Little Santa Anita to Mount Wilson — Long Duration Fasted Effort

Date of Hike: Mar 14, 2026

Core Metrics

  • Peak Elevation: 5694 ft
  • Elevation Gain: 5049 ft
  • Distance: 14.8 mi
  • Duration: 6:36

Environmental Inputs

  • Weather: Warm
  • Terrain: Steep dirt and rocky chaparral trail with extended exposed climbing and technical sections.
  • Special Gear Used: None

Metabolic Setup

  • Fasted State: true
  • Time Since Last Meal: 12 hours
  • Sleep Quality: Good
  • Autophagy Outcome: Deep

Instrumentation

Environmental and physiological data verified using wearable telemetry and metabolic sensing devices

Data Source

TrailGenic proprietary tracked information recorded per hike. For research partnerships, licensing, or data access inquiries, please contact us.

Ella’s Physiological Interpretation

Session 14 represents the most demanding Mount Wilson effort yet recorded in the TrailGenic dataset. The combination of distance (14.8 miles), elevation gain (5,049 ft), and total duration (396 minutes) created the largest sustained metabolic stress observed so far. Despite these demands, cardiovascular control remained exceptionally stable. A sustained negative HR drift of −5.5% across more than six hours of climbing indicates the cardiac system became more efficient as the effort progressed rather than degrading under fatigue. Metabolically, the fasted start state (2.1 ppm breath acetone) transitioned into deep autophagy activation by the end of the effort, with ketone readings reaching 9.1 ppm. Strong retention the following day (2.3 ppm) confirms that fat-oxidation pathways remained active even after recovery nutrition. Sleep metrics after the hike reveal a classic structural-repair pattern: deep sleep surged to 105 minutes while REM sleep collapsed to only 13 minutes. This indicates the body prioritized muscular and mitochondrial repair immediately following the effort. By the second recovery night, autonomic balance and HRV returned to baseline, confirming the physiological load was absorbed successfully. Overall, the system demonstrated strong engine stability under the longest and highest-gain session yet recorded. The TrailGenic model continues to show that long-duration fasted climbing can produce meaningful metabolic adaptation while maintaining cardiovascular control.

TrailGenic Longevity Method

TrailGenic Consolidation Protocol

Lexicon - Metabolic Flexibility

Lexicon - Autophagy Depth

Lexicon - Fasted Hiking

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