On Saturday October 10, 2026 I set out to revisit and beat my previous time on the Kinsman Ridge Trail Traverse Yoyo. My first effort and the only known time on this route was done on August 17, 2024 in a time of 13hr46min. Since then I have become a much stronger runner, though I have not spent much time in the mountains in 2026. I knew my first time was very soft and I had patiently waited for someone to go after it for over 2 years. Nobody did.
In 2024 I had started northbound, but this time I decided to start southbound. In hindsight, I think starting the yoyo with a northbound traverse is the better option. A southbound traverse seems to be easier, and better left for the second half of the yoyo. Northbound has a lot more punchier climbs, and hitting those on the second half of the yoyo was not ideal.
I carried 2 liters of water in a bladder (which slowly leaked on me the whole time) 500 ml of water with electrolytes in a soft flask, and another soft flask with about 300 ml of maple syrup. I had 5 Lara Bars, 4 peanut butter packets, 2 caffeinated gels, an electrolyte packet, a bag full of dried mango, and a bag full of honey maple candies that my friend made. Although I focused on eating often during this effort, I still think under-fueling was my biggest downfall.
I started at 5:37 am in darkness, holding a corned beef sandwich, which I slowly, painstakingly ate on the climb up to Cannon. I felt great during the first traverse, and was well ahead of my projected splits by the time I got through the Cannonballs, up and over the Kinsmans, and down to Eliza Brook. As I traversed the Mt Wolf section, it was looking like I could get the first half of the yoyo done in 5 hours. I hurried down toward the southern terminus, absolutely cooking my legs, and got to the road in 4hr59min.
Immediately turning around, the climb back up was a slog, but I picked up some momentum when it began to level out. As I approached Mt Wolf again, I wasn't feeling great anymore. I was getting a little lightheaded on the crimbs, and I sat down on the summit of Wolf for a moment, downing more water and food, telling myself that I would feel better once I get to Eliza Brook and replenish my water supply. I still had a very long way to go.
I ate my 2 caffeinated gels before the dreaded climb up South Kinsman, and that helped a lot. I handled the climb very well, slow and steady, and passed over the Kinsmans still within my projected splits. The second part of these yoyos always takes me a bit longer, so I figured if I could do the first half in 5 hours, I could do the second half in 6 hours.
Everything fell apart on the Cannonballs. I was back to feeling lightheaded on the climbs, and my left achilles was bothering me, slowing down the descents. It was a huge low point, but I felt okay as I began the final big ascent up to Cannon. I summited Cannon for the second time at 10 hr 30 mins. A little behind where I wanted to be. I knew I was capable of descending in under 30 minutes, but I felt awful, my legs were hurting, and so I took it slow to try to minimize the damage. My second traverse took me 6 hr 17 min. I arrived back where I started with a total elapsed time of 11 hr 17 min.
Although I took over 2 hours off my original time, I wish I could say I'm satisfied with this effort. It was done completely on a whim, I was not trained enough, and I did not fuel enough. As I write this 2 days later, I'm still feeling wrecked. The only person to ever do this has now done it twice.