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Easiest route to find and use for a 12 miler each way on Bragg is to go to the intersection of Chicken Road and Preacher Road just west of St. Mere Eglise Drop Zone. The paved portion of Chicken ends there. You can park your car across from St. Mere.
Face west and start walking on Chicken Road. The road alternates between deep sand and sticky clay. Take no turns. Stop when you can just see the next paved road, which will be King Road. The six-mile point for a water break and foot check is just east of Campbell's Crossroads. This route is a pretty good smoker at 2:30 total. 3:00 is not bad if you compare it to the normal hump on paved roads or shoulders. The sand and hills will give your calves a good work-out.
The route is actually easier to do in that direction. If you like a challenge, have someone drop you off at the King Road end of Chicken (unless it has been raining and the clay is muddy), the hills and deep sand as you get closer to the eastern end of the route will kick your ass hard, especially if you have been sandbagging for the first six miles at a 15:00 pace thinking you were doing fine. Nothing like keeping a 14:00 mile pace for the first 6 miles, taking a 10 minute break, and getting to the nine mile mark only to find that you are now averaging 15:30. If you can make the last three miles in that direction in 15 minutes each, you are a good rucker.
You could get a good smoking without needing a drop-off or pick-up by going on Chicken from Preacher Road to Campbell's Crossroads and back. That would actually be close to 13-14 miles, mostly sandy and hilly.
An alternate route is to enter the All-American trail where Pete indicated, just west of the Plank and King Road junction, behind the motorcycle graveyard and head east. To make twelve miles that way, you will have to cross Plank Road onto Mail Route Road headed northeast for the last few miles.
If you are going to be on any roads on Bragg, be aware of road closings in the impact areas, if you are on any roads other than firebreaks, be aware of vehicle traffic, wear a reflective belt, carry a flashlight just in case, and have a good link-up plan, especially if rucking alone. Bring your cell phone, plenty of water and ORS, and some food. If you are going to hump a ruck for 12 miles, it might as well contain something you can use. You can't eat the sandbags or iron plates. I would bring a walking stick or rubber duck and swing it hard to help stride out and dig in. Have a plan to meet at the pick-up point no later than a certain time, after that, they need to come looking for you and to call the MPs, if necessary. People have been killed while rucking in the remote areas of Bragg and Camp Mackall. Best to go with a buddy, if you have one who likes to walk, and is just a little faster than you are.
If you have a 4WD vehicle, you might carefully pre-run the route and clock the mileage points for your reference later when you are humping it.
Good luck.
TR
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"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." - President Theodore Roosevelt, 1910
De Oppresso Liber 01/20/2025
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