THIS IS NOT A TRAIL RUN!

In the event that you stumbled on this page looking for a really hard fat-ass style trail running event in a beautiful place, this is NOT that kind of event. Is it hard? Yes. The fun run typically takes 11-20 hrs to complete, the other disciplines go up from there. No one has finished 21 Peaks. Is it fat-ass style? Yes - it's free and marginally supported (drop bag). Is it held in a beautiful place? Yes - it takes place in Desolation Wilderness. What gives? It is all those things, but it is NOT a TRAIL run. Why? First, you will encounter trail bits here and there, but the vast majority of the routes are OFF TRAIL, which, in this area means endless talus fields of broken rock, granite ledges, hands and feet scrambling and swift water creek crossings. Second, the route is NOT MARKED. Participants navigate from peak to peak according to their own route planning and route finding. If you don't have years of experience trekking and running in the mountains, navigating off trail, or have elite level physical capability, this is not the event for you. This is NOT the event where you go to get that experience, or learn what's required. With that out of the way, let's talk about what Desolate Peaks actually is.

Overview

Desolate Peaks is nothing more than a time and place where a couple of dozen mountain runners get together to challenge themselves by doing a peak bagging circuit in the Desolation Wilderness. Leaving together at 6 AM from Twin Lakes trailhead, they navigate from peak to peak until they either complete the circuit within the 30 hour time limit, or they give in to the realization that they didn't quite have what it took...this year. There are three levels of "fun" on offer:

21 Peaks - the original 17 peak beast plus 4 additional peaks (Lucifer’s Frolic)
17 Peaks - the original beast!
11 Peak “Fun Run” - Shuttle back from Fallen Leaf (Skip 12-17)

The Peaks

1 Mount Price
2 Agassiz
3 Pyramid Peak
4 Cracked Crag
5 Keith's Dome
6 Ralston Peak
7 Talking Mountain
8 Becker Peak


DROP BAGS - ECHO LAKES PARKING

9 Flagpole Peak
10 Echo Peak
11 Angora Peak

LAST BAILOUT - FALLEN LEAF TRAILHEAD

12 Cathedral Peak
13 Mount Tallac
14 Peak 9579 (Start of optional Lucifer’s Frolic)
LF1 South Maggies (only part of 21 Peaks)
LF2 North Maggies (only part of 21 Peaks)
LF3 Phipps Peak (only part of 21 Peaks)
LF4 No Name 9263 (only part of 21 Peaks)
15 Dick's Peak (Finish of Lucifer’s Frolic)
16 Jack's Peak
17 No Name 9441

Event's current local time: 5:47 AM PT