I finally got around to giving this a go! Great route.
Finished in 4:51:24. Here's my Strava activity: www.strava.com/activities/984933554
Started at 10:10am from the gate to the Alvarado Park service road on Park Ave. I'm pretty sure I followed Jim's list of trail directions exactly. (Had to stop a couple of times to confirm.) Jim's decision to hop on the French Trail instead of just continuing on the West Ridge Trail really ads some serious gut-punches right when things start to get tough! (I like it... although I was definitely cursing you at the time!)
Love this route - particularly the single track descent before crossing Fish Ranch Road around mile 13. It's really awesome that there's such a long continuous trail like this that's so easily accessible.
I carried two 500ml flasks - probably could have used a few more sips between Skyline Gate and the savior water fountain on the Branden Trail. Here's where there's water:
- Steam Trains at mile 10.4
- Sibley Staging Area at mile 13.9
- Skyline Gate at 16.7
- Random Spigot on Branden Trail at mile 29.6
(Warning - there's no water at the finish!)
For food, I had two servings of GU Roctane Energy Drink, about five GU Roctane Gels (from a soft flask), and one GU Stroopwafel.
I definitely think someone could go faster!
-Brian