The temperature was now starting to heat up, but the next section was mostly downhill as we made our way to No Hands Bridge. Much of this trail is also the finishing section of the Western States 100-mile Endurance Run. I had paced Greg along this trail when he had run Western States in June 2002, but it was a little hard to recognize anything because we were heading in the opposite direction and the last time it was between 3-4:00 AM, and it was quite dark.
We reached the No Hands Bridge aid station (mile 26.7) in 5:16:42, and then took about 10 minutes to re-hydrate, re-fuel, and prepare ourselves for the next section. Shortly after leaving No Hands Bridge we started climbing a long and steep hill called K2. This climb, coupled with the noon-day sun and the 90+ degree temperatures really sent our heart-rates skyrocketing. We actually stopped and rested once during the climb, but finally made it to the Cool Fire Station (mile 29.8) in 6:25:27.
The next section was a 7.1 mile loop, called the Olmstead Loop, that would take us out to the Knickerbocker Hill aid station (mile 35.3) and then return us to the Cool Fire Station (mile 36.9). The Olmstead Loop was about 99% exposed to the sun, and unfortunately it was now close to 100 degrees, and it was approaching 1:00 PM. So.... it was just a bit hot. We tried to run, but kept overheating, so we decided the best course of action was to walk. This also had it drawbacks, since it kept us out in the heat - without aid - for a much longer time. When we finally made it back to the Cool Fire Station I was both physically and mentally spent. Although the trail of the Olmstead Loop was nice and "runnable", the conditions definitely made it the most difficult section of the course.
