Following Gavin Woody on the JMT

[Adam White]

He might've heard you Ralph–looks like he took a 2.5 hour break between just after Island Pass. Still–I agree with you completely. It's amazing to me that anyone can keep it together after that much exertion and that little sleep. He may not have a FKT, but I'm awestruck at how tank-like the attempt has been. No long breaks, just a constant push. He's past the 83h mark, so an FKT is off the table. He could still go under 96 hours, but that's going to be tough–he'll need to average 3.45 mph for the remainder. Leor did, but he was coming off of a long rest at Reds, and had daylight to boot. I'm also impressed with Gavin's continual push, despite the fact that he's missed the FKT. All in all, just an awesome endeavor, FKT or not. Also, table updated through Rush Creek.

[Scott Bentz]

Anyone know what happened to Gavin? The last Spot was yesterday just past the Merced River. Did he finish?

[Kenneth Keating]

"Super spotty reception here in Yosemite, but wanted to drop a quick note to thank everyone for their amazing encouragement–just started to scroll though some posts–wow!! Stoked to have come in at 4 days, 4 hours, 51 min. Not as stoked to have done it on 3 and a half hours of sleep…total smile emoticon. I think I now know what it feels like to be a two pack-a-day smoker frown emoticon. Super smoky after Forrester Pass which filled my lungs with some sort of vanilla pudding-like substance. Considered dropping a number of times but proud to have toughed it out!! Sara promptly loaded me up on pizza and beer (couldn't have had a better 7th wedding anniversary meal–thanks babe!) and then I took a nice nap. Life is good"

[Gavin Woody]

Hey everyone, I've been meaning to reply to this thread and let you know what happened, but I got tied up in work, family stuff, etc.. Anyway, thanks for following along! I was amazed by how much you guys could tell just from looking at my SPOT. The short story is that things were going well until I popped over Forester Pass and hit a bunch of smoke (Aaron S. did warn me!!). It really clogged up my lungs and made it hard to breathe and, later, sleep. So I'm just glad I finished :-). I have so much respect for those who have embarked on similar missions. The combination of the rough trail and altitude make this such a challenging endeavor… Thanks again and, if you'd like to read more about what I learned out there, I've posted a trip report and pics on my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10101888692476933.1073741870.220868&type=1&l=0d2859bf70 Cheers! -Gavin

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