This trail is literally in my backyard. I did the full traverse last year with Eileen and Will, but I was excited to add a solo effort to the race build for Grindstone. I went out on a perfect weather Monday. I parked at the rail trail in Enfield and then trotted through the cemetery to the official start. I carried my salomon pack, 2 water flasks, and several sleeves of shot blocks! I lapped my watch at the official start and finish of the traverse, so the official time has the first and last lap subtracted from the total time (approximately 0.6 miles each).
I planned to keep the pace relatively relaxed going northbound to the turn around and then see how I felt at the turnaround to decide if I'd go for it. I felt surprisingly good! I filled my water flasks in the brook near Goose Pond after turning around. I then decided to call it "party pace." Running fast is fun but keep it party fun! I got to the top of the final descent to the finish and thought I might have a chance of squeaking under 4 hours, so told myself to let it go as I'm usually pretty timid and slow on descents. And IMMEDIATELY tripped and fell nailing my knee on a rock. I laid on the ground for a minute catching my breath, got up, assessed the knee, and then resumed trotting down the hill and then back to my usual slow, cautious descending pace. Woohoo!
I only saw a few hikers on the AT section. No other trail users on the section south of the AT. Looking for more ridge running this fall!