Hannah and I started from the Spanish Creek trailhead at about 7:45am. We rigged up our skimo skis and boots and made solid progress running on the gradual singletrack. Once at foot of the Blaze, we kept running shoes on and scrambled up the rocky gully immediately lookers left of the snowfield. Had a nice snack at the top and enjoyed the view before skiing the 2000' back to the trail. Transitioning back to running shoes, we booked it back down the trail, back to the bridge just outside the parking lot in 4:51:01.
We did the smallest amount of research to understand if there was an existing 'FKT' for the Blaze. Our friend Nick T said that one time he had done it in '5ish hours', so since we went a bit under 5, figured I'd post it here as a baseline. Its a great multi-sport challenge, and I think that skiing the full length of the Blaze is required in order for it to qualify as an FKT. Figuring out how to rig the skis and do efficient transitions is the key!