Route: Desolation 7 Summits (CA)

Location
California, US
Distance
23.9 mi
Vertical Gain
9,840 ft
Description

This route tackles 7 of the highest peaks in central part of Desolation Wilderness: Pyramid Peak, Mount Agassiz, Mount Price, Jacks Peak, Dicks Peak, Mount Tallac and Mount Ralston. These peaks make a logical loop and they can be taken on in any order as long as you start and finish at the same trailhead. It has most commonly been done starting/ending at the Mount Ralston Trailhead on Highway 50. The route is around 25-30 miles depending on exact route choices and conditions. A good amount of the route is off trail. This route has some amazing scenery and lots of easy water sources. The loop can also be done in the winter and the actual fastest time is likely to be achieved in good spring conditions after a big winter. In this case, a "winter" attempt corresponds to a ski or snowshoe attempt and a "summer" attempt is on foot.
Here is the most common route: https://caltopo.com/m/H2JR
Using this common route, the main debate is whether to do it clockwise and begin with the technical parts first or counter-clockwise and tackle the more "runable" parts first and save the Crystal Range for the end.

Current known times:
Summer Solo
Leor Pantilat 11:01:58 - 7/28/2013 - https://www.strava.com/activities/70701868
Patrick Parsel 8:16:43 - 9/10/2017 - https://www.strava.com/activities/1178459463

Summer Team:
Unknown - although a number of people have expressed interest in doing it in summer 2019. 

Winter Solo:
Patrick Parsel 7:30:06 - 4/21/2019 - https://www.strava.com/activities/2308457709

Winter Team:
Eric Munsing/Patrick Parsel 9:14:11 - 4/30/2017 - https://www.strava.com/activities/965382806

Comments

Tomorrow I will be attempting this route unsupported. Don’t know how close I realistically will be to the FKT but I would like to make my attempt known

I’m going to do this route unsupported today. There is a David Sinclair strava route that is slightly different (and faster by 1 hour) than the route shown here so ~5:30 is maybe the proper time to beat for the FKT?

(https://www.strava.com/activities/7567181063/overview)

🍻