The Wonderland Trail is 150 km of mostly single track that circumnavigates Mount Rainier with over 7,230 metres (23,700 feet) of cumulative elevation gain (plus equal loss of course). It’s normally done as a 10 day hike, but many will run it over 3 days with support from crew who can meet runners at several drive-in campsites along the way.

My friend Adam and I figured we would try to tackle it completely unsupported, meaning we would have to carry all of our food, cooking and camping gear, in around 40 hours. This presented some unique logistical challenges that would require quite a bit of planning and research into some new equipment.

There are some great trip reports and comprehensive hiking guides online, so I’m going to focus below more on the logistics of running the trail unsupported, for those who might consider doing the same.

The Howe Sound Crest Trail is a 29 km route that starts at Cypress Mountain, passing through the Lions and over multiple summits, before ending at Porteau Cove. It offers spectacular views of Howe Sound, the surrounding mountains, and beautiful turquoise lakes, while covering a variety of terrain.

The route would normally be tackled as an overnight trip, but it can be comfortably run in about 8-9 hours by a reasonably fit trail runner (including lots of stops for photos). Starting at Cypress makes it a net downhill that still offers almost 2,000 metres of elevation gain, but running it North to South from Porteau Cove is definitely an option for an added challenge. In either case, running it as a point-to-point with a car drop makes the most sense. Another option is to simply do the route as an out-and-back from Cypress to the Lions, arguably the nicest part of the trail, making it a much easier ‘half-day’ run.

They say you should play to your strengths and forget about working on your weaknesses. If I could race only uphill or on less-technical downhill terrain, I might follow this advice. I’m tired of getting passed on the really technical stuff though, so I decided to instead seek some advice from one of the fastest downhillers that I know.

I’ve had the pleasure of doing a bit of training with local speedster Mike Murphy, recent winner of the Knee Knacker, who suggested that I try running downhill repeats. This, in addition to doing more functional strength work like plyometrics, could be just what I need to mitigate my major weakness.

August was another busy one, starting with a trip over the long weekend for 3 days of trail running in the Southern Chilcotin Mountains on some pretty amazing ridges (check out my report and video).

The following weekend, I managed to squeeze in a loop through Hanes Valley, including an out-and-back up Crown Mountain to take in the views (see my Hanes Valley trip from last year). Probably a little more time-on-feet than I needed before my race the next weekend, but I wasn’t sure I’d have to the chance again this season.

Next was the Squamish 50k where I finished in 6:15 for 17th place overall. It was my first big race back after injury so it served as a real confidence booster for me as I go into the second part of my season and start to ramp up my mileage. Had a great time organizing the Trails in Motion Film Festival there on both Friday and Sunday nights – big thanks to everyone who came out to support it and to watch some amazing films!

And finally, I had the opportunity to join UPRISE Performance Camps and Scott Jurek for an inspiring 3 days in Whistler. I was there to film the experience which included VO2Max and Lactate Threshold testing by Peak Centre (who I do my own testing and training with), a series of classroom sessions on nutrition and training, some amazing vegan food at the Four Seasons, the 5 Peaks Whistler trail race, and an alpine run down the High Note Trail, Musical Bumps, and out Singing Pass. We were even surprised with a helicopter ride back to Whistler after the 5 Peaks race! Check out photos from that on Facebook.

From the Chilcotin, to Whistler, through Squamish, and the North Shore backcountry, I managed to cover some amazing terrain this month!

There is a place not far from Vancouver where impeccable singletrack trails wind through lush pine forests, alpine meadows and lakes, and along a series of interconnected wind-swept ridges with spectacular panoramic views.

The Spruce Lake Protected Area in the South Chilcotin Mountain Range is located just 150 km north of Whistler, and 100 km west of Lillooet, B.C, an area which is nearly 72,000 hectares in size.

I was invited to tag along with friends Julie, Glenn, Ward, Jackie and Chloe for the August long weekend. The plan was to make the 5 hour drive on Thursday afternoon, then to run all day on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, returning to our campsite at the Tyax Resort each night. The icing on the cake was that we’d be taking the float plane from the lodge on Sunday morning and getting dropped off at Spruce Lake so that we could run out.