FKT: Nicholas Su - 3 Canyon Infinity Loop: Grove Creek, Battle Creek, and Dry Canyons (UT) - 2022-10-15

Athletes
Route variation
Standard route
Multi-sport
No
Gender category
Male
Style
Unsupported
Start date
Finish date
Total time
5h 7m 56s
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Started ~10:30 from the battle creek trailhead, a little later than ideal since it already started getting warm and there were tons of people along the trail. Passed through an awesome fall yellow cedar grove on the way up to Baldy before getting there a little after noon. The descent down the east side was not technical but very steep, and by the time i made it back to down to Bonneville Shore Trail it was warming up. I followed Bonnevile Shore trail per FKT instruction, but appears slightly different from the map route. Close the first loop at 11miles in just over 3 hours.

Second time up battle creek was much warmer, but leveled out nicely going left at the top fork. From the top fork, the descent was MUCH better than expected, very smooth and runnable the entire way. I was predicting a ~2:30 loop but ended up going just over 2 hrs due to how quick the descent down Grove Creek was. Finished in 5:07:56 elapsed time and 19 miles.

Overall, a super nice return to doing stupid trail activities. All three canyons were remarkably different: battle creek was narrow and shaded, dry canyon was, well... dry, and filled with red leaves, and Grove Creek had some very pleasant rock faces and faintly exposed but runnable trail. The least fun parts were definitely the flat return legs to Battle Creek trailhead, which were incredibly hot.

The existing FKT for this figure-8 was 6:30, but if I were to run this area more I think i could hit closer to 4:30, with a more elite runner hitting down below 3:30 closer to 3 hours. I would probably do the grove creek loop first if i were to try again; the runnable section is probably better done with fresher legs.

Unsupported effort, consumed 610cal (240 bloks, 140 powerade, 230 nut butter bar) + 1L water.