Day 104 - Sunday, September 12

Yesterday was a tough day…one night of sleep and it all changes. Although I woke up at 2:53am exhausted, I started with one step forward and next thing I knew I was having a really solid morning when Chris met me after doing 16 miles on another long and lonely stretch.

Right before I met Chris I saw a solitary figure coming at me in the distance. As we came nearer I realized it was a runner! I asked, “where you coming from?” He responded from California trying to break the world record for crossing to NYC which would require 72 miles per day!! He asked if I had time to chat as he was only walking and 72 miles per day would require serious running for serious hours. I told him of course as I’m taking all the time I need! Jordan Moon and I chatted for 15 minutes and he had 2 friends with him crewing and filming which they did when Josh and I spoke. I got an interview with him and its worth watching to get to know someone doing something so insane!

Chris and I regrouped at 16 miles and decided to go for the most miles so far on the trip in an attempt to summit a mountain where the Bob Scott Campground is some 40 miles from where we started. After running the long desert stretch I descended through a famous pass called Hickison Summit where there are multiple prehistoric hunting and living sites dating to 10,000 B.C. as well as more recent sites such as mining camps and ranches. Trails used by mid-19th-century explorers John C. Fremont and James H. Simpson pass through the area as do the routes of the Pony Express and the Overland Stage. At the time of the earliest prehistoric sites, the Great Basin contained large lakes, including Lake Toiyabe and Lake Tonopah in the Big Smoky Valley west of the summit. As the climate became drier, the lakes evaporated, and the former lake-dependent cultures were replaced by hunter-gatherers. When the first European-Americans arrived in about 1850, Western Shoshone people lived in the region.

After coming down Hickision Summit, I was on an interminably long straight road that ran directly at another range. After 35 miles on the desert with the heat, I had a 5 mile climb up from 4,600’ to 7,300’ to end the day. I survived…

My spirits are high, body is tired, one day at a time…

Thank you for your support.

Cheers,

David.

Daily Brief

Brilliant sunrise over the desert

And sadly there are some who don’t respect the beauty

Jordan Moon is trying to break a record set by Pete Kostelnik which would require 72 miles per day of running.

The camera crew while Josh and I chatted on Highway 50

A ton of history in this area

The last climb looking back on the long straight road after coming off Hickison Summit