Well now I know why I'll be the first unsupported male on this one. I'd call this one more of a "spirited hike" than a trail run. Lots of techy un-runnable sections. Even on the downs, which I count on to make up time for my slow climbing, had a lot of un-runnable sections. Mostly these sections are just super rocky (rock piles, scree field, boulders, etc) but the other problem is that the trail is REALLY overgrown in sections AND there are lots of trees down. It's actually embarrassing the condition the trail is in (thanks budget cuts!). Then there's the problem with the last part of this route. It is so overgrown, I went off route several times, really frustrating.....but then it takes you into this col and under the cliff bands of Emigrant Peak, really steep, kinda dangerous in sections, and there was a snowfield that I tried to go around (but nearly slipped, which if I hadn't caught myself I would've REALLY F'd myself up.... or died). I ended up just saying SCREW IT and traversed back and above the snowfield to try to go below it but then decided to just get down on all fours and kick in steps to make my way.......very slowly........across the snowfield. Had I fallen on that snowfield...........it would've been 40mph into the rocks. VERY sketchy. Anyway, this went WAY slower than I had planned on. There should probably be an FKT route that exits out and down to Olympic Valley via the Granite Chief trail, much safer and probably makes more sense than this version. One and done for me on this one. All that said, it was peak wildflower and I saw some amazing views from this iconic line.
*720 calories, 180gr of carbs and 1500mg salt (and some potassium) from homemade nectar
*1.5 ml of water (carried my own, there was water in some creeks still but not guaranteed later in the summer)
*1 fall into granite sand, thankfully, because there were rocks EVERYWHERE