(Photos by Peter Maksimow)
First of all, I'd like to address the La Plata closure. In mid-August a camper-started forest fire grew to just over a hundred acres on the N slopes of La Plata. The monsoons kicked in to mediate the spread of the flames, but the Forest Service closed access to that side of the mountain. With no alternative routes available that wouldn't violate the closure order, I reached out to several people and offices at the Forest Service to find out if there was any way I could pass through the closure for my FKT attempt. The lead ranger in Leadville, Pat Mercer, called me back in early September and informed me that there was a chance that I would be granted permission. He was extremely helpful and understanding, and I am beyond grateful to him because on Monday September 8th (6 days before I started) he gave me permission to pass through the closure. We chatted again on the phone on Thursday September 11th when he informed me that he was working to fully lift the La Plata trail closure for that weekend because the remaining smoldering was no longer threatening to spread thanks to the rainy weather of the past several weeks, and the snow that we were expected to receive for that weekend. So I went ahead and shared my InReach tracker link publicly. On Tuesday September 16th, one day after I passed through the closure during my FKT attempt, the Forest Service dramatically reduced the size of the La Plata Fire closure and reopened the N Trail which is the trail I took to descend the mountain.
My attempt began at 6:40am on Sunday September 14th. The alpine was coated in a fresh layer of snow that had fallen over the previous two days and the entire Sawatch Range was frosty and icy. Winds blew 30mph out of the West from when I kicked off at Blank's through to the early hours of Monday morning. With the burnt colors of autumn coloring the mountainsides and the white of the snow capping it all, the views were beyond stunning and it was a pleasure to move through them. But the wintry conditions made the effort extremely difficult--the cruxy descents and traverses were even tougher than usual, and many of the sections that would otherwise be easy to run were quite treacherous due to frozen scree and soil, and the icy trails. I got very cold on the first morning and then was shivering heading up both Columbia and Oxford on Sunday night because of the relentless winds out of the West and the frigid temps. I also made mistakes by under packing calories and layers. But I was 100% focused and determined during the effort and charged through, problem solving where needed and relying on my pacers and crew who were excellent, especially Morgan Elliot and Noah Williams. Morgan met me on the top of Mount Oxford in the middle of the night and ran with me to the base of Huron. Thanks to his incredible company and encouragement, as well as his extra food and clothing, I was able to turn things around and began regaining the time I had lost during the previous evening and during the first part of the night. Noah then met me at the bottom of the climb up Elbert and lead me through to the Fish Hatchery. It was extremely close and I struggled mightily on the final climb up Mount Massive, my body shutting down, but we raged the descent, making up 19 minutes on Francois D'Haene's splits and finishing strong. Morgan and Noah were entirely indispensable during this attempt, and I have a maximal amount of gratitude for them. I dug to the very bottom of the well for this effort and, nearly 48hrs after finishing here, I am well and thoroughly wrecked.
My equally indispensable crew consisted of Chris Murphy, Joe Lewis, Erin Ton, Matthew Van Cleave, Mitch Brockmann, and Peter Maksimow. Peter also took the amazing photos out on Mt Princeton, linked here. Thanks to Luke Webster, Sean Hayworth, and Ruthie Molitor for the photos and videos and for all the encouragement they provided out there. I'd also like to thank the Sincere Cycles Run Club crew in Santa Fe and my friends Craig Weinrib, Blaine Benitez, again Matt Van Cleave, Blake Bekken, Jack Kuenzle and Anna DeMonte, who played more of a role in the effort than any of them probably realize.
It felt like I was battling Goliath out there in more ways than one but I had an amazing amount of support from those mentioned here and from everyone cheering from afar.
Despite scouting for innovative lines in my training for this attempt, the only significant route changes I made versus 2023 were to send the Columbia-Harvard traverse and to skirt the bottom of La Plata along the Ellingwood Ridge approach and fording Lake Creek instead of running all the way around on CO 82.