a few big un's

[mastergrasshopper]

a few big a few little and LOTS of water.
A big loop. Always a bit crazy. Left my food on Sky first time.
This was my 4th "big loop"
route = colvin/blake>P ridge>P gorge> sky Marcy and down the range and out wedge brook.
Trails all in great condition.
The heat was the big factor.
consumed 350 oz of fluids and only 2 very short pee breaks.
dry heat with 20 - 30 mph winds above tree line made this seem like a south west hike.
started at 4:00 am
the moonlight patterns through the trees on the lake road were really cool.
the air was already warm as I started up Colvin.
the views from Colvin pre dawn were very nice
Blake and P ridge were wonderful and I was on the shade side of ridge most of the way. Marcy swamp and the very nice trail up to P gorge came and went as the sun and heat began to climb. P gorge 5:28 (elapsed time ) and feeling great.
filled water and headed up to 4 corners and Sky. left pack and shirt at 4 corners and summited Sky in just shorts and shoes. very strong warm wind.
wind chill felt like about 90 above zero.Time to Sky was 6:22
Marcy and the first of only a few people I would see all day. Still very strong wind and a few people were concerned about summiting due to wind factor as I headed down. As I started up junction to haystack the heat started to take its toll. felt sick and leg cramps. debated being able to finish. slowed to crawl and sucked nuun enhanced water, munched pretzels. On haystack the wind was so strong I would have turned back if it was winter. Brought pack as I needed the extra ballast and constant flow of water.5 min. down towards snowbird I found a small cold trickle of water and sat down to pump water and super hydrate. The ledges of Basin were roasting in the direct sun but I felt good again. Felt good untill SB and then sick and listless on the way down inspite of sucking down 70 oz of fluids. Pumped water again just 1 min down from SB / G coll ( a small ice cold pocket of water in a bed of moss )
once again felt good and headed up Gothics and the sunblasted rock. From Gothics on it was just a steady pace on out. Finished in 15:10 an hour slower than best but very glad to finish. It was a long slow walk back to my truck and more hydration.
altogether I had 2 protein drinks (16 oz each ) 2 coconut water drinks ( 16 oz each) 4 x 70 oz water.
feet felt great in my very old hurricane ridge shoes with thick sole inserts.
Last run for them and so I was in the mountaineer the next day to get some new trail runners. As Jan was fitting me for some new montrails he mentioned he had ben over in NH doing a few Pressi traverses. I said how the shuttle bus doesn't cater to hikers that start early and run late ie for a 10 hour pressi. Then I said but hey your a lot faster. He said yeh he only took about 5 hours One cool dude
mantra for day " one man down and another to go, my oh my buddy your mov'in much too slow "
cold water = life
MG

[twinpeaks]

1:28 from Lake Road to Panther Gorge over Colvin/Blake/Pinnacle? WOW

impressive trip!

[billandjudy]

Jeez Louise Hopper

[SummitHat]

Crazy impressive. I have no idea where the rate of constructive liquid absorption during strenuous exercise tops out, but I expect taking in 350 oz in 15 hours on a tour of ten high peaks in baked conditions is pushing some limit. Any idea of how much body weight you metabolized? Quite a feat.

[randomscooter]

Nice stroll in the woods Glen. You should've stopped by afterward. I might have jumped on the opportunity** and invited you to hike Nundagao.

**opportunity... maybe I could've kept up with you.

[PA Ridgerunner]

350 liters of fluid, and only 2 short pee breaks...you musta really been sweating!!!

Very impressive hike...dang.

[Skinney]

One word Glen...

MINDBOGGLING!

At those speeds I don't know if I would want to walk a mile in your shoes!

[AdkWalrus]

Originally Posted by twinpeaks

1:28 from Lake Road to Panther Gorge over Colvin/Blake/Pinnacle? WOW

impressive trip!

I thought the same thing and then re-read -- He started at 4am and it took him 5:28 to reach Panther Gorge. 1:28 would be quite a trick! (Jan?)

[PA Ridgerunner]

Originally Posted by AdkWalrus

I thought the same thing and then re-read -- He started at 4am and it took him 5:28 to reach Panther Gorge. 1:28 would be quite a trick! (Jan?)

Yeah, it's almost 10 miles just to the junction with the Elk Lake trail. Arriving at summit of Colvin at 5:28am would even be pretty swift.

[mastergrasshopper]

An alert reader mentioned to me that 350 liters = 92 gallons
I was very thirsty but 350 OZ was more like what really happened.
Also start time was 4:00 am then I gave a few elapsed times to P gorge, Sky, and finish.
Jan might be able to run it in close to 2 hours if that was the goal for the day.
What I've found out about this route is one must think of the whole, it's a long walk out from P gorge. One of my 4 hikes on this route I tried to break 5 to P-gorge ( 5:09 ) and ended up with a very long slow walk up to 4 corners and wasn't fully recovered untill after Sky > Marcy.
I haven't been doing as much big elevation training for last few months so this was planned as a very consistent pace hike. As I grow older I'm leaning more towards the Joe Cedar school of fast hiking " I never run " rather than the Jan " I run the whole thing and set new records or personel bests "

the mental and physical game with the heat was the main thing for this hike.
I ate my own thoughts and any 2nd guessing I might have done from some other TR's this spring during some very hot weather done by some very accomplished well trained hikers. I thought of my thoughts as I stood at the bottom of Gothics with a few sips of water left ( just pumped 70 oz down from Haystack ) I walked up a ways to the open rock and said I must have more water to continue. option 1 bail out orebed, hitch ride to truck absolutely NOT, conserve my 20 or so oz of water and hike Gothics and bail out sawteeth where I knew I could get water. A long walk out on road and one more trip to sawteeth just wasn't it.
I'm always telling people I can find water so 1 min down orebed there is a big hollow of moss. I found a pocket of water under a fallen log and was able to get ice cold water. I took a full 10 min break pumped water, drank water, and put cold washcloths of water under my arms and between my legs till I started to shiver.
with a cool core and 70 oz of fresh water plus what I drank from the pump, the rest of the trip was cool and my water lasted untill gate.
MG

[mastergrasshopper]

Originally Posted by randomscooter

Nice stroll in the woods Glen. You should've stopped by afterward. I might have jumped on the opportunity** and invited you to hike Nundagao.

**opportunity... maybe I could've kept up with you.

hey I went and did jay range the next day after visiting with Jan a getting some new treads for my feet.
I was still wearing shoes I had in rotation from some Big un's with you

legs did well, feet even better, what still hurts is my right wrist, crazy thing is this route involves more hand work than I'm used to running the nice trails I run on a regular basis.

every time I stop by your in my home town
I'm driving back up friday with my 4 year old grand son to climb some little un's Think you can keep up ???
MG

[randomscooter]

Originally Posted by mastergrasshopper

every time I stop by your in my home town
I'm driving back up friday with my 4 year old grand son to climb some little un's Think you can keep up ???
MG

Yeah, I'm getting to be a Syracuse regular. Can't imagine why.

You called my bluff. I'll probably (almost certainly) be continuing my work on the new cabin all weekend. Mrs. Scooter will be here too. You and your grandson should stop by for a <root> beer.

[Cory D]

I like big uns. I like little uns too. I become less picky the older I get.

[Adirondack Ladies]

Nice TR - I don't know how you manage to hike that length in that heat!! Was that your green truck in the parking lot? We all guessed it might be.

[mtnhiker]

MG - I always enjoy reading of your adventures. Inspiring.

[randomscooter]

Originally Posted by Cory D

I like big uns. I like little uns too. I become less picky the older I get.

Whatever exactly you mean by that, you're way too young to be talkin' that way.

[hillman1]

"Bound to cover just a little more ground"?

[Neil]

Nice little hike there. Thank you for not inviting me on this one.

How many ounces in a liter? Sounds like you went through 10 or 11, which means I would have easily topped 15. (Break out the potassium tablets.)

Intense heat all week here in Montreal, well over 100 with the humidex factor every day. I couldn't imagine doing a lung burner like that.

[JoeCedar]

Great job, Glen, explaining to the forum readers how a long hike like this is affected by temperature and humidity. It's a whole different ball game, and adds considerably to the body stress, even for someone in your excellent condition for such a young age. Water management and nutrition become the most important thing. You can't just do it the same as you have other times.

I had total ascent data for most of the segments, and estimate that you climbed 12,570 feet in those 15 hours. Miles must be close to 30. Fantastic!

I was in the Whites this week (see the forum section nobody reads) and was surprised that even with the strong wind (but warm/humid), I was getting very little evaporative cooling from perspiration. So the old body just continues sweating. Up there, though, I just stopped into a hut and got free refills.

[Highonlife]

MG....as always I am in awe of you, just love your reports.

Coconut water is great, I drink it alot...not just for the hydration but for the amount of potassium in it.

Keep these treks and reports coming