Inspired by Jason Halladay and his 2 FKT reports for this New Mexico route, I have been eyeing the Skyline Trail #251 Women's FKT for the entire summer. Having done the northern half of the course in a day with friends, I yearned to do the entire route by myself.
Life (and arranging a shuttle to the very remote start) got in the way until this past week. My husband had time to shuttle me and a weather window opened, so I grabbed the opportunity to beat the impending fall/winter snow.
Though I did avoid precipitation, high winds and cold temps were my constant companion. This definitely slowed my pace as I was in a constant state of layering and delayering to balance overheating verses cold as I climbed up, across, and down exposed ridges. I also spent 12 hours in darkness. This made navigation quite challenging, and additionally many of the sections that I traveled in the night hours had intermittent snow cover.
I was self-supported and entirely alone; I only saw one other hiker the entire route. I carried food for the entire course and water for the first 50 miles and then used a Katadyn Be Free to drink from streams and lakes thereafter.
With Jason Halladay as my inspiration, I hope to do this route again next summer with the benefit of experience, warmer weather, more daylight and increased time running. I also hope to spend less time in mittens so I can take more pictures ;)