The Pemi Loop: America's 2nd Hardest Day Hike
On May 13th Teton and friend Alpine Monkey traveled to the White Mountains to tackle one gigantic feat. Recognized as the second hardest day hike in America by Backpacker Magazine, the Pemi Loop, short for Pemigiwasset (the wilderness area covering the entirety of the loop), is a 32-mile trek through the wild heart of the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Scaling 10 mountains in total, with over _______ feet of elevation change, most hikers take 3 days to traverse what is known as New England's most infamous loop hike. On Backpacker's list, the Pemi Loop falls second only to the Mt. Hood Loop Hike in Oregon due to its shear mileage- 41 to be exact. From the moment Teton learned of its existence he knew he would tackle the White's most spectacular feat of endurance. After prodding friends to join him throughout the winter months, long time hiking buddy Alpine Monkey stepped up to the plate. A date was set and training ensued.
Account by Alpine Monkey
I had never heard of the Pemi Loop until this winter when Teton asked me if I wanted to attempt it with him come early spring. I naively accepted without even realizing what I was getting myself into. I’ve hiked long distances before, but had little experience with a 30+ mile, one-day hike through the White Mountains - which is home to some of the most rugged and physically demanding terrain in the country. After a fairly lazy winter, I was nervous about my physical fitness level. During the months leading up to the trip, I stepped up my running and biking distances weekly. Still, as the day approached I had some anxiety knowing I could have trained harder and been a little more prepared for what Backpacker Magazine claimed to be...
“the 2nd hardest day hike in America.”
Before I knew it, the 13th of May had arrived and I was driving 3.5 hours to meet Teton at the Lincoln Woods parking lot late in the evening to spend the night in our vehicles for an early rise. I always struggle to fall asleep on these trips. When you know the next day is going to be epic, it is hard to quiet the mind. It's annoying lying awake as the hours tick by, knowing you’re going to be that much more fatigued the next day- but that’s how it always is, so I didn’t let it get to me. I never even set my alarm but still awoke at 2 AM and saw the dim flicker of Teton's headlamp moving around in his truck next to me.
I had already prepared everything the night before so all there was to do was eat some breakfast quick and get moving. We made our final adjustments, topped off our water and snack stashes, put our headlamps on and headed out.
“It was really happening now. The mixture of excitement, nervousness, and watery oatmeal were all rolling around in my stomach.”
Coming into this I knew I was behind the curve physically. There isn’t anything remotely challenging to climb or train on around my home in Hartford, Connecticut. I wasn’t sure if my hiker muscles were ready to come out of hibernation all at once. The very first climb up Mt. Flume was in fleeting darkness. With tired and sleepy legs, I was nervous that I was in way over my head but the butterflies quickly faded once we reached our first peak in the early hours of dawn. The clouds and the sun mixed together and gave off this otherworldly feel that got me super excited that we were doing this. The heavenly atmosphere also reaffirmed why I love the White Mountains in particular.
“My blood started flowing and I finally settled into a solid pace. ”
One of the best things we did on this hike was to never look at a map or keep track of mileage. Teton was extremely familiar with the trails and the lay of the land and acted as our guide. This allowed us to focus on the day as a whole, rather than focusing on mile after grueling mile. I always tried to remind myself while climbing a peak and burning energy that I needed to save gas for the next one to come. That was my mentality the entire way.
Before I knew it we had gone up and over Flume, Liberty, Little Haystack, Lincoln and Lafayette. With five peaks down we knew the most challenging part of the trail was still ahead of us - the section between Mt. Lafayette and South Twin which traverses the Garfield Ridge Trail. This is the part that every blog and internet trip account had warned us about. Extremely rugged with countless ups and downs, it was also where Mt. Garfield stood between us and our intended lunch stop at Gale Head Hut. In similar fashion to the first dozen miles, I dropped my head and my mechanical movements kept pushing me up the hill. It’s important on long hikes like the Pemi to always stay disciplined. Try not to go faster or harder than you know you should. One over extended hop to a rock or unbalanced step can quickly turn a lovely hike into a horrible struggle to continue. I had taken a solid fall early on when my micro spike completely caught my boot's gator which resulted in minor scrapes but could have been more detrimental.
Once we reached Gale Head Hut only one more big climb separated us from the Bonds, the section that boast more overall decline than incline.
We paused at the hut for about 40 minutes. While consuming our packed lunches we rested our feet and listened to the other day hikers leisurely taking off from the comfy confines of the hut. It was an interesting dynamic, by this point we had been up for _____ hours and had hiked over ___ miles. Most of the other visitors were just getting started, fresh and excited about their upcoming day in the mountains. Above us loomed the next peak on our agenda, South Twin Mountain. Noted as the last grueling climb of the day we were both excited and dreadful. The mountain is short, only a 8/10ths of a mile from Galehead Hut to the summit, but it is steep- gaining 1,200 feet over the short course. Teton blasted ahead as he was looking to top his previous personal record ascent of the peak that he had attained while through hiking the Appalachian Trail two years prior, while I kept up with my more reserved pace
South Twin was certainly fun but equally grueling. What made it better was that our friends Twirls and Fin were at the top of the mountain! We did not plan for this to happen and it was such a morale booster to see them. We knew they would be visiting the area but we thought our schedules were a day off. Chance would have it that they would return from their spur to North Twin right as we summited.
Twirls and Fin hiked the remainder of the loop with us up until the Bondcliffs. We enjoyed their company, slowing down and chatting with the two helped take our minds off of the task at hand.
After saying our goodbyes, we headed down from Bondcliff feeling fantastic, we had basically finished the loop and just needed to lazily stroll out the rest of the way. In our minds it was all downhill from here.
What we naively guesstimated to be a nice 4 mile stroll back to the car actually ended up being another 9 miles! Walking on the old train track trail of Franconia Brook was mind numbing. Straight as an arrow and totally redundant, it took a serious mental toll. Over those last few miles all the physical pain I thought I had somehow avoided came crashing down on me with a vengeance. Even Teton, who I thought was invincible, looked fatigued which is a rare sight to see!
“We should have known the Pemi wouldn’t fall so easily.”
FINALLY we crossed over the entrance point we had arrived at 16 hours earlier that morning and we had officially completed the loop. I felt relieved, elated, extremely tired and worn, and euphoric. The fatigue brought me back in time to a few years ago on the AT when that was a normal everyday occurrence. It made me feel alive. That was the single most physically challenging thing I’d ever done in a single day, and the realization of the feat was pretty amazing. I’m writing this now, post trip - a couple days have passed and my legs still feel like someone is hitting them with a baseball bat. Thinking back on how fun and challenging the day was, I know it was all worth it.
A few things to remember if you attempt this hike:
If pursuing during a shoulder season bring MICROspikes. Seriously.
Don’t focus on the entire thing. Break it down into individual sections. Each time you reach the top of one mountain you’ll get a little bump of enthusiasm - helping you reach the next one.
You have go in knowing that you are going to finish the whole thing. The reason for this being, you really have no choice. The Pemigewasett Wilderness is so remote, there really is no simple way to 'bail' if you decide you aren’t capable of making it the whole way.
Pack light, keeping gear to the bare minimum.
You need to accept that it’s probably going to hurt. You will need some real grit in those last 10 miles or so. Once the major climbs are completed things can get pretty mindless and redundant, this will be your most vigorous test of endurance.
The most amazing thing about this hike is that you get to see all the progress you’ve made throughout the day. This can be a really invigorating feeling. Every time you come to an opening or break tree line you will realize that you are actually making progress and it will feel so good.
Alpine rates this hike on a gorgeous day 10/10.