FKT: David Hedges - San Jacinto Peak (CA) - 2023-10-31

I started late, at 10:56, because I didn’t feel like waking up early and so that I could run in San Jacinto’s shadow on the descent. That plan worked out pretty well, but even though it was only 80-84degF in town, I was still sweating a ton in the 90 or so mins. I don't know if the standard pre-dawn strategy would be preferable.

I struggled on the uphill. I just had a hard time getting in the groove and rationalizing the effort. I tried to meter out my effort, but when I arrived at the summit, I felt like I could’ve pushed harder. I made sure to take the most correct trail I could in the first 3ish miles. I lost about a min backtracking to the correct route, 2min30 futzing around with gear, 1min filling out my permit at the ranger station and 5secs taking a selfie at the summit. A few secs were spent filling up my bottle at the creek and a the spigot x2. I Was 11min back from Brett Maune at the top. Frustrating. But the descent is my strong suit and I flew down, relatively speaking. The last hour or so, however, I was descending into delirium fighting the effects of dehydration which really caught up to me.

I thought 6hrs was in the cards, but not today. This climb is an incredible psychological challenge and, to do it unsupported, game of strategy knowing when and where to push, how much water to carry and draw, and so on. Huge respect for Brett. His record didn’t stand on this super classic trail for 9.5yrs for nothing. I may have to come back. Such an incredible trail and incredible climb.

PS, the wet winter and Hurricane Hillary did a number on the trail, according to the ranger. Over 11inch fell in 24hrs in Aug. So the scratchy brush and agave and such was unusually grown out…and prickly. The trail was also somewhat damaged and washed out and there was a decent amount of deadfall on the steep climb to Grubbs Notch. I really have no idea what the trail was like 10 yrs ago, but just for context.