Kevin and I started out at Chamber's Grove at 11:38 a.m. It was pretty warm with a feel like temperature of almost 80 degrees and almost no wind. We had our packs full of snacks, two soft flasks a piece full of water and electrolytes, ( our trusty filter bottle stowed away just in case) and were both wearing our Mount to Coast H1s. We ran almost everything up to Spirit Mountain, especially from the tunnel to the ski hill (so fun to run that slight downhill) only stopping to grab a couple thimbleberries. We refilled our soft flasks at the chalet and set back out.
The berries were popping and we couldn't help but stop (quite often) to help ourselves. The trails were in good shape, just really dry. We made a quick pit stop at Traverse Duluth and got ourselves a Dr. Pepper and and Arnie Palmer tea. Then the march was on, up Keane and across Brewer. We made another stop at the portapotty on Haines Road and then continued on up and over Piedmont. We really enjoyed the flowy switchbacks down to Enger.
We detoured from Twin Ponds up to Enger Park on the SHT to once again refill our bottles. Sadly, the coffee truck was not there. We then returned to Twin Ponds and kept on going. We were passed by one runner and Kevin took it personally, however we did not speed up.
We came out on the antenna farm and enjoyed the view, ran into the Marshall area, crossed over west Chester and into the park. We had planned on refilling our bottles at Hartley, but since it was already after 5, we weren't sure if the Nature Center would be open. So we once again detoured at the top of Bagley, up to the Super One, for a bathroom break, to refill our bottles once again, and get a couple Body Armors. We retraced our steps and got back on the trail.
We continued on through Hartley, the Nature Center was open, so we topped off our bottles, used the bathroom, and ran down into Woodland. As our eyes adjusted Kevin spotted an owl up in the trees, which was pretty impressive, considering it was pretty dark and I (Shannon) was watching my feet. At this point we were trying to run the majority of the trail so we could finish before dusk.
We came to Hawk's Ridge, the most technical section of the trail. Kevin realized we could hit sub 9 hours if we pushed a little (which was not much pushing on Hawk's Ridge, because like I said, it's technical). But, when we got to Lester River Trail we got up to speed, until we ran into a bear. But he was pretty chill, fat and happy on berries, so we continued on.
Kevin led the way and I begrudgingly followed, but the trail was smooth and some mountain bikers said we had less than a mile left (they really didn't know), but that gave me hope, and we ended up popping out at the bottom of the trail in Lester Park in 8:58:44. We made it with over a minute to spare and before it got dark.
We had our packs full of fruit snacks, peachios, SIS beta fuel gels, oatmeal creme pies, a couple Uncrustables, corn chips, and The Feed Electrolyte Mix. (We still had plenty of fuel when we finished).
We didn't really see many people (which makes sense because it was a Tuesday), but quite a few deer, and not too many bugs (surprisingly).
It was a perfect date day on the trail.