morning - 36.5 Trans Red Cliffs Desert Reserve. This is something I have wanted to do for a very long time. I’m not in shape to do it, but I did it anyway. So the idea is to basically link a bunch of the trails in the Reserve and run across the whole thing from Silver Reef to Ivins. Excluding the first section in Silver Reef, I’ve ran every step of this run, but never linked together. Ally dropped me off at the dirt road for the Pioneer cemeteries in Silver Reef and I got started just before dawn. Not surprisingly, I took a wrong trail here and probably added an extra mile or more. Super pretty up there, though, so no stress (Supposed to be on White Reef, but was in Red Cliffs East (?), then connected to where I was supposed to via somehing like Tippets (?). That brought me to Red Cliffs, where I connected to Prospector via Adams. Took Prospector until Spanish Wash. From here connect to the upper section of Beacken’s via Coachwhip. Then down Grapevine to Sand Hill. These sections were the slowest and, obviously, the toughest. The sand was nice from the rain, but was very deep and destroyed by horses making it impossible to get a decent run in. Add in the break to dump sand out of the shoes and enjoy my favorite lookout in the whole Reserve, and I was well behind my goal pace. Did well up Millcreek and Mustang. Started to get a bit tired along the Powerline, but that faded and I had a good section on the short paved section to connect to T-Bone. From there went across to City Wells (which is always awesome). After another short paved stint, got up to Chuckwalla and took it across to Scout Cave. In here I was around 30 miles and getting very tired. The drop of the point to Scout Cave was brutal on my legs. Every step was slow and deliberate - very slow here. Once in the wash, I somehow missed my trail turnoff and got put on the road past Entrada. There was no way I was back tracking - every step was a challenge and I knew where I could connect back with the correct trail. So I worked my way back to the final section - Toe Trail. Normally this would be a very easy and good ending section, but I was spent. I walked too much here, but forced myself to get back to a jog and finally brought the journey to an end at the 200 E Trailhead in Ivins. 6:02 and 36.60 miles. (Speedgoat 219.5)
Glad I finally did this. As far as I know, no one has ever run this whole thing. So many pretty places and cool trails. And a major accomplishment for someone that has only run 20 miles twice in the past 2 1/2 years. I will definitely do this again sometime. Hydrated and fueled very well. The temps were nice. And even though the wind was blowing against me most of the run, it helped keep thing a little cooler. A good end to a very enjoyable Spring Break.
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