This was a wonderful route for my first unsupported ultra distance! It had plenty of adventure for my level, wonderful scenery, and had sufficient visitors within eyesight in the back half for a worst case scenario type emergency. More experienced folks here will perhaps find it not stimulating enough, but I loved it! It goes without saying that this time is extremely beatable, and hopefully having a time up as a benchmark will inspire someone to come smash it hard.
Sunday night I took the drive to Pahrump NV with my dad, who I roped into shuttle duties after no one else was willing to tag along for the route to stage a car at each end. I sure didn’t like my odds for hitching out of Badwater, which was a good call since it was absolutely 100% empty in the final hour approaching in and upon arrival at the finish line. Monday morning, 4:30am wake up, back across the border into California and up to Dante’s to start a long day. The weather was surprisingly horrifying up there as the sun was coming up, and people commented on the short shorts and t-shirt as they were all completely bundled in their winter coats, scarves, beanies, gloves, and so on. Pretty big crowd up there! PS: the “24/7” bathroom is NOT unlocked as of 15 minutes after sunrise.
At 6:50am I thanked my dad for the ride and told him to meet me in the Badwater parking lot in 12 hours flat. He said there’s no way I’d make it in 12 hours (and he was right! so close) but that he’d be there. My first 1/3 was easy cruising, middle 1/3 started getting hot and tiring, and the final 1/3 all the wheels fell off. Definitely underestimated several factors involved - lots of learning for the unsupported style, even for something this short. Being totally self-sufficient including no water refills was something totally brand new to me other than trivial day hikes. But ultimately I’m very happy with my own personal performance overall and it was an unforgettable day out!
As a gear note, 6.5 liters absolutely was not enough for me (a large, sweaty individual, who happened to pick the hottest day of the week). That seemed like the max I could squeeze into my adv skin 12 via smartwater bottles (and indeed the most I’ve ever tried to, by quite a bit) so I’ll have to play with some options on other waterless routes longer than this in the future. There was actually a tiny stream of water unexpectedly in the first half though! If I had known what the afternoon heat was about to do to me a bit later on, I sure would’ve tried to scoop out a bunch from there! This was my third trip to Death Valley National Park and once again I cannot begin to wrap my head around all those who have attempted summer time adventures and races here.
Soundtrack: “Emily” - Two Friends