9TH RALLY EDITION: OCTOBER 10 – 19, 2024

2016 Rebelle Rally Field Update: Marathon Leg Day 3

 

Rebelle Rally: The Marathon Leg

Starting in Blair Junction, Nevada and running all the way to California’s Johnson Valley the Rebelles had to navigate over 746 kilometres (463 miles) on the marathon leg, traversing some of the most-remote terrain the Southwest has to offer.

Even though it didn’t revolve around a checkpoint, one of the highlights of the marathon leg was the still-surviving mining town of Goldpoint, Nevada, including Walt Kremin’s period-correct saloon—where he lives with the town’s other ten residents. Teams also learned that while there might have been a lot of sightseeing to do in Goldpoint and other destinations along the route, they still signed up for America’s first all-female navigation rally—and that this is a competition. Undoubtably many teams rolled into camp late after spending too much time there.

With an incredibly long, tiring day of driving and navigation, many teams arrived at the self-camp location in Dumont Dunes just before sunset, meaning they had to find the last checkpoints of the day with fading-or-no light. That means other than your compass, there’s no way to orient yourself to landmarks: pure navigation skills required. If you’ve ever spent time driving in the dunes, you’ll surely appreciate the difficulty of that task. Luckily, teams were careful and aside from a litter of vehicles getting stuck in the soft sand, requiring use of their MAXTRAX, there were no major incidents.

Since Michelin-star winning Chef Drew Deckman can’t get his food truck into the middle of the dunes, teams were distributed MREs (Meals, Ready to Eat) as a basic provision. However, rumor has it that a bunch of Rebelles banded together and shared a few charcuterie boards and enjoyed a glass of fantastic wine to celebrate the occasion—after driving was done of course.

Chris Mayne and Helene Becour from France find Goldpoint on their maps.

Team #140 of Emme Hall and Rebecca Donaghe use their time in Goldpoint to figure out their navigation.

Jo Hannah Hoehn and Susie Saxten explore Goldpoint, taking a break from their usual fast rally-pace.

Mary Jo Johns and Samantha Johns-Mumford take advantage of Walt’s Saloon to figure out their next checkpoint.