Colorado Trail FKT: Nina Bridges Laughed Off the Pain, Enjoyed Every Step

Nina Bridges hadn’t been planning to set the women’s supported fastest known time (FKT) when she set out on the Colorado Trail (CT) on Aug. 15. But she broke the previous record by just under 8 hours.

Originally, she’d planned to go unsupported when she had a few weeks off. And she’d had her eyes on the women’s unsupported FKT for the Colorado Trail — because she knew no one had claimed it yet. “I was like, ‘I’ll start the women’s time. This is going to be awesome.’ I packed all my gear, packed all my food. And then I started the first day,” Bridges told GearJunkie.

But it wasn’t long before disaster struck. “I was 9 miles in, and the backpack strap ripped in half,” she said. She pressed on, though. At least, to get to somewhere she had cell service — somewhere right around mile 25.

“I called up some of my friends, and I was like, ‘I don’t know what to do. Should I just quit?’ But then I’d feel soft, and I was like, ‘Why am I quitting?'” Bridges recalled. She was about 8 hours into the endeavor. “And my friends all said, ‘Don’t quit. You should go supported, and we’ll come support you.'”

So the plan was reformed. Bridges hitchhiked to a town where she could catch a redeye back to Denver. Then she and her network of friends and family scrambled, putting together an entirely new strategy, buying food and supplies, and plotting out meetups and resupply points.

Nina Bridges FKT Colorado Trail — (Photo/Nina Bridges)

The very next day, she set out again, with a new goal this time: to set a supported women’s FKT on the Colorado Trail. It was a loftier goal to be sure, especially considering that the record had just been broken (for the first time in 20 years) by a woman named Tara Dower in July 2023. And Dower had raised the bar — she’d completed the 486-mile Colorado Trail in just 8 days, 21 hours, and 59 minutes.

That was the time to beat if Bridges wanted this FKT. So, at 5 a.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 16, she set forth again from the Waterton Canyon trailhead south of Denver, bound for the Durango terminus. And on Aug. 24, at 7:15 a.m. she crossed the proverbial finish line of the Colorado Trail with her FKT. She’d broken Dower’s short-lived record by 7 hours and 44 minutes, finishing the entire CT in just 8 days, 14 hours, and 15 minutes.

“It definitely feels cool,” Bridges told GearJunkie when we caught up with her after the accomplishment. “It’s definitely the coolest thing I’ve ever done.”

Q&A With Nina Bridges: Colorado Trail FKT Holder

GearJunkie: So you start on your second FKT attempt on the Colorado Trail in one week — what was it like? Do you remember the whole trail vividly or was it kind of a blur?

Nina Bridges: I think of it as very vivid and fresh in my memory. But I think [my pacing crew] Josh and Zane think I forget a lot. I just had so much fun on this. Like, it was the most fun, silly thing ever. We kept joking that I was having too much fun and not trying hard enough … I genuinely felt like it was a really fun camping trip.

How did you feel after the first day?

I had never walked over — I don’t know, 54 or 55 miles? I did one big day on the PCT, but I can’t remember how long it was. So the first day I started off strong and I was really sore from carrying the backpack that day before. But the first day went really great — just like good chat, in good spirits, I was eating all day, until like 8 p.m., and it started pouring rain … And then Josh and I camped right at the 60-mile mark. And I was like, “Look, Josh, I’m not going to be able to walk tomorrow. There’s no way in heck, I’ll be able to stand up and start walking.” I thought I would just go to sleep and when I woke up; I wouldn’t be able to move a single muscle in my body.

How much sleep were you getting on the trail?

Were there any moments that stick out in your mind as really vivid, fond memories or challenges?

But then it got dark, and I got really tired. And it was the first time I asked for an on-trail nap … I just felt like I couldn’t walk anymore. And so we sat down, and I slept for 5 minutes, woke up, didn’t feel any more rested, slept for another 10 minutes. Still didn’t feel rested. I was like, “I’m going to need to actually sleep here.” And we were 6 miles from Stony Pass. We didn’t have any sleep gear. We had just brought like a tarp and an emergency bivy. So we set up the tarp and we both got in the emergency bivy, which, you know, like they’re meant for one person. So we put on rain gear and then we were like, squeezed in this bivy.

What were you eating on the trail typically?

I don’t know, I had a lot of trouble eating on this because of stomach issues … Then I also had kind of a weird tongue thing going on. I got this weird tongue rash, like a stress reaction. And I was having a visceral reaction to food, like a visceral, nauseous reaction. Like the thought of eating some foods — I couldn’t even fathom eating some things … I think [my crew] found ways to make sure I was getting enough food. They would have a big ol’ bowl of food at every stop. And that was the bulk of my calories.

Did you have an inner dialogue going on while you were on the trail?

What was it like on the last day as you closed the last few miles and approached the terminus?

The last day was the hardest day. By 10 times. It was so hard. I slept through all of our alarms — which, I hadn’t slept through anything. And we didn’t start hiking until 5 p.m., which was the latest [we started]. I woke up, ate some noodles, drank my smoothie, and then threw up everything an hour in. I was so ungodly tired, and it felt like my body had just decided it was done. It felt like I was just going to have to walk myself to the terminus just by pure will. It was a battle all day.

Tara reached out to you a few times while you were on the trail. How did that feel?

What advice would you give to a hopeful CT FKT-setter? Or to someone who was just going to hike the CT normally?

I think laughter is so invaluable for motivation and staying sane. My crew briefed Josh’s friend on how I was doing at one point, and one of the things they told him was, “She moves way faster when she’s laughing.” I think just making light of the situation was something that kept me going instead of panicking and stressing out about them. Like, one morning, Ben carried 6 L of water for a water carry, and we didn’t drink any of it. And I was almost peeing laughing the entire morning I thought it was so funny. But it really wasn’t funny at all.