Surviving a Death March Attempt

[Sean]

First I'd like to thank Zach and Rick for their previous Death March reports. I learned a lot from them and planned my attempt with the goal of avoiding some of the problems they encountered. But the human body, mine in particular, can only take so much punishment before it screams at you to stop doing what you are doing.

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On Friday afternoon I hauled my stuff up to the PCT/Hawkins Ridge junction and set up my tent in a spot with the least amount of wind.



Previously, while filling water at Little Jimmy, I met some young ultrarunners. If they can run 100 miles, I should be able to do the Death March, I privately said to myself.

After getting no sleep, but resting my eyes for several hours, I began my journey at 9:42 PM.



An immediate problem was the howling wind. It would subside occasionally, but continued to be a problem most of the night and morning.

I wasn't cold. I had brought just the right amount of clothing: a long-sleeve shirt, a weather-proof vest, a jacket, a beanie, and gloves.

My first summit was Hawkins.



Despite the wind, I was feeling okay and staying on schedule. This continued through Throop, Burnham, and Baden-Powell.



At BP I switched from my low-top boots into my sandals for the descent to Vincent Gap. I also used up some time at Lamel Spring, where I decided against filling from the stupid pool of water with the fence over it. At the bench I sat down a bit and ate an orange before finally reaching the Gap a whole half hour behind schedule. There was someone sleeping in the parking lot, but I don't think I woke him up. It was now 1:44 AM.

From the Gap I walked ACH to Inspiration Point, stopping briefly to refill water at Grassy Hollow.



I hit the Blue Ridge PCT at 3:03 AM, still a half hour behind schedule.



Along the ridge indigestion gave me issues. At Guffy I spent some time trying to resolve the matter in the bathroom. I also filled four liters at the Flume Canyon spring before heading out a little before sunrise.

A crappy picture of an awesome scene.


I hadn't resolved the matter at Guffy, so I was forced to make a trailside pit stop, which put me further behind schedule. Then I skipped a summit of Wright Mountain in an attempt to make up some time. I reached the North Backbone at 6:32 AM, over an hour now later than planned. At least the sun was up and I could enjoy the surrounding views.



The North Backbone is scary Class 2 with a few sections of radical exposure, not really depicted in this picture.



At 7:46 AM I reached Pine Mountain, my fifth peak so far.



There were a few ice patches on the backbone, but nothing terribly problematic. The worst was the wind, which really picked up after Pine and noticeably began sapping my energy.

Dawson was next.



Then came the gruelling rollercoaster stretch to Baldy.



This very steep ascent really winded me and took 15 minutes longer than I thought it would. However, it was a very cool approach, and the only section of my Death March route that I hadn't done before. So mostly I was thinking happy thoughts while my body was complaining.



At Baldy I felt like a shadow of my former self.



Still I mustered up the willpower to take on the San Antonio Ridge traverse. But not before stuffing my water bladder with ice from West Baldy.



I want to thank whoever placed the network of new cairns. They saved me some time navigating the best route through the rocks and bushes.



The wind tried to blow my hat off several times, and I realized that I had left a glove on Baldy. Trying to focus on positives, I admired a nice plant.



Climbing up to Campsite Peak I thought I heard a voice in the distance. I looked around and didn't see anybody. Then I realized that it was only me, making a strange wheezing sound every time I breathed.

The respiratory issues had started, and they were severely weakening me just in time for Gunsight Notch.



Being my second time through the Notch, I wasn't so much frightened by it this time. I was mostly pissed off at it for being in my way.





Then, after the Notch, I still had this to deal with.



Normally I would look at such a scene and remark on its beauty. But this time my reaction was simply a single curse word.

After a lot more wheezing, and twisting my ankle badly, and the left heel starting to hurt, and the balls of my feet heating up, and the sun beating down on me, I finally reached Iron at 2:36 PM.

There were three people lounging comfortably on the summit while I dragged my lifeless legs next to them and collapsed. "Hello," I wheezed at them. We talked and rested for a bit, then took pictures of each other.



I had summited nine peaks, including Baden-Powell, Baldy, and Iron. Despite being over three hours behind schedule and knowing I wasn't going to finish the Death March, I still felt a brief sense of accomplishment and excitement while signing the register.



Then the joy mostly went away as I slowly descended to Heaton Flat with my fellow Iron Mountain peakbaggers, who promised to give me a ride into Azusa.

As I slid down the stupid trail into yucca thorns and beat up my feet with each step, I did notice a few more pretty things.



Then at Heaton Flat I showed my three saviors the Death March route on the big sign.



The group descent from Iron was slow. Still I finished my hike around 7:30 PM. So I was out and about for 21 hours 48 minutes. I completed about 36 miles with 9300 feet of gain.

After this experience, I'm confident that someone in better shape could do the full Death March in 24 hours. And I'm confident it can be done unassisted, using snow for water between Guffy and the East Fork.

[HikeUp]

Nice walkabout . Darn good try.

[Uncle Rico]

Bad ass dude! That's an impressively long day no matter how you slice it. Well done. Out of curiosity, why did you take the ACH from Vincent Gap to Grassy Hollow instead of the PCT? I assume that was a "the shortest distance between 2 points is a straight line" kinda thing? I also assume no to minimal traffic along the ACH at that time so getting drilled by some drunk dumb ass in a car was not too much of a risk?

[Sean]

I chose the ACH because it was less mileage than the PCT. I also fantasized about trying to jog that section, but in the end I decided against running with a nearly fully loaded pack.

Traffic wasn't a concern. But, for the record, there is not much activity on the CA-2 between Vincent Gap and Inspiration Point in the middle of the night. Only one car passed me the entire time.

[JerryN]

Dude, you qualify for BAMF. Nice hike

Jerry

[tekewin]

Crazy big hike! Impressive regardless of outcome. Get some rest

[Taco]

Right on. What do you think you'll do differently on your next shot?

[rck]

Very nice write up! Reminds me to do that one day, NOT! Great Job on you though!

[Sean]

Right on. What do you think you'll do differently on your next shot?

I'm still contemplating what went wrong. I think it's a collection of things that added up to failure.

1. I wasn't focused enough on training and didn't complete 100% of my training goals. I let other aspects of my life conflict with preparation.

2. I wasn't able to sleep AT ALL for 12+ hours before starting Friday evening. Next time I would take a sleeping pill or something.

3. The wind was miserable, and I don't think I'd start another effort if it's that windy. I'm pretty sure that having to fight the wind on a regular basis for hours drained me of both strength and willpower.

4. I underestimated the effort required to traverse San Antonio Ridge between Gunsight Notch and Iron. Not sure what to do about it. It just takes time, which isn't good when you're racing the clock.

I think I did a lot of things right, though. I'm satisfied with my general plan and route choice and direction of travel. I utilized the shoes and sandals very well, using sandals for long descents, including coming down Baden-Powell and Iron. This prevented injury to my toes. I also managed water well, though Lamel Spring disappointed me. Next time I'd forget about visiting Lamel and stick with the Grassy Hollow spigot. Using snow/ice from West Baldy worked well, though I had to then pour the snowmelt from my bladder into a filter bottle, which took a little extra time. I had brought chemical warmers to melt the snow, but those were not needed, as it got a little warm on Iron.

I lost one of my gloves in the wind on Baldy. Next time I would secure my gloves better, putting them inside my pack instead of clipping them outside. This was another reason why I gave up at Heaton. I didn't want to risk getting stuck beyond Rattlesnake without a glove that night.

That's all I can think of right now. Gotta run.

[Ze Hiker]

Nice try. I mean bagging the "big 3" in one go is a feat in itself!

Do you not prefer to start "later" (say 3 am) and get 5-6 hours of sleep, in order to take advantage of the cooler temps?

[Sean]

Nice try. I mean bagging the "big 3" in one go is a feat in itself!

Do you not prefer to start "later" (say 3 am) and get 5-6 hours of sleep, in order to take advantage of the cooler temps?

Thanks. I'm glad that I at least hit the Big 3. It was pretty awesome to stand on Iron and look across the canyon at Baden-Powell, then along the ridge to Baldy, and think about the journey.

Regarding starting time, I doubt it matters much what time you start. The important thing is that you begin in the right location for that time, and that you manage your sleeping schedule better than I did.

A priority for me was having daylight along the North Backbone and San Antonio Ridge. I also hoped to have the sun for some of the trip between Rattlesnake and South Hawkins. (BTW - I chose a clockwise direction around the East Fork so that I could ascend to Rattlesnake and South Hawkins, which makes it virtually impossible to take the wrong ridge system if caught in the dark.)

I figured on coming down Iron during the warmest hours, and by the time I reached Heaton it would be late afternoon and a bit cooler for the climb to Rattlesnake. Unfortunately I fell behind schedule and got the heat before reaching Iron.

A 3am start would be somewhere around Inspiration Point according to my plan. That's probably not a problem as long as you stash water somewhere along Hawkins Ridge. You see, I was trying to do it unassisted, and I chose my starting spot to take full advantage of pre-existing water locations. Between Hawkins Ridge and Guffy I was only carrying 1-2 liters at a time.

Oh, another reason why the starting position relative to time is important is because of morning dew on the cross-country ridges: San Antonio and Rattlesnake to S. Hawkins. A previous Death Marcher reported getting soaked by the dew. I think it was Rick. I didn't want that to happen to me.

[David R]

My comments on what I think is necessary for a successful death march are:

1. The largest physical exertion and gain is from Heaton to S. Hawkins. E Fork has to be the jumping off point, you're going to be too damn tired to make that haul up at the end of a hike. Once the brush grows back the death march may become theoretical, this is as "easy" as it is going to get. I also think the hike has to be clockwise and there needs to be enough comfort on the route to get through the SA ridge if necessary, by moonlight.

2. Become a trail runner, the majority of the mileage is from the start of the PCT connection by Hawkins until the Other Devil's Backbone that section should be run and should take close to half the time it would when hiking it.

3. There has to be one killer training hike to make sure you're ready for this type of grueling hike. I would suggest a Triplet Rocks or North Iron Mtn. ridge day hike to get your mojo going. Both those incredibly strenuous hikes require lots of off trail action which requires you to move faster in the xcountry sections. You read some of the speed hikers times and they move damn fast on the xcountry sections and its about training and experience.

[Sean]

The largest physical exertion and gain is from Heaton to S. Hawkins. E Fork has to be the jumping off point, you're going to be too damn tired to make that haul up at the end of a hike.

I considered that position. Heaton to S. Hawkins is certainly a wicked section of the route. But, again, I was trying to do this unassisted. Starting and ending at the East Fork would make no use of that water source whatsoever. So I put it 3/4 of the way, with the idea of having my fill before starting the final ascent.

Also, if you're too tired to do Heaton to S. Hawkins at the end of the hike, I submit that you wouldn't be able to do the Death March even if you started at the East Fork. The higher altitude climbing would stop you around Baldy and you would look at the San Antonio Ridge with despair and unwillingness.

I agree with your other points. If you can run some of the easier stretches that would be ideal. But physically that's not an option for me anymore.

[tekewin]

Thinking about the dramatic change in the weather this week, and what summer and winter are like, the window for even attempting the death march is pretty small.

While the distance and gain are already close to ultra, they don't capture the difficulty of the x-country and all the high elevation. There is a reason only a handful of elite hikers have attempted it, and no one has made it yet. It is friggin' extreme.

[Augie]

Awesome stuff: the planning, the report, the post-game analysis. Man, I think what you did could only be considered failure in a very, very narrow sense. There was a lot more accomplishment than failure.