Kokanee Glacier Traverse

The Group run through Kokanee went off without a hitch. Eight of us left the Enterprise Creek Drainage on the Slocan Lake side of Kokanee Glacier Park at 6:45am this morning and five others left the Gibson Lake parking lot on the east side of the park at 8am. We crisscrossed through the park to avoid any car dropping. All eight runners with me were so solid we happily stayed in tight formation cruising through the whole traverse in 3:59:54 hrs...Yes I know, I actually was looking at my watch at about 3:30hrs into the run and thought- Hmmm- we might be able to break 4 hrs if we keep moving briskly...the competitive side still reaps it's head from time to time! That said; we all felt great right to the end. Although the logistics of putting together this run with so many people was a little arduous at times, it was so worth it in so many ways...It really is awesome to share such amazing terrain with a group of such inspired runners.
Thanks Bill!!! for taking the east to west runners. Bill hasn't run at all and is suffering from 2 months of bronchitis or some mystery chest infection,but still happily grunted through the whole run...

 

Making Steady Pace up Enterprise Creek

Can't believe nobody actually fell in!

Just ascending out of the Enterprise valley above Tanal Lake

Tim on the last grunt almost at the pass

The West to East Group at the Col with Kokanee Glacier in the back

Both groups as we met up at Kokanee Cabin

Our Kootenay Version of the Beatles Abby Road album cover!

Andrew cruising by Kaslo Lake

Few snow patches left on the way to Kokanee Lake

Carolyn and Lex along a half frozen Kokanee Lake

7 Summits Trail Run

Ahhh so good to finally get into the alpine. High ridge running, wildflowers, beautiful mountain peaks and a bunch of guys who are hootin' and hollering with joy (at least for the first 4 hours of the run :) ....We added in the Old Glory out and back detour to our 7 summits trail run which makes for a wonderful day. Although under 40km of trail, you certainly earn every kilometer of trail- no easy km on this run!  A 5-1/2 hrs run which includes the 1-1/2hr Old Glory detour

                                                                Top of Old Glory- 8,000'

The Long Trail to Discovery

There is something very simple, pure, spiritual, some might even say romantic about trail running in the mountains, but one thing is for sure, hidden within the confines of it's simplistic movement and beauty, lurks a whole world of self discovery. As the "Big Saturday" mountain runs got longer and longer it not only allowed me to access deeper and more remote terrain, but it also slowly pushed me into that shadier grey area of facing who you are. You might even think that running 40-50km every weekend in the mountains leads one to believe that you're running from something, but the opposite is so true. I always wondered if all that knowledge follows you around, like it is held within your shadow- stuck to you no matter what, and access to it gets easier and easier the more you shed your personal baggage. Run for just 45 minutes and that baggage is left behind. Run for another 3 hours and you start to loose your Carry On Baggage too. After several hours of running one seams to get stripped down to their basic self. "Breath"  "I think I need some calories- How long has it been?" "My foot is bugging me- should I stop and clean out my shoe?" "This pace is a little fast" "This pace is a little slow" "Look at that moss, that rock, that root, that fern, that creek is soooo clear!" "The smells are so alive" "My God look at this valley, those peaks". Ahhh- then you are there. But I've found "there" to be two possible places. One; You are 5 hours into your run and your body- spirit feels alive. Nothing can stop you, life is amazing and you are so proud of everything you are. Two; I just don't feel it today. My legs are tired, I can't seam to keep up to my usual running partners, am I bonking?, I can't do this I'm done, I am not good enough, I should be a better "this" and "that"...what's wrong with me?...Blah blah blah...
Then there are those long runs which seam to be more common than not- where you get to experience both the Love and Despair...sometimes several times during the same run!
We all pose limits on ourselves whether conscience or not. Trail running, or any endurance activity for that matter, allows us to breakdown those self imposed barriers and provides access and freedom into the exploration of ourselves. And as an added bonus, it also provides access to the most amazing back country areas one come ever dream up!....

Kokanee Glacier Park Run Update

Kokanee Lake as of July 9th. I'm pretty sure it will all be good to go by July 28th. I will be up the Enterprise Creek side soon to do a little clearing and check out the trail. I am just starting to put together a list of runners, so if you've e-mailed me you'll be on the e-mail chain. If you haven't and you want to be included, send me an e-mail to randy@spearhead.ca
Bill Harbord is going to lead the group of beginner/ intermediate runners from the Gibson Lake side and I will take those runners that are used to running 25-30km from the Enterprise Creek direction. The total distance is 23.5km (16.5km through the park and 7km on Enterprise Creek FSR)
Happy Trails....

Ah yes- Summer is here in the Kootenays

Summer in the Kootenays means different things to different people. It could mean heading to the beach playing Frisbee and having a couple of cold beers, a few smokes and some A&W, or a fun Mt. bike ride up and over Shannon Pass, or just a fun morning in the mountains running some trails before it gets too smokin' hot. Problem is- when your running partners are training for bigger runs than you can wrap your head around, our regular weekend runs are ramping up to a little more than a walk in the park. But I have to admit, being only 2 1/2 years into my running career, I never would have thought I'd have so much fun on our what's turning out to be normal 5-6 hour weekend big runs.
Today we left Mt Station at 7am to try and beat the heat to head up to do the Vein as our warm up loop. The long 2,000' descent straight down actually doeasn't seam so bad anymore that I've ran it 3 times in the past few weeks. We then headed out the tracks, under the second bridge and out to the Waldorf school where we caught the trail out to the end of Silverking road and hooked onto the Silverking trail. It  was so much better to get out to Giveout Creek Rd this way. We then ran up-up-up to Upper High-Baller were we already accumulated over 5,000' of climbing  in the first 4 hours of running, but we all felt great and excited to get back into some trail. It was an epic 3,500' descent down Upper High Baller, High Baller, Placenta, Illuminati, Oil Can, Pulninary and finishing up at Groman Narrows Park for a much need soak in the mighty cold Kootenay Lake.
All in all it was 6 hours, 5,500' of climbing and 6,000' of descending.
What a great Kootenay summer morning!

                                                                      Top of the Vein