A great day to have a day. I've been chasing the Northeast Ultra 8, and figured I'd give a proper self-supported FKT shot at the Saranac 6 while at it. I carried basically just a waist belt and handheld for the entire run and refilled flasks from the stockpile of water and gels I left in my passenger seat. I also managed to switch shoes before Ampersand which I think helped my feet hold up better than some other longer trail days I've had.
I started at the green and ran from the center to my parked car then drove directly to Mckenzie/haystack. Mckenzie is the single worst trail I've ever climbed to get up any summit. Very eroded and steep. Haystack was cruisy vibes the whole time. I don't think I had to power hike a single step of that spur.
I bonked very hard on the ascent up scarface next. I upped carb intake immediately after this one and felt much better the rest of the way. To me, that was not a particularly pleasant trail or summit; scarface would've been the worst one to do last. There was nothing to break up the monotony except spider webs.
Ampersand was beautiful, with a runnable trail in, short and steep climb, gorgeous views (I sacrificed a couple minutes to take in some views at the top; it was too good not to), and a great afternoon to be up there soaking it all in.
I thoroughly enjoyed St. Regis. I had good views at the top, a pretty runnable trail, and very runnable downhill. Unfortunately a rock caught my shoe, ripped the upper, and sent me tumbling. It certainly left some nice battle scars and blood running down my knees from that one, but it fired up a little adrenaline to help finish.
I got back to the green just a hair over 8 hours and went to the pain cave on Baker. The ascent is downright steep for a short section, and it's a bit scary to run down since it's mainly exposed rock slab covered in pine needles. No more falls occurred though, and I made it back to the road and hauled back to the green.
Definitely a fun challenge, and a bit different from the other Northeast Ultra 8s with considerable driving between summits. I'm very happy to have been able to onsight the route in a fairly quick time.