The Sea to Summit trail is an extension of the Upper Shannon Falls trail to the top of the new Sea to Sky Gondola in Squamish, BC.

As a run or fast hike, it takes around 2 hours to summit and is between 6.5 – 9.8 km, depending on your route, with roughly 1,000 metres of elevation gain. It climbs almost double as high as the nearby Stawamus Chief, giving you a great view back down at the massive monolith. Karl and I recently did the hike starting from the Shannon Falls parking lot which is definitely the way to go.

The Annapurna Circuit in Nepal truly is a trail runner’s dream, with untold miles of trails that wind through valleys, along ridges, and over mountains.

While trekking the AC this winter over 2 weeks, I managed to get out for a run every couple of days to explore the trails above the main trekking route a little further. That is, up until about 4,000 metres when running became a little difficult.

Joffre Lakes is one of BC’s most beautiful and relatively accessible alpine lake hikes or runs. There are three lakes in all (Lower, Middle, and Upper Joffre), with Upper Joffre being by far the most picturesque.

I’ve actually never been there in the summer, but a group of us did decide to run it the first weekend of December including my friends Chloe, Shannon, and Joel. It took just over 2 hours and we had a great time playing in the fresh pow.

I wanted to provide an overview of the inReach SE manufactured by Delorme which I recently got, specifically from a trail running perspective.

There are plenty of comprehensive reviews out there of all the product features and benefits, so I thought instead that I’d just quickly point out how I hope to take advantage of some of the device’s unique features in the backcountry running and racing that I do and to show you the device in action.

The Grand Canyon rim-to-rim-to-rim (R2R2R) double-crossing is an amazing 46-48 mile journey, depending on your route, with over 11,000′ of elevation gain in temperatures varying well over 70 °F (21 °C).

The run is typically done from the South Rim to the North Rim and back, often starting on South Kaibab trail down to the river and Phantom Ranch since it’s steeper but shorter, along North Kaibab trail to the North Rim and back, but then back up to the South Rim along Bright Angel trail which is a little more runnable and with frequent water stations.

It’s on many an ultra runner’s bucket list, and for good reason. The incredible views and beauty this route offers at every turn are hard to beat.