Christof Teuscher staggered into Lake Owyhee State Park on July 29, filthy, exhausted, and sleep-deprived, having just run the entire 750 miles of the Oregon Desert Trail in 17 days, 15 hours — a speed record.
In his professional life, the 44-year-old is a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Portland State University and director of the Teuscher Lab, where he leads a team of students in projects that redefine the way computers will be built and programmed in the future.
His research is about opening new frontiers, and he hopes to cultivate fearlessness among his students, using his own extreme adventures as examples. To make new discoveries or break outdoor records, he tries to show them, you must leave your comfort zone, and sometimes, fail.
Teuscher is an ultra-runner and experienced adventurer. He has climbed the Matterhorn; run solo across the Grand Canyon; climbed Pico de Orizaba, the highest peak in Mexico. In 2015, he summited Mt. Adams in Washington state, ran to Mt. Hood in Oregon, and summited that, too, all in less than 65 hours. He has explored Oregon’s deserts extensively, including making a first attempt at the Oregon Desert Trail (ODT) in 2015, an expedition that ended prematurely after nine days and 371 miles because of a debilitating Achilles tendon inflammation.
“In hindsight, I’m grateful that I failed,” he says. “That first attempt really allowed me to learn from my errors.”
The trail is a largely unmarked route through the desert of eastern Oregon. Extremely remote, it has few reliable water sources. Over one-third of it traverses wild, cross-country sections that require complete reliance on maps, compasses and GPS units.
“The ODT is much more dangerous than people assume,” says Teuscher. “It’s not the Pacific Crest Trail or the Appalachian Trail, where you wait 30 minutes and some through-hiker will show up and give you a snack. On the ODT, there’s nobody out there. I think I’m the sixth person who did the whole trail.”
He started his second attempt at 5 a.m. on Tuesday, July 12, from the Tumulus trailhead in the Oregon Badlands Wilderness, just outside of Bend. The run was equal to the distance from Portland to Fresno, California along the I-5, and he averaged 43 miles per day, with no rest day. All through the trip, he says, he looked for a reason to quit, but he never found one, so he continued.
Thanks to his previous expeditions, Teuscher was able to reduce his kit to a pack that started at just over nine pounds, then grew lighter over the course of the journey as he used medical supplies, sunscreen and toiletries. Among his most critical items were his two GPS watches and a satellite transponder, which broadcast his location, in case he had to be rescued.
In advance of the trip, Teuscher and his wife buried about 40 caches of food and water along the route he would be taking; the buried bins also served as temporary trash receptacles that could be retrieved later, so that the journey would leave no trace on the environment.
When people hear about Teuscher’s adventure, they often ask what he thought about during his long days alone. He had to be constantly aware of navigation, so that he didn’t get lost; he had watch for snakes, which were everywhere. “Anything could happen, anytime. So that keeps your mind really busy.”
Water proved to be a much bigger worry than he anticipated.
“So many times, I ran out of water,” he says. There were nights where I had to reduce my sleep so I could move to the next water source quicker. I had nightmares about water; I dreamed about the PSU pool so many times.”
Nevertheless, based on his experiences, his biggest message to others is that they should do things that they think cannot do. “Even if you don’t feel you’re ready. For most of my adventures, I don’t feel ready. That’s a strong message, and it doesn’t just apply to ultra-running. There’s no way to get perfect in a single step.”
He didn’t rest for long after setting Oregon Desert Trail speed record. Three weeks later, he set off on a new expedition: climbing Oregon’s five highest peaks (Mt. Hood, Mt. Jefferson, South Sister, Middle Sister, North Sister) in one push. He made it in 67 hours and 23 minutes.
Teuscher posts accounts, photographs and interactive maps of all of his adventures on his website: www.christofteuscher.com.