Posted: Oct 05, 2009 08:58 am EST
(ThePoles.com) Todd drinks “conspicuous amounts of coffee” as a hobby and in two days time will leave his home to trek 400 miles, or more, in the Death Valley Wilderness.

Todd will be taking the latest comms tech from HumanEdgeTech with to share his experience and the remote, harsh desert. ExWeb’s Correne Coetzer caught up with Todd at home in Gladwyne, Pennsylvania.

ExplorersWeb: Why Death Valley?

Todd: When I decided to try to better 400 miles of self-contained travel in a desert, I began looking for the place – and immediately Death Valley stood out – due to the varying topography (dunes, mountains, washes, salt flats) and the intimidating heat.

It seemed to me the hardest nut to crack. With the most days above 120 degrees [50°C], it can be considered the hottest desert on the planet.

ExplorersWeb: What is your game plan for Death Valley?

Todd: The plan is to apply a polar work regimen to the desert – seven to eight marches daily until the end, where I let it rip.

ExplorersWeb: Any specific reason why this time of the year?

Todd: This seemed to be “the season”. The major endurance events Badwater Ultra-marathon and the Furnace Creek 5o8 bicycle race take place in October.

ExplorersWeb: What do you think will be your biggest challenge?

Todd: As always with manhauling, the challenge is surface and load. Soft surface, big loads, everything changes.

ExplorersWeb: What clothes will you wear?

Todd: I love the Railriders eco mesh gear – both the pant and shirt. For my head I cover with a tagelmust - a Tuareg Turbin. I believe the tagelmust conserves approx two litres per day and is worth the strange look it gives.

ExplorersWeb: What day and night temperatures do you expect?

Todd: 2009 was one of the hottest years on record for Death Valley and I do not expect that to change. Last week we saw a number of days at 113 [45°C], with nightly lows above 100 [37.8°C].

This type of heat can easily continue through October An important note is that since Death Valley is surrounded by mountains, day time heat is not allowed to escape, meaning, very hot nights.

ExplorersWeb: How will you protect you from the sun? Will you be walking through the hottest part of the day?

Todd: Keeping covered is key in order to avoid sun exposure. As for traveling during the day, although I will split my workday in two and rest for two hours around noon, the hottest part of the day is between 4 and 5, when the ground radiates heat back to the air.

ExplorersWeb: The 33 gallons of water that you plan to haul; will that be enough for the whole journey? You said in your dispatches that it could rain, will you then be able to drink that water?

Todd: The character of the attempt is “self-contained” – taking nothing from the environment including water. With this, 33 gallons better be enough or I’m in trouble. In short, like food, every drop must be carried from step one.

ExplorersWeb: How warm will your water get? Will you have a way to try to keep it cool?

Todd: I’m guessing the water will take on a lot of heat, yet the jugs will be covered by solar panels. There are ideas to cover them in reflective material, but experiments with this did not show any measurable difference.

ExplorersWeb: You said you had some lung problems after skiing to the SP? How humid is the desert air? Will the desert air be a problem?

Todd: The desert air is bone dry. The lung issues I had in Antarctica were cold induced and I do not expect them to have a problem.

ExplorersWeb: What type of terrain do you expect to cover?

Todd: I’ve routed through all terrains: dunes, saltpans, washes, scrub and mountains - from minus 300 feet [91.5 meter] to 6,300 [1920 meter] and back. This is the reason behind adding breaks to the Pig.

ExplorersWeb: You said scorpions and snakes could be a risk. What do you have in your medical kit?

Todd: Nothing – I find the best strategy is to avoid them. The overwhelming majority of all reported bites are on the hand, a sort of “hold my beer and watch this” reason for getting bitten. I have no intentions messing with them.

ExplorersWeb: How many hours per day or how many kilometers per day do you plan to cover?

Todd: I might me grossly underestimating what is possible in DV, but on average, I must do 20 miles per day – and frankly, in as many hours as it takes, yet hope I can get it in seven to eight 75 minute marches. If I can get 15 miles in the first day with full load, then I think I can do it.

ExplorersWeb: Tell us a bit about the cart, “the pig’s” design pls.

Todd: In short she is two aluminium ATV wheels and tires mounted on a one-inch stainless steel axle. The axle is bolted to a half-inch aluminium plate with two gas pipe “pull bars” and a set of go-cart drum breaks. In her case, the pull bars are not used for pulling, instead I use a polar harness rigged to the main plate, and the bars are used to steer and level. This configuration allows me to actually jog with her, once the load allows for it.

ExplorersWeb: How durable are the tires of the cart? Do you take spare tires? Will there be thorny terrain?

Todd: Each tire is filled with sealant, so they can “run flat” I do not carry spares.

ExplorersWeb: In case of emergency, who will come to your rescue? Where are they located? Would they be fast on spot?

Todd: I have a helicopter service at the ready as well as the phone number of the park rangers. It would take something dramatic to make me call this.

ExplorersWeb: What permits and permission did you have to obtain?

Todd: Backcountry trekking in National Parks requires a permit yet there is no special permission.

ExplorersWeb: How did your desert preparation compare to your polar preparation?

Todd: Very similar, yet I am going in to the desert with 18 pounds less weight. There has been less force-feeding for the desert.

American Todd Carmichael will be attempting a 400 mile (643.7 km) trek in 18.5 days through Death Valley in the USA; and circumstances permitting he will trek another 30 km. He will be hauling his reportedly 450 pounds of water (33 gallons / 125 liters), food and gear.

Todd skied solo to the South Pole in the 2008-09 season in a speed record time of 39 days, 7 hours and 49 minutes. His other expeditions have taken him to various places in Africa.

He was born in 1963 and is married with one daughter “and more on the way”, he added. Founder of Americas premier coffee roasting company La Colombe, his hobbies include “reational physics (there is not other way to explain it)”, said Todd, as well as heli-boarding, surfing, free diving and drinking conspicuous amounts of coffee.

Todd stated about his comms equipment, “I am fully kitted out with the best high tech communication equipment available – a kit assembled by Human Edge Tech.” He dispatched over CONTACT, “From flexible solar panels, to a portable satellite link to the rugged mini laptop, Tom built an unbelievable system. Add cameras and a SPOT tracker and not only can I be tracked every step of the way but I can send pod casts, videos and images to share. You can even send me an e-mail.”

Death Valley is a desert located in the southwestern United States of America and located on the border between California and Nevada. Some areas are located below sea level, which makes it one of the hottest places on earth.

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