Route: Pemigewasset Loop (NH)

The Pemigewasset Loop is a rugged 30-mile route in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. It has become a popular backpacking route, as well as a tough 1-day challenge. This page has detailed information about the route.  Here we record FKTs for the loop in either direction, plus for the Double Pemi, as well as for the so-called "Super Pemi", or "Super Extended Pemi", which adds on North Twin, Hale, and Zealand (or the reverse) to create a larger loop of around 43 miles with about 15,000' of climbing. More information on the Super Pemi is linked in the FKT report by Nate Weeks. As a further challenge is the 14 Pemi 4000ft that visit all 14 peaks above 4000ft (see below). Lastly, there is the Twins/Bonds Traverse from North Twin Trailhead to Lincoln Woods Trailhead as outlined here. This route is a formidable single-day trek, almost totaling 20 miles. It is normally done as a two-day backpacking trip, and has multiple miles of ridgeline above 4000 feet high, and climbs almost 5000 ft. West Bond is known to be one of the best views in the entirety of the White Mountains. The trail follows the Eastern side of the Pemi loop.

NOTE:  The Pemi Loop has a Strava Segment.  But, the Segment starts & ends on the north side of the bridge over the East Branch Pemigewasset River.  The FKT is car-to-car, so starting and ending at the parking lot.  It's not a huge difference (about 500' total), but for such a competitive FKT it is important to have consistency.

Eli Burakian pioneered an option do climb all 14 4000ers within the Pemigewasset Wilderness (50 miles, 17,800' elevation gain).  Eli:  "The Pemigewasset Loop ... though aesthetically appealing, hits just eight of the 4000 footers in the Pemigewasset Wilderness. The route passes near four others, and that extended version is also straightforward and achievable. In 2016, Nate Weeks put up the FKT for the "Super Pemi" which adds on Mt. Hale. This is a fantastic loop, but still only covers 13 of the 14 peaks.  Owls Head, at just over 4,000 feet looks like a hump in the middle of the wilderness. It's out of the way and seemingly is not part of any logical loop. But it actually is!"  Here is Eli's suggested route, starting from Lincoln Woods (however, the FKT is for tagging all the peaks TH-TH, so you can use any route):

1. Lincoln Woods Trail to Osseo Trail
2. Osseo Trail to Mt. Flume 
3. Franconia Ridge Trail to Mt. Lafayette 
4. backtrack to hump between Lafayette and Lincoln, cut right (east) off of the ridge near cairn
5. bushwhack down to Lincoln Slide, probably 200 vertical feet (NOTE: this is fragile alpine terrain, be very careful to not step on the plants, use the rocks as much as possible. just be careful and respectful)
6. from there just follow the slide which is loose scree over granite bedrock. It funnels down into a streamed where you follow it until a natural choke point. You definitely want dry conditions for this. At the choke point, head to the left and just head downhill (east) keeping the stream on your right.
7. Reach Lincoln Brook, cross over it, and join the Lincoln Brook Trail. Head south for less than a mile to the Owl's Head Path
8. Owls Head Path to summit of Owls Head
9. Continue north past the summit of Owls Head, following the Ridgeline, which is tight bushwhack opening up down below. You basically head due north. (NOTE: on my supplied gpx file, I veered too far to the west, which is tighter going. Try to stay straight along the ridge.
10. Reach Lincoln Brook trail and this time head North to Thirteen Falls and junction with Franconia Brook Trail
11. Head Left (west) on Franconia Brook Trail to summit of Mt. Garfield
12. Head back east on Garfield Ridge Trail to Galehead Hut
13. Out and back to Galehead Mountain
14. Twinway from hut to summit of South Twin Mountain
15. North Twin spur to summit of North Twin
16. North Twin Trail to Firewarden's Trail - IMPORTANT: Follow the North Twin trail down the mountain where it will eventually cross over the Little River. The trail at some point crosses back over to the west side of the river but there's also a trail that stays along the east side. Stay on the east side of the river and look for an obvious, but unsigned trail on the right somewhere around 2100 feet in elevation. Although this trail, called the Fire Warden's trail, isn't an official trail on most maps, it's very well maintained and provides a beautiful smooth non-technical ascent up Mt. Hale
17. Lend-a-Hand Trail from Mt. Hale to Twinway
18. Twinway to Bondcliff Trail
19. Out-and-back to West Bond
20. Bondcliff Trail to Lincoln Woods Trail
21. Lincoln Woods. You're done! 

Here's a summary of FKT activity on the (single) Pemi.  See the FKT reports for more detailed information:

Ryan Welts launched a recent spate of FKT attempts on the Pemi by running the route in 7h05m32s on August 9, 2009. He had support on Mt. Lafayette and had made a food drop at Galehead Hut the day before.

Less than a month later, on September 4, 2009, Ben Nephew (9 time Escarpment Trail winner) and Kevin Tilton ran the Pemi in a new FKT of 7h04m47s, taking just 45 seconds off of Welts' record!

Jan Wellford beat Nephew & Tilton's time on September 8, 2010, running the loop in 6h47m04s.

Next, on June 19, 2011, Adam Wilcox did the Pemi in 6h46m10s, less than 1 minute faster than Wellford.

On September 11, 2011, Ben Nephew cruised the Pemi in 6h27m48s. This time stood as the FKT for nearly 4 years.

Adam Wilcox reclaimed this hotly contested FKT on June 14, 2015, running the route in 6h14m34s. Wilcox said "After almost 4 years of trying, this one meant a lot to me."

Not to be outdone, Nephew reclaimed the FKT from Wilcox less than 2 months later, running 6h10m7s on August 8, 2015.

Finally, Ben Thompson has brought the FKT down by a few more minutes, running the loop in 6h6m53s on September 12, 2017.

As best I can tell, prior to Welts the FKT for the Pemi Loop was held by Alex Kahl, at "about 7h25m" in (August?) 2005. Charles Dona reported doing 7h26m31s in September 2008, which seems to be close enough to "about 7h25m" to be considered a tie.

"Is someone chasing you or are you doing this for fun?" -- Kevin Tilton

Here's a fun and short (< 4mins) video by Robert Blakemore replaying the 9 fastest Pemi times as if were a race:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPPJYN1wBSA&feature=youtu.be

Men's Pemi Loop FKT progress:
Alex Kahl, about 7h25m, 2005
Charles Dona, 7h26m31s, Sept. 2008
Ryan Welts, 7h5m32s, Aug. 9, 2009
Ben Nephew & Kevin Tilton, 7h4m47s, Sept. 4, 2009
Jan Wellford, 6h47m4s, Sept. 8, 2010
Adam Wilcox, 6h46m10s, June 19, 2011
Ben Nephew, 6h27m48s, Sept. 11, 2011
Adam Wilcox, 6h14m34s, June 14, 2015
Ben Nephew, 6h10m7s, Aug. 8, 2015

Ben Thompson, 6h6m53s, Sep. 12, 2017

Women:

Kristina Folcik ran the Pemi in 9h3m15s on Aug. 27, 2011. Prior to this, the fastest women's time appears to have been by Sue Johnston, 9h15m. Folcik's time was bested less than a year later (June 16, 2012) by Larisa Dannis, who ran counter-clockwise in 7h40m52s.  Three months later, Dannis reported (below) beating her own FKT by about 6 minutes, running 7h34m25s on Sept. 17, 2012. Kelsey Allen reported (below) setting a new women's FKT of 7h12m55s on August 30, 2014.