Shannon and I set out to set the official standard for the gate to 8 one way and out and back.The weather was forcasted to be a hot one even with a storm coming in later in the day. It was evident right away the heat and humidity was going to be a factor. Sweating started almost instantly. Might even say from the walk to the cars to the actually gate where we start. Shannon Husband and daughter sent us off on our journey and met us about .3 left as we came right where the top of the stairs are after mile marker 0 back making this supported FKTS. Mile marker 0 is actually about 3 or 4 tenths from the actual gate if you dont know the trail. and miles 0-1 are actually only .6 of a mile thus is why mileage is always short when people run gate to 8 its not a true 8 miles each way.
Anyway as we started we got in a nice rythem. The climbs did suck a lot all run long was really hard to run them and every time we tried the sweat would pour off even more. They really shoot your heart rate up and took a tool on the legs in the heat. I thought about taking poles but was 50/50 on using them and opted not to. Trying to talk during the FKTS was hard with the humidity in air was hard get out words at least for me. Saw 20 or so different people on the trail passed by most each each way with just a few different ones. There was a ton of different big mushrooms along the trail and a variety of them. One nice thing was the trail was actually cut back on the sides. So there wasnt and thorns or stinging nettles. Saw one snake no other wildlife. Both took a good amount of hydration with us but were starting run out towards end. I know i took more then normally would because of the heat. We didnt fall at all so thats a huge plus, just a few rock kicking or stumbles. The huge climb was really horrible thats where humidity id say was its worse. That whole mile plus climbing takes breathe away. Was equally bad coming back on the quads and stabilizer muscles. Did enjoy some of the log bridges that have been fixed. Thought for a minute we missed the mile 8 marker cause watch said to trun around but around 2 more corners we finally go it at the end, there didnt seem to be good gps signal i wasnt getting my normal alerts on turns as i should have been. Really isnt to much to specifically say. We knew what we had to do and we knew the trail so was not any surprises.The views in morning were foggy but way back did open up to see the valley. The one thing i will say is we should have done it in cooler temps so we wernt losing as much water weight and having refuel as much.