Last week I read that a 55-year-old woman named Amy Appelhans Gubser had swum from San Francisco to the Farallon Islands鈥攖he craggy archipelago at the center of Susan Casey’s epic 2005 book The Devil’s Teeth. Whenever I read about the Farallones, I envision the school bus-sized great white sharks that swim in the murky waters around the islands, which Casey profiled in her book. When I read about Appelhans Gubser’s amazing feat, all I could conjure were those sharks. I just had to ask her about them.

Appelhans Gubser, a nurse and grandmother who lives in Pacifica, completed the 29.6-mile swim from the Golden Gate Bridge to the islands on May 11 in 17 hours, three minutes. I caught up with Appelhans Gubser to discuss the massive swim and the big fish that undoubtedly swam below her.

What was your greatest fear during the swim?
The elephant in the room is white sharks, and they were in the back of my mind at all times during the swim. We didn’t take the shark thing lightly鈥擨 had a savvy crew that kept watch for them from a boat and kayak. They were ready to jump into the water to help me if I needed, but we had no shark sightings the whole time. My second fear was the cold. I trained to swim in cold but the water was 43 degrees that day, and that was unexpected and something I was not ready for. Then, I had to trust that my team was keeping me on course. We had three different instruments making sure we were going the right way. We were out of cellphone range so nobody could call us to tell us we were going the wrong way.

How did you come up with the idea for the swim?聽
I’ve been around the ocean since I was ten years old. I was an ocean lifeguard in high school and college, and I swam at the University of Michigan. After I graduated I was done with the sport. I didn’t get back into the water for 24 years, and when I did return I was doing open-water swimming. I just fell in love with it and started doing more events like the open-water swims across Lake Tahoe and Monterey Bay. I can see the Farallon Islands from my house when it’s clear, and I’ve always joked with my husband that I can swim there. Five years ago I started planning and training for the crossing. I knew my body could withstand the cold and the distance. I sought out open-water swimming mentors for guidance.听 I got resources through the Marathon Swimming Federation, and then Covid broke out in 2020 and I couldn’t rent a boat. It was too bad because I was in the best shape of my life, but I was foiled. Then, the next two years I had to cancel because of strong winds. It was a challenge I wanted to do, but things never lined up.

What elements had to come together for you to even attempt it?
I had to wait for the weather systems and the currents to be right, or else you’ll swim as hard as you can and you won’t go anywhere. Wave height was another factor because the ocean can’t be too bouncy. Sometimes the current was OK but the wave interval was too tight. One day it was clear but the waves were six feet every nine seconds. On the day we went it was four feet every 12 seconds, which is doable. And then there’s the wind. If you get a prevailing southerly wind then you get foggy weather. If it’s from the north then you get blasted by Alaskan air. It can be beautiful in San Francisco but out at Point Reyes it’s 40 mile-per-hour winds. This year we spent three months monitoring surface currents. A week before my swim we could see conditions were magically aligning, and by Wednesday, May 8 we knew we were a go for Saturday the 11th. But I had a problem: the captain I had contacted for the follow boat said he had a different charter that day. I had to scramble and get a fishing captain who signed up and said “yes.”

How did you keep your mind occupied during the 17 hour swim?
Sometimes I’m thinking of nothing, other times I’m solving the world’s problems. A swarm of bats flew around us at dawn and I kept thinking it was the universe telling me I’m batshit crazy. I found that joke funny for way too long because I had nothing else to entertain my thoughts. My team would tell me jokes to keep my spirits up. I’d try to count but I’d always lose count at 77 so I’d start again.

What is the appeal of marathon open-water swimming?
As a pool swimmer, you’re following time intervals but you never see how much distance you’ve actually covered. When you do open-water swimming you can look across a body of water and see where you’ve come from. It’s so much more profound. In pool swimming you’re going for time, but in open-water swimming time doesn’t mater because you’re up against so many elements you cannot control. Your job is just to persevere so you can eventually break through. I like that.

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Max LeNail was five minutes away from the end of his run when the hail storm started. He had already summited the South Fortuna peak in San Diego, California鈥檚 Mission Trails Park, a relatively easy trail run that was part of his training for the Dipsea Race in the Marin Headlands north of San Francisco.

When the hail came, it was unlike any hail storm the San Diego region had ever seen. LeNail kept going, following the San Diego River Crossing trail, which he thought would lead him back to his warm and dry car in the parking lot. But instead, he came across a rushing river and no bridge.

No one knows exactly what happened next.

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LeNail鈥檚 GPS data from his Garmin shows that he hesitated at the side of the river, then decided to cross it, likely wading into what is usually a very small stream in the summer, but what was swollen that January morning in 2021.

The next day, LeNail was found dead further downstream. He was almost 22, about to graduate from Brown University, with a premed concentration and plans to become a doctor.

His death was a tragedy for everyone who knew him鈥攑arents, friends, outdoor enthusiasts, even strangers across the San Diego region. It also led to his family taking immediate action to fix a problem that could have saved his life: building a bridge across the river. Two years later, they鈥檙e still fighting for that bridge.

鈥淗e Found Joy in Everything鈥�

Max LeNail鈥檚 father, Ben LeNail, says his son was always athletic. He played soccer, ultimate frisbee, and was a great runner, cyclist. He also became a world-class rock climber during high school and college. One of his closest friends, Shannon Murphy, joined Max LeNail on many of his rock climbing expeditions, and says that he had a very rare combination of being focused and determined about a challenge, but never intense.

鈥淗e found joy in everything, even when it was something that he clearly cared about achieving, But he never let that take over the joy of it, which I think was one of the really beautiful things about climbing with him,鈥� she says.

LeNail would train intensely, going to sleep early and waking up early and doing yoga and eating right, she says. 鈥淏ut when we were actually climbing and he would fall, he didn’t care,鈥� she says. 鈥淗e was just like, 鈥榦h, that was really fun.鈥欌��

LeNail was studying at Brown in 2019 when COVID struck and the campus closed. He and a group of friends made an adventure pod, where they lived in different outdoor meccas, from Lake Tahoe, California, to Bend, Oregon, and took remote classes and spent their free time outdoors. They had just relocated to San Diego and LeNail discovered Mission Trails Regional Park, an 8,000-acre urban park with more than 60 miles of trails, perfect for his ultra training.

When Trails Turn into Rivers

On Jan. 29, 2021, Max started his run around 10:30 A.M., and he ran alone, something very common in the well-traveled Mission Trails. By 12:05 P.M., he was at the top of the 1,100-foot South Fortuna Mountain and recorded a video on his phone.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a moody day,鈥� he said, showing the gathering clouds. 鈥淗opefully it鈥檚 not too cold.鈥�

By late afternoon, Max LeNail鈥檚 roommates started worrying because he wasn’t home. They called him and got no answer. Then they drove to Mission Trails, saw his car in the parking lot, and instantly knew something bad had happened. They called the police, who sent a helicopter, but by that time it was 7 P.M. and dark. The police sent a helicopter with night vision, but couldn鈥檛 find him.

Max LeNail鈥檚 roommates called his parents, and Ben LeNail says they stayed up all night organizing a search and rescue.

鈥淚t went totally viral. Boy Scouts, trail runners, mountain bikers, churches, volunteers of all kinds, and 800 people showed up,鈥� Max鈥檚 father Ben LeNail says. Max鈥檚 mother Laurie Yoler traveled from their home in Palo Alto to San Diego to help direct the search.

Max鈥檚 body was found at noon the next day. The autopsy showed he didn’t have any trauma, so it’s unlikely that he hit his head, but was instead likely sucked in a current in the river and possibly suffered , Ben LeNail says.

When Grief Turns into Action

鈥淲e’re absolutely petrified with grief. Within a day or two, we thought this could totally destroy us, and we could be broken forever,鈥� Ben LeNail says about the loss of his son. 鈥淲e could become ghosts, or we can decide not to be like that. We were very messed up, but quickly we thought, we want to be outward facing instead of people who turn inward and shut down and become completely sealed. We want to be in the world and be turned towards others.鈥�

Within a day, the LeNails knew what they wanted to do. They were hearing from hundreds of people who had the same question.

鈥淓verybody said, 鈥榠t’s insane, why isn’t there a bridge there?鈥� It is one of the most popular trails in the park, and it’s intersected by the river,鈥� Ben LeNail says. 鈥淲hy are people exposed to this danger? There absolutely should be a bridge there.鈥�

And so, they decided to build a bridge over the river and name it after Max.

Research led them to a frustrating discovery: the proposal for a pedestrian bridge at the place where their son died had been part of the Mission Trails master plan for a decade.

鈥淭here was total apathy in terms of, 鈥榳e don’t have enough money,鈥欌�� he says. 鈥淎nd frankly, I think they needed the impetus of a death, an accident, to really mobilize people and say, 鈥榣ook, we need this bridge, and we need it sooner than later.鈥欌��

A depth marker now stands in the middle of the river to show potential crossers how high the water is. But even in the winter, when the water can be four or five feet high, people cross. Many will take off their socks and shoes and wade through on a rocky, slippery spot close by.

鈥淭here was always a sense that people will cross, people will slip, and people will struggle, but nobody has come to any serious harm thus far, and we [the park administration] can kind of drag it along a little bit longer,鈥� Ben LeNail says. 鈥淢ax’s death was the impetus, and our absolutely fierce advocacy that we are not going to let go. We are going to be there advocating for the bridge and in their faces and would not drop it.鈥�

Building Bridges

Within a few weeks, the LeNails reached out to elected officials and the . Everyone agreed a bridge should finally be built. But now, it鈥檚 been more than two years after Max LeNail鈥檚 death and construction has not begun.

The target is to finish the bridge and hold an inauguration for it in 2024. But there鈥檚 a long way to go to get there.

LeNail says they are still wading through the city bureaucracy to get the required surveys and permits done. They still have to do environmental impact studies to be sure the ground is secure and that wildlife won鈥檛 be disturbed. Once construction begins, it could only take three months to build the bridge.

San Diego City Councilmember Raul Campillo represents the area and chairs the Mission Trails Regional Park task force, and he says there is always a list of projects in the park that need to be completed, and never enough money to do all of them.

鈥淪o the bridge had not been built, but things like the visitor center had been built, trail preservation had been built, markers for hikers, lots of different things like that had been built, but the bridge itself had not,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t is one of the higher-priced items, and it requires a lot of engineering, permitting, scientific research, and analysis. And so up to that point, it had just not been prioritized like things that many other hikers and trail goers use in the park on a daily basis. I would say that we’re well within a standard deviation of time to build this type of project,鈥� he says.

Campillo says it鈥檚 not unusual for a project like this鈥攁 bridge over a river in an environmentally sensitive area鈥攖o take this long.

Many San Diegans, including Jennifer Morrissey,聽 executive director of the Mission Trails Regional Park Foundation, are blown away by the fact that the LeNails have dedicated themselves to something so fully聽 during a time of unimaginable grief.

鈥淭hey’ve channeled this tragic event into positive action, building a bridge in Max’s memory that can provide safe passage for park users for generations to come,鈥� Morrissey says.

In early 2023, the park built a bench near the place where Max died with his name emblazoned on the front.

鈥淭his is a way for people to go and reflect and also where they can see the project, the process of construction when it’s happening,鈥� Morrissey says. 鈥淎nd then eventually one could sit on Max’s bench and be looking at the bridge.鈥�

In July, LeNail visited San Diego again to put pressure on officials. He says he鈥檚 extremely persistent, a self-described 鈥減it bull,鈥� meaning there鈥檚 no way he鈥檚 going to allow the bridge to not be built. He spends time every week, working on this project that is outside his normal job as a biotech consultant, and every day he thinks about his son and works to get the project done in his honor.

鈥淗e’d be pleasantly surprised, but I think he would be enchanted,鈥� Ben LeNail says of what Max would think about this work. 鈥淗e would love to have generations of athletes and outdoors people use the bridge.鈥�

The bridge will be made of prefabricated steel, and so it will be built to last. That means in 100 years, people will walk on the bridge and remember Max, LeNail says.

.听

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