Well, I knew there was going to be some logistical issues with this traverse and didn't have a buddy to do two cars with on this day so got inspiration from the presi picnic and stashed my bike. I drove up Friday and weather was clear just hot (high of 84 and 85% humidity). I woke up at camp and saw it was now 50% t-storms around 3pm. I was worried about this the entire time but pushed on, it also rained for days prior which made the trail much more gruesome with the bogs.
Anyways warmed up quick with that first climb pacing myself to get through the hike in a sub 12-hour effort. Got to the top then made my way down to the notch, which ended up being my fav part! There was snow in the crevasses still, making it feel ~20 degrees F cooler! ...Climbing out felt like you were going into a sauna. I took that climb steady then tried to pick up pace. My body was exhausted from the training I did prior, I held hope the western side was more runnable.
After goose eye everything was clicking, and I was picking pace up from a messily 2 mph. After the final peak I sent the last 5 miles. This left me sitting to gather everything and refuel at my bike for ~25 min. At this point the sky was dark and there were storms all around me. I initially was going to go on a gravel route north but with storms in play, I chose the route with civilization. I was so hungry, under fueled and found myself unable to push out of Z2. I could see lighting in storms far off but I luckily never got hit, I had mist instead which felt very good considering I was overheating all day. I brought a filter and went through about 10 L of water throughout this effort. Of that 4.5 L was premixed electrolytes and carbs.
The last climb of the route was just rude, back blew up ~15 miles in so it was a struggle.
The trails were the closest I have seen that mimic the adks, rugged, overgrown in parts, steep, slick, and bog/bug galore.
I hope people see this effort and challenge themselves to get it done faster.