We headed out to the Lindeman Lake parking lot to for 7:30am to start our FKT attempt and head out ahead of the summer crowds on the first 1.5-2km of the trail. We ran together right from the start and all the way through the route, trading off on leading, passing the role back and forth throughout the run. We each packed our own water and snacks for the route, knowing this route could take anywhere between 3.5 and 5 hours.
Starting early let us beat the heat and we cruised up to Lindeman lake, greeting the campers who had spent the night. The route to the lake is technical, but well marked and well used. The boulders begin right after Lindeman and continue to reappear throughout the remainder of the route and climb. We navigated boulders, said good morning to 1 Black Bear and a Pika. We continued up to the Flora Summit for a quick out and back to take in the views, and then we ran into the final descent. The summit is well marked and loose dirt, somewhat exposed but without any scrambling. Running into the only other person we saw on route since the very start of the run we said hello and cruised on down, back to the start of the loop.
We were even more grateful for our early start as we returned to both the parking lot and road side filled with vehicles. Passing would have been a challenge in those initial km's so for anyone wanting to do this route - be sure to go early!