The Backbone Trail - 68 Miles in 25 Hours
On Saturday, December 16, 2017 around 9:15PM, I started my journey at Will Rogers trailhead with the goal to run/hike through the whole Backbone Trail in under 24 hours.
📍Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area
~68 miles with over 13,000 feet of elevation gain.
Basic Logistics: I had two of my close friends drive throughout the trail and meet me at the trailheads listed below to be my portable "aid station". I had additional friends meet me at these trailheads to run a leg with me. Prior to this, the longest distance I have ever done was 31 miles.
I split my run in six different legs:
Will Rogers State Park to Old Topanga Rd.
Old Topanga Rd. to Tapia Parking Lot
Tapia Parking Lot to Latigo Canyon Rd.
Latigo Canyon Rd. to Encinal Canyon
Encinal Canyon to Mishe Mokwa
Mishe Mokwa to Ray Miller
LEG ONE:📍Mile ~1-13 // Will Rogers State Park to Old Topanga Rd.
Pacers: @frannie_fran_ (Fran) & @memdiesel (Memo)
It's Saturday, December 16, 2017 about 9:15PM. I'm with my friends at Will Rogers State Park trailhead. To ensure I would not burn out, we powered hiked the first three miles which was mostly incline. It was about 10:15PM, 3 miles in and we started to run. Memo in the front, myself in the middle, and Fran in the back. Talking and laughing throughout the night with heavy winds blowing us away. Both Memo and Fran did a great job in pacing me, ensuring we weren’t going too fast. A little under 8 miles we got to The Hub. I was feeling pretty amazing. Once we got to the single track again, it started to get technical. A lot rocks and steps. Mostly downhill. Once we passed the ranch, it started to get a little tricky. The trail kept splitting and we had to do some backtracking as we noticed we were going the wrong way. We got to Old Topanga Rd. by 1:10AM. We were on schedule and I was feeling great.
LEG TWO:📍Mile ~13-25 // Old Topanga Rd. to Tapia Parking Lot
Pacer: @ron_derlust (Rony)
It was about 1:20AM. I knew what the next 12 miles had in store for me. Rony and I left Old Topanga Road and powered hiked most of the next 5 miles all the way up to Stunt road. I tried running a few sections but I really was not able to. I would just jog a few steps and walk again. A mile or so before getting to the top, my left knee started to hurt (FYI: the pain never went away). It would only hurt when I walked uphill but not run. So it was definitely pushing me to actually run as much as I could, but it was starting to get really cold.
We got to the top (Stunt Road) around 3AM. Andres was up there waiting for us, so we could refuel. I took two Advil's because the pain on the side of my left knee wouldn't go away. It was very windy. Easily 70 mph winds and I'm not exaggerating. Rony and I got into the van and low key I didn't want to get out, it was too cold, but I was excited for this next section because it was going to be mostly downhill, which is what I enjoy the most about trail running. Rony and I were flying down. This was one of my favorite sections. Rony was keeping me pumped by being an awesome DJ. We were making noise with the music to alert any wildlife that we were coming. We got to Tapia Parking Lot around 5:10AM.
LEG THREE:📍Mile ~25-34 // Tapia Parking Lot to Latigo Canyon Rd.
Pacer: @tnyalvarez (Tony) and @ron_derlust (Rony) the last 1.5 miles
As soon as I got to the Tapia Parking Lot around 5:10AM I got inside the car and changed my shirt because it was soaked in sweat. As I was sitting down refueling, my left quad started to cramp. Horrible feeling. Rony was kind enough to massage my left quad and legs. Once cramping went away, I got my stuff and got ready to continue with this journey.
It was about 5:30AM. Tony and I went up to Corral Canyon. I took that climb one step at a time, my left knee was hurting so bad. As we were getting to the top, we were able to see the beautiful sun rise over the ocean. That was pretty nice. I walked all the way to the top. Once we got to the top we started to run down without getting blown away.
We got to the Corral Canyon/Latigo Trail sign. I thought it was going to be all downhill from here. Boy was I in for a big surprise. The trail got technical which made it hard to run down. Once we got to mile 32 I celebrated with a scream that I had officially traveled the longest distance I've ever done in my life.
We were almost two hours behind my scheduled time. All I could see at a distance Rony running towards us with a first aid kit. He thought something had happened to us because we were taking too long. When we saw Rony, we still had 1.5 miles left to get to Latigo Trailhead with two big ascents and one descent left. 😩
This section was my least favorite.
LEG FOUR:📍Mile ~34-43 // Latigo Canyon Rd. to Encinal Canyon
Pacer: @strongsoul__ (Iris)
It was about 9:20AM when Iris and I left from Latigo Canyon Rd. I've been 12 hours on my feet and finally the sun was out (I wasn't cold anymore). The next 2 miles were mostly downhill (my favorite). I was happy that I was finally able to run again. It was my first time ever on this side of the Santa Monica Mountains so I was happy exploring new ground.
We got to Kanan Trailhead. More than half way there. At this point I was definitely starting to feel tired. I felt like my body wanted to give-up on me, but I used my mental strength to keep pushing. One of the things I kept telling myself, which really helped was, "Daisy, @kilianjornet dislocated his arm at mile 13 at Hardrock 100. Not only did he run the remaining 87 miles with a dislocated arm, he won first place. What's your excuse? You're fine just keep going." So thank you Kilian for being an inspiration to me. I really admire you.
Anyway, between Kanan Trailhead and Encinal Canyon there were some slight rolling hills, but I didn't have much energy. Although I was moving, I was struggling. Iris gave me some coke and man! That tasted like the best soda in the world. That got me pumped and somehow gave me the energy to start running. Around mile 40 I was hyped! I was singing, yelling, and running. I was actually running. I had the best runners high ever.
This section was my favorite section of the whole Backbone Trail.
LEG FIVE:📍Mile ~43-52 // Encinal Canyon to Mishe Mokwa
Pacer: @andresingwisdom (Andres)
I arrived to Encinal Canyon ~11:50AM. Felt really good. It was a very nice surprise to see @i.run.far. I wasn't expecting to see her until Mishe Mokwa trailhead. I was taken well care of. I was starting to feel pain on my back. Turns out my sports bra was chafing my back. I changed my bra, shirt, and finally got to put some shorts on.
I had trained this section before in 100 degree weather, so my confidence was pretty high. I knew I had some beautiful ocean views runnable sections ahead of me, but of course not before some climbing. Andres was not letting me take it easy. Through his words of encouragement you would see me walking and jogging behind Andres.
About mile 48 I got to Yerba Buena Rd. As soon as we got to the top all emotions started rushing through me. Tears came down my eyes of happiness. At that moment it finally hit me what I was doing. I was only less than 20 miles away from my goal. I used all that positive energy as my fuel to keep me running.
I felt so proud of myself. I didn't care about my time. I didn't care about anything at that moment. All I cared about was that I was having the time of my life. I was convinced that this long distance running thing was definitely for me. I couldn't believe that this was the same girl a year ago tried to take her life away. Same girl who struggled with self-love. Same girl who could barely run 3 miles without her body hurting.
LEG SIX:📍Mile ~52-68 // Mishe Mokwa to Ray Miller
Pacers: @ron_derlust (Rony) & @i.run.far (Ro)
The last 16 miles. It was about 3:30PM when we started hiking up to Sandstone Peak. My left knee started to hurt pretty bad. Saw the sunset from the peak. As we were descending on the Chamberlain Trail, I tried my best to keep a nice steady pace. That descent took FOREVER!
Once we got to Blue Canyon Trail (right before Danielson Ranch). I was done. I had no energy. I wanted to so bad just take a nap. I've been awake for over 34 hours. I had already completed about 60 miles. We kept going. It was mostly flat, but we we still faced some obstacles. Due to the heavy winds there were a lot of trees that fell down. Two times we had to break branches, go under and over to pass through it because they were blocking the trail and there was no way around it.
We got to Danielson Ranch. My headlamp died around this time and I think Rony's headlamp also died. Thankfully Ro had an extra one. I was moving really slow. We still had 8 miles left with ~3 miles of climbing left. We started to run down Sycamore Canyon. Once we got to the single-track going up to Ray Miller fire road. I started walking as fast as I could; "left, right, left right" is all I told myself. We got to the top. It was the coldest it has ever been all day. So close yet so far. 4 miles left. I tried running but I couldn't.
Once we got to the top of Ray Miller. It was so windy, we had to squat down and move slow enough so the wind won't blow us off the trail (yup, that bad). I was over it. I didn't care about anything anymore just getting some sleep. It was a little before 10:40PM when we got to Ray Miller Trailhead. I finished. I was in pain. I was cold. I was tired. I was a zombie craving some sleep. 💀
That's it. Thank you for reading my BBT experience. Never forget, we all have the ability to achieve anything we set our mind to, it just takes action, perseverance, facing our fears and a group of amazing friends that believe in you.
Direction, action, and dedication is key. Cheers to conquering big dreams. 🙌
To see run on STRAVA CLICK HERE!
Below is a short video Andres (@andresingwisdom) made. Enjoy! :)