I had a blast taking on the Stowe Pinnacle trail today for little birthday challenge. The trail was super messy and slippery - mostly mud and wet rocks but also some ice flows and packed snow. I carried my microspikes but didn’t end up using them. I was very glad to have worn my Merrell winter running shoes that have extra traction and exterior gortex gaiters as they were super helpful as were my trekking poles.
I carried a pretty full kit given the trail conditions and forecast so all 10 essentials, some emergency gear, a few snacks, spikes, trekking poles, 1L of fluid and the necessary layers.
I power hiked rather then run given the trail conditions and definitely needed to take my time on slippery sections, especially on the way down. Had a spectacular slip on soft mud but otherwise was fine. I’m proud of my time given the conditions, had a blast slipping and sliding around and am very happy to get a women’s record on the board.
I started and stopped both my watch and Strava app right at the trailhead kiosk so I’m not sure why Strava’s recording is so much longer at 4.8 miles. But the garmin distance measured is pretty much spot on for the the trail at 3.3 miles out and back. I believe the original gpx file for the route included a bit of a walk to the trailhead. Also worth noting that this is of course both ascent and descent even though the route listed is ‘ascent’.