I had originally been apprehensive about attempting the Mason-Dixon Trail as an FKT due to the sheer amount of road miles. I typically embrace road miles because they allow me to make up time and I can zone out, but at almost 35-50% of the total mileage, I was concerned about the toll the pounding would take on my feet and legs. After a chat with Grayce Langheine who held a support FKT on the trail, I decided to give it a try. In hindsight, I'm extremely happy I decided to. I connected with a tremendous amount of people during this FKT attempt and discovered an amazing community surrounding this trail. As always, my trip reports are a stream of consciousness I don't proofread or edit, so my apologies for the tense switching and grammar.
Note that my route includes a seasonal hunting detour just South of Otter Creek that Philip Perkins also took. I followed the exact GPX track of Philip as well as Jess Eager who set the supported FKT in August of this year.
Some people I'd like to thank
Grayce Langheine for sharing tons of knowledge and connecting me with Rob and Eddie. Grayce was my initial motivation for hiking the trail.
Eddie Pantoja for setting such a crazy unsupported pace for me to chase and sharing all your experience on the trail.
Rob Bartholomew for intercepting me in Havre de Grace at 7am and giving me a ride over the bridge. Also, his endless amount of knowledge about the trail.
Pete McLaughlin & Jake Landon for sharing words of wisdom on the M-DT
Jess Eager for sharing her expertise from her FKT
Phil Perkins for setting a mind blowing self-supported time that I futilely tried chasing, providing lots of great info, meeting me at the end to cheer me on the final 100 yards and a ride back to my in-laws. See you at Eastern States!
My wife Lara for inspiring and empowering me to go on these adventures
I set out on the morning of Friday, 11/22 on my bicycle with my FKT pack and headed into my office. I work a few blocks from 30th St Station in Philly so I put in a half day, threw my pack on at noon, wished my colleagues a Happy Thanksgiving and headed out the door to the train station. I took Amtrak to Harrisburg and then an Uber to the Appalachian Trail. I enjoyed a quiet night alone at the Alec Kennedy shelter. I woke up at 5:30am in the dark before my alarm went off and decided it was better to get moving than just lie there. I packed up and walked the 2.25 miles to the Western Terminus of the Mason-Dixon Trail where it intersects with the Appalachian Trail at Whiskey Springs. Temps for the entire attempt were in the 50's and sunny during the day, low 40's to perhaps high 30's overnight. I was quite warm (even hot!) the entire time except for the few minutes I slept here and there.
Day 1 - Miles traveled 71.95
I collected some water at Whiskey Springs and then started my watch at 7:21am. The first 11 miles are all roads and I tried to run as much as possible. My starting pack weight was 8lbs gear, 8lbs food so not heavy but not light. Running was rather easy though and I was able to maintain a 13:30/mile pace. I finally ducked into the woods and enjoyed a very well maintained trail through the State Gamelands. This would be a recurring theme throughout the entire trail. I popped on and off roads and eventually made my way into Gifford Pinchot State Park. Again, the trails were very easy tread and well maintained. It was nice running next to the lake but it was quite windy. Gusts around 25mph. Overall, the first 40 miles were pretty uneventful with lots of road, a bit of trail and very pleasant weather. At mile 38 I started the descent down to the Susquehanna River where I would stay for the next 90 miles or so. At this point I was still averaging about a 15 minute 30 second pace. Once I made the turn onto Gut Road, it felt a lot more remote and alone. It was still a dirt road so I was able to run here and there. I was hoping to fill some water at Susquehanna Riverlands State Park but unfortunately there aren't any facilities at this park. Somewhere around here I saw a flying squirrel and almost got a photo! Someday. I quickly made my way through it. I enjoyed some twisty trails and then made my way into the town of Wrightsville. Again, I quickly passed through without stopping. Just after the town I made a left off the road into the woods and stayed there for most of the rest of the night. I entered a creepy tunnel under SR 624, Did my best to navigate High Point Park where the blazes were a bit sparse. Again, bobbed back and forth between road and trail. On one of the road sections I felt a searing pain in the ball of my left foot. I knew it was a blister. Blisters aren't terribly uncommon for me after a few days, but not typical at all on day 1. I normally don't pop blisters but this one was huge and I knew I wouldn't be able to walk on it without popping it. I panicked because I realized I had taken my lighter out of my diddy bag. It then occurred to me that it was a bit silly to worry about not sterilizing a needle when I was going to be walking on an open wound for the next 150 miles. I pulled out a needle from my first aid kit and jabbed the blister a few times. Eventually, after some massaging a tremendous amount of liquid oozed out. I cut a piece of non-stick bandage and attached it using Leukotape. As I was finishing up, I could feel the cold creeping over my entire body. It's a different cold than from the outside - this cold comes from the inside after you've been moving for 18+ hours and your body temperature has been elevated. It's a scary cold that is hard to recover from. It also happened both times I "slept". I decided it was time to quickly start moving again. I'd block that blister out of my mind for the rest of the trip. A few (10?) miles after the blister situation, I passed a house on Fishing Creek road that had motion sensors on their lights and it seemed like every light in the house turned on simultaneously. There were robotic voices telling me I was being recorded. I did my best to zip through and immediately made a left off the road at Fishing Creek and quickly gained elevation. The trail became very technical with steep drop offs on either side of the trail. This was about mile, 66, hour, 18.5 so I was a bit exhausted to be navigating such technical terrain in the darkest hours of the night. My pace slowed over the next 6 miles to 30 minutes/mile. I had originally planned to go straight through the night, but I decided it would be more beneficial to lie down for an hour or so. Although there weren't any 1000' gains like I'm used to, it was much steeper than I anticipated. With all the leaves, it was a bit tricky navigating down the steep slopes as I was mostly just sliding. After ascending and descending all the way down to the banks of the Susquehanna River, I finally reached a very narrow hollow with a stream. It was quite pretty by headlamp. I threw down a ground sheet, crawled into my quilt and lied down on the leaves, setting my alarm for 50 minutes. Overally, a very uneventful day.
Day 2 - Miles traveled 43.31 - Alarm set previous night for 50 minutes
Although I set my alarm for 50 minutes I don't think I truly slept for more than 30. I was in the usual "dreaming while awake" mode but my brain was racing too fast to get any real sleep. I woke up from my body shivering uncontrollably every once in a while from the "inside cold" that I mentioned earlier when your body temp is elevated for 20+ hours on end. It's not constant, but sort of runs up my spine for 30 seconds and then will stop. It'll happen in 70 degrees so I was prepared for it with overnight lows in the high 30's. My alarm went off, I quickly hopped up, packed up my stuff in less than 10 minutes and was on the trail by 6:27am. It would still be dark for another 30 minutes or so. I climbed out of the hollow and reached Otter Creek after about an hour or so. I had been looking forward to checking out Otter Creek for quite some time now. It was very pretty with lots of conifers. I eventually climbed out of Otter Creek and went over the ridge, catching a beautiful view of the Susquehanna River at Urey overlook. I looped back to Otter Creek, then out to the road where I crossed it and began the hunting detour. Some road miles through pretty farmland and then down into McCalls Ferry Natural Area. Very beautiful area with falls, cascades and lots of rhododendron. My left knee started to bother me at some point on day 2. It was a pain in the tend? Ligament? Behind my knee. I could massage it and feel the entire thing was tender and swollen. I tried massaging it with my trekking pole and it helped a bit. This pain did slow me down a bit because I wasn't able to fully extend my leg, but it wasn't unbearable by any means. It eventually disappeared (as those pains usually do) by the end of day 3 or start of 4. I hopped onto (I think) Peavine Island and then made my way off by rock hopping. I climbed some rebar that is attached to the rock and did a bit of bouldering. I turned to my left and noticed there was a woman and a man standing about 100 yards from me. Then I realized, the woman was only wearing a red flannel without any pants on. She made eye contact with me and panicked, trying to cover herself up. I averted my eyes the other direction and moved as fast as I could to make space between us. Within a minute I was beyond some boulders and couldn't see them. Sorry for the interruption! Back up onto the platue and then back down to Muddy Creek. The trail was absolutely perfect in this section. Smooth, not many rocks and the creek was beautiful. Cascades, falls, the sun was setting. At some point I ran into three Amish boys where were whistling and making sounds across the hollow. I asked them what they saw and they said they saw a fox. As we passed, one boy called back to me. "Where are you from?" I replied "Philadelphia!" He said "Oh, neat!" and we both went on with our adventures. When I reached the end of Muddy Creek at about 4:30pm I decided it was time to make a plan for crossing the Pulaski Highway/Route 40 over the Susquehanna River at Havre de Grace. It's illegal for pedestrians to cross the bridge so it's been approved to use cars for unsupported FKT's. I had about 30 miles until the bridge. I called Rob Bartholomew who's info I had been given by Grayce Langheine. I foolishly thought I could average 17 minute miles for the next 30 miles and I could make the bridge by 1am. I told Rob I would do my best to be there at 1am. However, in hindsight there's no way that was going to be possible. My pace slows considerably at night and the trail was much harder than I anticipated in this section. No huge ups and downs but the small rollers would definitely slow my pace. As I was saying by to Rob he caught me "Oh, by the way, you need to hustle to get through Peach Bottom Nuclear Power plant before dark". The trail traverses the property of the nuclear powerplant and you need to call them in advance before entering the property. I made it through without incident, but I was extremely nervous an unmarked security truck was going to intercept me at some point. By 10pm not only did I know I wouldn't be getting there until 4am, I was also exhausted and didn't think I could make it without sleeping. I texted Rob that my pace was way too slow and that I'd just take an Uber across. Rob texted back "Time doesn't matter. I will get you whenever you arrive". He is so incredibly kind. I always feel guilty asking people to go out of their way and I felt so bad that he was going to get up at 4am. Finally at mile 40 I decided I needed to lie down for a bit. I set my alarm for 30 minutes and lied down on the ground.
Day 3 - Miles traveled 50.84 - Alarm set for 30 minutes, hiked about 5 miles, then 90 minutes
After 30 minutes my alarm went off and I got up. I did not feel like I slept at all. I started hiking but did not feel refreshed. I hiked for 3 1/2 miles and almost kept falling asleep standing up. I said to myself "This is stupid. I can't make it through tonight with 30 minutes of sleep. I keep closing my eyes and dreaming while standing up. I'm also seeing random things out of the corners of my eye. I'm just going to sleep for 90 minutes to recharge myself or else I won't finish at all". So I lied down for another 90 minutes. After I got up the 2nd time I felt much better. Lots of uneventful hiking, went through Susquehanna State Park in Maryland, which was pleasant, dark. I reached mile 14 for the day, around sunrise, 7am and called my wife. My original "A" goal was 2 days 12 hours and my B goal was to finish in order to get home the next morning to take my girls to school. I knew both of those goals were going to blow past. I said to my wife "I'm not going to be home in time. I'll just take an Uber home from Havre de Grace". I wasn't feeling great. My feet were destroyed from all the road miles and I was so far behind schedule. A tiny part of me wanted to quit. She replied "No.....you can't quit. You're 130 miles in with 70 to go. Let me call my parents to see if they can watch the girls. Just keep walking for now." So, I kept walking. I entered the town of Havre de Grace and it was bustling with everyone going to work. I looked like a straggly mess with cables dangling from charging, clothes hanging off my pack, orange vest to prevent me from getting shot or run over. I was walking down a neighborhood street and thought "I should text Rob to let him know I'm going to just take an Uber". I was not looking forward to dealing with the app, getting into a random car and making small talk about why I smelled so bad. I texted Rob, walked about 100 yards, looked up and a jogger was approaching me. He sort of made eye contact and said "Bob? Stewart?" I smiled and said yes. He said "I'm Rob Bartholomew. I found you by following your satellite messenger track. My car is parked down at the bridge. It's 2.8 miles. How long do you think it'll take you to get there?" I laughed and said "You've got to be kidding me. I think....an hour?" He said "Ok, I'm going to finish my run. I'll see you there". I reached his car while he was loading it up. He told me to hop into the passenger seat and his wife Kathy hopped in the back. We chatted for a couple minutes while we went over the bridge, he dropped me off and I was on my way just as quickly as he picked me up. As I was walking, my wife texted me and said "My parents can watch the girls tomorrow. Keep walking. You're not using us as an excuse to quit." Well, that answered that... I stopped at a picnic bench at Perry Point to assess my feet. They felt by far the worst they've felt out of any of my FKT's...ever. I was wearing the same shoes and socks as my PA AT FKT where I had zero foot issues. The only thing I can think of is that the road miles just destroyed them. I took off my shoes and socks and it wasn't pretty. Both of my big toes were black. My right ring toe and pinky toe was black. I had a blister the size of a half a ping pong ball on TOP of my right big toe. I've never experienced that before. I had blisters under every single toe. I added some leuko tape to all the damaged areas and hoped for the best. From here, it's a lot more road miles. I entered an industrial park where I hiked a few trail miles, but mostly road from mile 130 until 145. By the time I reached North East, MD I was done. It was sunny and my feet were destroyed from pounding the pavement. The soles of my feet hurt so bad I couldn't even take a step. I walked off the road, into the woods, past a cemetery and threw my pack on the ground. I was ready to quit. I had 50 miles to go, but I just couldn't fathom slamming my feet into the ground for another 24 hours. I had never felt this emotion of not being able to continue on, physically. I checked Uber and it was a $100 ride back home. I felt so guilty that Rob had taken the effort to intercept me, my wife coordinated with my in-laws to watch my girls, etc. I finally called my wife and told her I was done. She asked me where I was and I told her I was in a forest, about to hike 10 miles into the woods, but my feet and legs below my knees were so destroyed I physically couldn't see myself finishing. She said "Will you regret quitting?" I replied "Yes." She said "I'll need to bring the girls to my parents in two hours. How far can you get by then?" I said "6 miles" She replied "Ok, how about you hike 6 miles on dirt to see how you feel, then you can take it from there". I said fine, put on my pack and started walking. I knew Phil's trip report said Elk Neck State Forest was in absolutely perfect condition, as if someone had used a leaf blower on the trail, so I figured it was worth a shot. The next 10 miles FLEW by. It was SO nice to be back in the woods, walking and occasionally running on soft dirt. I got to mile 10 and said to my wife "40 miles to go. I'm just going to push to mile 35, sleep for an hour and then I'll have 35 left". She knows me so well, she knew I wouldn't be able to give up inside 40 miles. Lots of road miles through towns and LOTS of jumping off the road to not get hit by cars. This isn't a ton of fun. I'm so tired, I can barely keep my eyes open. I'm starting to see objects and think they're bears, people, things I can't comprehend. Finally, I got to mile 36, threw down my groundsheet for the last time and crawled into my quilt. As I was crawling in, I noticed my left leg from my knee down seemed pretty swollen. I blocked it out and closed
Day 4 - Miles traveled 36.65 - Alarm set for 50 minutes
I slept SO well. It was the deepest 45 minutes of sleep I've ever had. I woke up before my alarm went off and freaked out because I was sure I slept for 4 hours. Nope, 45 minutes. I packed my stuff in under 10 minutes, threw on my pack and felt amazing. I had 15 hours to go 36 miles. I've done this hundreds of times before. I hustled out of the woods into a suburban neighborhood. I noticed my left leg was still quite swollen from the knee down. It's hard to describe - almost as if someone blew it up like a balloon. Perhaps some reaction from the lymphatic system? It didn't affect me but it is not a pleasant feeling and when a body part is swollen like that, it's concerning. I knew I only had to endure it for another 12 hours or so. The skin also experiences this weird burning feeling and is a bit reddish. If I press the skin, it'll turn white then back to the dull red. If I scrape the skin with a branch or my trekking pole, it stings quite a bit. (The swelling eventually dissipated slowly throughout the 24-48 hours after I finished) From here on out it's a mix of suburban neighborhood sidewalks and local parks. Back and forth in the darkness. I wandered under some sketchy underpasses with lots of graffiti. I was hoping I wouldn't run into anyone in the dark hours of the night. I finally exit the sketchy areas and I can feel myself starting to mildly hallucinate. I'm seeing things that aren't there - I made up one of those blue historical marker signs. I say to myself "I wonder what that sign said. Wait - it wasn't really there, was it?" I turn around and nope, not there. I decide that I'm going to lie in the middle of the trail in a park and set my alarm for 6 minutes. I start shivering before my alarm goes off and I need to keep moving. I finally entered White Clay Creek State Park which is sort of the home stretch. It felt super remote, considering I had just been navigating suburban neighborhoods the last 50 miles. The tread was so smooth and flat it felt like cheating. I'm still pretty tired and lie down on one or two benches for a couple minutes and close my eyes. I eventually felt so good I started running. I was running huge sections of trail, making really great time. I finally crossed into Pennsylvania and got extremely excited (although I later discovered I was back in Delaware for a bit). I finally excited White Clay Creek Preserve onto Broad Run Road and it's all road until the final 2.5 miles. Just after sunrise it started to rain. I didn't really care at this point. Threw on a raincoat, drank my last 450 calories of maltodextrine with 12 miles to go and was running as much as I could. The pain in my feet and ankles was intense. I looked at my watch....12.5 miles to go.....it's 7am and I need to finish by 12pm to get the record. Wait....if I don't average 20 minute miles, I might not get this.... I start running as fast as I'm physically able, which isn't much. All of a sudden a dark brown fox runs across a busy road. Did I just see that? The miles are counting down, it stops raining but I leave my raincoat on. I look at the elevation profile on my watch and there are three super steep climbs left. Ugh.. One down, two down, three down. I look at my watch and I've got plenty of time. I'm running down a road and see a giant mouse sculpture in a field. I think, that's an interesting place for a mouse sculpture. It is not a mouse sculpture, but a tangled mess of bushes and fence. I make the turn off the road into the pasture for the final 2.5 miles. Two big climbs and it's over. All of a sudden I realize I have to navigate train tracks. Not ideal, but not the worst. A quick section next to Brandywine Creek that's pretty but I just want this to be over. I crest the final hill and I can see someone at the bottom. I reach the fence and tap it. Finished. Phil Perkins has been kind enough to come out and cheer me on for the final 100 yards. We chatted for a bit, I try to explain what I just experienced (he's one of the few who would actually get it) but I'm absolutely delicious from sleep deprivation and my short term memory is shot. I keep losing my train of thought. It's a very enjoyable conversation though. The only other FKT I've met someone at the finish was the Quehanna Trail, where my wife was waiting at the cabin, so this is a special treat. We hop into his truck and Phil drives me back to my in-laws house 10 minutes away. I thank him for his kindness, say goodbye. I wander into the house, say hi to my wife's parents (they're well aware of my FKT's but have never seen me in the throes of it), collapse on their living room floor and my 2 year old and 5 year old daughters crawl on top of me, smiling and shouting with delight. It felt really good to be home.