Meg: In training for an upcoming mountain race, my coach suggested I run the Evolution loop. I asked my friend Marie to join me and her eyes lit up at the words FKT. My coach instructed us to go sub 16 hours, and thus our FKT attempt began. I initially thought to go South to North based on someone's arbitrary opinion, but ultimately we decided to go North to South in the spirit of those who had done the FKT before us. We camped at Forks campground and placed a car at the South Lake parking lot the night before. On Sunday August 10th we left North Lake at 4:17 am. The plan was Operation Slinky throughout the entire run to be as efficient as possible. If Marie stopped to fill up water, I filled up water or kept going, and she quickly caught up.
We both carried two 500-ml soft flasks in each of our packs, one with the Katadyn Be Free water filter top for easy filtering on the go. Marie led on the ascents, and I led on the descents. The pace felt super comfortable and we did a good job managing food, water, and heat. We passed by a number of backpackers who seemed to know what we were doing and cheered us on. Marie kept track of time and for the first half, we thought we had a 15:30 finish in the bag. That changed when we got to Bishop Pass in the heat of the day (around 4 pm).
Approaching the top of the pass, I knew we were going to be cutting it close just by looking at the light. I didn't want to look at my watch, so I just kept moving forward. I saw Marie get to the top of the pass and keep going, which was smart because I would catch up with her on the descent. My downhill legs were becoming rusty at this point, but the darkening sky taunted as we made the final push to South Lake. We arrived at South Lake right at sunset - 15:53:42, ~55miles and 10K elevation
Total calories consumed: approximately 3600.
Marie: I blame this attempt on "new friend syndrome" - I was still a little tired from the Hood adventure last week but when Meg shared the plan I couldn't resist! She is a new badass friend and I had to see if I could hang on for the ride. As stated above, we were really crushing it on calories and general effort until Bishop Pass. I blame chasing Meg down from Muir for my caloric deficit, I just can't do calories and chasing at the same time very well. Either way, we both felt the death march up the last pass and were happy to chase the sun down to South Lake! Epic views and such great positive energy from complete strangers on this trail, if you consider this support we may need to change the category :) Happy to see a temporary bridge at South Fork, I was ready to ford the river but appreciated the new bridge!
Total calories: 3500
https://www.strava.com/activities/12121120852
https://www.strava.com/activities/12120875423
Comments
Congratulations!! Meg: I as one of those backpackers who "cheered us on"; we high fived as you and Marie were wading Evolution Creek. For the rest of the day I chanted the manta "Meg & Marie, FKT!", hoping to send you a little extra mojo.
Mountain Goat