Photos on Strava.
Wow, what an epic way to experience the mountain...taking the mountain on from town to town... A walk through history, up the old horse trail, in the steps of John Muir! You ascend through various ecosystems on awesome single track and old overgrown forest roads! This route is worth it at any pace!
Taking on 10.5k' of continuous vert over 11.1 miles up into 14,000' thin air had me worried about over-doing it on the lower ascent of the mountain. I was so stoked to add this mega-climb to the already epic West Coast list.
I have to give credit to Alli Miles, Matt Palilla, and Thomas Morgan for inspiration and drawing my attention to the restoration of this historic route with their unsupported ski ? trip on this (yes they carried skis from the bottom and back) in 13hr 16min https://www.strava.com/activities/3528575256/overview https://www.strava.com/activities/3528582440 https://www.strava.com/activities/3528477548 (cool peeps, give em kudos and a follow)
So in my usual style, I wanted to see how I could fair strictly "on foot"
I had a good go at the upper mountain about a week prior (not PR material but solid) so I knew that the mountain (and I) were in reasonable moving condition but I was nervous because of how brutal my attempt on "Shorty's Well to Telescope Peak" had been on me back in my fledgling FKT days...it chewed me up and spat me out with nothing more than a "finishers" memory and an EPIC FUCKING EXPERIENCE (lol, its a win in my book). In any case, I was hoping that my climbing fitness and sheer increased experience in loooong efforts/time at elevation would help...it did. More than I ever expected.
I started with my foot on the yellow crosswalk line at the end of A10 (intersection with Rockfellow dr.)
1 mile later I turned into the Gateway Trailhead and make my way onto the Sisson Historic Climbers Route!
I left Horse Camp right under the 2hr mark after refilling water/mixing Tailwind Nutrition.
Tagged the top of the summit in 4:38:00
Spent 4:01 on summit.
Ran back down in 1:45:23 (with a quick water refill at HC again)
Total: 6:27:25
Gear:
Wanted to go super light for this massive ascent so I went with
Ultimate Direction Adventure Vest 5.0 - loaded with one BD First Light wind layer, NW Alpine Gear vest, and an old pair of light gym shorts to glissade, and BD gloves on.
Wore the NW Alpine Rock Hoody and some NB running tights
My feet had the LaSportiva Blizzards (with built in microscopes so I could choose to leave the crampons behind, knowing the conditions ahead of time)
Consumed about 700 calories in Tailwind Nutrition (had 1000 along to mix) and another 300 calories in clif shot blocks for variety
Finished the effort with an Athletic Brewing Company "Cerveza Athletica" which was refreshing and tasty...then a protein shake or two before consuming Mexican food!