Went into this unsure of what would happen and unsure if I’d go after it. We just had a baby boy (Canyon Rhodes) at the beginning of September, and I hadn’t been training properly. Was exhausted and sleep deprived. 2 weeks before heading to the AZT, I attempted a 70 mile day in Arkansas and stopped to sleep at mile 43 feeling defeated and completely unprepared. But you never know what’s possible until you try.
Started off with a warm up session. On 10/24 I attempted, but by mid-day on day 2 I was puking my guts out crossing the Grand Canyon and slowed to 2-hour miles climbing out. Felt pretty pathetic watching hikers in flip flops pass me while I was curled up in the fetal position in the middle of the trail. A family had to carry my bag for me to get out of the canyon by sunset. So I rested for 2 days and restarted. I believe this 100 mile warm up session gave me the hunger I needed to fuel properly on the successful attempt.
2nd attempt:
Day 1: 10/28
- Start at 1:58 am
- About 10 miles of snow on the Kaibab Plateau
- Utilized trail naps
- Within first 24 hours made it 73 miles
Day 2: 10/29
- Feeling good, strong
- 70 miles
Day 3: 10/30
- thinking the 70+ mile days might be a mistake. Was off my feet for 5 hours last night but my legs ached so bad I probably only got 3 hours of sleep.
- 23 degrees this morning, water bottles frozen solid
- First blister at mile 165
- Wasn’t planning on doing 70’s so my resupply plan got messed up. Realized I had to make it to the Conoco for resupply in Flagstaff before they closed tonight otherwise I’d be waiting for them to open in the morning. Ended up being 10 minutes late, but I bribed the clerk $20 to stay open till I got there.
- 67 miles
Day 4: 10/31
- ached and was hard to sleep last night, but seemed slightly better then the previous
- Chafing is out of control. Started hiking naked in the dark for more airflow to the nether regions.
- 70 miles
Day 5: 11/1
- chafing still out of control
- Ran into a couple hikers without my shorts on. Ooops.
- Water filter clogged to zero flow so I just stopped using it. (Yes I drank water that was 3 feet from cow patties.)
- Lost the trail in the dark in the burn section on Highline
- 65 miles
Day 6: 11/2
- Was incredibly achy last night, not even sure how much sleep I got
- Lost tooth brush (so I thought… keep reading to find out more.)
- Heavy sideways rain for hours, losing my way in the Mazatzals, lost my hat somewhere in this whole mess (my PCT hat… super sentimental to me) gave up for the day thinking if I went to sleep early and got up early it would even out. Everything got completely soaked when setting up my tarp in the wind. Slept in a cold wet quilt. Wind channeling up under my tarp. Horrible sleep.
- Only 55 miles before sleep but got up early to attempt making up the difference.
Day 7: 11/3
- crying because I lost the hat I wore on the PCT
- Rain for several more hours through the 4 peaks wilderness. Wet shorts do NOT help the chafing.
- Resupply at Roosevelt Lake Marina and ended the day at mile 460. (60 miles)
Day 8: 11/4
- Rained last night. Was only off feet for 3 hours.
- Superstitions were harder than I remembered
- Completely exhausted. Moving too slow to justify pushing late and decided to catch up on sleep. Stopped a little after 10pm
- 51 miles
Day 9: 11/5
- Moving by 2:45am.
- Made wrong turn. Nearly 1.5 miles wrong direction adding 3 miles total.
- Keep losing trail
- Making decent time once sun comes up
- Foot care break for 20 min mid-day
- Lost another 1.2 miles wrong turn
- Missed another turn = 0.8 more bonus miles
- Guess I’m still tired because I’ve added on 5 miles from missed turns today.
- Hiker hunger in full swing. Eating 600+ calories per hour.
- Stopped at 10:10pm mile 571
- 60 trail miles + 5 wasted wrong turn bonus miles
Day 10: 11/6
- Woke up to wet quilt again. Condensation killed it. Quilt is wet remainder of the trip.
- Opened / closed a gate for group of horseback riders taking their sweet time. Horses moving so slow. I’m thinking, “please don’t let anyone ask me to do something for them again while I’m out here.”
- Mt Lemmon slapped me sideways
- Fastest resupply yet, only 7 minutes inside the general store.
- So tired when I only had .8 miles left to go for the night I got turned around in a wash and went nearly a mile in the wrong direction. Added on nearly 2 miles.
- 5 degrees with windchill on top of Mt Lemmon. Made it down to 4300 feet before stopping for the night. Horrible sleep in my cold wet quilt.
- 55 trail miles + 2 bonus wrong direction miles
Day 11:
- Crossed Mica. Several miles of snow.
- Missed another turn and went 2 miles down the mountain in the wrong direction to equal another 4 bonus miles (this is now a total of 11 bonus “missed turn” miles — costly sleep deprivation mistakes.)
- 60 trail miles + 4 bonus miles = 64 mile day
Day 12:
- Below freezing in the night again. Horrible sleep in my wet quilt.
- tripping over everything
- Out of leuko tape. Out of rock tape. Out of ibuprofen. Running out of battery. Running out of steam. Sun is cooking me — since I lost my sun hat my nose and forehead are getting roasted.
- Pulled my trekking poles out of my quiver and out flung my toothbrush kit. I didn’t lose it after all!
- *Note that a section of this day was on new AZT trails that don’t show up on old maps yet. (Old route was ATV roads, new AZT here is an actual foot trail.) FarOut map is correct here, Garmin map is not. New AZT trail is clearly marked, has the AZT gates, metal signs, etc.
- 60 trail miles (with only 1 missed turn that I caught within 0.1 miles!!!)
Day 12.5:
- Cold wet and miserable night, but it’s the last night.
- Moving so slow but giving it all I have
- finished at 7:31 pm
12 days 17 hours 33 minutes
Selfie photos are start/finish time stamp photos. Time stamp on beginning photo 1:58am Arizona Time 10/28, ending photo 7:31pm Arizona Time 11/9.
*I estimate I was off my feet for 3-5 hours each night, but that doesn’t mean 3-5 hours of sleep.
Major thanks to Kat Sink for setting up a special ending at the monument / Mexican border (candle lights spelling out my name and AZT FKT) and taking care of me after finishing.