Run to Pfeifferhorn Summit The first time I hiked to the Pfeifferhorn it took 6 hours. It was a June day and I was an inexperienced hiker. The snow on the steep Red Pine headwall freaked me out. I went back year after year and each time, I reached the summit faster than the last. Now I am running to the Pfeifferhorn, and I have cut my best hiking time in half. A few weeks ago I reached the Pfeiff summit in 1:35. I ran most of the way to the lake but hiked the most steep parts of the trail. Today I went back to see if I could beat my previous time, and, really I began to wonder if my fastest time was a fluke, or if I had mis-read my stop watch. Approaching Little Cottonwood Canyon I observed that the Alpine ridge, upon which the Pfeifferhorn sits, had dark clouds hovering above. However, the White Pine trailhead was sunshine and lollipops. I was go time. I suited up and began running from the car, carrying only a handheld bottle and wipes (of course). I ran the first mile at a comfortable pace and was pleased reach the White Pine junction in just under 10 minutes, a minute faster than my previous run there. I kept going, never stopping. I ran everything, even the steep parts. Walking hills is for pussies! I reached the Maybird bridge in 33:20, then the lower lake in 46:30. I was pleased with my time and I knew I had this one in the bag. I passed a couple that had left the car park about 10 minutes before me. They were fast. However, on the hike up to the upper basin, I lost the trail under new snow. Freaking snow! I wandered a bit and I'm sure it cost me some time. Back on familiar route I climbed to the Alpine ridge and crested in 1:13. No stopping. The Pfeifferhorn comes into view a half mile or so to the West. Passed a couple dudes as they hiked down. At the East ridge I stashed my bottle and scrambled, making one 4th class move. Over the ridge in 3 and a half minutes. Now the final climb: Up fast, less than ten minutes. More like seven. Would I summit in under 1:30? Summit: 1:29.55. I yelled a big YEAHHH! I carefully descended the summit. As I traversed back over the East ridge, I again saw the couple I had passed earlier on the trail. They were heading toward the peak, just minutes away. Indeed they were fast. No slow hikers, these two. After the ridge I had to empty my shoes of rocks. As I got up to go I was surprised to see the couple coming back. "You turned around?" Maybe it looked too cold up there. If it was me I would have certainly finished with the summit. The young fellow introduced himself and his girlfriend to me. We ran back together to the lip of the Alpine ridge and chatted as we descended the rocky trail. I told him my time to summit, and that I needed to shave off 20 minutes if I was to match the fastest known time to Pfeiff. He corrected me and said I would have to go even faster now that some guy a few weeks ago had run it in 1:06. Holy crap. That is sprinting 4.5 miles and several thousand feet of elevation. We hiked down from the Alpine ridge together, and before the upper lakes I shouted goodbye and picked up the pace. I knew I had lost some descent time chatting and changing shoes, but the summit time is more important to me than the round trip time. Anyway, I am slow on downhill. The Red Pine trail is rock-strewn and rooty. I would rather be cautious and not take a fall. I had a pleasant run back to the trailhead, total time from car to car: 2:48.38. That was a minute slower than my last run of Pfeiff. OK, next time I will have to take off another five minutes.
| 