I always laughed at myself at the prospect of doing this hike. Two years ago I was fat & out of shape. Last year I decided to train for and run a half marathon. Done. Then a marathon. Done 2x What's next you ask? How about a Pemi loop hike! I'd been on all the peaks, multiple times before, so why not all?
The day started out at 4am with about 2 hours of fitful sleep - not exactly ideal. Jon & I began by running (and crashing a couple times) the Lincoln & Wilderness trails. Made it to BC trail in :50 then the fun started. Summit Bondcliff in 2:20. The rest is mostly a blur until Galehead hut where we fueled up, hit Galehead mtn & headed out onto the nasty Garfield ridge trail.
We were mentally prepared for this so it wasn't that bad, but it was still the most challenging part of the trip. I will say, however that the cascades coming down the trail were quite welcoming and refreshing. Summitted Garfield, on to Lafayette. Everyone kept saying how nasty this trail was too, but we just took it in stride. As I look back, climbing the open faces of Lafayette was probably the low point - energy crashing wise - of the trip.
Ran into hordes of tourist hikers on the Franc ridge, then headed over to Haystack. Mentally misjudged the distance to Liberty, which seemed to go on for an eternity. Ran out of water before the Liberty summit. Toughed it out over Flume, dehydrated & all. Osseo trail is a beautiful trail, but I don't believe that it is 4.4 miles long, as stated, as it does go on forever. It is beautifully graded, so we were able to run a good portion of it. We were finally able to get water at the very bottom of the Osseo trail, and then on to the truck. Views were magnificent, but after a couple peaks we tended to appreciate them less and less. Ran into several groups looping it also. Frankly I was surprised at how many people were doing this hike.
Made it in and out in 13 hours, and once again accomplished something I never thought I could. What a great day.
J
The day started out at 4am with about 2 hours of fitful sleep - not exactly ideal. Jon & I began by running (and crashing a couple times) the Lincoln & Wilderness trails. Made it to BC trail in :50 then the fun started. Summit Bondcliff in 2:20. The rest is mostly a blur until Galehead hut where we fueled up, hit Galehead mtn & headed out onto the nasty Garfield ridge trail.
We were mentally prepared for this so it wasn't that bad, but it was still the most challenging part of the trip. I will say, however that the cascades coming down the trail were quite welcoming and refreshing. Summitted Garfield, on to Lafayette. Everyone kept saying how nasty this trail was too, but we just took it in stride. As I look back, climbing the open faces of Lafayette was probably the low point - energy crashing wise - of the trip.
Ran into hordes of tourist hikers on the Franc ridge, then headed over to Haystack. Mentally misjudged the distance to Liberty, which seemed to go on for an eternity. Ran out of water before the Liberty summit. Toughed it out over Flume, dehydrated & all. Osseo trail is a beautiful trail, but I don't believe that it is 4.4 miles long, as stated, as it does go on forever. It is beautifully graded, so we were able to run a good portion of it. We were finally able to get water at the very bottom of the Osseo trail, and then on to the truck. Views were magnificent, but after a couple peaks we tended to appreciate them less and less. Ran into several groups looping it also. Frankly I was surprised at how many people were doing this hike.
Made it in and out in 13 hours, and once again accomplished something I never thought I could. What a great day.
J
