It was unseasonably warm at the base and made for perfect weather to make a crack at this challenge. Valley Way was a good warm up, with its generally gentle incline. The trail was coated with a thick layer of leaves, and footing required some thought and care. Brookside had a nice blend of rolling terrain that was runnable, combined with steeper pitches that gained elevation quickly. Watson was a little tricky to see the entrance path, but made for some nice running after just gaining a lot of elevation. Scar had some nice sections to open up the stride and I was pretty comfortable with the pace when I reached Airline in under an hour.
Airline became a little more challenging above treeline, and for some reason I took a wrong turn where the trail sign was on the ground. After reaching Madison hut, I panicked a little, but still felt time was okay to double back and still make it. Gulfside became a fun rock hopping half mile, before taking care to make the correct turn at Lowe's Path and make the final push to make it in under my goal time of 2 hours at 1:59:40.
I was glad to have persevered after making a mistake. I sat and admired the awesome view for a few minutes before taking Air Line on the return. Thanks for a fun and unique way to tackle this mountain!
Jeremy Ward
