Porcupine Mountains Loop (MI)

Michigan, US

Distance

26.2 mi

Vertical Gain

3,780 m

Submitted by Joe Kallo:

The Porcupine Mountains Traverse is a ~26mi, gnarly, technical, loop which crosses most of the tallest peaks in the Porcupine Mountain Wilderness State Park, combining several of the park’s trails. Expect lots of mud, hemlock roots, and rock. Approximately 6 miles of the loop are on the ridge overlooking Lake of the Clouds valley with magnificent views of the Lake of the Clouds, Lake Superior, and all the peaks the route crosses. The first/last 4.5 miles of the loop are on the Escarpment Trail, a frequently airy ridge with 300’ vert a mile. Don’t neglect to climb the tower on Summit Peak for one of the best views on the loop.

GPS Track

activity_5562724650.gpx5.98 MB

FKTs

Standard route

Male

Supported
Michael McPherson			4h 39m 55s	2021-08-07
Neil Olson			5h 6m 54s	2020-07-18

Unsupported
David Johnson	4h 42m 50s	2020-09-18
Jeff Lindstrom	5h 20m 43s	2020-06-28
Randy Elliott	5h 32m 11s	2020-06-16

Mixed-gender team

Unsupported
Jake Hegge, Gretchen Metsa			4h 41m 37s	2021-09-30
Joe Kallo, Allison Kallo			7h 52m 37s	2019-10-20

Female

Unsupported
Alison Liewen			5h 25m 37s	2020-09-17

Supported
Joanna Olson			6h 35m 24s	2020-07-18

Comments

Hey All, I'm heading up to camp with my family in the Porkies Saturday through Wednesday. I'm planning to take a stab at the FKT, but with Randy dropping the time over 2 hours I'm much more intimidated at having a shot at it. Even if I don't get the FKT, spending multiple hours exploring the park sounds really cool so I'm pretty stoked to go and give it a whirl sometime this weekend or early next week. I don't have a live link or anything fancy but will post my time via my GPS upon completion.

Hey jlindstrom727! I hope you have a great adventure! The trail is stunningly beautiful (at times) and can be super technical. When we did it, there were several miles of shoe sucking mucky mud, and lots of regular slippy mud too. I was really grateful to have my trekking poles (which I almost didn't bring).

I'm looking forward to hearing how to goes for you and what you think of the route.

Take care!

Allison

Hello all,

Gonna give a go at the men's FKT not sure if it will happen or not, but seems like a fun challenge. Cheers!

-Neil Olson

Will be doing this attempt starting about 5am this Saturday 7/18, cheers!

-Neil

I will also be joining Neil, running the same route but not running together. Excited to check out the porcupine wilderness area! Joanna

Y'all have fun! May you be spared by the bugs!

Ericka Olin & I are planning to run this route this weekend. We will attempt to set a supported FKT and look forward to seeing the Porcupine Mts. Thanks to Joe and Allison for creating this route!

Alison Liewen and myself will (independently) attempt the unsupported female and male FKTs either tomorrow or Friday. We're so excited to try this awesome loop!

I’m planning an unsupported FKT attempt this Saturday, May 29. Looking forward to a great day’s adventure in the Porkies!

Gretchen Metsa and I will be attempting the unsupported mixed-team FKT on 9/30/21.

Route: Porcupine Mountains Loop (MI)

FKTs

Comments