On 8/16, Josh, Zane, and Ben sent me off at 5:00 am sharp from Waterton Canyon. Ben and I walked the first section as the sun rose and quickly made our way to the Platte River. Filling up on food and water and a pit toilet stop, Zane and I switched off to hike the next section. Day 1 was hot and flew by for the most part until sometime before sunset, when it started pouring rain for an hour or so. I got super cold so, Ben hiked out from the next meeting point with more layers. I met Josh at mile 57, where we hiked a few miles with my sleep stuff to camp at mile 60. We got there right after 11:30 and were asleep by 11:55.. Day 2 started just after 4:30 (Josh was adamant that I get 4.5 hours of sleep) as we moseyed our way a few miles to a breakfast stop. I ate some potatoes and a smoothie and continued on with Zane. A few hours into the morning, we passed my coworker Miron racing the Colorado Trail Bike race. It was fun to see a familiar face out there. The afternoon flew by as Ben and I went over Kenosha Pass and enjoyed the nice views. Late at night, my stomach began to act up, and Ben and I were pretty confused with a new section of trail that opened going over Breckenridge. We were both pretty loopy, and I threw up at the top of the pass at 10:15. A little after 11:30, we made it to Josh and Zane with camp set up at 57 miles for the day.
On Day 3, Josh woke me up the next morning at 4:50, letting me sleep a bit longer since I was feeling sick. We hiked the first 18 miles together over Copper and met Zane and Ben at Camp Hale. My appetite was back, and I downed quesadillas and ham. A cloud cover for most of the day made the miles easy. I felt great until I got queasy at the Timberline trailhead. I met the crew and Bjorn, who hiked the next 15 miles with me, where I proceeded to throw up everything. I got to Half Moon Road at 10:45ish and couldn’t push any further, making only 53 miles for the day. Day 4 started at 3:30 to make the miles I missed the night before. Zane and I breezed through the morning around Mt. Elbert, following the flagging for the Leadville 100. I hiked the next section with Yiran, a friend of Josh’s and an awesome hiker/climber/mountain person. Having a new person to talk to was fun and the 30 miles flew by. My appetite was back, and we took advantage of that, and I ate a ton of food that day. Zane and I camped around 10:50 to get 55.5 for the day. The morning miles flew by again as I walked with Zane and then Yiran. Ben had set up the best aid station yet at Monarch Pass, where I ate peaches, watermelon, udon, and a ton more snacks. We had a goofy time hiking up and over the pass to meet Josh on a dirt road. Josh, Ben, and I all camped at Sergeant Mesa Trailhead around 11:30 to make 57 for the day.
Day 6 had a rough start when my headlamp died, and we didn’t have a backpack or a charger, so Ben and I shared a headlamp for the first few hours of the day. The day was long and hot, mostly on fire roads, which made for easy walking. Josh and I left the Eddiesville trailhead before dark and camped below San Luis Pass to make 56.5 for the day. Day 7 started out wet and rainy with an impending storm. We met Ben at Spring Creek Pass, where I took a 40-minute break (the longest one yet, I hadn’t done one above 15 minutes) while figuring out the food and gear logistics for the San Juans. Ben and I meandered up to the high point as the rain came and went. At 9:30, I was exhausted and couldn’t make it to Stony Pass (where Josh had the tent set up), so Ben and I huddled in an emergency Bivy and slept for 2.5 hours, then hiked the last 6 miles to Josh to get there at 2:20 am. Day 8 was cold and rainy as I walked the first 20 miles by myself (the first alone miles of the trail). The weather cleared up going down the Animas river, and I enjoyed the gorgeous views and the long downhill. I met the crew at Molas Pass, where Josh and I loaded up on food. The miles were easy that afternoon, and we crossed over a sheep herder going over a pass. Right before dark, Ben and I geared up with camping stuff and took off for Blackhawk Pass. Everything was going okay until Ben tripped and hurt his ankle. I was tired as well, so we set up camp with 41 miles to go. We slept through all of the alarms on the last day and didn’t start hiking until 5 the next morning . The morning was the hardest day I had on the trail, as it felt like my body did not want to move. I was taking a ton of dirt naps as Ben encouraged me to keep going. I had thrown up everything the night before and everything I ate for breakfast. We moved through the rain all morning until we met Zane with 20 miles to go. I started to get some energy back and was good until I threw up everything again at 3 pm. I took a quick dirt nap and rallied for the last uphill. A few hours later, I was in the home stretch, and Josh and Ben came up to meet me as the four of us walked the last mile to Durango. I touched the sign at 7:15 pm on 8/24, finishing the trail in 8 days, 14 hours, and 15 minutes.