years ago!

​​The First Cactus to Clouds Challenge - October 1993
Summit of Mt. San Jacinto, 10,804'.
From left to right:  Sue Birnbaum, (don't remember his name), Roger Keezer, Maria Keezer, Ray Wilson, and Vickie Kearney seated in the middle.