Started just after sunrise at 5:49 AM carrying 10 GUs, 5 fig bars, a snickerdoodle cookie, all the necessary safety gear and three ~500 mL empty soft flasks (one with a Saloman XA Filter). I opted to start carrying no water because I knew the trail would follow Buffalo Horn Creek most of the way to Ramshorn Lake. Temps ranged from high 40's (Fahrenheit) at the start to probably low 70s towards the top of Hyalite Peak, and clear skies all day. Got incredibly lucky with a flash thunderstorm the day before clearing out most of the smoke, keeping the AQI under 60 for the whole run.
Stopped at Ramshorn Lake at ~6.75mi to fill up a second bottle for the 9 miles to Windy Pass (next reliable water source). One discrepancy between Garmire and I's runs is that I continued following the ridge/trail upwards around mile 12 to Eaglehead Mountain whereas Garmire dropped down onto the lower trail, presumably to get water from Big Creek. Although I believe both trails are technically part of the Gallatin Crest Trail, I did not need the water and to not continue along the "crest" for that section felt wrong. The upper trail does some switchbacks around a rocky section of the ridge and opens into a meadow where the trail is mostly overgrown by grasses and flowers and at points difficult to follow. Notably, the turn to descend from the mountain is difficult to find, and when I did, it opened into three parallel trails, each about 10 ft above the previous and myself on the top one. The bottom one appeared the most substantial and I began running down to it only to find myself unable to stop. Accidentally sprinted down a scree field and rolled my ankle a few times in the process. Pain subsided after about 5 minutes of walking. Filled up all three bottles at Windy Pass (mile 16) for the 11ish miles to the creek below Crater Lake. The three bottles got me through it, but oh do I wish I had brought an extra 0.25L. Day was getting warmer and ran out of water 2 miles before the creek. Discovered my sunscreen was missing (probably fell out while I was half-falling down Eaglehead) so I just wore my sun shirt for the whole run. Refilled 2 bottles at Crater Lake and dropped the filter flask's bite valve in the lake, which was crawling with bugs. Decided not to chance it and left it off the remainer of the run. Used just one of the flasks to drink with and filtered into it as needed. Missed the turn for the direct route up Hyalite Peak so upon reaching the trail I backtracked to the top before finishing. Easily my favorite trail ever.