Left the La Quinta Cove at around 0545 with 3 snack bags of chips, 5 gels, 2 packs of fruit snacks, a pack of electrolyte gummies, a 2L bladder of water, and a filter.
Boo Hoff felt pretty casual and I was feeling good about my pace. As I turned on the Guadalupe trail a significant headwind picked up and I continued to trudge up while occasionally losing the trail. From the cowboy camp the head wind only got stronger, 10-20 mph. I eventually tied in with the Cactus Springs trail and filtered water at Horsethief Creek (mile 8ish).
After refilling on water, I tore off (walked) up most of the uphill and ventured back onto familiar trail. When I got to the Cactus Springs trailhead I stopped and dumped all the sand out of my shoes and followed horse trails to meet up with the Palm Canyon portion of the trail.
Beginning Palm Canyon was when my nutrition and training began to fail me, with a significant bonk and stomach issues starting to settle in. The downhill portion of the trail was much more rolling than I previously thought and my pace wasn't low enough to meet the benchmarks I had for myself. I continued on anyways in hopes I could still meet them.
Somehow the wind had shifted, still constant headwind from the Guatalupe trail all the way until Indian Potrero where I found water again.This was around mile 26 or 27 and I filtered enough water to finish the route and dipped my hat in the snowmelt. In the heat of the day, the hat was dry in just a few minutes. Around this time I saw tourists, which meant the end was near. Running through the Washington palms was nice because it had been the first shade in 10-13 miles, and it was also extremely beautiful.
After stopping my watch and the run, I went to the trading post and got a gatorade and two mango creamsicles. I started trying to hitchhike out of Indian Canyon only for my friend Marc to give me a ride all the way back to the cove in La Quinta after finding out I was trying to walk the road back to the bus stop. Very grateful for this route and for Marc