After Fat Dog was cancelled because of fires, I found myself wanting to “race” something solo and give myself a fun challenge. Augerpoint seemed like a good one: I knew the route, and my parents live near Buttle Lake, so it was also a pretty fun way to “get home” for a weekend visit.
I started at Raven Lodge at 5:38 a.m. in the dark and felt weirdly thrilled to set out running alone with my headlamp. I had been watching the weather forecast, and it looked like the morning would be clear, but clouds were supposed to move in around 11:30 with potential thunderstorms, so I figured I should start early. In my head, I had somewhat of a goal to finish around 11:30, but I didn’t want to get too focused on a time. A lot can happen on a day in the mountains, and as a solo runner I needed to be a little cautious, stay focused, and make smart choices.
On the drive up in the dark, I had been laughing about how you can think you’re going fast at night and then realize you’re actually driving at a bit of a crawl, so when I go to the trailhead I put my headlamp on full blast and found a good trot.
By the time I got to Helen Mackenzie, there were some signs of dawn, which was nice because that is where it starts getting extra rooty. Around Hairtrigger Lake, I had a moment to appreciate the sunrise. I made it to Circlet in an hour and 14 minutes, got out my poles, and began the climb, settling into a good hiking rhythm.
Before getting onto the ridge, I stopped at one of the little ponds to filter some water for my electrolytes and give my already-sweaty face a good little bath. A nice five-minute reset.
As I climbed toward the ridge, I ran into four people with big backpacks ascending Albert Edward. We chatted briefly, and then I continued in good spirits. I jogged along the ridge where I could, transitioning to power hiking when it was inefficient to run.
I made it to the peak in 2 hours and 38 minutes and immediately saw a helicopter coming from the Buttle Lake side. I had a moment of wondering about fires, as I could smell smoke at this point. With a blip of service on the peak, I sent my partner a text to let him know that I was up there and beginning the descent into the valley before Ruth Masters. He had been following my InReach track and sent a quick, “Wahoo! Making good time.”
I began the trot down and was feeling pretty thirsty, so I kept my eye out for a tarn I knew was partway down the ridge. Another five-minute filter/electrolyte stop, and then I kept descending, slowing down a bit to make sure I stayed on the correct route. There are lots of spots here where it’s easy to get pulled off the ridge too early.
As I got down to the low point before ascending to Ruth Masters, I smelled bear. A couple of years ago, I had been hiking the APT with a group of kids and we saw a bear in this valley not long after leaving it, so my spidey senses were up. I did some loud singing as I got out my poles and began the hike up to Ruth Masters. A couple of weeks earlier, a friend and I had run the Hinde and seen three sets of animal eyes in the dark, so I felt well prepared with some very solid tunes for future animal encounters.
I arrived at Ruth Masters Lake and had a good 15-minute stop to swim, enjoy the scenery, and refill my bottles before continuing on. Across the lake, I could see a tent and some folks rousing and starting their breakfast.
I made good time around the boulders beside the lake and then began my ascent, slowing down again to make sure I was on route and wasn’t getting pulled too far off into the scrambley scree, which can be easy to do when you’re trying to move fast.
Four hours and 20 minutes in, I was up on the high point of the ridge above Ruth Masters and feeling pretty stoked to be done the majority of my climbing for the day. From there it was mostly rolling ridge, followed by the long, steep descent to Buttle.
I figured that with my current water supply, I could likely make it to the little tarn before the descent. I alternated between running and hiking depending on how technical or steep the terrain was, mostly just focusing on moving efficiently. It was all pretty smooth!
When I arrived at the final tarns before the steep descent, I had another five-minute stop to refill my bottles. At this point, I was 5 hours and 15 minutes in and had no idea how long the descent would take.
Weirdly, I had the number 5:55 in my head as a finish estimate, but once again reminded myself not to get too hung up on numbers and just focus on what I was doing.
As I began to see the road, it was looking more and more like 5:55 was actually going to be the number. It was funny. Part of me really wanted the satisfaction of that numerical symmetry, but I figured that wasn’t a good excuse to hold back, so I gave a final little push at the end and finished in 5:54:22.
Annnnndddd… no one was there when I arrived.
11:33 a.m.
I had slightly low-balled my partner and told him to pick me up at noon so he wouldn’t have to wait around. It had been a hot morning, but almost as soon as I finished, the clouds rolled in and I felt a few raindrops.
I regretted slightly that I had primarily carried candy as a fuel source and found myself craving some chips while I waited, stretched, and sent an InReach message to check in. It was a very Finding Nemo fish-in-bags-in-the-ocean “now what?” moment.
But when my partner finally rolled up with the car, chips, treats, and drinks, it was extraaaa exciting (it's all about the contrassst!!!).
It was pretty satisfying to realize I had taken well over an hour off my previous time on the traverse--and even better that the day itself had felt so smooth. I got to race a little, swim in Ruth Masters, sing loudly at potential bears, watch the sunrise, and make it to Buttle before the weather rolled in.
All in all, a good, fun, smooth day in the mountains!