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Superior Hiking Trail FKT - Part 2 - Nuts & Bolts

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Superior Hiking Trail FKT - Part 2 - Nuts & Bolts

In Part 1, I shared my experience on the trail and in this blog, I dive into the gear and logistics of the Superior Hiking Trail (SHT) Fastest Known Time (FKT) attempt.


180 degree turn

After spending months preparing to take on the Superior Hiking Trail (SHT), everything took a 180 degree turn in the three days before the attempt.  As I began packing, I realized the logistical complexity of a self-supported attempt.  The time to pack five supply boxes (containing mostly things I hoped I’d never use), deliver them, and then pick them up (in a disgusting state after sitting for up to a week) was not appealing.  Plus, with the SHT not allowing caches on the trail or at trailheads for a variety of good reasons, I struggled to find a legal cache location in Duluth.  Since I would be going through Duluth on Sunday and Monday of Labor Day weekend, even the post office (at three miles offtrail) was no longer an option. 

I had planned on a self-supported attempt since this was first FKT attempt and first thru-hike, so I wanted the safety net of being able to have assistance if I hadn’t prepared adequately.  There wasn’t an established women’s self-supported FKT time, so I figured it would provide a higher likelihood of success.  Additionally, I had never run with more than about a 16 pound pack.  As I began packing my gear, I realized that other than my power bank, my gear wasn’t excessively heavy.  The final kicker was my ride to the Northern Terminus fell through, making it even more difficult to drop supply boxes. 

My pack loaded after just a couple of hours on the trail.

As I reevaluated my situation, I needed to determine if I could physically carry all my gear.  My 20L Ultimate Direction FastpackHer couldn’t even hold 2/3 of my food, much less all my other gear.  Then my husband suggested that I zip tie my seven freeze dried meals to the exterior of the pack.  Now everything fell into place, with handy loops to zip tie the sturdy aluminum packaging which would hold up to the miles of bouncing. All I needed to do was drill holes in the packaging!  I stuffed the pack to the gills, utilizing a spare water bottle that I wouldn’t need until water became scarcer on the trail about halfway through to store protein powder.  My husband pointed out an extra strap I could use to secure my dry bag to the top exterior of my pack rather than try to squeeze into my pack. (It wasn’t until five days in that I finally fit everything in my pack!)

As I looked at the weather forecast, I cringed at Monday’s predicted high in Duluth, a record-breaking 93F.  On the other hand, temperatures were expected to be about 15F cooler on the northern sections of the trail. With no ride to the Northern Terminus, no need to drop off supply boxes, and no need to utilize any amenities in Duluth, it seemed obvious to switch directions and begin at the Southern Terminus.  I reviewed my decision matrix used to determine SOBO and determined none of those factors carried any more weight, so I switched directions the day before leaving for the FKT attempt!

Unlike my prior race, the Barkley Marathons, where the race director intentionally leaves uncertainty for the racers (unknown start time, unknown course, scouting off trail prohibited), the FKT allowed me to control nearly every variable.  I picked the optimal time of year, early September when trails should be dry and bugs minimal.  I picked my start time, first light. I picked my direction.  I had scouted over half the trail during four scouting trips over the prior four months. Everything was optimized.

Food

My only gear regret was not packing a metal spoon. This old Dairy Queen Blizzard spoon disintegrated.

I had started with a pack of about 23 pounds, plus the weight of my pockets that bogged my pants down.  By the end, my pockets were basically empty and my pack remained 8.3 pounds, including 1.4 pounds of food. Whenever I assessed my food situation, I knew I had plenty of food. I had packed 34,000 calories and selected foods with higher calorie densities including a bottle of olive oil and the highest calorie dense freeze dried meals at REI.

I was expecting to get sick of eating constantly as I often do in 100 milers; however, my variety of food never made eating unappealing.  I was able to continue eating constantly without dreading it. Freeze dried meals and nuts not only provided non-sugary food options, but also non-junk foods.

I was frustrated that all but one ziploc on the freeze dried meals were defective. I opted not to bring a separate container, so my plan to cold soak as I ran down the trail was no longer was a viable option.  I ended up eating some cold soaks that were rather crunchy. At least the Ramen noodle cold soaks could be eaten instantly. 

Hydration

As heat became a factor, I’d filter water while I submerged my core in any water I could find.

Water was the only thing I didn’t need to carry for the duration of the FKT. I tried to only refill my water at flowing water sources, although I carried questionable water twice as a backup in my flask since it had been a dry summer resulting in several dried up creeks, but didn’t end up drinking it.

Admittedly, I used a water filter more this week than cumulatively in my life.  In the early going, I hoped I wouldn’t scoop up a minnow and carry the excess weight!  My Katadyn Be Free filter did the job well.  Only once, my water tasted off. During the heat of the day I was audibly saying, “It tastes so good,” between gulps of water.

Never once did I have any muscle soreness in my legs or arms (from using my trekking poles).  I attribute that largely to consuming lots of protein, including isolate protein powder.  Initially I mostly used protein powder as my liquid calories, but as it heated up, I also used caffeinated Tailwind. With my hands occupied with trekking poles, I find it convenient to drink calories.

Dental care

Brushing on the trail.

I noticed on day two my tongue was starting to get sensitive, so I made a point to brush my teeth more than twice a day.  On day two, I brushed my teeth five times and the remainder of the days three or four times, which held mouth sores at bay.  This required me to change my fueling strategy.  Rather than constantly eating about 250 calories per hour, I’d eat some larger portions, usually Ramen or dehydrated meals, rinse my mouth several times with water, and brush my teeth, gums, and tongue thoroughly.  I’d wait at least an hour before eating or drinking any calories again so my mouth could stay clean a bit longer. 

I also brought mouthwash that I used primarily for sanitizing my water bottle, but then used for rinsing my mouth. A few times in my sleep-deprived state I used the mouthwash rather than brushing my teeth before falling asleep.

Gear

The FKT attempt was a good excuse to use gear that I had purchased specifically for Barkley, namely my pack, trekking poles, headlamp, water filter, and rain jacket. You can read my Barkley preparation blog post for more info on these items. 

When I unpacked all my sleep gear my second night, it was a bit unsettling to see how little I had:  a garbage bag as my ground cover, a borrowed bivy, a beanie, my waterproof jacket, and the small pad from my pack.  Had it rained, I would have been forced to continue moving since I didn’t have a tent.  Based on the weather forecast, my risk was low so I opted to take the risk to save weight.

I was thankful with all my stops and times my pack was puked out in the grass that the only thing I lost over the journey was my bug net on night five.  I was expecting at some point to be covered in poison ivy rash from a stop or dirt nap, but I was lucky. 

Due to the weight of my pack (several pounds heavier than I had ever loaded it previously), my pack began chafing just a few miles into the attempt. Since I had only brought enough lubricant for my feet, I just had to disassociate from the pain of the chafing and hope my pack would lighten up soon. Since the pack chafed more when I ran, I ended up hiking more than I had planned, particularly over the first night.

Trekking poles

Trekking poles were essential. Twelve months earlier I didn’t want anything to do with trekking poles, but I’m a convert.  Not only did trekking poles save me from countless falls on jagged rocks, but it saved my weak ankles.  I rolled my bad ankle at least a half dozen times, but every time I was able to walk it off.  These were the only times I fell.  Additionally, poles saved my quads.  On day one I noticed slight quad soreness from descending with my heavy pack; however, it dissipated by the second day.  There were few downhills I could run with full stride, so I constantly used my poles to distribute the force and help me brake on the downhills. Just twelve months ago, I didn’t want anything to do with trekking poles, and now I couldn’t have done the SHT without them.  The only time I folded them were a few times when I was eating cold soaks, totaling an hour or two the entire journey.

Clothes

Laundry was simple when I got home, just my shirt, pants, undies, bra, and two pairs of socks.  As I checked my pockets, I noticed something black stuck on my shirt…it took me a moment to realize it was a leach!  That was the only parasite I found on me the entire 310 miles, not a single tick!  (I did treat my top and pants with permethrin to minimize the risk of tick and mosquito borne disease.)  My husband and kids were excited to observe their new pet they named  “Cheetah” over the coming days.

Overall, I had a great weather window.  I had little to no cloud cover the entire duration so I made sure to wear a brimmed hat, long sleeves, and pulled my hair and collar to cover my neck as best I could.  The trail is frequently shaded.  I ended up with zero sunburn, despite no sunscreen. The hot weather allowed me to carry a light sleeping setup, but also the bare minimum weight in clothing. 

On day one when my pants were falling down constantly and chafing my waistline, I wondered if I made a huge mistake not bringing other shorts or pants. Once my pants pockets weren’t stuffed with food, they stayed up, but in hindsight a lightweight pair of shorts would have been substantially cooler.

Foot care

I was alarmed to see the balls of my feet white only 36 hours into the attempt. My right foot remained numb for over a month following the FKT.

I slathered Bag Balm on my feet in the days leading up to the FKT attempt to create a water impermeable layer.  I dried out my feet and reapplied Bag Balm twice a day throughout the attempt.  A few times I needed to dry my feet off but I had so little clothing, I attempted to use my baseball cap!  My feet got wet in the first night from dew and stayed wet for about 12 hours since I had no spare pair of shoes.  As a result, I noticed hot spots about 30 hours into the attempt which became my driver for stopping to sleep on several occasions.  I rotated out my socks for the reminder of the FKT as well. I ended with only two blisters, one on each heel due to sizing up my shoes and all the motion of my feet on the uneven terrain.

Heat management

Going into the FKT I feared staying warm enough at night, but I ended up having to manage the heat in the day.  I wore long sleeves for sunburn protection and zipoff trekking pants to save weight.  I spent a lot of time in the later days laying in water.  It was a bit challenging trying to cool my core when I needed to keep my feet dry.  I’d take off my pack, ensure my phone was safe, and dunk as much of my body as I could, before hoisting my pack back on and continuing on.  Unfortunately, I did this so many times, I was able to refine the process, often filtering water and downing calories while I cooled off.

Charging my electronics while cooling in the river.

First aid

In order to go as light as possible, I brought minimal first aid. I had never used any of my first aid items on the trail before either. I had an infection in two of my fingers (one on and off for a year) and I feared that the stress on my body plus not washing my hands for a week could end the FKT attempt if the infection got out of control. So I brought a small amount of antibiotic cream. I never used it since the opposite happened, perhaps due to the increased circulation. This was the only time over a two month period the infection in my fingers wasn’t bothersome!

Electronics

In addition to my phone for photos, maps, communication, it was also my primary method to log Strava data to verify the FKT.  Therefore, I put my phone on airplane mode often. During my scouting trips, there were a few occasions I sucked the battery life when it was searching for signal and when I was frequently taking photos or looking at maps.

My gear following the FKT stored in my pack. Not included are my baseball cap, poles, toothbrush, and flosser (which I didn’t store in my pack). I thought it was silly every time I passed a garbage can.

I used an external power bank to also charge a spare headlamp, my watch, and the Garmin in reach mini which had just enough output.  Since my attempt took excruciatingly long near the end (I thought I’d be done almost a full day earlier with a final push but ended up taking 23 hours to cover the final 37 miles!), I had to conserve my phone battery on the final day.  I could have easily turned the power saver settings on sooner to better conserve my battery over the entire duration. 

As got sleep deprived, the medium setting on my headlamp seemed too dim and I had to use the brightest setting whenever I wasn’t climbing uphill. This was fine since I had plenty of batteries and kept me engaged. At one point my headlamp turned off unexpectedly. Thinking my battery died excessively fast, I swapped the battery, a bit concerned. In hindsight, my headlamp had overheated (which had never happened before), due to the hot overnight temperatures. To save the hassle of charging my main headlamp, I preferred the weight of spare batteries. I also brought a lightweight spare headlamp so my attempt would not end due to a broken headlamp.

I occasionally had to charge electronics on the go inside my pack, which I did on sections of trail I didn’t expect to look at maps.  Usually, I was able to charge batteries while I slept or cooled my core.

My watch would have been the ideal primary data recording device, but I didn’t trust the battery life.  My watch is a few years old and the battery life took a hit over the winter.  I occasionally lost data when the battery died, which I didn’t want to risk with an FKT on the line.

The Garmin inReach Mini worked fine until it didn’t.  After deactivating several times and then not being able to find a signal altogether, I was thankful I could get by without it.  Although it would have been much more comforting for my husband to know where I was on the final days, I had enough cell signal to periodically check in.  Between the more limited cell signal on the northern part of the route and me having to conserve phone battery, my ride, FKT holder, Michael Koppy, would have benefited significantly with a tracker location. 

Boredom

Although I didn’t sleep well the night prior to the FKT, once I switched to race mode I was rarely sleepy and maintained a sense of urgency throughout the attempt.  I never expected to talk to anyone so it almost rattled me when someone would talk to me.  I was completely content with only myself as company and never once longed to fill that void.  I made about 1 ½ hours of phone calls over the FKT, mostly to my husband to catch up on life at home during the kiddos’ first week of school.

My loaded pack at the Southern Terminus as I started the FKT weighed in at about 24 pounds including water. My base weight was 7 pounds.

It seemed like there was constantly something to think about, which is ironic since all I had to do was to follow blue blazes that marked the trail and get to my next water source.  My thru-hiking chores consisted of daily rinsing my water bottles followed by a rinse of mouthwash and inside outing my spare socks so they’d dry dangling from my pack. Going into stops, I just repeated my things I needed to do so I wouldn’t forget them:  cool off, soak ramen, recharge electronics. When I returned to reality, I was paralyzed when I had to make my first decision.  Life was so simple on the trail. 

Wrapup

The 310 miles I faced was incomprehensible, but I simply viewed that I could go another mile and managed my challenges as they came.  I had given myself a 50/50 shot to finish when I had planned to go self-supported, but when I switched to unsupported, my odds plummeted.  As a result, the sense of empowerment to tackle and take on the goliath challenge leaves me well equipped to take on more battles not just on the trail, but in the journey of life.

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