great course - many thanks to Kim Levinsky for adding this one recently. there is a lot of variety packed into the 27 miles - lots of technical summit and ridgeline travel, some steep ups and downs, a few miles that are flatter or gradual downhill where you can cruise. i haven't spent much time in the area and this was a great way to see all the highlights - including a few bridge crossings and a zoo!
ran unsupported, started with 2L of tailwind. didn't end up refiling along the way but there were plenty of spots to do it. weather was decent - low 40s to mid 50s with a bit of humidity. rocks were slick in some spots but leaves were not a big hindrance (way better than a few weeks ago).
note on gpx - i followed the original route submitted, which seems out of date in at least one spot. the AT has been rerouted to a shorter and much improved segment near the top of the bear mountain summit, coming from the south. i started going up that, then my gpx tracker said i was off course, so i went back down and followed the fire road to the old AT segment. that probably added about 10 minutes and i don't recommend that for future travelers - the trail was overgrown, it's a longer trip, and extra time on a fire road isn't as much fun either. i think Kim (who just ran this a week or two ago) took the new AT segment so that should be the standard. i also got lost in a few spots, it's very easy to get off onto the wrong trail, and this route connects a few trails with different blazes so you can't just follow one blaze all day.
Comments
"my gpx tracker said i was off course" what device did you use to track? also, is it the same device/app you used to read Kim's gpx file? I'm thinking about trying this course later this month but i'm not sure what to use for navigation. I have a garmin gps watch and an iphone with Avenza Maps. I also have a Wahoo Elemnt i can steal off my road bike that does decent gps mapping. any advice for navigation is appreciated. thx.
I wound up loading the GPX file into the Gaia GPS website and app on my phone and it looks good. Matches up with the marked trails pretty good so i think i'll use that.
Hi Justin -- man, you CRUSHED IT! Congrats!! I'm trying to figure out the GPX... did you use the one linked to this page? It should be the correct one. If not, I will get in touch with the awesome FKT people to make sure I gave them the right one. Congrats again!!