The White Rim Road is a 100-mile unpaved 4x4 road that traverses the top of the White Rim Sandstone formation below the Island in the Sky mesa in Canyonlands National Park. Four-wheel-drive trips usually take two to three days, and mountain bike trips usually take three to four days. The “White Rim in a Day” (WRAID) has been a classic ride for endurance mountain bikers since the mid-1980s.
I started dreaming about running the White Rim ever since I first rode the whole loop on my bike in 2021. In 2022, we took a group of 15 riders on a vehicle-supported four-day trip around the White Rim, and I started formulating a detailed plan with cached water around the loop.
More than a few people have run the entire White Rim loop, with the fastest known time a little over 15 hours. Most of the runs were supported by vehicles which is rather tough on the drivers navigating the trail in the dark because the road sometimes goes right next to the cliff. Here is a shot of me leading a caravan of three support vehicles in 2022 on the White Rim.
Some runners have cached water.
One couple dropped 4 caches of water which must have taken some serious hiking or they drove the loop and dropped off the water? My plan had two water caches, one cache at bottom of Shafer which is easily reachable from the park's Visitor Center by vehicle, and a second cache at Murphy's Hogback which required a 9 miles round trip hike down from the Island in the Sky mesa. The will space the water caches roughly 30 to 40 miles apart. With a realistic carrying capacity of 4 liters in a running hydration pack, this will give me 12 liters for the full loop.
Having only two water caches requires intricate timing on the weather. It needs to be cool during the day to avoid excessive sweating, but not cold enough at night to freeze the water caches. Flexibility on timing is required. Flexibility is not something I generally can achieve when planning to run 100 miles.
Less than a handful of people, that I'm aware of, have run the White Rim completely unsupported carrying all the water with them. Mountain biking legend John Stamstad pushed a modified jogging stroller with 50 lbs of water plus food and other supplies completed the run in 2006 in 27 hours. Kevin Hadfield carried 8.5 liters in his hydration pack that weigh 27 lbs and ran it in an astonishing 21 hours in 2020 and still had 2 liters of water remaining at the end. Finally Courtney Clifton carried 10 liters of water with a pack weight of 40 lbs finished in 35 hours in 2024. Both Kevin and Courtney are elite sponsored runners. I cannot discover what month John Stamstad did his run. Both Kevin and Courtney ran it in the depth of winter with snow/ice on the trail.
Over time I started leaning towards carrying all the water with me. I need a pack that can carry 40 lbs comfortable hiking, then become runnable as the weight dropped. I tested my trusty REI Trail 40 pack. It wasn’t great with that much weight, and even with the added ZPacks Multi-Pack on the front, it bounced too much for running.
I reached out to Courtney this year about her run, and she told me she used the
UltrAspire Epic XT 3.0 pack and it bared had enough space for all the water, and she also had some soft bottle stashed in her legging pockets. During my research of the Epic XT pack, I came across a new pack that Osprey made with a running harness and soft bottle holders: the
Talon Velocity 30. I tried both the Epic XT and the Talon Velocity and decided I like the Talon better. The key difference was the side water bottle pockets: the Talon has two deep, secure mesh pockets, while the Epic XT’s pockets are slanted with a button closure — hard to secure and easy to lose bottles. Water security is paramount on the White Rim.
I began training with the Talon pack over the summer, intentionally loading water and gear even for short hikes. I worked up to carrying 8 liters comfortably and could jog on flats and downhills. I gave the pack a final test on the Grand Canyon’s New Hance Trail to Hance Rapid with my daughter and friends carrying 11.5 liters of water plus food, clothing, and safety gear. The pack handled it well.
The only open weekend on my fall calendar is the weekend before Veteran's Day on November 8 and 9. October is filled with volunteering at Moab 240, Grand Canyon hike with Amelia, and a wedding in North Carolina. I thought I had September fairly open to train, but work threw me a wrench by sending me to Atlanta for the entire month of September. I end up getting one good training hike in Atlanta with my pack at Kennesaw Mountain.
In early November, the forecast showed highs in the low 60s and lows in the high 30s on the mesa — great overnight temperatures, but warmer than ideal during the day. If I waited for perfect conditions, I might never go. So I spent the week gathering food, charging batteries, and prepping camp gear.
There are a few different logical starting points for the loop. The loop is basically a shape of an inverted triangle. From a driving perspective, the easiest starting spot is at the junction of 313 and Mineral Bottom Rd, the top right corner of the loop. This is also the official start/finish of the mountain biking FKT segment of the loop called White Rim in a Night. Horsethief Campground is less than half a mile away. It’s the high point of the loop, meaning a long grind uphill at the finish.
When I rode the White Rim, I started at what I call River Camp: a small secluded campsite by the Green River at the bottom of the Mineral Bottom switchbacks, near the top-left corner of the triangle at the lowest elevation of the loop with amazing views of Labyrinth Canyon. Starting counterclockwise from River Camp also means the last 23 miles are mostly downhill and closer to help, if needed.
I drove to Moab Thursday evening and slept in the Suburban at the overlook above the Mineral Bottom switchbacks — I didn’t want to descend tired in the dark. Friday morning, I drove two miles down to River Camp, set up table and chairs, and worked remotely all day thanks to Starlink, while soaking in the view.
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| For my lunch break, I walked down toward the Mineral Bottom boat ramp and saw this view of Mineral Point Overlook |
After work, I started final gear prep — only to discover the cheese I brought was a habanero variety. Not ideal with a stressed GI system. But I needed those ~1,000 calories, so it had to come.
My final gear load:
- Liquid:
- two 500 mL soft bottles (tailwind)
- two Nalgene bottles wide mouth (tailwind)
- two 2.5L bladder (water)
- one 2L soft bottle (water)
- eight bags of 2 scoops of tailwind
- Food
- Cliff bars x 8
- Lara bar x 8
- Roast Beef Sandwich x 6 (~2,000 calories)
- Salami slices (1,080 calories)
- Pita Chips (~500 calories)
- Dry Mangos (~500 calories)
- Gear:
- Garmin InReach
- Kogalla Light with big battery (#15 setting, 21 hours run time)
- USB A to USB C charging cable
- Fenix Headlamp, spare battery
- Rain jacket
- Puffy jacket
- Glove/Mitten combo
- Buff
- Fleece hat
- First aid kit
- Emergency kit (including bivy)
- Toilet paper
- Squirrel Nut Butter small
- Sunglasses
- Meds (tylenol, ibuprofen, eye drops, chapstick)
Total pack weight: 37.4 lbs.
At the last minute I decided to go with the convertible hiking pants instead of the running shorts and running tights combo. There will be a lot more hiking on this run, and the convertible pants means I don't have to take off the shoes to switch between shorts and pants. The convertible pants have more pockets for storage for arm sleeves, gloves and the unzipped part of the pants.
Alarm woke me up at 4 AM on Saturday. I actually had a really good night of sleep and got up feeling pretty good. I thought I got the routine down to pretty fast but cooking and eating and getting dressed when it's in the 30's is slow, and I had to heat up the Squirrel Nut Butter in the Suburban's heater just to apply it. Breakfast was two cups of coffee, two eggs and a bagel.
At 5:55 AM, I started my watch and headed south towards the official start of the White Rim Road.
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| Starting at River Camp |
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| Less than a mile into the run, the sunrise begin to show itself |
The first few miles through Point Bottom and Saddle Horse bottom was uneventful. I alternated between hiking and shuffling and held around 17:30 pace without much effort while waiting for the sun to rise
I crossed through the official gate of the Canyonland National Park shortly after sunrise near mile 4. This is the official start of the White Rim Road.
The sunrise was spectacular, and I passed the remnants of a mining camp.
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| Rock formation near Saddle Horse Bottom stood tall on the Maze District side of the Green River |
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| Near Labyrinth Canyon, the White Rim Road is squeezed between the cliffs and the river |
At around mile 6 I run past the official NPS Labyrinth campsite. A couple was camped there and enjoying coffee. I waved to them from a distance and I think the husband was alarmed by the sight of lone person heading into the park on foot.
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| Labyrinth Camp A. Hardscrabble Hill and it's signature spire is visible in the center, 3 miles away |
The sandy section at Upheaval Bottom was not as bad or as long as I remembered. Soon I was at the bottom of Hardscrabble looking up at the mess that I'll need to climb over. The interesting thing about the White Rim Road is that the elevation profile looks nice and easy. In reality, while the majority of the road is fairly flat or rolling, the climbs are shorts but brutally steep. Hardscrabble would be the first of those short but punchy climbs.
Near the top I saw the two mountain bikers resting. I would see many more mountain bikers in the next 8 hours.
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| Looking back toward north where I came from. A truck is visible camped at Hardscrabble campsite B |
The couple that's camped at Hardscrabble B, would eventually catch up to me at Murphy's Hogback and become my trail angels. I came a large group of riders while circling around the spire of Hardscrabble.
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| Soda Springs Canyon |
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| After crossing a ridge, Murphy's Hogback looms in the distance |
Bike and vehicle traffic decreased as I approached Murphy's Hogback. I have dreaded this climb in the heat but as I approached the ridge, the sun sometimes get blocked by the ridge that provided needed relief.
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| Murphy's Overlook on top of the Mesa |
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| The Road ascend to the top |
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| The final climb to Murphy's |
As I summited Murphy's, I could see a silver truck and a lone female mountain biker coming up behind me. I didn't see anyone else camped there so I waited a few minutes for them to summit then politely asked if they had any extra water to spare. Boy did they not disappoint. Turned out they were camped at Hardscrabble earlier, and the wife was seeing the track of my Altra shoes all day, she wore Altra too. I hang out with them for over 30 minutes while they refilled my bottle and bladder, gave me a La Croix, Welch, and a giant carrot stick to munch on. The trail angels' names were Veronica and Trent from Ft. Collins. They gave me approximately 3 liters of water. Up to this point I was sticking to my plan of 1 liters of liquid (500 mL water, 500 mL Tailwind) every 10 miles but that has been not adequate for the past 4 hours in the afternoon heat.
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| Sunset from Murphy's Hogback |
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| My trail angel took this picture of me |
I left Murphy's and my trail angels at 5pm as the sun began to set. The landscape glowed! I now have 9.5 liters of liquid again. I would not see another person until 7 AM the next day.
The 8 miles from Murphy to the White Crack junction was uneventful. I layered up as darkness settled. The two spicy sandwiches came calling during this segment. I wanted to hold until Gooseberry camp with its outhouse, but didn't quite make it that far.
A glow on the horizon turned out not to be a vehicle, but the moon rising.
Arriving at Gooseberry camp near the halfway point at around 10:30 PM, I was surprised to find no one camped there. I availed myself to the outhouse for a deep cleansing. I checked my phone and found it had a weak signal so exchanged a few texts with Jade to provide her with updates. I used the concrete pad and retaining wall to keep me warm while reshuffled my gear and water, and popped two ibuprofen to keep my aching right hip under control. The tendon behind my left knee had tightened up in the 20 minutes stop and took about 2 miles to loosen up.
It was amazing how much landscape I recognized under the moon light. I saw a couple small ledges that I remembered from my bike ride, and saw the small hump that indicated the 50 miles point. 4 years ago it had taken me exactly 6 hours to ride to this spot, comparing to almost 18 hours this time around on foot.
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| Buck Canyon under the moonlight |
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| The road is pretty close to the edge here |
I arrived at Airport camp at mile 60 at around 2:40 AM and again finding on one camped there. I was also surprised that I had taken the last sip of my primary 2.5L bladder which I had topped off at Murphy's. I had drank 2.5 liters of water and 1 liter of tailwind in the previous 27 miles, I was definitely been generous with water to make up for the dehydration earlier. With 6 liters and 40 miles to go, I felt pretty confident about the water situation.
I tried to alternate between ibuprofen and acetaminophen to give my kidneys some relief. Apparently the acetaminophen was not doing anything to the right hip pain, and it gotten rather bad. I was determined to not take a second dose of ibuprofen until morning. The next few hours became a world of pain and I found myself chanting "Pain don't Hurt" and "I really really, really really, really really, really really want to do this" for hours. Thoughts of quitting came often, but quitting still meant climbing Shafer first.
A few miles before Mussleman Arch, I realized I had wandered off the road, once, twice, then the third time. Enough is enough. I found a shallow sandy depression at 5 AM, opened the S.O.L. bivy for the first time, put on the puffy jacket and fleece beanie, and crawled into the bivy with my phone set for a 30 minutes timer. I used my Multi-Pack as a pillow, sandwiches and chips be damned. I felt like I had some racing thoughts in my head and worried that I wouldn't sleep but immediately my phone's timer went off. I guess I had slept for about 29 minutes. The bivy kept me completely warm with ambient temperature likely in the low to mid 30's with a breeze. It was amazing.
woke refreshed, though the right hip pain had localized into a tight knot. I kept the puffy and hat on while warming up. Approaching Musselman Arch, I saw my first person since Murphy’s: a lone biker.
As the sun rose, I shed layers and took ibuprofen. Between the nap and meds, everything felt great. The sunrise was stunning and definitely helped with the mood.
At the Gooseneck Overlook junction, I strip off my jacket for the Shafer climb. The first view of Shafer's Switchback filled me with awe and dread.
I probably run my fastest mile down from this view point to the Shafer/Potash junction at the bottom of this valley. Switching to hiking, I shortened my stride to protect the hip. I also saved my music for this and started my playlist with a shuffle. The first song that came up playing was Golden from the Kpop movie that my daughter added! If there is ever a place to experience a "high" during an ultra, it is the last big climb of the course. I definitely rode the "high" and covered the 3 miles of the meat of the Shafer's climb in just over an hour and finished 5.4 mile segment in just under two hours.
"Every Party Has to End". Near the top, the hip began complaining again. At the top, the right turn onto paved road brought full-volume pain. The next 6.5 miles to Cowboy Camp were agonizing.
I decided to treat pain aggressively and took my third ibuprofen at 11 AM. Reaching Cowboy Camp at 12:35 PM, I lay on a flat sunny rock and stretched glutes for 20 minutes. Leaving at 1 PM, with sunset at 5:30 PM, I had 4.5 hours to cover 15 miles with 2,300 ft of descent. Beating the sunset looked very doable!
The hip loosened up on Mineral Bottom Road and I started jogging instead of walking. I passed a few group of mountain bikers coming up the road and they all recognized me from yesterday and all wanted to ask questions and to talk. One group gave me a Sprite! Eventually I told the last talker that I needed to get going to beat the sunset.
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| Mineral Bottom Road is fairly monotonous. |
The miles of jogging eventually caught up with me again the the hip started to complaining aggressively. I found jogging is less painful than walking, so I did that even on the small uphills. The endless long straights were very challenging mentally. There were still some vehicles coming up the hill but none were going back down. Eventually I arrived at the top of the switchback at 5 PM. 2 miles and 1,000 ft downhill to go. I sat down to put on some warmer clothes, ate my final Lara bar, and braced myself for the final drop.
I found that I need to plant both poles and lean as much weight as possible on the poles before taking small steps to make the pain tolerable. I tried to walk backward and found that much better but walking backwards along the cliff edge weren't exactly safe so there wasn't much of that done.
Soon I had to turn on the Kogalla light. The final 2 miles took an hour and twenty minutes and I arrived at my camp at exactly 6:30 PM. Total run time: 36 hours, 36 minutes, and 15 seconds.
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| Tired, hungry, cold and limping |
I did not know that my left calf had became super swollen. Between the right hip and left calf, managing a wet towel bath, cooking and eating the food, and digging hole for going to bathroom was super challenging. I took one picture of the Milky Way, then crawled into the bed in the Suburban at around 9 PM, chatted with Jade for a few minutes, and went to sleep.
I didn’t know my left calf had swollen badly. Between that and the hip, even simple tasks were very challenging. I managed a wet-towel bath, cooked, ate, dug a cathole, took one picture of the Milky Way, then crawled into the Suburban around 9 PM. I chatted with Jade for a few minutes then went to sleep.
It was not a deep sleep due to the pain. I got up the next morning and was on a mission to located an outhouse to avoid squatting again. I packed up the camp quickly, and drove the 2 miles up the switchback to the top where an outhouse was waiting for me. There was also a large group of base jumpers doing their thing there.
I also did not want to sleep in the car again, so I booked a hotel in Grand Junction. A sitting toilet, hot shower, and warm bed felt luxurious.
Tallying up the content of my back, I had consumed just over 11 liters of water, and about 6,800 calories of food.
This run was beyond my expectation in beauty and difficulty. Riding a bike or driving a truck, I miss so much details. Going slowly for 36 hours allow me to truly experience the landscape.
I expected going alone for a 100 miles will be hard. I just didn't realize how hard it became:
- Supplies: this was obvious, having to carry everything. I think this was the aspect I was most prepared to deal with. The weight of pack mostly rested on the hip belt. My shoulders initially felt sore but that went away after the first 6 hours and I never felt the pack was weighing me down.
- Logistic: Having to do everything on my own was hard. In a race, you can get to an aid station and have food made and volunteers help with refill water, a warm fire and maybe even a shelter to stay warm while resting and re-organize gear. None of this is true on a solo 100 miler. At night, I needed to find ways to stay warm if I stop for more than a few minutes. Every stop at night was planned down to the exact steps to minimize the exposure. At Gooseberry, I stopped at the outhouse and used the retaining walls to stay out of the wind while doing a major re-organization of my gear/food/water. For rest, the bivy pack saved me at mile 66 at 5 AM.
- Mental: Usually during a race, runner can break down the course into much smaller segments using aid stations and look forward to the next aid station oasis. There are other runners to socialize, crews and volunteers to cheer you on. On this run, I could similar break down the course into more manageable sections but there was no oasis at end of any segments. No hot food, no one there to help, cheer, talk, and anything else that can motivate. Pain cave was the only guaranteed friend out there.
- Physical: I definitely did not train enough. The cardiovascular requirement is low but muscular endurance requirement is high. I wonder if my hip issue was due to lack of training of some other factor. I'm going to a PT next week to find out.
Not sure I'm up for this kind of solo multi day run again until I sort out the hip issue. I'm fairly sure the left calf issue was from compensating the right hip.
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