Wildwood trail in a day

[eddiecoyote]

Hiked it yesterday from north to south. Took a Lyft from Vietnam Veterans Memorial to north trailhead. Around $47 for the ride. $8 for the day parking (ends 20:00). I carried a 30 lb pack loaded with Gatorade and jerky and some filler (woobie, iPad, other stuff for weight)

I didn’t actually get on trail until 09:15. The first 2 hours I took a comfortable pace, looking at things, taking pictures, and so on. Then I noticed that I had only gone 4 miles and had an average pace of 2 miles an hour. I didn’t know how far the loop actually was. My planning said 28 miles, yet I passed a sign that said 29 miles and I know planning on a GPS map has error. So I picked up the pace to reach my “ghost” that was ahead of me on trail. That is, where I had wanted to be by this time. Which meant I had to book it pretty fast to catch up. I reached mile 15 by 14:20, catching up with what I would have done had I gone a 3 min mile pace.

If you’re worried about water, perhaps stash some where the trail meets the road Northwest 53rd.

This definitely a treadmill. You’ve seen one mile of wildwood, you’ve seen it all. Except for the last 3 through the Arboretum.

By mile 20 I was pooped from the sprinting to catch up because I didn’t want to take all day. This was also around the time that the down/up at Cornelius Pass road. Then down and up for Burnside.

Finished this in 10:45. To be honest, I shouldn’t have hiked. I’ve been nursing something on my right side, calf, hammy, flute, and lower back all hurt and I almost cancelled. But I’ve been looking forward to this for weeks so I went anyway. It caused me to change my gait, and now the next day my left leg is toast. I got blisters on my left foot, which rarely happens if ever. It’s gonna take a couple days before left leg feels up to par again.

This is doable in under 11 hours. Just don’t lose track of time and then run to catch up. And it might be better to do South to North. However I ended it by visiting the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and readjust all the names. The hike had also doubled as an homage to their memory.

I used Gaia GPS app. It inexplicably stopped working 25 miles in and I didn’t catch it till later. I also forgot to turn off my gPS when I finished the hike and spent time at the memorial.

https://www.gaiagps.com/datasummary/tra ... RasterFeet

[nsutherl]

Nice report! I'm planning this same hike by the end of summer this year. Any water fountains or other sources that can be relied on? Or is caching water the only option to avoid carrying 5+ liters? Thanks!

EDIT: Looks like I don't have access to your Gaia gps file. I logged in to Gaia, but I think your trip[ may still be set as private.