Ben Nephew posted the route with a little FKT history:
The Mahoosuc Traverse is a rugged 31 mile section of the Appalachian Trail from Grafton Notch in Maine to Gorham,NH. The trail is remote, includes almost 11k of climb, and is almost all technical singletrack. The Mahoosuc notch is known as the hardest single mile of the AT. The FKT route, as established in the early 1900's, stays on the Mahoosuc trail to Hogan road in Gorham and then continues for a mile on dirt roads to the parking area on route 16. The historical route was 29 miles due to a more direct trail up Old Speck mountain in Grafton Notch.
In 1927, Bob Monahan completed the route in 10:27.
That time stood until August 28, 1958, when Chris Goetze ran 8:06:30.
On September 7th, 2014, Ryan Welts and I ran 7:45:17.
www.strava.com/activities/191482353
A full report can be found:
mountainpeakfitness.com/blog/2014-welts-nephew-mahoosuc-traverse-fkt
Ben Nephew
Comments
I'll be giving this route a shot on Saturday (7/18/20)Â to establish a NoBo FKT, almost definitely several hours slower than the fine gentlemen listed above.Â
Curious what made Neil's trip self supported vs unsupported? Didn't see it in his notes.Â
I will be doing this route Wednesday sept 16 starting at 6am.Â
Important addendum to my FKT report, which I forgot to add before hitting submit:
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The Mahoosuc Range, Grafton Notch, the Bear River valley, and other parts of the Androscoggin watershed lie in the unceded ancestral lands of the Abenaki people and the Wabanaki Confederacy.Â
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I love and value the process of pushing myself hard in these mountains, but with the cataloguing of FKTs, it is important that we remember that any ethos of "conquering" these sacred places is illusory and in opposition to the sort of relationship that indigenous people have had with this land for all of human memory and beyond.Â