Following Allen Currano’s 9/12 JMT FKT attempt

[Adam White]

(edit: updated through Bishop Pass trail) Allen is at it again! He started around 2:30am this morning. Unfortunately, it appears that his SPOT was probably not in tracking mode until a little south of Vidette Meadow. Still, he sent a check-in from Whitney summit, and again from Center Basin, so we can do a reasonable job of piecing together his splits. His SPOT hasn't confirmed it yet, but he probably arrived at Woods Creek around 7:40pm tonight. If he sticks to the plan he used last time, he'll stop there for four hours. He's making good time–if my guess above is correct, he's averaging about 3.13 mph. His SPOT shared page is the same–here: http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0IvtEL9qiBTrRq30rMRsKeDnacyj5xqff. Profile and table: Table: Profile:

[jscott]

Was it Allen who said "never again"?

[Adam White]

Yes. At least–he said it to me–on his drive home from his last attempt. Of course, for people who do this kind of thing, "never again" usually just means "not right now". When I say never again–more often then when I don't say it–I end up doing that thing again at some point in the future. Never again just means it was painful, and painful means memorable, and memorable means worthwhile.

[Ito Jakuchu]

"Never again", and "Why am I doing this" (for me especially when there is a long road walk in between). "His SPOT hasn't confirmed it yet, but he probably arrived at Woods Creek around 7:40pm tonight. If he sticks to the plan he used last time, he'll stop there for four hours. He's making good time–if my guess above is correct, he's averaging about 3.13 mph." Seems like it, SPOT been there for a bit now. Nice to follow again. Thanks!

[Kent Muraoka]

All you guys are amazing. I tried to do my own fastback (7d) of the JMT this year and failed miserably, It was after Ralph's !st attempt and I couldn't believe how fast he got up Whitney … just like Allen. When I limped off the trail I said never again! I knew it would be like Rocky and Apollo Creed – "Aint gonna be no rematch". Just like Allen I want a rematch next year. For now, I am routing and pulling for you Allen and each person who puts him or herself on the line.

[Kurt Achtenhagen]

Go Allen, I am rooting for you!!

[Art …]

I wish Allen the best on this effort. but I don't think he's fully recovered from the previous go, and expect this time to end short of his last push. most "never again" exclamations are sincere in the moment. but the mind has a funny way of masking over it with time.

[Ryan Smith]

Good luck Allen! Ryan

[Mike M]

Holy Crap- make it or not, the guy is an animal for just trying it yet again this year! Best of luck

[Aaron Sorensen]

His SPOT may not be working right now from the reception being blocked by the smoke?

[Adam White]

Updated through Bishop Pass trail, where Allen was at 1:36pm this afternoon. No pings since then, but based on Allen's last trip, that's not unusual. He arrived at the Bishop Pass trail at around 33h 30m, which is 9 minutes faster than his last attempt.

[jscott]

"Never again just means it was painful, and painful means memorable, and memorable means worthwhile." Yeah when I broke my ankle it was painful and memorable; not worthwhile. Never again. However Allen's endeavor is something else entirely. Clearly he's driven; this has real significance for him and I applaud his effort. Good luck! No matter what this will continue to gain meaning for him over the years; I hope that he shares it with us.

[Adam White]

> Yeah when I broke my ankle it was painful and memorable; not worthwhile. Never again. …Hopefully sarcastic. My statement was in the context of Type II fun. Which breaking an ankle is probably not.

[jscott]

Sorry Adam I was going for a laugh. So not even sarcastic. Again, I'm pulling for Allen!

[Adam White]

> Sorry Adam I was going for a laugh. So not even sarcastic. I thought (and hoped) so! It's the wrong forum to complain about pain ;). No update since 1pm yesterday–I think Allen's SPOT is probably toast. He had been having issues with his SPOT, and even received fresh batteries from a friendly BPL forum lurker who saw this thread, and sent me the photo below, which he took on the summit of Whitney. By this time, if he's on FKT pace, he's probably getting close to (or past) Trinity Lakes, which is near where he aborted last trip. Hope all is well with Allen. If we hear no more updates–well, then hopefully we will around 1:30pm tomorrow afternoon, which would be the time he'd arrive at Happy Isles if he were to tie Andrew Bentz' FKT (assuming Allen's start time was 2:30 am).

[Adam White]

Allen's wife just sent me a note–Allen stoppedl at Red's. All was going great until Silver Pass, after which it was constant rain and snow and very cold. Numb hands. Allen decided to play it safe and stay at Red's instead of pushing over Donohue in the night. Undoubtedly both a smart choice and a tough one…

[Mike M]

I have a feeling this won't be his last attempt :)

[Allen C]

Day 1 was great, Whitney to Woods Creek – all systems GO (except SPOT which is a piece of junk). Lots of enthusiastic people cheering me on at whitney summit and various points which was super cool. Washed up in the creek and got 3.5 hours sleep – luxury. Day 2 over Pinchot and Mather was good. Then apocalyptic smoke from Palisade Basin onward. Disconcerting and bizarre, the smell is still in my nose and in my clothes. Some wind and light rain over Muir pass in the afternoon but nothing major. Camped near Senger Creek, 2 hours sleep and off to Selden. Day 3 was going well in spite of the smoke. Not sure of my times at this point, will have to check the video. Some wind and light rain going up Silver Pass, still wearing T-shirt at the pass. Turned into a full on rainstorm as I went down, had to stop multiple times to add layers to stay warm. By the time I reached Tully Hole I was wearing my rain jacket, beanie, windpants and gloves over shorts and long sleeve shirt, and still cold. My hands were wet and numb. My only remaining layer was my down puffy, didn't want it to get wet but had to put it on to stay warm and managed to keep it dry. Decided to put it on before my hands got too numb to work the zippers which turned out to be the right decision. Very glad I brought the puffy, I would have been flirting with hypothermia without it. I knew I only had 6-7 hours to Red's Meadow and charged up to Virginia Lakes like my life depended on it, since it kind of did. On the way up the rain changed to snow. People on the trail were in full on rain gear (EDIT: except one guy who was still wearing a hawaiian shirt and shorts and heading up towards Silver Pass, completely soaked!) and expressions ranged from wonder to shellshock. I was probably more on the shellshock end of the spectrum. Snow coated the ground above 10K feet. It was beautiful and cold and wet. Anyway, I made it past Virginia Lake and Purple Lake, down to Reds Meadow, and bailed to Mammoth. News at 11. PSA: Always carry a puffy and a good rainjacket in september. It's worth the weight. Also, don't trust the weather forecasters.

[Art …]

you did better than I expected on such a quick replay of things. great job in spite of the outcome.

[cms 9]

you were on glen pass when i crawled up with my almost 40 lb pack (and was very jealous of your little light one…). i was rooting for you, but worried about how you'd do given the change in weather (we had some pretty nasty rain coming down the other side of glen pass). glad to hear you made it out to reds ok. good luck on your next attempt!

[Kurt Achtenhagen]

Impressive Allen! I admire your ability to get out there and push through the numerous difficulties encountered! Truly so many levers in this game, and they all have to be aligned in just the right way to pull it off. In the meantime, you are experiencing a side of yourself and the High Sierra that few folks choose to! Cheers!

[Scott Bentz]

Allen, I can't imagine how hard it must have been to be hiking in that smoke while working so hard. Sorry the weather did not cooperate but when you guys go out to attempt an FKT you are on the ragged edge with not much room for error. It still is a brutal trail to fast pack and you guys are truly amazing. Scott

[Allen C]

I got home last night, after a long day of bus/hitch-hiking back to Whitney Portal and then about 8 hours driving home to the bay area. It is nice to be home after a pretty epic 2 weeks in the Sierras. Thanks for all the positive comments and encouragement…It is really awesome to read all of your thoughts and encouraging words here, and the interactions with those of you I met on the trail were amazing as well – THANK YOU!!!!! I am of course a bit disappointed that I didn't set a new FKT or even finish the trail. But I am also at peace with the decision to bail at Red's Meadow, and I'm incredibly happy that I was able to give it another great effort, and grateful that I have been lucky enough to enjoy the health, fitness, and support that have enabled me to push my limits and have these amazing adventures in the mountains. I'll write more later, but for now I will say that by the time I got to Red's Meadow, the FKT was definitely out of reach. The storm had slowed me down quite a bit, and it would not have been safe or smart to continue on at night, into a cold, wet storm, in the condition I was in – alone, sleep deprived, exhausted, wet, with no stove, and a 40 degree down bag and light down jacket and a mylar bivy sack as my sole shelter/insulation. When I started on Saturday morning, the weather report was for some afternoon showers Saturday/Sunday and then clear skies and cooling temps on Monday and Tuesday. Somehow this evolved into a very real rain/snow storm on Monday into Tuesday as the remnants of Hurricane Linda decided to hang out and have some fun in the mountains. I'll leave it at that for now, except for these two quotes from Yvonne Chouinard: “The word adventure has gotten overused. For me, when everything goes wrong – that’s when adventure starts.” “So, it’s kind of like the quest for the holy grail. Well, you know, who gives a shit what the holy grail is. It’s the quest is what’s important.” Silver Pass at 57:39 Near Lake Virginia about 2 hours later:

[Allen C]

As it has been a slow few months on this forum, I thought I’d post that I finally finished my trip report, which is on my blog:

Oops, I did it again! 

[Adam White]

Allen,

Thanks for sharing! I’ll update the BPL post table/plot one of these days, for historic purposes…

Just noticed you have a new blog post, so I’m off to read that now…

[Author]

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