Best "Death March" stories.

[Wandering Daisy]

My #1 death march actually lasted 35 days. It was not in the Sierra, so I wondered if it "qualified". But here it is.

In 1969 I contracted to work at NOLS, but had to be a student on my first course. I got a free scholarship in exchange for working the remainder of the summer for free. That June NOLS course was actually documented in a TV special and aired in 1970 on the Alcoa Hour, as "30 Days to Survival". Actually my group stayed separate from the group that was featured in the film and only interacted with the film crew for one day when they filmed a climb we did. The film is interesting only in that it really shows what the weather was like. When I watch it now, I am amazed that we actually did not realize how bad it was! Cold and snow became so normal we almost forgot to think about it! My biggest disappointment was the fact that we had little climbing opportunities and the few climbs we attempted failed because of the weather. I was looking forward to a hot climbing expedition and we ended up in continual survival mode.

We started by spending two days in a warehouse in Lander Wyo while rain poured down. Then we piled into the back of a cattle truck and headed up a dirt road. The normal 2-hour drive took all day and we had to get out and shovel dirt to repair the road several times- all in the rain. Snow started at the trailhead where we walked across a meadow and set up camp. Since this course was my "trial by fire" to see if they wanted me as an instructor, they assigned me the weakest student as tent partner (actaually tarps- no tent). She was "sick" every day so I had to do all the camp chores and carry half her load. Back in those days we did not have stoves. Here it was snowing every day, hardly getting above freezing, and we had to build a fire every day just to cook. I became an expert at starting a fire with wet wood. We slowly made our way farther into the moutains. Every morning we awoke to frozen boots, broke ice of the streams to get water, slogged and post-holed through snow, taking turns breaking trail. Back in those days, it was also legal to cache rations in the wilderness. Our first ration was 15 days worth at 2 pounds per day. In additon to our old style heavy gear, this made our packs weigh in at about 65-70 pounds. When we reached our ration, that had been stashed and burried in #10 tin cans the previous fall, we discovered that many of the cans had leaked and the food spoiled. We ran out of food, so for the last week before survival we basically ate only oatmeal mixed with Crisco. Finally on Day 28 the weather broke. We were amazingly happy. I recall we spent nearly a day just hanging out in the sunshine. The course ended deep in the wilderness on the North Fork of Bull Lake Creek. We were still required to do a 5-day "survival" after basically starving for the previous week. Back in those days, we were given NO emergency food - had to fish and forage and walk out about 40 miles, mostly off-trail. However, the 4-person group that was filmed were given an emergency pack of food and part of the "story line" was that one of the kids sneaked the food into his pack and the resulting group dynamics and temptations of that emergency food was a main feature. But, the rest of us did the normal survival technique of that time- only salt and spices were allowed - fish or forage if you wanted to eat. My group decided to do the "death march" method of survival- we walked all the way out in 2 days and then lazed in the bushes for three days until we were picked up.

Every trip I have done since then has seemed easier. No matter what I have encountered. Guess such an experience at least makes you tough. Cannot say I really enjoyed it much. Thankfully the next course was in good weather and I got to do lots of climbing.

[Wandering Daisy]

Here is an old photo from my "death march"


Day the weather broke- June 30.

[BrianF]

Wow WD, I have nothing to compare to that! I have a few delays, backtracks and punts in my backpacking career, but nothing I would call a death march. Climbing has been a bit spicier, but only a few unplanned bivvies, "exciting" retreats, and close calls with rockfall, avys or weather but nothing truly harrowing or desperate.
The only thing I can call a death march was a spur of the moment dayhike we took when I was in my early twenties. It was a 42 mile out and back hike in the San Rafael wilderness to Mission Pine Basin, with about 9000' of gain/loss. We left the trailhead about 7 AM and got back in the wee small hours. Keep in mind, this was the mid 70s when it was standard procedure to wear mountain boots while hiking - so a good 4+ lbs on the feet, we were just barely hobbling at about 1 mile per hour in the dark the last few miles.

[Fly Guy Dave]

Back in 1998 a buddy and I hiked down the Rubicon river, thinking that the fishing along the way would be fantastic. We hiked from the Ellicott Bridge, down to the powerhouse at the bottom of Mosquito Ridge Road, 21 miles of pure misery. We carried our float tubes, and lacking waterproof packs, we carried our gear in 5 gallon waterproof buckets. Dumb.

Well, long story short: I almost drowned the first day, we had close encounters with rattlesnakes twice, a boulder almost rolled onto my friend, his sleeping bag got soaked the first day, so we had to camp at places with plenty of firewood, which he kept raging all night long so he could stay warm while he slept. The trip took a day longer than we planned, so we ran out of food, and then about a mile before the powerhouse, a bunch of drunk gold miners shot their guns over our heads to warn us off. Since our clothes were wet almost constantly, the inside of our legs became so chafed that they finally bled and it was rather painful to walk. And to top it all off: the fishing SUCKED!

I've learned a lot since that trip, but every slog since then, in comparison, has been a breeze.

[rlown]

sounds like a great trip.. if there wasn't a bit of angst in some our trips, we wouldn't learn from all that.

When i did the Rubicon area, we targeted the lakes. The river itself is fast, deep and doesn't give much back.

I started my stuff in the Moke wilderness. Out of salt springs, there are snakes everywhere. kind of slows you down, esp when you step over one and you get lucky. But, that place is cool for natural hot tubs that you can clean out, heat rocks, and have a really nice soaking experience. Mokelumne is just steep. Love the place, esp 4th of July lk, but as I didn't fish it, I was more into hiking it. Reminds me a lot of Trinity Alps for some reason.

[Cross Country]

To sparky and to Wandering Daisy: These were not the kind of stories I expected but were GREAT, repeat GREAT stories. To BrianF I cant imagine hiking 42 miles in any conditions. I hope other people with lesser stories (like mine) will recount their experiences. Thank you. Thanks to all the recounts.