Gold Rush 24 Hour Adventure Challenge
Ranking are Final
Mark Richardson / 10.11.2008
Fredricks of True Grit arrived at the Lake Don Pedro at 7:17am, 17 minutes in front of Gorgeous Ladies and left for the final leg with just a 10 minute lead. Over the 12 mile paddle Kent Ryhorchuck, Melissa Griffiths, Tim Keunster, and Wendy Welling of Gorgeous Ladies were able to narrow the gap to 6 minutes before eventually finishing just 11 minutes behind. True Grit finished the race in 26 hours, 27 minutes with Gorgeous Ladies just 11 minutes behind.
The race started on a sunny Saturday morning at Rainbow Pools, a little known and very scenic day use area along the road to Yosemite National Park. Competitiors took off on a trekking leg that included a out and back jaunt down the dramatic canyon of the South Fork Tuolmne River before they attempted to follow the overgrown remains of a trail down into the Tuolumne River Canyon Wild and Scenic Area. Teams found that the trail eventually became impossible to locate and and bushwhacked to the checkpoint at the bottom of the hill. A 1200 foot climb brought them to thier bikes for the longest leg of the race, a 42 mile cycling leg. The ride featured a vist to the Pilot Peak forest fire lookout at 6000feet. From this vantage point they could see a sweeping vista of the Sierra Nevada Mountains to the east featuring the cliffs above the Hetch Hetchy and the jagged snow covered peaks of the eastern Sierra from the Emigrant Wilderness to south of Yosemite. They could also see the clouds building in the west and all knew they would eventually be getting wet. At Pilot Peak teams could choose to carry and push their bike off trail for a mile and a half or ride a complex maze of fire roads to get to the rappel site. All teams opted to bikewhack.
At the rappel site teams dropped their bikes and did a short but entertaining ropes course. Once off the ropes they were treated to a rollercoaster ride down Pilot Ridge.
Eventually they arrived a the next transition Where the re-supplied and left on a 14 mile hike that included the Hamby Trail which gains 1850 feet in less than three miles with over 40 switchbacks. By this time it was dark and rain showers had everthing wet. Aquan came and went with a comfortable lead of over an hour and a half. True Grit was next with NeckySalomon/Coporate Visions, Necky/Cygolite/Soar, and Gourgeous Ladies all arriving close together to round out the top five. The teams left in the soggy darkness and would not be back until after midnight.
After the hike teams returned to thir bikes. the rain showers had subsided and a very dense fog had settled in on the soggy fire roads making navigation very difficult. Teams eventually made their way to Lake Don Pedro for a 12 mile paddle.
After the race Gold Rush served up hot soup, beans and beer to everyone. The raffle served up great prizes fron ARNavSupplies.com, Zensah, Vespa, and iRule. Thanks to all the volunteers that came out, and to the racers for making the 2008 Gold Rush 24 Hour Adventure Challenge a success. Also thanks to ZombieRunner.com, Salt Stick, Zensah, Vespa, and iRule for thier support. Kep an eye out for updates about the Gold Rush Mother Lode four day expedition race which is happening in November 2009.
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