With most organized running events cancelled for the summer, I was interested in establishing or lowering a Fastest Known Time (FKT) somewhere near to our home. I had initially thought about establishing the FKT on the Homestead Trail between Lincoln and Beatrice, Nebraska. This trail appealed to me for a couple of reasons. At the time, Nebraska did not have any existing FKTs, and I was familiar with the trail from riding it with Tarah and Acadia a few years ago. While perusing the Fastest Known Time website, I noticed that someone set an FKT in western Nebraska and my interest shifted to the Pine Ridge Trail.
I started researching the trail, but couldn't find a lot of information online. I mapped the route and gathered a bit of beta from the route establishers. I knew it was going to be a hot run so I kept my eye on the weather and waited for the coolest day. The route is a point to point route so I needed to figure out transportation. I thought about having Tarah drive down with the kiddos and meet me at the far trailhead or stashing my bike at the far trailhead and pedaling back to my car. I decided since the trail was only 17.5 miles one way, I would just yo-yo (run the trail in both directions) the route since the trail was the most direct route between the two trailheads. I naively even thought that I might be able to yo-yo the trail in about the same time that it took the initial duo to do the trail oneway (5:19).
The day began with a 2:15 AM alarm and was in the car heading towards the Forest about 2:45. Shortly after sunrise, I arrived at the trailhead to discover that there wasn't a parking area. Luckily about a quarter mile down the road I found a picnic/camping area to park at. I got my gear finalized and then started to walk back to the trailhead.
At 6:37 I clicked my watch and started climbing the steep trail up a bluff. When I got to the top, I was treated to some beautiful views and some rolling prairies. Within the first mile, I discovered that despite there being a trail, there wasn't much of a path. The trail was marked by painted fence posts, but the trail was through thick tall grass growing on uneven ground. About a mile and half in, I crossed a fence and the trail turned to defined singletrack and I was able to really run. This clear path came with its own problem; the path often didn't follow the actual trail and I ended up going off course and needing to back track to the trail.
About five miles in the trail became so overgrown that I was routinely running through knee and hip-high brush that was sharp and full of ticks. The area had also burned in 2012 and there were tons of downed trees along the route. About 6 miles in I had my first real scare; I startled a doe and her fawn(s). I heard a loud hissing sound, like nothing I had ever heard before, and had no idea what it was until I saw the deer start bounding away. When my heart-rate slowed back down I kept trekking and pulling ticks and stickers off my legs.
At ten miles I thought my attempt was going to have to be aborted. I was running along the bottom of a canyon when I came upon some cattle. They kept trotting in front of me, but unbeknownst to me there was a fence at the end of the canyon. I had unwittingly herded dozens of angry cows into a natural and man-made corral that blocked the only way forward. I backed up and moved to the side, but the cattle were not going to get out of my way any time soon and wasn't about to try to move through the herd. I ended up scrambling up the canyon wall and skirting around the congestion and getting to a turnstile without too much trouble. Just on the other side of the fence, I ran into a wide creek and had to get my feet wet.
After the cows and creek it was a lot more wading through brush and hunting for trail markers. Eventually the trail climbed up and down a couple more bluffs and I was greeted with beautiful panoramas. The last mile or so was pretty clear but the trail was steep and loose so my pace was still hampered. I finally stopped my watch after four hours and 48 minutes, when I reached the Coffee Mill Trailhead.
Probably about six into my return trip I lost the trail. I pulled the route up on my watch and headed in the right direction towards the trail but couldn't find any fence posts. I followed paths in the right direction but could never get on the actual trail. By this time I was running low on water and it was the hottest part of the day. I wasn't worried, but I was frustrated.
Eventually I decided to just move in the direction of the trailhead through the terrain that posed the least resistance. I ended up seeing a road in the distance and made my way along a fence line to the road. Thankfully when I reached the road, I had enough service to pull up Google Maps on my phone. I terrain finally allowed me to move more quickly, but I was now out of fluids so I was forced to slow down. If I stayed on the road, it would be 12 miles back to my car, but I could also just get to another trailhead that would allow me to shave some miles off.
A couple miles down the road I came to a house where I asked to refill my water. While I was explaining my adventure and chugging water, the home owner offered to have her husband give me a ride to the trailhead just down the road. I said that would be great but I didn't want to put them out. When her husband came in the house, he said that he'd gladly take me all the way to my car if I wanted. After 31 miles of less than ideal foot travel already completed for the day, I took him up on the offer.
It turned out that he grew up in Madrid (Nebraska) and had lived all over the country since, including Ogallala. We had a nice conversation and it was great to be covering ground more quickly, though the road conditions didn't allow for great speeds. When I got back to my car I changed my clothes and checked for more ticks. Hydrated and slightly cleaner, I bumped down the road to town where I got a burger, fries, and a malt from a local food stand. From there it was just a three hour drive home to a shower and a comfy bed.
