Start Time: 7/30/2023 at 3:15am MST
End Time: 8/31/2023 at 10:25am EST
Total Elapsed Time: 32 Days, 5 Hours, 10 Minutes
This was my first attempt at an FKT, and boy was it a doozy. In addition, it was also my first ever solo backpacking trip so I was really setting myself up for success (and I succeeded!). I want to give a quick shoutout to Jordan "Sherpa" Nesbitt for relentlessly supporting me for this month, he went above and beyond to make sure I was successful and there is 0% chance I would've completed this without him. He was there every step of the way, at every trail crossing, and I owe him a huge debt of gratitude.
In the course of pursuing this FKT, I tore my meniscus on day 2, was deplaned twice while trying to go from Colorado to California, met some amazing people (shoutout to Wahoo, Grit, Noodles, and so many people whose name I have forgotten), and generally had an absolute blast. It was firmly type two fun, maybe 2.5 in some spots, but I did it and here we are. Below I'm going to walk through each trail and provide the Strava links for each day:
Colorado Trail
The CT was easily my favorite trail of this trip. It was cruisy, beautiful, well maintained, and had the most frequent access to support! I was also training in Buena Vista and Leadville to prepare for this FKT, so it was kind of like home turf advantage. As I said above, I tore my meniscus on day 2 and had to limp 6.5 miles in ~8/10 pain to finish the day. But on the advice of two rather cavalier doctors, I kept going (one direct quote was "harden the fuck up, it's not like it can get worse"). I kept pushing, the knee slowly got better, and I capped it with a 50-miler into Denver, with that day definitely being the best of the whole trip. My original intention for the CT was a 9-10 day finish, but after taking zeroes and neroes to get through the knee, I came through in 14 days which I'm still happy about.
Day 1: https://www.strava.com/activities/9558722529
Day 2: https://www.strava.com/activities/9558741529
Day 3: https://www.strava.com/activities/9579081772
Day 4: https://www.strava.com/activities/9579494765
Day 5: https://www.strava.com/activities/9579170472
Day 6: Zero Day for recovery in Salida
Day 7: https://www.strava.com/activities/9590829858
Day 8: https://www.strava.com/activities/9597501908
Day 9: https://www.strava.com/activities/9603653856
Day 10: https://www.strava.com/activities/9610306061
Day 11: https://www.strava.com/activities/9622913888
Day 12: https://www.strava.com/activities/9626508099
Day 13: https://www.strava.com/activities/9636229352
Day 14: https://www.strava.com/activities/9636185208
John Muir Trail
I went into this FKT expecting the JMT to be my easiest effort, and boy was I super mistaken... With the conditions from the crazy winter making the trail pretty brutal in certain spots (avalanches, rock slides, high water, etc.) I definitely struggled. Day 1 was magnificent with Whitney and Forester, but everything after was super tough, and this was definitely the lowest I got in terms of morale.
Day 15: Flight day from Denver to Las Vegas (crazy delays, ended up having to take the next day too)
Day 16: Zero day in Vegas because of travel shenanigans
Day 17: https://www.strava.com/activities/9684737061
Day 18: https://www.strava.com/activities/9684778171 & https://www.strava.com/activities/9688784489 (Watch died)
Day 19: https://www.strava.com/activities/9684884336
Day 20: https://www.strava.com/activities/9684862523
Day 21: https://www.strava.com/activities/9688778263
Day 22: https://www.strava.com/activities/9688893797
Long Trail
The Long Trail was fantastic and awful at the same time. I knew I was almost done, and I knew that the LT was going to be stupendously difficult, but nothing could prepare me for the first ~120 miles of this trail SoBo to Camel's Hump. Holy crap, that is an insane trail. Whoever set this trail is a monster of the highest caliber and I love them.
Day 23: Travel day from Sacramento to Burlington
Day 24: https://www.strava.com/activities/9700822079
Day 25: https://www.strava.com/activities/9716762280
Day 26: https://www.strava.com/activities/9720233055
Day 27: https://www.strava.com/activities/9720246361
Day 28: https://www.strava.com/activities/9726268362
Day 29: https://www.strava.com/activities/9757515995
Day 30: https://www.strava.com/activities/9758287177
Day 31: https://www.strava.com/activities/9758309487
Day 32: https://www.strava.com/activities/9757651602
Day 33: https://www.strava.com/activities/9757667679