“It wasn’t pretty, but I got it done”
Got Women on the board for the Unsupported White Mountain 100, about 100 miles of the Appalachian Trail that runs through the Whites and I logged 35,000 feet of elevation gain.
Very far off from my goal time of 40 hours, and didn’t meet my “B” goal of sub 48 hours. Rounded up with 53 hours, 10 minutes. Pending verification from @fastestknowntime this will be my longest successful FKT.
I really underestimated how gnarly some of the terrain was in some of the more secluded sections. The Kinsman Ridge Section descending the back side of South Kinsman stole my soul and can go **** itself 💀.
I had a mix of conditions which included rain,wind, and unforgiving fog from Mount Madison to the base Mount Monroe until the sun came up on my first night of darkness. I could barely see my own 2 feet and felt like I was playing hide and go seek with the cairns.
There was no big announcement for this attempt, no big hype leading up to it, I wasn’t even certain the night before if I was going to go for it the next day. But I got up at 5 am Friday, got my children situated, car spot done and started at 11:30 that morning. I only shared my tracker with 2 people and my phone was for playlists not communication. This attempt was about becoming my own cheerleader again and not relying on others’ hype.
I think an ideal start time would be in the very early dark hours of the AM, and time coming down Wildcat Ridge in the daylight ideally.
Mentally and physically I was in good spirits the majority of the time. Kinsman ridge trail was the only spot that saw tears of frustration. The motto of this trip was one foot in front of the other no matter what I was facing. One of my “go to” reminders when things felt tough was that if Lydia could do these Mountains at 3/4 years old I certainly can.
FUN FACT: I also realized I hadn’t hiked in the Whites since her 48 finish in June 2024 !!! I guess I made up for lost time 😉
Generally I am great at overcoming sleep deprivation and actually struggle more with forcing myself to sleep on multi day attempts but for this one there was no sleep scheduled in my plan for this.
When I hit the second night of darkness crossing over the Franconia Ridge if I stopped moving for even a second I would start to doze off. I had 3 “accidental” dirt naps that probably totaled around 1.5 hours.
1. Went to change my headlamp batteries, passed out.
2. Got my jacket out of my backpack , passed out AND woke up freaking out as it was on Liberty Spring Trail where the infamous “Poo Bear” is residing and had been spotted a half an hour at the campsite prior to me going through 🐻
3. Filled my water bottles, passed out. This one was for about 45 minutes so I felt more rejuvenated.
Ultimately I was awake from 5 am Friday when I woke up until around 9:30 pm Sunday when I finally got to bed.
Not to be TMI but I chalked up my odd inability to overcome this extreme tiredness to the fact my menstrual cycle OF COURSE had just returned 2 days prior to my attempt for the first time in 20 months thanks to pregnancy and breastfeeding. My hormones are definitely all over the place right now 🦄
I felt a lot of frustration when my goals for this drifted further and further out of reach but @bitches_on_ridges kept it real and I felt a huge sensation of accountability to finish this thing no matter what. Excuses are like…🕳️
I never once took my socks or shoes off in my 53 hours of being out there and based on how destroyed my shoes were I was absolutely terrified to look- but they weren’t that bad! I double layered with @injinji toe socks and @sealskinz waterproof knee high compression socks. It was a great outcome!
I came out of this my own cheerleader again. No major injuries, and overall feeling pretty good. Now time for some self care and rest.
It was beautiful, AND I got it done.
Let the games begin! Can’t wait to see someone close the gap from my time to the supported times !