Last weekend I ran my first Pemi. If you are not from New England or if you don’t run/hike mountains you might not know of the “Pemi”. It’s a Pemi Loop, more specific it’s the Pemigewasset Loop. Still confused, it’s a trail that forms a loop in the Pemigewasset Wilderness in the White Mountains. The Pemi Loop covers 31 miles of trail and 9 peaks with the opportunity to take a couple boot spurs to grab a couple more peaks for a total of 11 peaks. Nine out of the 11 are official 4,000 footers (there are 48 in total) of New Hampshire. After this trip I have 30/48 4,000 footers completed.
I didn’t do this loop on my own. I was fortunate to join 3 other amazing women on this adventure. I started out the weekend barely knowing one of the women, not knowing one at all, and getting to know one better over the course of the year. I finished the journey with a powerful bond shared with all three of these women. Each of us had our ups and downs over the course of 14 hours we spent on the trail and we rallied together to pull each other through. We didn’t talk about it we just did it.
The day was predicted to be a little dismal. Reports of rain to start the day, with cool overcast skies throughout the day. We were fortunate that the rain had stopped long enough for us to break down camp and get ready to run. We quickly grabbed our breakfasts, did some prepping and then headed over to the trail head for last minute prep. Two of us were newbies (myself included) to this type of endurance running. One of us (not me) had never been to the Whites to hike or run. Crazy girl-first trip out and she was preparing to cover 31 miles and 11 peaks…in the Whites. Not an easy goal to meet.
We started out a little slow, then got off and running as soon as we hit the single track. The air was heavy and the fog was thick turning into a heavy mist. The skies cleared a little as we got up to where we should have been able to see the beginning of great views. We got to the top of Flume and it was chilly and super foggy. Time to add some layers. After a couple quick photos we were on our way. I should take a moment to mention that we had adopted a solo hiker along the way. His name was Josh, I deemed him “Man who walks with sticks” or Man with Sticks for short. He has running/hiking with poles and we always knew where he was whether we were getting closer to him or he was getting closer to us, we could hear the tapping of his poles against the rocks. We met up on almost all of the peaks for the first part of the hike.
After Flume we hit Liberty and Little Haystack.
It was still foggy and I am not going to lie, fog or no fog, some of the cliffs freaked me out. Had to keep telling myself to focus and not look down, it made my head spin. As we were preparing to hit Lafayette, we layered up. The wind was strong, 20-40 mph.
I was surprised that I never got cold wearing a running skirt and extra wind resistant layers on top (hat and gloves too). I am thankful that I have hiked Lafayette before on a bright and sunny days because the views from the top are amazing. Last Saturday there weren’t any views but it was still pretty sweet to be running along that ridge. From Lafayette we headed down to Garfield, got a little thrown off but quickly found our way and were off and running. This is where my low point started. Because we were running on small wet rocks my feet were doing a lot of sliding around. No matter what shoes I wear I tend to have the same issue. My right foot (bunion on my big toe) was starting to ache. Every time I hit the inside of my foot (where the bunion and callus are) pain would shoot up. I was super uncomfortable but was determined to work through it, I knew it would work itself out but lagging behind is not something that settles well with me. We hit Garfield and again the view was not as great as it was for me the last time I was up but the last time I was up there the sun was out but the clouds were low
and I didn’t have a clear view of the valleys and mountain tops then either.
Descending from Garfield I knew what to expect since I was just on that trail last fall. What I didn’t expect was descending down a waterfall. Super cool and the cold water that sneaked its way onto my feet was a little refreshing on my painful feet. After more rugged trail and some steep climbs up large rocks we hit the Galehead hut. Two of us stayed at the hut while the other two made and extra mile (round trip) hike to the top of Galehead. I had already summited that peak and was ready to give my feet a break. I knew the hike up South Twin was going to be steep. I went down that trail last fall and was watching all these people hike up with their big ole heavy packs and I was thankful that I was not them. I ate my lunch and rested and after the other two got their break we were off and “running” again. My legs were tired as we started ascending but as we got half way up, I was feeling great.
We hit
South Twin, took another “selfie” and were on our way to the Bonds. I should note at one point there was talk about bailing on the run if the weather wasn’t going to clear because wind, rain, and cold on the Bonds would not be all that fun. BUT we didn’t bail and the odds were in our favor as the sun started to peek.
Us two Newbies took the boot spur to West Bond .6 miles there and back. That far in the trip the thought of the extra mileage was daunting but I was psyched to add another 4,000 footer to my list. When we summited West Bond we could see the sun peering through the breaks in the clouds. We had a decent view and were pleased to make the trip up to the little peak.
Back on the trail we trudged along made it over one more hump and the trees opened as did the skies! It was gorgeous. The sun shining on the green shrubbery and a clear view of the rocky trail that was before us. We took a quick moment to take it all in and were on our way. First Bond then to Bond Cliffs. There was a spectacular view from Bond Cliff, the wind was a little strong and I did my best to stay away from the cliff edge. There was no way I was going out on the peak to take a picture, I feared a wind gust would take me of the edge. After a quick break, slap happy laughter and talks of pizza and BEER we were on our way down. Wowzers that was long descend with several river crossings and lots of mosquitos as the terrain leveled out. We got to the intersection that signified 6 more miles. Shit. SIX MORE MILES! We all sucked it up and put our running legs on and made our way towards the finish. There was no stopping for fear of turning into mosquito bait. Pushed through shredded quads and finished in just under 14 hours. Our goal was 12 but I am sure having us newbies in tow and the few side runs to bag a couple of peaks added to the time. Our running time was under 11 hours. We were all on
runners high including man with sticks who was waiting for us in the parking lot. We feasted on some food that might not be so good for us like salty chips. But I did remember my recovery drink and washed everything down with some refreshing cold coconut water. While we all were on our runners high,
a couple of us were a little nauseous at the finish and the pizza and beer we dreamed of didn’t happen. We stopped for a quick bite and were on our way, four giddy girls who just shared a powerful experience and now share a special bond provided by the Pemi Loop. Lets share a beer soon ladies, reminisce and plan our next adventure!
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