Rim-to-Rim - How long will it take???

I provided a lot of information in my post on Just the Facts.

But I missed one thing that is really important.  How long will it take?  This will dictate how early we leave and whether or not we need headlights.

This seems like a really simple question.  But of course it is not.  It depends on how in shape you are, how often you will stop, whether you will take some of the side trips, and how long you will spend at lunch (or drinking a beer as is our plan).

Here is what I have found on other sites.

4:55a North Kaibab Trail head

...

5:45p South Rim 

If you are in good shape and do not plan to stop too many times, you can do the rim-to-rim hike in 12-13 hours. This means that you do not need to start before sunrise unless you are hiking in october (when sunset is at 6pm). If you are not in good shape, you should not even think of trying this hike anyway. So leaving before sunrise may sound a bit unnecessary. 

One way trip time: 12 hours 7 minutes

The trip was successful (13 hours for the hike). But -- it was absolutely, positively, without question, by far . . . the hardest thing I've ever done in my life.

Based on all of that, it will take beween 12-13 hours.  If the sun is going down at about 6pm on the South Rim, then we should be hiking by 5am.  That means headlights and enough warm cloths for at least an hour of dark.

I will be writing about headlights next.