Learned a few lessons from my solo attempt a year before. 1. Start later because route finding is easier and sleep is key 2. Bring crusher wife in order to run 2.5 hours faster.
3:15AM - Heavily negotiated wake-up & drive to Big Creek - 5:21 AM start
Washington - 2:36 - Hard push up Mt Washington leading to a summit. Took one of the spicier technical section to get to the summit block. I was proud of my 3 hour push last time, but Monica showed me how it was done on the runnable sections. Definitely high effort the whole way and my legs were getting a taste of the soreness to come. Monica began feeling sick here and was close to puking. Being one not to complain, she kept pushing despite this feeling persisting for the whole day.
Ellinor - 4:02 - Other than one accidental cliff-out section, we didn't have trouble finding the optimal route to Ellinor. Running on some sections of the heather and scree. Lots of snow in the Col below Ellinor but not worth stopping for water. At this point, I was an hour and a half faster than my last attempt so stoke was very high for the day. Dropped our packs to feel a little free on the last hundred feet.
Rose - 5:47 - Made great time on the connector Bear Camp trail and ran when we could. Monica got her first of 5 bee stings on this section. The up-hill section of Rose did a number on us as we began overheating (down side of a late start). Luckily we stopped at an appreciated stream and took a 5 minute break and dunking our heads in the water. Here we each filled up with 2.5 more liters of water. Eating lots of huckleberries while moving almost made me classify this as supported by nature.
Copper 1 & 2 - 8:20 & 8:36 - Compared to some of our earlier trips to the cascades this year, the bushwhacking felt easy enough for this section. However, my MCL began having a sharp pain so we slowed down to avoid what felt like a potential tear if I take the wrong step. Luckily it went away after a few hours of cautious moving. We were 10 feet below the summit on Copper 1 and didn't do the easy scramble because there were hundreds of bees swarming the summit. After 3 bee stings for Monica by this point and a yellow-jacket allergy for me, we decided to skirt around to avoid potential death. If anyone wants to contest the route for this reason, so be it, but you must send the message from Copper summit. We maintained the ridge rather than dropping down to access Copper 2 which presented some fun 4th class climbing.
Cub - 10:20 - The talus fields below Copper are incredible with some of the most unique rocks on the peninsula. Would love to know how those pinks, blues, and purples are made. Made better route finding choices than last time... but we still hit our crux of the route leading down to Wagon wheel lake. We mistakenly took the devil's club route to start, then BEES!, then took a few good slips & slides once we got to the steep old growth. The last few hundred feet of elevation gain to get to Cub peak may have cooked us but didn't break the stoke. The ridge is always longer than I remember but at least you have constant views of the rugged sawtooth ridge to your west. The serrated ridge reminding me that the soreness in my body doesn't compare to the physical and emotional pain Emilio and I experienced when we attempted to sharpen the saw.
Staircase - 11:32:42 - I could hardly call this section running, but we somehow hobbled down the trail compelled by downward momentum and thoughts of food. Thinking about how to satiate a hunger after burning 5k calories, only eating 400-600 throughout the day, and also feeling sick. Here we were lucky enough to find some Reishi on the trail we brought home for tea. The quads took their final beating and we arrived back to the trailhead to our second car we parked in the morning. We remarked on the brutality of having to run through that dusty shoulder-less road to get to big creek; later to find out the FA party did this. I respect this type of masochism, but thank you FA Party for not choosing that kind of suffering for the rest of us.
Gear notes: 3.5L & 2.5L to start, shorts, t-shirt, 8L running vest, 4 bars, 2 PB&J BoBos, half a cookie, 2 handfulls of dehydrated fruit, huckleberries, electrolyte pills, and Stoke.