On Friday, April 2nd I ran the Snowbank-Disappointment Loop in the Boundary Waters. I thought there wouldn’t be much snow left on the trail or that it might be packed down. I was wrong. I started at 8:43am and went clockwise. I quickly realized that there was at least as much snow as last fall when I ran the Snowbank Loop and that it would make for a very difficult run.
I took it slower than before at first. In places the snow was firm enough to hold me up but it got softer as the morning progressed. Soon I was sinking down into 10” of snow in places.
The day was cloudy and cool. I ran by myself, unsupported. I didn’t see anyone else. There were tracks from 1 or 2 people a couple miles from the trailhead in both directions and a few curious tracks in the middle of the route from some adventuresome person, but mostly just moose and wolves. This is the place to be if you want solitude. I started with 1 liter of water and purified another liter. There are quite a few small streams to take water from. I ate about 1000 calories. I got back to my car at 3:01pm, exhausted from trudging through all the snow.
Thanks again to Alexander Falconer for submitting another cool route!