Day 1 began at Miller Creek Trailhead shortly after 6:30 AM. I hiked up the first few miles with my coach Joe, who stashed some water and nutrition for me at the start of the Rincon out and back. I had done a training camp where I scouted Rincon and Mica, so I knew what I was in for with these climbs. Deciding not to filter water, and knowing I wouldn't have my first crew stop for another 27 miles, I ended up carrying nearly 2 gallons up Mica which was way too much. I had an incredible first day and ran into sunset shortly after Douglas. A couple miles before the Tanque Verde parking lot, I had a standoff with a mountain lion who showed no signs of fear. Shaken by this, Joe and I decided the best decision was to head back to the airbnb and sleep for a few hours, rather than continuing into the night alone.
This proved to be a good decision, as day two started with an overgrown off trail summit up Agua Caliente Peak, which would have been difficult to navigate during the night. After summiting Agua Caliente with what felt like millions of cat's claw scratches to show for it, I was relieved to be back on maintained trails. I made it into Molino Basin, and was greeted by a mutual friend, who is also named Joe, who had an aid station set up for me with everything I could have needed. With a pep in my step, I headed off to summit Gibbons Mountain. Out of all of the off trail trail sections, this was probably my favorite. Getting back on the AZT, I grabbed some water and snacks that Joe had stashed for me at Gordon Hirabayashi.
As night fell on my second day, I headed to the start of the Airmen Peak section where I would pick up my pacer, Isaiah, who I had never met, but graciously offered to pace me that morning when he had heard that I was looking for someone. In my training camp, I had also scouted Airmen peak, and it was sketchy enough that I had planned my pace chart around doing that section during the day. Because of having to make a pivot on night one, it ended up pushing that summit back to around 8 PM. Looking back, I would not recommend doing this summit at night. This peak is the perfect mix of overgrown, steep, and loose to make for a real kicker around mile 65. After some difficulty navigating the best way down in the dark, we made it, and were on the way to Green Mountain for the final summit. I ended up finishing right before 5 AM. After finishing, I was rewarded with the most gorgeous sunrise on the way back down to the parking lot, where my friend Eric picked me up.
Overall, this route proved to be way more challenging than how it looks on paper, and ended up being the most epic adventure I could have asked for. I cannot get over all of the gorgeous views I got to see along the way. Shoutout to Brian for creating such an incredible route and being so willing to help me out with the logistics along the way.