Weekly Run Log - August 07-13, 2011

08/08/2011:  Ran the start of the Eccles Pass Loop. Ran out 30 minutes, (1,100' vert by my watch). Returned after 0:50 total elapsed minutes. 0:50, 3.5 miles, 1,100' vert.

08/10/2011: Ran the Goshen Trail to the Summit of Sunapee. Felt amazing! Could have turned around and run it again. Felt like I hadn't even run at all. Also took 12 or so minutes off my best time. 1:20, 7.0 miles, 1,500' vert.

08/11/2011: Ran from the cottage to the summit of Sunapee again by way of the Goshen Trail. Took my time this time! 1:33, 7.0 miles, 1,500' vert.

08/13/2011: A sentimental favorite of mine, the Presidential Traverse, after having single-day-hiked this a few times several years ago. I had never actually run this route over 11 summits of the Presidential Range in northern New Hampshire but figured while I was in NH and while I needed a long run I might as well shoot for the top. I made a good choice. This is definately a  climbing run – a good training run for Hardrock: 8,700’+ of climb over 24 miles. After running it from North to South I would recommend running it from South to North next time for several reasons. Hiking makes sense from North to South because the speed is slower and one can deal with the dew on the lichen encrusted rocks much better at a slow speed. For the higher speed travel of trail running it would make sense for the sun to evaporate the dew from the rocks to make footing better. This would have the additional benefit of giving more time for the shuttle (the last shuttle shows up at Valley Way at 3:55 as opposed to 1:30 at the Highland Center).

I drove up the night before and slept in the car. I discovered upon arriving that a.) it is really busy on a weekend night at Appalachia and b.) it was a full moon and therefore a bright night for a moonlight traverse (I had talked about doing this with friends years ago and now here I was with the opportunity). I actually slept about three to three and a half hours and was ready to go a little early at 3:15 when I started my stopwatch. I was shooting for the Highland Center at 1:30 in the afternoon so, in order to give myself 10 hours of running time, I would have left at 3:30 in the am. 

The only snafu was towards the beginning where I accidentally got rerouted back on to the Valley Way trail instead of climbing up the direct route of the Watson Trail. By the time I had realized that I had made a wrong turn I was no longer in a mood to climb hand over foot up the very steep Watson Path. I was comfortable with going by the Madison Hut twice, retracing my steps 0.5 miles after tagging the summit of Madison. 

Sunrise. Taken between Madison and Adams.

The summit of Madison was amazing. I was there a little early for the sunrise and the sunrise ended up lingering until after I was done summiting Adams 45 minutes later. There were clouds on the horizon that trapped the sunlight and made it a dark red as well as clouds down low over the Androscoggin RIver Valley. I couldn't have witnessed a better sunrise.

 Madison (5367') from the Summit of Adams (5774')

Mount Jefferson (5712') on the right and Mt. Washington (6288') in the cloud on the left

I stressed over the time I was making (unnecessarily). The talus that makes up the Northern Presidentials was covered in lichen and the lichen was covered in dew. Dew which didn't evaporate off until around 10:00 when I was far into the Southern Presidentials. I slipped and slid on the flattest and most ordinary of rocks. I even fell once, a total surprise. The slick surfaces played with my sense of which surfaces were good to plant my feet on and which were not. It wasn't until I was on the much more stable (and dirt covered) trails of the Southern Presidentials that I could actually run and make up time. I was slightly disappointed in my arrival at the summit of Washington at just after 8:00 am (4:54 into the run) but I had no idea what kind of time I could make up from there on.

My fifth peak of the day at 8:09am, Mt. Washington (6288')

The rest of the Southern Presidentials from Monroe (5372')

The trail quality improved to a much more runable singletrack and I was able to run all the way back to 302 with a few stops to negotiate some ledges between Pierce, Jackson, and Webster. I would not hesitate to recommend running in the Southern Presis, on the Crawford Trail and any of the loop trails to anyone unfamiliar with the White Mountains. I am excited to try running in more places in the Whites in the future. 9:14, 24.0 miles, 8,700' vert.

Weekly Summary: 41.5 miles, 12,800' vert.