I’ve been wanting to do this route for awhile and decided to give it a try unsupported. I did the Lockhart Basin trail a few weeks ago and carried all my water and supplies for that so felt reasonably confident I could do it for this one as well. I carried 10L of water, about 7000 calories, a puffy jacket, heavy gloves, and a waist light. My pack was about 40 pounds (I weighed before adding some final touches then forgot to redo it). I immediately felt the weight but felt decently good until about mile 20. When it started getting dark I was pretty exhausted and my back was killing me. I struggled staying awake and had to lie down a few times. I made it through the night though and made cold instant coffee (way too late in the game, honestly). My foot was hurting a little but I kept run-walking until the final climb. I had started at the cowboy campground and ran clockwise so I had a pretty big climb up from the river and then a mild 12-13 mile steady climb to the finish. When I got to the top of the canyon I was pretty nauseous and couldn’t keep food down any longer. It was also getting dark again since I started around noon. So I walked the rest to the car. I caught myself sleepwalking a few times—thankfully the road is not busy! The highlight was when someone stopped and asked if I was going to the highway and wanted a ride. I was peak ultra shuffling at that point and said, “no thanks. I’m going for a record!” Pretty sure he thought I was crazy.
I would love to do this trail again but definitely not unsupported! It is just as gnarly as it seems but is certainly a special way to experience the landscape.