Pemi Loop Record Attempt 7/4/05

31.5 miles, 9000+ feet of elevation gain, 8:14:14

It all started at 8AM from the Lincoln Woods trailhead. I found Sherpa John Lacroix’s car, but no site of anyone looking to run the Pemi. Oh well. I headed of down the Wilderness Trail towards the bonds, a little stiff after my four-hour jaunt up Adams and Madison via King Ravine 2 days prior. After skiing the Wilderness Trail many times this winter with my girlfriend Jess, it seemed to fly by and before I knew it I was at the intersection of the Bondcliff Trail. (34:11)

The Bondcliff Trail can be a steady grind up to the magnificent Bonds when you are by yourself. Some company would have been nice, but I knew I would hit tree line soon enough. On my way up a backcountry ranger was on his way down and asked me “Is someone chasing you or are you doing this for fun?” I definitely got a good laugh out of this and replied I was having fun. I met one couple on their way down from the Guyot Shelter who gave me some encouragement and I wished them luck on the rest of there trip.

I made it to the summit of bond in 1:28 where I met Pam, another trail runner. We chatted for a few minutes about the amazing views from Bond (my favorite mountain so far) and trail running. After getting some pics I headed to Guyot and the Twinway.

The weather was starting to warm up as I approached Guyot and some more hikers. No complaints though after the wet spring and long winter that we had. I chatted with a couple of hikers from Connecticut at the Twinway-Bondcliff Jct. (2:12) and headed over to South Twin. I was a little nervous about the Twinway, as I had never done the section from Guyot over to the Twins. The trail turned out to be very runnable until the last push to South Twin. At the summit (2:38) I stopped for a PowerBar and some pics and a quick 10-minute break. The views from South Twin were very nice. I’m definitely looking forward to hitting the Twins later this summer.

Galehead hut was my next destination. I was hoping to meet SJ’s fiancé Sarah at the hut, but there weren’t many people there. I stopped in the hut thinking that I was about halfway, but learned that I still had about 17 miles to go. Oops! I was feeling pretty good though and still had about a liter of water left. I met up with Sarah and John’s Mom and step dad about a ¼ of a mile from the hut. They were happy to see me and let me know that Al Bernier was running late. That explained why I hadn’t seen him anywhere yet. I headed up the infamous Garfield Ridge Trail, which I found to be quite runnable until the last half mile before the summit. Ugh. Time for some speed hiking. I was starting to feel a little fatigued, but reached the summit in 4:07. I stopped for some more pics and a PowerBar (Chocolate Peanut Butter) and the last of my water. Big oops. While I was eating, Tom Parent came up to the summit and we chatted about the beautiful day and trail racing and running. It was pretty cool to see other trail runners in the Whites.

After heading down from the summit I met up with John. I was glad to see that he had made it that far. He was looking pretty good and we had a quick conversation before heading our separate ways. At this point I knew this might be the last person that I would see that I knew. I started to bonk on my way up the GRT and was very happy to see the scrub on my way up Lafayette. I met up with a hiker at the junction with the Skookumchuck Trail who wanted to know where I had been. This guy was my saving grace. He asked me a lot of questions but it gave me a chance to recover in such a nice place. It was pretty cool to point out all the peaks to him that I had summitted. He was pretty amazed, as was I when I stopped and thought about it.

I finally reached the summit of Lafayette after 5 hours and 38 minutes. It had been about an hour and a half since I last had any water, and I was starting to feel the effects. Thanks to a kind hiker named Mike I was able to rehydrate a little and regain my composure. After meeting Mtn. Magic on the summit of Lafayette and him giving me some encouragement I headed off to finish the ridge. The summit was crowded anyways with between 30-40 people and one glider plane. There was a glider plane right? I wasn’t hallucinating was I?

I knew I still had about 10 miles to go, but knew that the Franconia Ridge was very runnable (I made it from Lafayette to Falling Waters this spring in 24 minutes). I was still bonking though. I could only run on the down hills and power walk the flats. I made it to the summit of Liberty where I met 2 more nice guys who offered me some encouragement and a little more water.

I headed over to Flume, tired, sore, dehydrated, but determined to finish this thing. All I could think about was water, but knowing that I was on a ridge I knew I wouldn’t find any. I stopped at every muddy spot in the trail looking for some type of water. No luck. At this point the trail is pretty flat but I couldn’t run anymore. I finally hit the summit of Flume in 7:17. I knew the Osseo was all down hill from here, and that there was some running water on it at some point. I seemed to find a second wind (or was it the 3rd? or 4th? Or 5th?…) and was able to run most of the way down. I didn’t get to any water until I was almost at the Wilderness Trail. I peeled off and drank straight from the stream. Intestinal parasites sounded better that dying of dehydration at this point.

As I got back on the trail I stumbled upon a bear cub about 10 feet away from me. That scared me considering I didn’t know where the mother was and I had been running for 8 hours already. I hit the Wilderness Trail in 8:05 and high tailed it to the parking lot. As I crossed the suspension bridge the same backcountry ranger that I saw on the Bondcliff Trail was standing there talking to someone (8:14:14). He was glad to see I made it back ok but warned me that I should have had more clothes in case the weather turned bad. I wonder what he would have said if I told him I did the whole thing on 2 liters on water and 2 PowerBars?

Congrats to everyone who finished to loop today. TomPar, looking forward to seeing you at some snowshoe and trail race this year. John, you’re one crazy dude. You went from never running before January to finishing the Pemi Loop pretty damn quick by July. You make me wonder what is possible when you just push yourself. Albee, great job man. You must have been flying. You bagged the extra peaks and still had a pretty fast time. And thanks to everyone out on the trail who offered support and encouragement. I got the feeling from some people before this trip that trail running is looked down upon in the hiking community, but I met a lot of friendly people out there.

Photos: http://community.webshots.com/album/386117980coOYnp