FKT: Brandon Minckler - Cat Thomas Loop - 2022-09-03

I've been thinking about this one for about a month, as I hadn't stood atop Thomas or Cat in about 8 years.  With sunny skies and temps in the 70s, I decided to give it a go.  I knew it was going to be a challenge to make a decent time.  Being the weekend, the trails were somewhat busy, but it was nice to be back in the area and running.  Allergens were affecting my breathing a little on the first half of the run, with a stuffy nose, but it started to clear out after about 30 minutes into it.  Probably the goldenrod...Anyways, I kept at it, pushing myself to maintain a decent pace.  Had a little left in me toward the end, and I knew the time was going to be tight, so I sprinted it to the gate before hitting the stop button.  The day was still early, and I felt ok, so I decided to climb Swede mtn as a cool down hike.   For Thomas/Cat loop I carried a hydration pack with 1.5L of water/electrolytes.  All in all it was another great day spent in the adk mtns.