FKT: Ray Zahab, Will Laughlin - Death Valley N-S Crossing (CA) - 2011-08-30

Route variation
July-August
Multi-sport
No
Gender category
Male
Style
Supported
Start date
Finish date
Total time
4d 15h 0m 0s
Report

Ray Zahab and Will Laughlin ran the length of Death Valley- from north park boundary to south park boundary. The distance was close to 250km, and the duo relied on water re-supply every 10-25km during the entirely off-road run.

"Will Laughlin and I were completely off- road for the crossing, and as it was the first north to south crossing, logistics for the summer heat were complicated. We considered using carts and going unsupported, but after consulting with Parks folks at the time, combined with the fact that all of my expeditions become learning resources for schools, we determined that using carts at that specific time of year could damage a very fragile ecosystem, one that we try to promote to youth to preserve. Therefore we decided to rely on minimal resupplies and caches. Unlike my unsupported, self contained winter Arctic expeditions, all of my desert crossings with the exception of the Sahara (4500 miles) have been in summer months (you can see these on my website) and relied on minimal resupplies as I am most times moving cross country in intense heat and terrain. For this reason we wanted this desert crossing to be in summer months of July or August- this was advised to us by Marshall Ulrich." - Ray Zahab