This unsupported effort would not have been possible without so many people. I’ll put my huge thank you list at the end because that feels more fitting.
Day 1: 46.7 miles 13,450 ft - Seward, Donaldson, Emmons, Seymour, Panther, Couch, Santanoni (7)
Andy J dropped me off at Corey’s Road at 8:20 am. Light drizzle was just stopping and it was cool outside. I set off knowing I had to keep it smooth and not overdo it.
Seward, Donaldson, and Emmons went smoothly but my legs didn’t feel awesome. No soreness but I felt off. I think it was just nerves.
I got ahead of my predicted time slightly in the Seward Range and then headed off for the Santas. Sunset was beautiful and I continued to move well. The final flat walk to Allen Junction was great and when I got there I had planned a short sleep.
I wasn’t sure if I’d sleep at all but I put out my stuff and laid down. It was about 2:30 when I finally fell asleep for maybe 30 minutes.
Day 2: 47.3 miles 18,000 ft - Allen, Marshall, Iroquois, Algonquin, Wright, Street, Nye, Phelps, Table Top, Colden (10)
Woke up quite startled because I thought I’d only slept for a minute but it had been 30 minutes or so. I wanted to sleep more so I told myself I’d try to sleep for a few more minutes. It didn’t work and I started moving.
Allen was steep and slow. I got back to my pack and clearly forgot how much uphill there is to get to the Flowed Lands. I was happy to get my pack off for Marshall and the big loop to end my day.
After Marshall out and back, I left my pack near the dam on Lake Colden and packed up my vest for the loop. The climb went well and as I was going over the range I started to feel the lack of sleep.
Down and past the LOJ I was feeling so demoralized. I felt like I was making no progress and there was no reason for me to be out there. I truly wanted to quit and I’d convinced myself that I didn’t care. With all that going on in my head my body still moved forward up Street and Nye. I tried to take a quick nap because I thought the sleep was making me cranky but I couldn’t sleep.
On the climb up Street and Nye, I called Lance P. and Maia B. The words I have to describe the pep talks I got from these two will fall short in describing how much I needed them in that moment.
Up until this point I felt like my commitment wasn’t fully there. After this moment, felt fully committed.
I ran back to and past the LOJ and when the sun went down I felt sleepy enough to take a dirt nap. Near Marcy Dam I slept for 20 minutes or so.
I climbed Phelps, Table Top, and Colden in the cool of the night. A slow descent made for a 24 hr push when all was said and done. I got to my gear around 3:15 am, rinsed my feet off in the river and slept my longest stretch for 3.5 hrs.
Day 3: 23 miles 11,900 ft - Redfield, Cliff, Gray, Skylight, Marcy, Haystack, Basin, Saddleback, Sawteeth, Gothics, Armstrong, UWJ (12)
Felt good to sleep. Woke up and started towards Cliff and Redfield. My body took some time to warm up and then I was moving well. Today was the most vert per mile and I had the pack on.
I tagged Grey and Skylight and then struggled to get water at the four corners before heading to a very busy Marcy.
The rest of the range went really well. Beautiful sunset on Gothics/Armstrong. Even the out and back to Sawteeth was nice because I got the pack off for a sec.
I decided not to tag LWJ and made it down the steep descent to Wedge Brook for a quick sleep before the big day the next day.
I wanted to sleep for 3-3.5 hrs and I tossed and turned for about 3 hrs. It was bad sleep but sleep nonetheless. My legs were starting to hurt.
Day 4: 42 miles 16,400 ft - Colvin, Blake, Nippletop, Dial, Dix, Hough, Macomb, South Dix, Grace (East Dix), Giant, Rock Peak Ridge (11)
Woke up before my alarm and realized I should just go. I rummaged around a bit and finally got myself organized enough to leave. I had just my vest on today which was great.
I left at 2:18 and made it across the AMR to Colvin and Blake. I warmed up pretty quickly and I was surprised by how well I could actually move still. Coming back from Colvin I made a still sleep deprived move and saw I was getting close to Elk Pass but the trail was indirect so I just whacked down. It wasn’t great, but I did it and decided to only stick to my actual plan after that. Nippletop and Dial were smooth.
The whack off Dial to the Dix trail was rough for me. I essentially never bushwhack and I felt like I was flailing around. It was like a magnet was drawing me towards every little spruce grove on the whole mountain. I eventually made it and was so grateful to be back on trail.
My climbing legs were strong the whole time. Dix range was smooth but I was starting to feel the fatigue. I also think a slip during the whack was inflaming a muscle insertion from my hamstring that was causing some growing sharp pain every time I lifted my leg to go uphill. I kept pushing hoping it would go away.
Going off Grace was mentally taxing. It’s a long way out and Giant/RPR were looming. I tried to just turn my brain off and move down the mountain. I wanted to run but I didn’t have the resolve for it and didn’t want to blow my legs up before the climb.
Rt 73 on a Sunday after beautiful weekend at 3:30 pm - need I say more? Just a constant stream of cars as I walked and ate and cried on the road. My feet were killing me and swelling up. I wanted to sleep and rest but I knew that was still many many hours away.
The Giant/RPR climbs were smooth. I think being on this trail I have done a million times helped me mentally. My leg pain was still present but I had gotten it to a steady state by just continuing to move. It didn’t bother me on the flats and not too much going down.
The evening was beautiful and now I felt like I could finally see a line to the finish. 6 peaks to go.
The final road walk to camp and climb back to my site were mentally grueling. I was in pain and very very sleepy. I had only taken 64 mg of caffeine that morning at this point in the effort.
On Giant/RPR I was contemplating not sleeping for one final push but the state I was in when I got to camp forced me to rest.
This poor person in a hammock at Wedge Brook that night. I rolled in at like 10:15 (being thrilled it took me under 20 hrs) and proceeded to get water and then try and get organized to sleep. There I was on the ground in this strange leaf pile off to the side of the camping area so I “wouldn’t disturb people”. I was taking trash out of my vest, crinkling my rain jacket, and making all sorts of noises. I finally got to sleep and proceeded to groan, cough, and roll around for barely an hour. It was terrible sleep and I owe huge apology to that poor camper who was trying to enjoy themselves camping because at midnight I started rummaging around again to pack up.
Day 4-5 Final Push: 36.5 miles 9,950 ft - LWJ, Big Slide, Porter, Cascade, Whiteface, Esther (6)
Woke up at midnight in a daze. I knew I had to get up and push. I would pay to have video of myself for the 30 minutes it took me to pack up. I was so delirious. I kept taking my gear and “organizing” it by moving it to a certain spot on the ground next to me only to stare at it for 10 seconds and think about how I would need to put it in my backpack but not yet. I repeated this process with essentially everything I had until all of my stuff was around me but nothing was actually in my pack. Finally, I found the solution and started actually putting items in my backpack. Putting my shoes on was huge and I took the last of the food out of my bear can for the day. I was pleased to see I still had enough of food - not a lot, but enough.
After the rummage of the century that served no purpose other than wasting time and confusing/disturbing the hammocker, I finally set off at 12:41 am. A quick 1400 ft in the first mile awaited me as I tagged LWJ.
I moved over to Big Slide and then down to the whack. The beginning of the whack is pretty open and I had scouted it so I felt alright. Still, I was ready for it to be over as soon as it started. The sun came up before I made my way around the bog and then I climbed to the old porter trail. My mindset was - “last climb until the last climb”. Back on trail again, I was pumped. I made it over to Cascade and down to the road.
My brain went into Appalachian Trail mode for those 10 miles on the road. Feet hurt, needed to eat, just keep walking and enjoy what I’m seeing around me. I rationed food so I could eat right before the whiteface climb.
I finally made it across the long haul of a road walk. I had only taken two 32 mg caffeinated gels until that morning when I ended up taking 600 mg throughout the day. My last 200 was on the Whiteface Landing trail where I started to feel so tired and had to fight off the urge to sit down and sleep continuously.
I was still moving very well. Not running but hiking fast. I started the climb strong with plenty of water because it was getting hot.
What a steep climb. I was sweating, taking salt, trying to get Maurten down, pushing uphill. My legs stayed strong throughout and my sharp pain from the day before was subsiding. I could finally see the finish. I was picturing my friends sitting there for me for days and now it was only hours away.
I kept it steady and smooth to the top where I must have been a sight to see. In my totally exhausted state I started sobbing. I sat for a minute at the top and then kept sobbing on the way down over the rocks. Then I got a bloody nose and had to shove gauze up there to stop it. I was fully going through it.
Just before Esther I convened with myself, I thought about how hard I’d pushed to get here and the thought of not making the most of the finish after pushing that hard would have felt like a total disservice to the previous days of suffering.
I started to run towards Esther. I dropped my pack and ran most of the out and back and when I got my pack on for the final stretch I started sprinting. My legs stuck with me as I ran over the rocks. I was groaning in pain, sweating, out of water, and couldn’t be talked into even looking at my only remaining food (1.5 clif bars) - I was leaving it all out there.
I ran towards the bottom only to be met with 0.2 miles of uphill that had me wheezing as I got to the road.
My friends and Mom were there. How incredible it was to have so many people
I care about there for me at the finish as I collapsed onto the ground.
Final thoughts: A tremendous amount of respect for anyone who hikes in the high peaks, hikes the 46, thru hikes the 46 - these trails and mountains are the hardest around. I was thinking a lot about the people who had come before me on this route and wondering how unique and vibrant their trips were. I love this place and I’m excited to have a new set of memories on all 46.
Thank you:
Lance P. from coaching me for the effort to helping me mentally prepare to answering my calls from the mountains and so much more. Thank you Lance for being an absolute rock star of a human being. I truly could not have done this without you.
Maia B., Carter C., Tara D., Andy J., Jonathan Z., and Mom. Thank you for coming out and being there for the finish. That vision of the ending road kept me going in so many hard moments. So grateful to have people like you all in my life. From chatting about the effort before to calling when I was out there - so much support.
Andrew, Kara, Mom and Dad - my family for unrelenting support. They have always made me believe that I can do the things I set out to accomplish.
Matt Moschella for so much support and advice as I was preparing for this effort. His experience helped me plan and prepare for this effort in a huge way.
Will P. and Tara D. for helping me plan for the unknown of my first multi day fkt attempt. So many unkowns and so grateful to have their experience to draw from.
Alyssa G. and Katie R. for helping me plan out key parts of the route.
Andy J. and Megan J. for being huge support dropping me off and helping me when I was on scouting trips.
Thank you to everyone who sent a motivational message while I was out there - it was such a boost to see.
Thank you to everyone in my Vermont community - you all are the best and I cannot be more grateful every day that I have you all in my life.