Death Valley Solo: Todd Unveils “The Pig”!

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Last week I wrote about Todd Carmichael’s next big expedition, which will be a solo and unsupported trek across Death Valley that will commence on October 9th. In his first dispatch for his departure, Todd let us in on his plans, which include not just traversing the valley once, but twice, and he mentioned his companion on the journey, which he lovingly dubbed “The Pig”.

In today’s pre-expedition update, we get our first glimpse at the cart that Todd has designed, built, and tested to accompany him on the trek and carry the most important item of all – his water! As you can see, The Pig is a big, two wheeled cart that can carry a number of water jugs to keep our intrepid explorer hydrated and running at peak condition in the heat of Death Valley. In fact, the cart can carry as much as 33 gallons of water, along with food and other gear, which Todd figures ought to be enough to see him traverse the desert, twice, and cross more than 400 miles in the process.

For those that don’t know, Death Valley, which is found in the southwest United States along the borders of California and Nevada, is the lowest, hottest, and driest place in all of North America. Its lowest point falls 282 feet below sea level, and the hottest temperature ever recorded on the continent was take at the appropriately named Furnace Creek, which rung in with a 134ºF back in 1913. The region is known for its harsh conditions and stark beauty, which were both reasons that Todd chose it for his next challenge I’m sure.

Expect to hear a lot more about this expedition as it ramps up, and gets underway in a few weeks time. Todd promises all kinds of good updates from the field, including regular dispatches and video too. Lets hope the equipment is more reliable than the stuff he took to the South Pole not so many months back.

Kraig Becker

2 thoughts on “Death Valley Solo: Todd Unveils “The Pig”!”

  1. Cool.

    The pig seems now stronger than previous photos we saw on his site.
    Brown metal bar welded makes a difference. Good stuff to have drinking water ready accessible I guess without removing the harness. Drawback of it is small volume and red plastic, which means that water will be warmer than the one in the jugs. A canvas on top of it would be good to prevent the sun/soil to cook it.

    I'm still a bit concerned of the end of the pulling-bars hold with apparently 1 bolt per bar. The movement might create too much fatigue on the bold. The good thing are the 2 green jugs touching the first bleu one. This will work as damper and will anihilate most of the vibrations.

    Good job.

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