Well after that little set-back earlier this year at Diez Vista 50k, and then starting to make my comeback in June, it feels like my season has finally begun again in earnest after what turned out to be a really busy month of camping, training, and racing in July. Bring on 2014, Part 2!
First up was a trip to Wedgemount Lake, for what was my first visit to the glacier and a great way to spend Canada Day.
The following week, Jane and I headed to Cathedral Lakes for 4 days of hiking, camping, and running in the backcountry. This place was absolutely amazing, with beautiful single track and ridges for miles. It also gave me a glimpse of the Fat Dog 120 course which I’m now considering running next year. Stay tuned for a video and full report from that.
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- En route to Whistler.
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- Wedgemount Lake.
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- Wedge Glacier at Wedgemount Lake.
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- Singletrack in Cathedral Lakes Park.
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- View of the lakes from Lakeview Mountain.
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- View of Cathedral Lakes.
The next weekend I headed to Revelstoke for the inaugural 5 Peaks Trailstoke Ultra & Relay. We didn’t get the views we had hoped for along the ridges there, but it gave me a taste of what true mountain running is like, complete with its unpredictable weather. A couple more days spent in a tent, too.
The week after that, I ran the 5 Peaks Cypress Enduro for some much needed ‘speed work’. I then joined Matt and Alexa the next day for a run, hike, and scramble to the summit of Golden Ears which offered more amazing views and a bit more ridge running.
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- Trailstoke Ultra & Relay start.
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- Climbing a ridge through the fog in Revelstoke.
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- Crossing the line at 5 Peaks Cypress.
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- Alexa approaching Golden Ears Summit.
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- Southern Chilcotins.
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- Ridges for days!
Finally, I left at the end of the month for 5 days in the Chilcotins with friends Chloe, Jackie, Glenn, Julie, and Ward. We ran 113 km in 23 hours over 3 consecutive days, with 5,560m of gain and 6,390m of decent, mostly along ridges (I suppose this trip was technically more in August though). I’d have to say that the highlight would be a toss-up between the float plane drop on Sunday and the dip in the lake after each long day. I’ll be producing a video and full report from this as well at some point.
Final Stats for July:
- Distance Run/Hiked: 296 km (up from 237 km)
- Time-on-Feet: 65.5 hrs (up from 42 hrs)
- Ascent: 16,155 m (down from 17,650 m)
- Nights in a Tent: 10
Okay, so I never did actually run into any bears, but I did spend most of the month in grizzly bear country and with bear spray close at hand. With so much time spent in the backcountry, I got plenty of use from my Delorme inReach SE courtesy of inReach Canada.
This month I’ll be running the Squamish 50k and then most likely heading down to Cascade Crest 100 to pace and crew. Lots of work ahead – my racing season has really just begun.
Check out more photos from my trips last month on my Instagram feed, and stay tuned for those two trip reports and videos!