Gearing up to run the Illinois River Trail
Saturday, April 24, 2021 at dawn, I plan to attempt the Fastest Known Time for Oregon’s Illinois River Trail, which hovers just inside the border of the Kalmiopsis Wilderness Area. The Siskiyou Mountain Club recently adopted this trail and inspired volunteers to come out and help restore some of the most critical sections needed to keep the route open for thru-hiking. I hope to bring more attention to the trail and encourage more people to get out and do it themselves.
I’ve uploaded the route to CalTopo. Go check it out and explore with different map layers: https://caltopo.com/m/7QCC. Some of my favorite CalTopo features are the slope angle shading overlay and elevation profile.
20 years ago, I experienced a similar kind of ultramarathon along sections of this same trail. Except back then, it was my first 24 hour+ shift as a Rogue River Hotshot.
That 2002 Biscuit Fire experience significantly shaped how I think about this place, about the greater region, our relationship with wildfire, the confusing and often conflicting economics and politics surrounding how these lands and fires are managed.
My main purpose for the run is to say a prayer for these rivers, mountains, and people caring for these lands. This runs are my church and the place where I am spiritually grounded.
Secondly, I hope to share the story of Saturday’s run by interweaving stories about what has happened here in the past and how we might move forward on such complex issues as wildfire and managing landscapes as “wilderness.”
And finally, I just want to experience the pure joy of trying to run this trail as fast as possible. That is easier said than done. The trail, greatly impacted by three major wildfires (Silver Fire 87', Biscuit Fire 2002', and Klondike Fire 2018') is subject to erosion, heavy deadfall, thorny weeds and brush, and major elevation change as it climbs across Bald Mountain.
The forecast for Saturday indicates 100% chance of heavy rain just above freezing temperatures. There might even be some late season snowfall at the highest points along the trail. My priority is to finish safely, of course, so I will be carrying extra layers, calories, and survival gear. With this kind of forecast, I don’t expect to see another human out on the trail.
There is a website publishing Fastest Known Times. The current one-way FKT for this trail is 9:58:50 and 22:38:54 for the full out-and-back. The FKT holder’s Strava indicates an estimated 17,000' of elevation change for the full out-and-back.
My personal goal is to go sub-7 hours for one way and sub 16 hours for the out-and-back. I probably have the ability to exceed those expectations and set a time that would give more talented runners a run for their money, primarily due to my knowledge of the trail. This trail can be brutal to the uninitiated, especially on hot sunny days.
In the last 5 weeks, I’ve put in four 60+ mile training weeks. Hopefully this means I am ready for the 100k race efforts.
You can follow the run on Saturday by monitoring the Garmin tracking map (https://share.garmin.com/micacardillo). Every 10 minutes my satellite messenger will send a location up to the cloud, which should appear on the map (might have to refresh the map page to get the latest point). From the map, you can even send heckling messages to me or just to show your concern when you think I have turned into mountain lion food!
I may also post an occasional status update from the satellite messenger to the Garmin map and to Twitter (follow me via https://twitter.com/mica_cardillo). There will not be any live photo updates, as no mobile data connectivity along the entirety of the trail.
