Author: Liz Derstine
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Long Trail: A New Approach – Day 4
Day 4 – Thursday 7/14/2022 US-4 (104.5) to Emily Proctor Shelter (141.2) 36.7 miles / 9,810 ft gain / 7,762 loss 2.6 mph Start: 4:36am Finish: 6:38pm Elapsed: 14h 02m I took my time getting ready in the morning so I could reorganize my pack, separate my food into different bags for each day since […]
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Long Trail: A New Approach – Day 3
Day 3 – Wednesday 7/13/2022 Peru Peak Shelter (64.5) to US-4 (104.5) 40.0 miles / 8,155 ft gain / 8,878 ft loss 2.7 mph Start: 3:52am Finish: 6:43pm Elapsed: 14 hrs 51 min This day was tougher than expected. I felt pretty sleepy in the morning, even after taking some caffeinated Spring Energy gels and […]
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Long Trail: A New Approach – Day 2
Day 2 – Tuesday 7/12/2022 Goddard Shelter (24.1) to Peru Peak Shelter (64.5) 40.4 miles / 8,153 ft gain / 8,605 ft loss 2.7 mph Start: 4:51am Finish: 7:50pm Elapsed: 14h 59m It was nice to start the day only needing my headlamp for about half an hour before clicking it off. The sky was […]
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Long Trail: A New Approach – Day 1
In a truly unexpected turn of events, I’m tickled to death and pleased as punch to share that this past Sunday, July 17th I broke the women’s self-supported record on the Long Trail, held by Jennifer Pharr Davis, in 6 days, 8 hours, and 12 minutes (pending verification). After my first two failed attempts I’m […]
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To Wait and See
I played all my cards right to the best of my knowledge, everything went exactly to plan, and in the end the Long Trail won again. As I’m writing this at 6:11am on Tuesday, this would have been my third morning on the trail. Had I still been hiking, I’d likely either be descending Bolton […]
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Long Trail: Here We Go!
Greetings from Jay, Vermont. My pack is packed (unlike what you see above haha), my alarm is set, my resupplies have been cached, and tomorrow I’ll start heading south from the US/Canada border doing my favorite thing in the world: eating lots of snacks. Oh, and hiking until I drop. Tomorrow, Sunday, July 3rd I’m attempting […]
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Catamount 50K: Oh, the Humanity (and Humidity)!
This photo from the Catamount 50K makes me giggle. I see a strong, confident, playful person crossing the finish line and wouldn’t guess she’d spent the past 30+ miles feeling like a giant wimp. The mountains will humble you like that! I went into this race feeling a little apprehensive. I knew I was in […]
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In the In Between
After three weeks of living out of a suitcase and driving my packed-to-the-brim 4runner Tina across the country, I’m happy to have finally landed in Vermont for the summer. I have a little loft apartment all to myself, serving as a basecamp nestled among the most challenging peaks along the Long Trail. I’ve always romanticized this idea […]
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A Sleepless Night on the BMT
Debbie and I rolled up to the Lakeshore Trailhead just in the nick of time. We were shocked, in a good way, to see Tara power walking down the road toward the parking lot we’d planned to meet at, well before her predicted time of “no sooner than 8:00pm” (it was presently around 7:00pm). She […]
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Taking the Next Step
Photo by Jason Hill Hello from Atlanta, Georgia! The cross country portion of my trek is complete, and the rest of the summer will be spent up and down the east coast until landing in Boston, Massachusetts. I’m happy to share that starting this fall, I will be pursuing a Master of Music in Collaborative Piano […]
Mercury on the Run 