On December 9, 2020 at 9:07 a.m. I attempted a solo FKT of the Snowbank Loop. We’ve been having unseasonably warm and dry weather so I was hoping the snowpack wouldn’t be too bad.
I went in the clockwise direction. The first 6 or 7 miles had been pretty well used so snow wasn’t much of an issue and that section was pretty runnable. After that the trail became more technical and had a few inches of snow on it. It felt like running in sand and I cramped up and slowed down.
The last few miles of trail were in pretty good condition too but by then I was shot. I stumbled in at 2:22 pm in 5:15:16. I consumed 1300 calories (probably not enough) and 1.5 liters of water (about right for the 40 degree weather). I didn’t see any people the whole day. Thanks to Alexander Falconer again for setting a time to beat and for submitting so many routes this summer in the Boundary Waters. This is a beautiful trail!