I started on the route at 4:02 am. I forgot to start my watch on time. Ugh. I started my inreach at my car, but it apparently it decided at some point to stop logging points every 30 seconds (as it was set to) and only send a point every 30 min. -_-
The first 12 miles were all easy single-track (Sweetwater followed by Darrington Trail).
Then came the 14 miles off-trail. The first 5.4 of that were on the old Goose Flat Trail, but there's really no trail there. I was, however, able to find an old trail grade in some areas, which was helpful. I actually found the same for a small portion north of Goose Flat as well. I did a fair amount of bushwhacking at times and I'm sure I'll have poison oak. I tried to stay below the high water line whenever the shrubbery started getting thick. This also proved difficult at times though, especially in the upper 5 miles or so of this section. Trying to stay within the specified 16 ft of the high water line often meant traversing very rocky and steep banks, where traveling below would often have been much easier, putting me on beaches and gravel bars at times. These areas were very technical and very time-consuming.
I crossed successfully at Oregon Bar without issue. The water was cold but very refreshing in the heat of the afternoon. Here my buddy Jeremy Payne and his son Ben met me with my drop bag and I ate a LOT of food, drank Gatorades, and changed socks & shoes.
Pioneer Express Trail: It was great to be able to run again after 7 1/2 hrs off-trail!
Jeremy met me again at Rattlesnake Bar and then stashed my drop bag for me at Granite Beach. My buddy Cal Val supported me at Beal's Point and Folsom Point as well. Huge thanks to you guys!
Not a whole lot else to report. It was a long day, but I got it done. This was a pretty big effort. Stoked to have this one in the books, especially it being "in my backyard."