Caught a great, dry weather window to give this a go in the waning daylight of Alaskan summer. Chose to do the route N to S, starting at McGinnis and ending at Jumbo.
Loaded up my bike with roughly 8L of water (2 bladders in a frame pack, 2L in bottle cages) to start the day, and I began McGinnis with another ~1L in my trail vest. Didn’t want fuel or hydration to be my limiting factor so I packed a ton of food (a pizza, fruit leather, granola, etc). By the end of the day I drank it all, and filtered a few liters as well. Despite it being dry the usual waterfalls and alpine pools made for reliable water.
The first 3 peaks felt great. McGinnis was smooth sailing, Thunder was less of a swamp than normal, Juneau was hot but I felt speedy on the descent. This is only my second true ultra effort and I’m still learning how to fuel. I spent a lot of Thunder keeping my heart rate just below what would make me throw up due to all the food I ate. After Juneau I thought I was overdoing it with fueling, then paid for it immensely on Roberts. Luckily my body rebounded after more pizza and electrolytes and I was able to finish in a somewhat enjoyable fashion.
Completing this meant a lot to me. More on that on Strava if you’re interested. I told myself no “what ifs” in my head throughout the day and I’m really happy with how I was able to dig deep. Although this was entirely a solo effort there were so many people getting out and enjoying a day in the mountains. I never truly felt alone until I got to Jumbo at sunset and it felt fitting to start and end this journey in the dark. Incredibly happy I gave this a go and I encourage others to send it!!
**A brief trail note: the Bradley (Jumbo) trailhead has been rerouted from 5th St to the new location off the Treadwell trail. The reroute may add some small amount of distance but it is entirely irrelevant in the scope of this route (and there’s good spots to hide a bike!).