My friend dropped me off at the durango trailhead - I started 8/28/24 at 6:56 am. I hiked to Deer Creek at mile 30.1 to camp. On day 2 I was hiking a couple miles at night. When was .1 from my intended campsite when I saw a mountain lion next to trail. I gave it a wide berth and hiked another mile to camp - luckily it did not follow. My shoes were digging into my outer ankle so by day 3 I hiked to molas campground for my resupply box then hitched into Silverton to buy new shoes. In total, I resupplied in Silverton, Lake City, Salida, Twin Lakes, Leadville and Frisco.
I had a couple bad weather days, one before and after resupplying in Lake City. It hailed on me both days (9/1 and 9/2) including over San Luis saddle. I woke up with frost on my tent in the San Juans twice. I had a temperature gauge with me that reached 35 degrees inside my tent.
I didn't see any nobos until the afternoon on 9/3 when I met Fuzzy and we hiked the rest of the day together. On 9/4 I met Blaze and Sparky as they got back on trail from Gunnison and we hiked together until a bit after Monarch Pass on 9/6. Fuzzy continued to hike with me from Monarch Pass to just before Kenosha Pass the morning of 9/12.
A group of friends met me at the finish on 9/14 in Waterton Canyon where I finished at 4:24 pm.