On Friday, Apr 12, 2019, I plan to attempt another unsupported Joshua Tree double traverse (a.k.a out-and-back or yo-yo) with the goal to reclaim my initial FKT from Mar 12, 2016 (19h 23m 37s, report, movie). Jason Hardrath finished the unsupported double traverse on Dec 19, 2018, in an impressive 18h 17m 16s. More recently, Ashly Winchester grabbed the unsupported female double traverse FKT (22h 47m 13s).
There is no doubt that it will be hard to beat Jason’s time. After all, there is little room with respect to how much water and food you need to carry for this challenge. But no matter what happens, I figured it would be good training…
Route
The double traverse is 74.6 miles long. Unsupported means that I will carry all my water, food, and gear. I will also carry out all my trash. There is no water on this route, so that means I have to haul a lot of fluids. As last time – and as Ashly and Jason did – I will use a “cache-and-carry” technique, which means I will start with all of my water and supplies, but will cache some at strategic points on the way out for the return.
Map of the Joshua Tree double traverse (74.6 miles).
Elevation profile of the Joshua Tree double traverse. There’s a total of about 7,500ft of elevation gain.
Tracking
The plan is to start at the Black Rock campground on Fri, Apr 12, 2019, at around 5pm. You can follow me here: http://bit.ly/JTDTFKT