Wow, what a beautiful wild loop and experience!! I have been wanting to link the Salmon River old-growth rainforest to the Timberline alpine for years and am so grateful I finally got to try this route and connect the dots to some beloved places. Thanks to Christof Teuscher for concocting the Wy’cool Challenge Series and to friends and the community for advice/encouragement/inspiration over the last few years that I’ve been pondering the 100K.
After much internal debate on pros and cons of start location and direction, I planned on clockwise from Green Canyon to get the potentially tricky Hunchback navigation out of the way first, as well as the majority of the climbing. But I think this route would be brutal and wonderful in either direction from Zigzag or other start locations as well, with different pros and cons.
I began the climb up Green Canyon at 4:38am with owls screeching in the dark. It was warm enough already to be in a tank top and shorts and I didn’t add layers for the rest of the day. I timed my start so that I could navigate the Hunchback blowdown tree nest obstacle course in dawn light (and am glad I did, although this section was much more navigable than in seasons past). I filtered and filled water near the Zigzag Ranger Station, and the Zigzag Mtn section was very overgrown (slow) and rugged in areas. The dip down to West Zigzag TH offered nice streams but I did not need to fill until the Timberline Trail. Many wildflowers and summery scents throughout the day. Crossing over the tiny Salmon River flowing just east of Timberline Lodge was a big highlight around the 50K mark/halfway point, with nearly 11K of climbing done at that point.
The rolling descent on the PCT was a smooth treat and it was inspiring to cross paths with many thru-hikers eager for Timberline Lodge delights. After leaving the PCT, I saw no one else for the remaining 5.5 hours. The Jackpot Meadows/east Salmon River trail section was in great shape with only a few blowdowns. This could’ve been a pretty smooth "fast" section if only my body and brain had been able to manage some speed. I saw evidence of large beasts and a huge salamander offered to pace me 0.0001 miles of the final few miles but I declined. The nearly full moon rose but through the thick forest it offered little light assistance. Whistling and noisemaking to the darkness and myself kept me moving until the long slow end. I completed the loop just after midnight and promptly washed my feet in the cold Salmon River!
This day was a long time coming and I so appreciated the time and space and health to try the loop…because of this I realized I could effortlessly hold patience, calm, and positivity the whole day except the last 2 hours when I found it mentally and physically difficult to stay focused on the simple mantra “keep moving”.
In total I brought 6000 calories and ate nearly everything, and was glad I had 3 bottles/~1.5L capacity for the dry stretch on the PCT before Jackpot. I think I carried too much water elsewhere, however; the day wasn’t too hot and most of the route was in the shade of the forest.