On Saturday, November 9, 2024, some 12 days, 17 hours, and 33 minutes after leaving Stateline Campground on the border of Utah and Arizona, Nick Fowler set a brand new males’s self-supported and males’s general quickest recognized time (FKT) on the 817-mile Arizona Path. Over the course of that distance, he lined about 118,000 ft of elevation acquire.
This works out to a median distance traveled of simply over 64 miles per day.
Nick Fowler on the northern terminus of the Arizona Path at first of his quickest recognized time try in late October 2024. Picture: Nick Fowler
The earlier males’s general FKT was held by Joe “Stringbean” McConaughy in 13 days, 3 hours, and 21 minutes, and was set within the supported type. The earlier self-supported FKT was held by Josh Perry in a time of 14 days, 12 hours, and 21 minutes.
Selecting to finish the path self-supported signifies that Fowler had no pre-arranged help from others, or pacers. He would have been in a position to set his personal meals and water caches alongside the path forward of time. Nonetheless, on a day-to-day foundation, he needed to carry all of his personal gasoline, in addition to any form of sleep system that he had, which, based mostly on his time — practically 10 hours sooner than the earlier supported-effort time — most likely didn’t get used very a lot!
Nick Fowler’s equipment for this Arizona Path FKT. Picture: Nick Fowler
Fowler accomplished the path beginning within the excessive nation of the north and crossing the Grand Canyon simply 70 miles into his effort. The Arizona Path, a delegated Nationwide Scenic Path, is thought for its eco-diversity. It begins on the sandstone Vermillion Cliffs on the Utah border earlier than climbing excessive on the Kaibab Plateau, crossing the Grand Canyon, and circumnavigating the San Francisco Peaks exterior of Flagstaff earlier than dropping off the Mogollon Plateau and into the desert.
It traverses a handful of the most important mountain ranges of Arizona, together with the rugged Mazatzal and Superstition Mountains earlier than one last push over Mount Lemmon, the 9,171-foot mountain towering over the Sonoran Desert and town of Tucson. From there, the panorama is saguaros, cholla cactus, open grasslands, and some smaller mountain ranges to the border with Mexico.
Fowler isn’t any stranger to long-trail self-supported FKT efforts. He presently holds the boys’s FKTs for the self-supported north-to-south Pacific Crest Path touring by way of Washington, Oregon, and California; the 407-mile Oregon Coast Path; the 230-mile Ozark Path in Missouri; and the 1,200-mile Pacific Northwest Scenic Path in Washington, Idaho, and Montana.
Celebrating the boys’s general Arizona Path quickest recognized time. Picture: Nick Fowler
Whereas he didn’t have a reside tracker like many others making an attempt for FKT efforts — it’s now posted publicly, although — Fowler documented his effort each day on Instagram with a handful of images, mileages, and a fast observe about any flawed turns he took, of which there have been a couple of. He additionally used the platform to confess when issues weren’t going nicely, corresponding to on the eighth day whereas crossing the Superstitions within the central a part of the state. He wrote, “Properly that sucked. We will blame it on the superstitions or simply admit I’m getting drained. Wanted a break so stopped a few hours early.”
Even with flagging power on the finish, Fowler was in a position to push on to the border after saying, “Mt Lemmon slapped me sideways” on day 10, in doing so changing into the primary individual to finish the path in beneath 13 days.
Extra particulars will be discovered on Fowler’s Instagram feed and the Quickest Identified Time web site entry for the hassle.
Nick Fowler on the southern terminus of the Arizona Path after setting a males’s general quickest recognized time on November 9, 2024. Picture: Nick Fowler