General points:
I stepped off from the Hoh River TH at 5:52AM Friday morning, summited the west peak around 2:40ish, and was back at the TH at 8:42pm that evening. I climbed the summit block via the 5.4 face and down climbed the same route instead of bringing a rope to save weight, which I think really helped speed things up. For water, I used the natural sources along the route, and brought all my own food. I'd estimate I ate about 1,500 calories in goos, gels, gummy worms, and tailwind. No one ran with me for any portion of the route. This route is my first FKT and overall I'm really happy with the result, but do wish I was a bit faster on the glacier, since those splits are what dragged my average pace down. This was my 3rd attempt to climb the peak. First time last year my IT band was having issues at mile 17, so I turned around. My second attempt my partner needed to turn around below snow dome since he got called into work. Both of these attempts helped my ability to cut time off of the FKT since I didn't need to route find on until I got up snow dome.
Weather:
Misty in the morning, great temps for running! It got warmer throughout the day once the low cloud layer burned off, but stayed cool enough that I never felt like I was overheating. To help stay regulated I frequently wet my buff/hat/sun hoodie in the streams, which felt amazing.
Route conditions:
A handful of large crevasse crossings with good snow bridges. Soft spring snow from Snow Dome to the summit, and blue ice on the lower Blue Glacier. Route finding was straightforward with a bootpack already set.
Equipment used:
Altra Olympus trail runners, La Sportiva TX4s with Black Diamond contact strap on crampons. I could have gotten away with microspikes, but I liked having actual crampons going up snow dome, and for more secure footing on the snow bridges. I brought a Petzl gully ice axe but didn't use it, and also brought an ultralight harness, prusik, and ATC in case someone was on the summit block and offered a rappel. I didn't use any of those items either. I brought Leki running poles and those were amazing to have on the downhill and flat sections. For extra layers, I brought an Arc'teryx atom hoodie, fleece gloves, Norrona paclite shells, and some very thin leggings. None of these items were used, but I don't think I'd feel comfortable traveling without them, since it is a rainforest, and a long route.
Other notes:
I didn't get a single blister with my sock system of Injinji synthetic liner socks with a compression sock over them. Incredible.
That's all, more to come. Cheers!
-Sam