I am posting to the FKT website because this route is adventurous, beautiful, and a little insane. It deserves wider recognition, and strong runners should come give it a shot.
I carpooled to the Vivian Creek trailhead with two friends, Jack Sayers and Shae Silverman. However, I ran the 9-peak traverse on my own unsupported, while Jack and Shae ran the same route together at a more leisurely pace.
The temperature at the start was 44F with gusty winds, so I ran in gloves and brought a light windbreaker. For nutrition and hydration, I took 3 Maurtens 320 drink mixes, 2 Spring energy gels, and 2 water bottles in my vest pocket. This was not enough.
For navigation, I downloaded Tara Miranda's GPX data from the FKT website, which was super helpful because this route is quite difficult to navigate.
The run started well. I took it easy, refilled my water bottles at the stream crossing at mile 5.5, and arrived at the top of San Gorgonio in 2hrs 22minutes (average 16:00/mi pace). I believed (wrongly) that all the hard work was finished.
Then, the route got weird. To hit Jepsen, Little Charlton and Charlton, the route followed an off-trail ridge line and nose-dived down a wild scree field to rejoin the main trail. After rejoining the trail at mile 12.4, I ran out of water and struggled for the rest of the run. I was walking all the uphills as the route took me over and around downed trees, through talus fields, and up to the summits of Shields Peak, Anderson Peak, San Bernardino East Peak, and San Bernardino Peak.
What about Alto Diablo, you ask? Alto Diablo is apparently 40yards off the trail, and it's so minor it doesn't show up on any Strava maps. I might have missed it, I'm not sure.
When I reached the stream at mile 20.0, I gulped down 1.5 water bottles without purifying, ate the two Spring energy gels in my pocket, and urged myself to come to life. It didn't work very well. I was feeling exhausted and only averaged 10:00/mi on the way down.
I believe the route can be done much faster, but the peak performance will require good nutrition, good hydration, and a lot of comfort running off-trail at 10,000' altitude. For reference, my friends and I find this route harder than the Pikes Peak marathon in Colorado, and it took us roughly 30% longer to complete.
Be wary: the route spits you out at the San Bernardino Peak trailhead, which is 10mi away from Vivian Creek by road. I hitched a ride from a fellow hiker for the first 6mi, but after he dropped me at the intersection no one wanted to pick up a solo male hitchiker so I walked 4mi to Vivian Creek up a steep hill. I would not recommend doing this: I would recommend setting up a car shuttle instead.