Banff Trail Trash

Feelin' the Love

2012-01-22T21:35:00.001-07:00

After a weekend spent surrounded by good people, I'm feeling the love.

This beautiful mountain community that I live in, currently buried under the white blanket of winter - is populated by amazing folks. Over the 7 years that I have lived in Banff, I found that it didn't take long to connect with like-minded people. Our collection of fun and fantastic people has continued to grow and the friends we have made in the Bow Valley never cease to amaze me. Young and old, I love these mountain people.

I enjoy people who love the mountains and who appreciate them as much as I do. You don't have to be a crazy endurance athlete to enjoy and appreciate mountain living. All of us mountain lovers share the same sense of wide wonder when we gaze upon the beauty and the vastness of the immense wilderness that surrounds us. We are all connected by this. I just like to connect with it by feeling it under my feet, seeing it with sparkling eyes-wide-open and hearing it in the sound of crunching snow.

This weekend I got to enjoy the good company of these like minded folks and realize: Damn. I live in a great community. I spent part of my day today volunteering at the Lake Louise to Banff Loppet and reconnecting with many of my friends in the Bow Valley. The end-of-the-race party is my favorite part - a room full of good people and good energy. A room full of the warmth of a community and of good friends.

My weekend has Slam-Bam full of reconnecting with good peoples. As well as my super day today, I got out for a ski tour with Suzy and Monica on Friday and I got enjoy some quality time in with Super Angela. We hit the road this morning for a few hours of run time. It's also been All About Winter. This week we saw -34c temperatures and a new blanket of snow covering the pine forest. Fortunately, we broke out of the deep freeze this weekend so we could all get out and play.

Me and Suzy - getting ready to ski.

Fluffy Powder in Chickadee Valley

I'm loving up the ski touring - I always have - but it's good to be out enjoying winter in this way. It's pretty magical - I mean, how many people get to do this?

All smiles, with Monica

I've got the whole winter to enjoy this sport - we ski here well into May and I'm planning on enjoying it. I've been a life long skier and while I may not be using a chair-lift much these days, I still love it as much as when I was a young ski-bum. :) I reckon the main difference is I just don't drink as much beer.

Ladies of the Bow Valley Unite!!!

Today, I did a run with Angela which has almost become a January tradition for me. Every year, I take a road run on Highway 1A and it's awesome. I don't know why I don't do it more often. Keith dropped us off at Johnston Canyon and we ran home. One of my favorite thing about running the 1A is looking for animal foot prints. Today we saw lots of coyote prints, deer, elk and wolf. And little critters too - like mice, voles, squirrel and pine marten. I'm always scanning for prints - it's one of my favorite things about winter. My friend the divine Ms. Ellie saw a Lynx today while skiing from Lake Louise to Banff. A Lynx is a pretty special sighting - I've only ever seen 2. Such a lucky girl!

It's a secondary highway.

Angela doing her Angela Thing.

Arriving back in Banff on Vermillion Lakes Road

Feeling the Love!!

Fenland Trail

Done! O.K - I didn't ski from Lake Louise to Banff, but I'm awfully impressed by those who did!

There were also lots of friends participating in the ski loppet today - it's a very special race. They only groom this trail once a year to create this epic 70km Cross-Country ski race from Banff to Lake Louise. Maybe one year, I'll dust of my cross-country skis and give-it-a-go. Congrats to all who finished and the stand-out performances of my friends Liza Pye and Blaine Penny! Both of these ridiculously talented athletes (and ultra-marathoners) finished at the top of the heap today. Congrats, Y'all.

I'm Home! I'm Home!

2012-01-15T20:14:00.002-07:00

Travel. Holiday. Vacation. I've had friends return from lengthy trips, only to be befuddled, depressed and unable to deal with the realities of their "real world". In our case, the opposite is true. Keith and I are literally overflowing with love, for this place that we call home.

Keith loves Banff!!

We've spent the last month adjusting back to our world, our reality, our home that is Banff. We've always know that the life we have here is special, but it only takes 3 months away to make us even more appreciative of that fact.

The Neighbours are Good.

Since we've arrived home, we've been spending an aweful lot of time outside enjoying our special place. We're connected to this place and these mountains. It nurtures our soul to spend time outside in this place. We've been running around the woods, we've been skiing, we've been strolling, we've been smelling and breathing and taking it all in with fresh eyes.

Last Week - strolling on the Bow River - Fairholme Range in the background.

This week - enjoying a birthday run.

Do I look happy? That's because I am. My latest pose seems to find me declaring out loud I'm Queen of the World!! This place does that to me. It makes me whoop out loud joyfully a lot.

On the running front, I sure am enjoying myself running around the woods again - my backyard rocks. It's the time of year that I spend the most time on my local trails. In winter, your options are more limited - so I tend to spend a lot of time on the same trails. Tunnel Mountain, Fenland Trail, the Spray River Trail, the Bow River/Hoodoos, Marsh Loop and Sulphur Mountain are all part of the fun. My favorite winter trail is something I call the "backyard loop" which is a rather amazing 30 minute loop through the woods behind my house. It's got a killer runnable hill, it's sheltered from the wind and it's so pretty. I seldom see anyone on it. Today, I saw fresh coyote tracks in the fluffy fresh powder and eventually, was treated to a vocal sing-a-long of the yipping critters. Yip! Yip! Not everyone gets to experience that in their day to day lives.

Enjoying the Spray River Valley - on today's run.

Tunnel Mountain Cliffs with Cascade Mountain in the background

Backside of Tunnel Mountain - enjoying the view of Mount Rundle

Babbling non-sensically on my Birthday Run

So, you get the picture. We're unequivocably stoked to be back in Banff running around in the woods. I just want to shout it out loud:

I'm Home! I'm Home!

Happy New Year!

2012-01-02T22:00:00.001-07:00

I love the New Year. It puts me in a contemplative state-of-mind and makes me hyper aware of the passing of time and of good things to come. It makes me think that now is the time to live my life, because every moment counts. Time is precious and we've got a limited supply.

On that note, having recently arrived home from a 3 month holiday - we're enjoying re-connecting with our town, our family, our friends and nature. It's good to be back. Traveling has taught as a few things, but one of them is to simply enjoy being present in the moment. So, this New Year's weekend as well as getting out for a few adventures I took the time to just enjoy the view and appreciate. Relaxing is just as important as Running. Sometimes, it's the best way to enjoy that limited supply of time you have. But whether you are relaxing or running, it comes back to making all of those moments count.

It's your life to live, it sure would be a shame to not enjoy it! So, if you have any big hairy audacious goals - put them on your list and start planning. Time's a ticking.

Happy New Year!

Easter in Skoki with Iris and Nicki

Summer Fun at Mount Assiniboine

February Ski with Monica, Keith and Nicki

Australia Adventures - Part 3 - Western Australia

2011-12-10T18:45:00.002-07:00

Vacations are Good.

Traveling is Blissful.

Disconnecting is Sweet.

Surprise-surprise! Who knew that one of the things that I would enjoy most about traveling would be NOT spending any time on the computer? I really had thought that during my travels, I would have more free time, more leisure time and therefore more time to spend on the computer.

Clearly, this has not been the case. I've been periodically checking e-mails and facebook, but I have been enjoying living in the moment. It's been Grand. Who wants to spend time sitting at the computer when it's gorgeous outside? When there's things to see and do? I also have a talent for turning my brain off and I'll admit, that I've thrived on living in the bubble that is Traveling. As much as I love getting out and doing stuff, I also enjoy this thing called Relaxing. Relaxing is Gooooood. So, with only 5 more days in Australia - I thought I would re-connect with y'all.

I know you've missed Me.

Hi! I'm back to the real world in 5 more days. But until I fly out of here on Wednesday, I've got a few more runs to enjoy in the sunshine, another novel to finish and some beach time in Perth. I think we're done with the traveling, so we'll focus on the relaxing.

Nicki, Keith and I coping with the Flies.

Thanks to our friend Nicki, our time in Western Australia has been easy, relaxing and fun. Keith and I are fully smitten with this corner of Australia, this vast and amazing place where people are proud of where they are from. Western Australia is a country within itself, a world away from the rest of the country, another planet. With an area of more than 2, 500 000 sq km, a 12, 500 km coastline and spanning 2, 400km from north to south, it occupies a third of the continent. I'm looking forward to a return visit already, so I can see more of it.

Hiking the Dunes near Yellingup

Nicki, a woman of many hairstyles and talents.

In our 3 months in Australia, there surprisingly hasn't been a ton of time on the beach. Be it that we are lovers of the mountains and the road trip, we've spent a lot of time in the hills and on the road. In Perth, we finally discovered the joys of The Beach. From Nicki's house, you've got your choice of amazing beaches. Scarbourough Beach is an easy run, Floreat Beach and City Beach are just a bit further and within less that 10 minutes drive you've got the amazing Cottesloe Beach and Trigg Beach. What else is there to do when the day heats up than hit the beach? If you want to get your exercise - you need to do it early. And really, what is a better way to start your day than a run on the beach at 5:30AM? In the evening, it's all about the Aussie BBQ and a cold beer or nibbles and a glass of fine Aussie wine. Yes, life is good in Perth.

Picnic With a View

This week, Nicki took us for a whirlwind roadtrip of all of her favorite places in the South West. From vineyards to stunning white sand beaches, tall tree forests of Karri trees and the jagged and wild mountains of the Sterling Ranges, this corner of Australia has so much to offer. All of this framed by a crystal clear turquoise/green ocean and an immense and beautiful coastline.

Disco Meets Yoga

For those of you who like to run trails, look no farther that the Bibbulmun Track. The Bibbulmun Track is a long distance walking trail, which stretches nearly 1000kms from the Perth Hills to Albany (South Coast) through the heart of the scenic South West of Western Australia. A couple of years ago, Nicki did the whole thing in it's entirety - one great big self-supported adventure in 19 days. I've long been interested in doing a long through-hike and all of this talk might be enough to nudge me in this direction some time in the future.

Soaking Wet on the Bibbulmun Track

It's sure been a fine way to wind up our trip. Unhurried, Very Sociable with a giant side-dish of No Worries, Mate. It's the Aussie Way. Last night we had the bonus of seeing Santa arrive on a tractor in the small farming community of Nomans Lake and gorged ourselves on country-style appetizers and dessert. How's that for a one-of-a-kind Aussie experience?

Thanks to the Slater family for taking such good care of us! We've been spoiled by Jill in Perth and Rod and Jane in Narrogin. We've been fattened up just in time for Christmas. The biggest thanks of all to the amazing Nicki Rehn for making us part of this fun family mob and showing us her favourite corner of Australia. We're smitten with Western Australia and the warm unpretentious folks that live here.

Race Report - Good Times at the GOWs 100

2011-10-21T01:40:00.003-06:00

I coudn't possible go to Australia without running an Ultra. With the criteria of beautiful scenery and challenging course, I found the GOW's 100 online before leaving Canada and signed up. What a better place to run than the famous Great Ocean Walk?? Race Director Andy Hewitt was a star and put together a great little event in an amazing place. It was a wonderful way to connect with the Aussie Ultra community if only for an instant. The day before the race, Keith and I went out for a little preview and were immediately and simultaneously "wowed" by the scenery and "scared" by the wildlife.

Keith and I both screamed like little girls when we saw not only 1, but 2 and then 3 snakes within less than 10 minutes. I was pleased to hear that the forecast was going to be cooler on race day, if only to keep the snakes off the trail. :)

At the pre-race meeting, it was re-iterated that we needed to carry lots of cold weather gear as the weather in the region is notorious for volitility and changeability. We were also told that there were a few sections of muddy trail, which turned out to be the under-statement of the evening. Turned out there was many kilometres of Mud Boggy Goodness to keep us sharp on our toes, slipping and sliding our way through to the first aid station.

The race started at 6:00AM before sunrise, with balmy 17C temperatures. It didn't take long before the sun came up on the Great Ocean Walk, which is a pretty incredible place to be at sunrise and a damn fine way to start one's day.

In the beginning it was feeling hot and humid for this Canadian girl, but throughout the course of the day the sunshine came and went a couple dozen times, as did a few squalls of rain and wind interspersed with the sunshine. Changeable indeed!

The coastal scenery was fantastic, the trail was great and we danced across a few small beaches, wound our way through forests up and down on sweet singletrack.

Then we found the mud, deep and sticky, on the double track. There were many long sections of mud which was deep, slippery and unavoidable. It's all part of the fun, but there were many struggling through the muddy miles and I was glad for my poles to keep me safe and keep me upright. I joined up with Katie for a few of these miles before rocking into the first aid station at 25k.

The weather changed a few times in the next 25k, but just after the Otway lighthouse we were hit with our first windy rainy squall. The wind hammered at us as we made our way across the top of towering cliffs above the ocean. I tucked in with 3 others and we didn't talk much, but we did put our heads down and run.

There was lots of walking too, with sections of sand on the trail that made running a challenge.
Finally, we caught a glimpse of the Aire River and suddenly everyone had a spring in their stride as we descended into the Aire River Aid Station.

Keith was there to greet me as my personal cheering squad and sent me off down the trail happy and smiling. It was great to see him.

The section between Aire River and Johanna Beach was enjoyable and gorgeous. The first few kilometres were sheltered and in the trees, but the it was fun running. There were huge sections of diggins on the trail where the Echidnas and Wombats had been excavating at night. I was amazed at their handiwork. When we finally broke out of the trees we hit one of my favorite sections of trail - some gorgeous technical singletrack which rolled along between ocean and cliffside.

I was taking tons of photos, as the scenery kept stopping me dead in my tracks! We climbed again to the top of an escarpment, before the fun descent to Johanna Beach. Another squall hit us again on the beach, with headwinds and rain pounding us in all directions. The surf was incredible - the wind had whipped up the ocean into a frothing, foaming, angry state. Huge waves were crashing right on the beach and I was loving it.

I passed a lot of people on the beach, dancing along on the Hoka's. The Hoka's with their ridiculously huge platform are brilliant for running on the sand. Instead of sinking, I was moving well on top of the sand while most people I saw were struggling in the sand and working quite hard.

Rolling in to Johanna Beach, I was feeling great. Keith was there again and I took the time to change out of my shoes and socks. After a long day of mud, water and sand - the feet were fine but it was time to refresh.

Leaving Johanna Beach, I was surprised by the huge climb which took us out and away from the ocean. It was a double track road, which took us up and up and up into agricultural land which reminded me a lot of Ireland. The weather cleared up and it got hot again. I was still moving forward, but my mind was playing tricks on me on this small "road" section. I consulted my map a few times to make sure I was still "en route". I was all alone, except for a few relay folks who blazed by me. I didn't feel like I was progressing too quickly and was surprised when nobody caught up to me. I kept looking over my shoulder hoping someone would catch up to me because it was lonely out there! I was thrilled when this road section ended and we headed back into the bush and on to a proper trail again. I'm such a trail snob. :)

While I was thrilled to be back on the trail, this section of trail was kick-ass. Wow. The trail got tough and relentless, with massive elevation gains followed by big descents. Up and down and up and down with glimpses of the sea and more beautiful coastline. It was relentless, challenging terrain.

It's a good thing the scenery was so good, because this section was tough, tough and tough. I got passed by a relay girl like I was standing still as I power-hiked uphill. I also kept catching glimpses of a gal who had left Johanna about 5 minutes in front of me. It gave me a little "carrot" to keep chasing - not in a competitive way, but in a "I sure would enjoy some company" kind of way. I picked up the speed when I got a sniff of the last aid station and passed her along the way. I had a little momentum, so I just rolled with it.

I was definitely feeling a little glazed over when I hit the last aid station. I pulled some tights over my shorts to warm up my tired legs muscles which felt oh-so-good. Nothing like a little cozy hug for your legs! We were told that there was bad weather on it's way and we need to take pants, beanies and warm layers. We also had to put on our safety-glow-in-the-dark vests. There was lots of Mandatory Gear for this race, but I always appreciate race organizers with a "Safety First" attitude. I grabbed a ridiculous amount of food to go (3 potatos, 3 cookies and 2 bananas) to get me to the finish line. Believe it or not, I mowed through it ALL in the next 2 hours. I was making sure there wasn't going to be a late-in-the-race bonk. I ran out of the aid station munching away.

Things that make you laugh late in an Ultra

Shortly after, Helen caught up to me, blazed by me and promptly disappeared on the trail ahead of me. I ate another cookie and kept walking. We ran through sections of thick twisted ocean shrubbery, which protected us from the sea breeze and drizzle which was gaining momentum. I ate a banana. And a potato. And started moving quicker. I caught up with Helen again and we chatted a bit. I was amazed when she told me she was running her last Ultra before she was going in to have knee surgery, a forced time off and maybe, just maybe, have another baby. Oh, Ultra folk! You are good people. She mentioned that we should be able to get in before dark and that we could probably get in under 14 hours. Well. That put the wind in my sails and I took flight!

I left Helen and promptly caught up with Caitlyn, the relay girl who had blazed by me earlier. She was glad for the company, so we harnessed each others energy and took off running together. I gained momentum with her, knowing we had less than 11k to run and feeling good. In fact, I was running faster than I had all day. Zzzzzooom! We picked up the pace, stopped chatting and were Getting It Done. No more photos, the sun was going down and we were charging. Or at least it felt like it. I wanted to get done before it got dark. We caught a glimpse of the 12 Apostles of in the distance, but it was getting too dark for photo ops. Plus, at that point I wasn't stopping for anything. I did snap one last photo as the sun disappeared across the ocean. Again, it was a beautiful place to be.

We hit the road with 1.5km to go, at the same time as the storm hit. The drizzle turned to rain, the breeze turned to hammering wind and we put our heads down and ran into a headwind which almost stopped us dead in our tracks. Push, push, push and we were there. Yay! A happy, strong finish with my new friend and my day and a 100 kilometres were done. Phew! That was hard work. Keith was there with arms wide open at the finish line, to greet me with a hug and a big plate of food. Thanks, Keith! You are the best.

The Great Ocean Walk 100k was tough - such a challenging course! Such incredible scenery. The storm continued to gain momentum in the hours to come and I was feeling bad for those who were still out there. It was a truly epic storm howling outside, while I was relaxing at the Port Campbell Hostel. Afterwards, I learned that the wind gusts were blowing people right off the trail as they ran their way into the cold wet and windy night.

The next morning was awesome with a breakfast, awards and social at the hostel. It was fun to connect with people and swap stories. When the awards were being presented, I was surprised to find out that I was 3rd! That was a fun surprise. Keith had known, but he hadn't told me and me, well, I hadn't been paying any attention. We got buckles, custom-labelled bottles of red wine and bragging rights. :) It was quite an epic. Thanks to Andy for organizing such an awesome event! I was great to connect with the Aussie Ultra Community. Ultra Runners are good folks and Aussie Ultra folk are a warm and welcoming lot. It made my first Australian Ultra a stand-out experience, as did running the spectacular scenery of the Great Ocean Walk.

In the words of Keith: "This is so Awesome!!"

Post-race, the hostel manager in Port Campbell and his family kept us entertained and we relaxed well for a few days. Tony dug out his Canadian flags and we indulged in some ridiculous shenanigans by embelishing the race results and autographing flags celebrity-style. My autographed flag is currently hanging in the Port Campbell hostel, where you all can go visit it and pay homage. :)

Australia Adventures - Part 2

2011-10-13T16:09:00.000-06:00

Where to begin when you have too many adventures and photos to even think about deciphering and putting into a coherent blog entry? With a giant exhale of the good-kind-of-exhaustion and a short but sweet rant but more rave about all the happenings of the past few weeks....

There was the visit to Murwillumbah, Lamington National Park and Springbook National Park. Me Likey. It was great to be back in the mountains. We enjoyed some incredible scenery, the rainforest and some damn fine trails.

There was a wet run through the rainforest and the clouds to the top of Mount Warning and the kid who followed me right to the top.

A solo run on the Gold Coast Hinterland Great Walk. There was incredible mountain and rainforest scenery to behold and snakes and birds and things that make bizarre noises in the night. We drove the narrowest, steepest, twistiest, turniest mountain roads I've ever driven. Keith and I have survived and enjoyed driving on the left. :) Australia has surprised us!

There was a drive to Perigeon Beach near Noosa, to enjoy some quality time with my Uncle Ian and his fine lady Berna. Walks on the long and amazing beach.

Runs through Noosa Heads National Park with Keith.

There was much ice cream and many cocktails. It's my Uncle Ians latest thing in retirement. :) I'm not sure what this photo has to do with ice cream.

There was lots of food and Aussie television. I got to see my Uncle Ronny again.

I even got to meet and hang out with my cousin Dionne and her family and 3 kids. Keith got to go skateboarding. And boogie boarding. And more body surfing. And more ice cream. Australia's beach culture is addictive.

I got to squeeze in another long solo run on the Sunshine Coast Hinterland Great Walk. It was rather spectacular and I jumped in a few cold water holes. Bliss!

*BTW - what exactly is Hinterland? I want to know.* More incredible scenery. More trails. More time spent running around the Aussie bush. Bush = Woods in Australia. Bush Walking = Hiking. Fair Dinkum is something the uncles say that makes me giggle. The uncles make me laugh a LOT! We got to go body surfing with both uncles and their "budgie smugglers" aka. Speedos.

We tried to do "urban" in Brisbane and realized we don't do "urban". Had fun riding bicycles all over Brisbane and got the heck out. Cities are busy and noisy. But Brisbane is beautiful, as far as cities go.

Stayed with Berna's 91 year old mother - a definite highlight.

Spent a day with Cherie Devlin - our Banff friend in her own backyard. Took a road trip to the Glasshouse Mountains and gawked over more amazing scenery. Enjoyed more ice cream and good company!

Got to meet Helen, my blogging buddy and her family! Yaaaay!

Got to hang with my cousin Robin and Uncle Ronny made another surprise appearance. :)

Hopped on a plane and arrived in Melbourne yesterday. Learned our lesson and got out of the city, ASAP. Maybe we'll do Melbourne later. Or maybe not. Currently sitting in Apollo Bay at the most incredible hostel in the most incredible place!

On Saturday, I'm going to run 100km's on the Great Ocean Walk. I'm pretty excited to be running the GOW's 100 and incredible stoked to see more of the scenery in this corner of the world. What a better way to see it?

Australia Adventures - Part 1

2011-09-27T17:09:00.000-06:00

Well, Australia has been good to us so far. Our Number One observation has been that Australians are a warm, generous, welcoming and giving people. We've been spending time in smaller places mostly and people seem to be willing to give you their right arm if you need it. Be it that Keith and I are also like-minded folks, we've been having lots of great interactions and adventures.
We started our trip on the right note - that is, with a visit with my uncle in Port Stephens. Uncle Ronny picked us up direct from the Sydney Airport and whisked us off into a far more relaxing corner of Australia. His backyard is populated with quiet beaches, bays and villages and was the perfect low-key way to ease ourselves into this journey. My uncle is also a wonderful, warm, generous man who has a great sense of humour. Our time with him was thoroughly enjoyable, relaxing and fun. Thanks Uncle Ronny!

During my time in this area, we made a trip to visit the lovely Gretel Fortman and go for a run in Brisbane Waters National Park. It's an amazing pocket of nature located not-to-far from the metropolous of Sydney, but it felt wild and wonderful. The run from Girrakook to Patonga is highly recommended. It was a hot day and I was super-happy to find a killer swimming hole to jump in. Gretel's home town of Terrigal is absolutely lovely, as is the lady herself and her family. It was great to connect up with another runner girl and this girl rocks! Watch out for this one - she's not only gorgeous, but young, athletic and talented. Gretel spent a fab year and a half working and training in Squamish and has had a helluva' running season. With great finishes at White Mountain and a top 10 finish at UTMB this year, the girls got legs to go with a sparkling personality.

Gretel in her playground

After our time with Ronny, Keith and I got in the car and made our way North to Yampa where we would base ourselves for a few days while we enjoyed the Yuraygir Coastal Walk. I knew nothing about this walk apart from reading this little brochure, but when I found out it was the largest stretch of undeveloped shoreline in all of NSW, I decided we needed to go and see this place.

The Coastal Walk was amazing!! It was an amazing stretch of coastline, with crazy beautiful scenery, remote villages and long stretches of walking on the beach. We followed the "path of the Emu" in hopes of seeing a rare coastal emu. In our time we saw dolphins, sea eagles, whales, incredible bird-life, beaches and shared the trail with kangaroos. We didn't see an emu, but we did find emu tracks and scat on the trail. We saw virtually no people on the trail and most encounters where with locals where we were close to the villages. On our first day, we came across a naked guy, just walking along with his sunhat and sunglasses on. He was carrying an apple and a smile and was barefoot. I surprised him walking around a blind corner and greeted him with a warm and chuckling "Hello Mr. Naked Guy!" to which he had a laugh. He was also kind and generous and offered up some great local knowledge. I just had to avert my gaze from time to time.

Most Aussies have brown feet and a flip-flop tan. I do NOT.

Heading down to the beach on the Yuraygir Coastal Walk

Walking in my bikini bottoms - Why Not?!?

Sunset at the campground - Sandon River

Longest stretch of beach walking- 10km on Sandon Beach

The lack of people on this walk was a serious highlight, as was the incredible scenery and the encounters with the few people we encountered along the way. We met a couple outside of the village of Sandon, who took us in, fed us and got us blindly drunk with one of those bottomless-glasses-of-wine. It just kept getting re-filled and the next thing you know, Keith and I where not just drunk, but plain-ol' shit faced. It took us 2 cups of coffee to get us out on the trail and it was a long walk in the sunshine, but totally worth every moment.

Berna and Cora - on the headland behind their house

We did 100km in 4 days - with a bonus night spent at a lovely campground close to town for an easy walk back to civilisation. The Yuraygir Coastal Walk was amazing on so many levels, highly recommended if you wanted to do something well off the beaten track. You can't go wrong with a place this remote and beautiful. So far, Australia has proven itself to be a big, beautiful wonderful world.

Shits and Giggles

2011-09-15T00:14:00.000-06:00

Beware. Banff Trail Trash is about to get trashy. There's going to be some potty-talk here. Brace yourself because it's all shits and giggles!!
Poo. There's been a lot of it this month. I got the Fever! The Beaver Fever. *Insert bad jokes here please.* That's Canadian-speak for Giardia. It's a nasty little critter which takes hold of your guts and reaks havoc. Essentially, aliens have colonised and reproduced in my intestines. It's been crappy, so to speak and I've been feeling like Ass. The Aliens made me sick for quite a long time. I was out of commission for a couple of weeks with The Fever and my energy has been slow to return. But I'm back! I'm feeling good. Moving on and moving forward. Life has certainly been passing, as fast as projectile poo and bad gas!

After 2 weeks of zilch, nada, zero activity - I was itching to get out. It was time for some shits and giggles. I eased myself back in the saddle with a road trip to visit my folks in Creston B.C and a 2 day backpack with the lovely Danni. I thought I would try and see if I had enough energy to walk, yet alone run. It was an awesome summer weekend in Montana and while I wasn't feeling 100%, it sure was glad to be back in the saddle.

I'm having problems downloading the Montana photos, but trust me when I say Danni took us to a beautiful place. I had great company in Keith, Danni, Amber and the 2 puppy dogs to keep me entertained. My energy was still in the tank, but I managed to backpack for 2 days and I sure did enjoy the relaxing. It was an honest-to-goodness summer weekend with time spent lounging in the sun, playing with doggies, swiimming in the beautiful Crater Lake and it was even warm enough to sleep without a tent fly. I sure do love my Montana friends and their fine backyard!

I jumped in with both feet the next weekend, with a 3 day mountain bender. My energy was perking up, so I needed to get moving again. The weekend was crazy weather-wise. On the Friday, I found myself high atop Northover Ridge in winter-like conditions. Snow had accumulated and the conditions were sketchy enough for us to turn around. Craziness!

Let's Go There!!

Waaaaay Up There!!

Where we came from....

Views

Views.....

....thinking about Winter

...cornice in September!!

...and more Views!!

Despite the snow, Northover Ridge was an amazing place to spend a September day. It was Awesome with a capital A. It's an incredible beautiful place and I'll be back next summer. Up high on the ridge line, the conditions got sketchy, so we turned around and lived to "run" another day. Still, Mike and I had a great day and a fun adventure!

The 2 days that followed were perfect summer days. Oh the difference of a day!

The sun came out and just like that, summer was back. It was incredibly calm, we enjoyed clear blue skies, sunshine and warm temperatures to get us all blissed out. Our friend Lara was visiting on the long weekend, so we decided to go hike the Lake Louise Teahouse Circuit. You can visit both Lake Agnes and Plains of Six Glaciers in a day - and we added in a bonus hike of both the Little Beehive and the Big Beehive. We beat the crowds by starting early and had the place to ourselves. It was a great day and it felt good to stretch out my legs which were surprisingly sore from the day before. I guess that is what happens when you don't run for 2 weeks!

Lake Louise

The next day, I was joined by some of my favorite Goofballs Miles, Monica and Nicki. We decided on an extra-special destination and ran a run that features some of the most gorgeous yet accessible scenery in all of Banff National Park. We ran a gorgeous route from Moraine Lake to Lake Louise.

It's the beginning of a Great Adventure!

Heading towards Sentinel Pass

Views from the South Aspect of Sentinel Pass

The North facing side of the pass was still covered in snow and ice. It was tricky footing as we made our way through the boulder field, the rocks were super icy. Then we got to make a glissade through the fresh avalanche debris to get us to the bottom in one piece. ;)

Eventually, we made our way down Paradise Valley and past Lake Annette, before turning abruptly skyward and beginning the ascent up Saddleback. The views climbing upwars were simply astounding, with great views of Mount Temple the whole way. At the top of the Saddleback, we coudn't resist scrambling up to the summit of Fairview Mountain - one of the most accessible scrambles in the area.

From there, we had a quick fun descent down to the shoreline of Lake Louise where we couldn't resist jumping in the lake. It was mayhem on the shoreline of Lake Louise with it being a long weekend and a beautiful day and I'm sure the crowds were entertained by the shenanigans of these 2 lovely ladies.

Glacier Fed!

And then as a grand finalee to a Most Excellent Day, I had to bust out my own personal salute to Lake Louise.

I Love you Lake Louise!

Finally, my energy felt almost normal this week so I was excited to make the drive out to Mount Robson for the inaugral Mount Robson Marathon. It was an absolute perfect weather weekend and I couldn't pass up my one chance to run a race on the Berg Lake Trail. As a bonus, I had some great surprise company for the road trip in the form of my friend Martin Gaffuri. Martin is from Annecy, France and is part of the extended Trans Rockies family. We stopped for a run at Parker's Ridge because the weather was so damn incredible. It was a rather amazing day to be driving the Icefields Parkway with not a cloud in the sky.

French Beefcake!

Upon arriving in Mount Robson Provincial Park, I don't think I ever recall seeing Mount Robson so clearly. As the largest peak in the Canadian Rockies, it's huge, massive and impressive. We had a visit with the rest of the friends who were running before heading back to the campground for an early night.

Mount Robson

As one of my favorite trails, I was stoked to be running an actually race in this incredible place. The Mount Robson Marathon was a one-time only event to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of B.C Parks. Only 100 people were allowed to run and it was to be a special day for all. The marathon started at 7:30 in the AM on a beautiful clear cool morning. I had no expectations on this day and started slow with almost everyone charging out in front of me. I was expecting a lot of them would come back to me and I was right. Eventually, I passed a whole bunch of them on the steep climb up - and I walked every inch of it with my hiking poles. I was looking forward to seeing Berg Lake and Mount Robson under a clear blue sky and when we reached the turn-around there were all sorts of awestruck first-timers gawking at the lake. This was my 4th time to Berg Lake, but I was equally in awe. I snapped a few photos before turning around and blazing down the trail. As soon as the trail turned downhill, I started passing people and I had lost track of how many when I reached the bottom of this awesome descent. I was having fun and gaining some serious momentum. I kept it going right to the finish line, elated to be finishing happy and strong and feeling much more like myself. I think I got my mojo back!!

Sadly, I'm having trouble posting my Berg Lake photos - but you should all seriously put Mount Robson and Berg Lake on your life list. It's that good.

On that note, I'm all caught up. That's been a snip of my life the past 3 weeks. Now, I'm embarking on a new adventure as I right this post from the airport. Keith and I are leaving for Australia today for 3 whole months! Now that IS exciting. It's all about Shits and Giggles. And Adventures, too!

Finding Inspiration in Your Own Backyard - Ironlegs 50 Mile Race Report

2011-08-16T20:56:00.446-06:00

It's not hard to find inspiration in my own backyard: everywhere I look the mountains, lakes and valleys inspire. This past week, the Trans Rockies bike race rolled through my backyard and I wanted to go get a taste of some Trans Rockies bike action. I love this organization, this race and these people. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Trans Rockies Rocks. With Keith participating, I thought I would head out on course and cheer like a crazed woman.

So, the day before my "big race" I went and climbed up a mountain. After my mountain bender, I was feeling pretty trashed all week and had zero expectations for race day - so I thought, Why Not? My legs are already tired. Maybe it will loosen them up.

One Sweet Day on Cox Hill

I threw caution to the wind and hiked up Cox Hill with an elevation gain of around 700 meters. Plus, I really wanted to see the Trans Rockies riders in action and surprise Keith. At the summit of Cox Hill, the view is absolutely stunning. I could also see the cyclists winding their way up this ribbon of single track, way off in the distance. It was the prime viewing spot to see all of the action and just a beautiful place to take it all in. The trail connects up with Jumpingpound Ridge, a wonderful flowing ridge line trail which beckons off in the distance. Jumpingpound Ridge and Cox Hill is prime Alberta mountain biking. It's a rollicking, rolling, challenging trail that flows sweet and smooth over ridge and mountain. It also happened to be the very same trail that I would be traveling during my race the very next day.

Arriving at the summit, it was a picture perfect blue sky day in Kananaskis Country. I love this place on the front range, the rolling views looking East and the stunning grey peaks looming to the West. The meadows of wild flowers, expansive views and mountains in all directions make it a very special place.

And so, I sat and waited. It wasn't long before the lead riders appeared in the distance, legs churning, climbing, spinning their way up to my perfect perch on the top of Cox Hill. They crested the top, high-fived, sat up for a moment to take a breath and disappeared into the woods. Last year, I was also here - on a day that was entirely different. I had seen these this same team in action, powering up the mountain while being buffeted from all directions by wind and snow. It was dramatic, compelling stuff. When I threw my hands up in the air and shouted, "Yay! No blizzard!" they dropped their game faces for a moment and grinned.

Slowly, the rest of the pack started appearing and they all shared one thing in common: they were pushing their bikes and had steely-glazed-over-eyeballs. Afterall, it was Day 6 of a 7 day race and it was the 3rd major climb of the day. This race is incredibly challenging - you've got to have mad skills and you've got to be tough. My loud cheering and jumping up and down usually snapped them back into reality and I was rewarded with lots of smiles, cheers and positive vibes.

It was pretty darn cool to see everyone come up that mountain - and I saw it all. A lead guy with a snapped chain, happy smiling couples, riders in need of food, water, chain lube, tubes. People enjoying the day, people suffering, people desperately in need of a few calories. People on single speeds, people on tandems and people sharing the love of the bike. I also met a couple who asked me to take there photo - because it was their wedding day. How cool is that?

Whoa. Trans Rockies on a Tandem

I even got to see lots of familiar faces - riders and volunteers of years gone by. It was awesome to see my friend Alana flying up the hill, leading the charge for the women. For her, and only her, I bust out the Leslie Ass and gave it a little slap as I ran up the trail ahead of her. Nothing like a little Ass to inspire.

Gary, putting on his best Tough Guy face.

Eventually, I heard the chatter of a familiar voice off in the distance. It was Keith talking up storm, like it was just another Saturday ride. You know, Just Riding Along. My husband is amazing. He was on volunteer duty, riding at the back-of-the-pack as a Trans Rockies ambassador, riding, socializing and clearly enjoying himself. He was also totally surprised and happy to see me, as he thought I'd be saving my legs for my big day.

Lucky for me, Keith was in no hurry - so we sat down and had a little quality time while waiting for the rest of the back-of-the-packers. Still, they came by: people of all shapes, sizes, nationalities and ages - all with the goal of getting to the finish line. It was all so impressive. I was feeling awfully inspired watching all these people endure.

After waiting for the final cyclists and the sweep to come through, I headed down off my perch and back to the car. I spent a great evening at Trans Rockies camp, visited lots of friends, enjoyed a Trans Rockies wedding, some great food and some great fun. After that, I hopped in my mini-van and drove off into the sunset, giddy and smiling at such a wonderful day. I rolled into the Station Flats parking lot where my race would be starting at 6:00AM in the morning, stretched out in my sleeping bag and slept like a baby. Oh, sweet exhaustion.

I awoke to a parking lot full of runners, slammed down a mini-thermos full of coffee, a Pro Bar and hit the start line. I was half awake and someone was kind enough to point out that my shirt was inside out.

Well, the coffee eventually kicked in and I blinked wide-eyed at my early morning surroundings. It was another beautiful day. I was wide awake by the time I crossed the Moose Mountain Road - and thrilled to see friends Julie and Mario on volunteer duty. There was a lot of hugging and socializing to be done on this day! I was warming up slowly and running comfortably, but I couldn't help but turn on the jets on the first big descent. Weeeeee! Such fun. I flew by a few people. My quads are built for descending.

At Powderface Aid Station, Mairead and Sandy were on volunteer duty and there was already a huge crowd gathering at 7:30 in the morning. The biggest surprise of all was running into my buddy Evan, who was heading out on the same trail for an early morning mountain bike ride. He's a dad of 4, so the mans got to get his ride time in early. Was that ever a great treat! We hooted and hollered all through the woods as we climbed up to the saddle of Powderface Mountain. Brenda caught up with me for a bit and we tag teamed for awhile on the trail. Surprisingly, my legs were feeling great as I powered up this climb and I flew down the descent on the other side. I zoomed through the Ford Creek section and passed a few guys who were already looking done. Ironlegs can also be run as a relay - so it was hard to know who was a soloist and who was running the relay.

At Aid station #2, Brenda and I headed out within seconds of each other and it was great to have company through this short boggy section. Once we hit the climb up Jumpingpound, I settled back in to my power hike. I was feeling strong, ridiculously happy and the climb was feeling easy. I had hoped to be on Jumping Pound summit by 11:30 and I was ahead of schedule. At the summit, I was thrilled to see 2 of my favorite Silver Foxes Wayne Gaudet and Adrien Feddema. These boys have leg speed and are always kicking butt when they race. We took some awesome photos and they made every runner tag the "official" summit.

Helloooo, Boys!

Are my quads really bigger than Waynes?

Jumpingpound Summit

Runners nearing the summit

Well, at this point I'm so stoked I can't control myself. I go sprinting down the singletrack like a crazed woman and pass a bunch of people. The descent off Jumpingpound is fun and I'm making my bear noises and whooping uncontrollably out loud. I'm even passing bikers and hikers, when I hear someone shout "Is that Leslie?" It's my friend Kamren Farr, who's running on a relay team. I get to enjoy some quality time with Kamren and we climb Cox Hill together, chatting and visiting and happy to be in this place.

We stop on the top of Cox Hill for photos and I'm thinking of all those cyclists that I had watched in this same place, only one day earlier. It's almost weird, but there I am running my own race only one day later. Fortunately for me, I'm not suffering rather I'm having a helluva' great day in this beautiful place.

Along the way we pick up Naomi Humenny, who saves the day by giving me a gel. Phew. Thanks Naomi. And so good to finally meet you!

Gel! Gel! Gel!

And then comes the fun part! The incredible descent down to the bottom of the valley and the Dawson Aid Station. The Leslie Quads are loving this and I fly down, fast, relaxed and easy. I love the downhills, but I was having so much fun and going so fast that I almost feared I may have over done it. Somewhere on the descent, I come across Mr. Trail Trash Hugh Magill who is out for a short run with his dogs. It's always great to see Hugh!

There's a huge crowd at Dawson Aid Station and my friends Julie and Chris are there to take care of me. They refill my bladder and send me off on my way for a pretty quick turn around. I stop to soak my head in the creek and wrap a wet bandana around my neck - the day is heating up. It's only 7km to the next aid station of largely flat, cruisey soft double track. Along the way I pick up the lovely Terri Gale from Tumbler Ridge, B.C. We run the 7km together and the kilometers click by quickly while we visit. I quickly determine that Terry is a beautiful and amazing woman with a kind soul. She's a few years younger than me and a mother of 3 boys. She tells me that her oldest son is 16 years old, 6'7" tall and autistic. Wow.

Charlie Breakey is waiting for us at the Spruce Grove Aid Station and I catch a glimpse of my friend Jen Silverthorn on a short out and back section. She's ahead of me by at least 10 -15 minutes and I cheer her on. It's her longest ultra Post baby, and it's been a long road back for her. I'm stoked to see her rockin' it.

The next section is Slog-arrific. It's rolling, runnable, hot and covered in cow shit. I come across a couple of guys that are suffering. I'm feeling the heat, but my body and my legs are still feeling great. I stay moving and am doing a lot of self-talk at this point. Go! Go! Go! I tell myself. Pick 'em Up! Pick 'em Up! Pick 'em Up! I'm talking to my feet. It seems to work. All of a sudden, the scenery becomes familiar. It's been years since I've been to this place and on these trails! The trails of West Bragg are a place that I've spent a ton of time, back when I was a mountain biker 15 years ago. I think of my old friend Ann Dahlberg who gave me a painting of this exact place for my wedding. Cool.

It's good to be back in this place.

Moose Loop my old favorite mountain bike trail!

As I arrive in to the West Bragg Aid Station, friends Katherine Labonte and Alan Lam are there to take care of us. Jen is also there and while she's not bonking, she's not feeling so good. We head out together, walking and she asks if I want to walk together for a bit - but I can't. I've got that horse-to-the-barn disease, when I realize that I've only got 10km left and I'm feeling good.

Jen and I

So, I put my head down, put on the jets and went. With only a couple of kilometers to go, I'm flying down the one last descent when I pass a gal like she's standing still. I don't know if she's a soloist, but I'm running hard straight through to the finish line because of it. I don't know where this energy is coming from, but I'm going with it and finishing fast and strong. Where did that come from? I was thrilled with my time of 11:09 on this challenging course with such a ridiculous amount of elevation. My pie-in-the-sky goal had been 12 hours, so to say I was pleased is an under-statement! Overall, I think this was one of the best races I've run, where everything just came together and I felt great all day. Who would have thought? I wish it could always feel this easy! So, there it is. A truly inspired weekend. And fun. Lots of fun.

It was very cool to know every one at the aid stations and be at the receiving end of lots of hugs and encouragement. This is why local races rock! Thanks to Jamie and Tasha Nott, all of the Trail Trash who were out there volunteering and to all of the racers out there. Historically, I haven't been able to compete in this one due to it's proximity to the Trans Rockies Run but this year, I finally got to run it! Thanks y'all for a great day.

Results here.

Brenda, happy to be done!

A Salute to the Trans-Rockies Run - a 3 Day Running Bender

2011-08-11T12:17:00.001-06:00

As y'all know, I love my backyard. I love the mountains. I love the trails. And, I love to share them. So, when some of the Trans Rockies Run friends finally decided to come for a visit, I was thrilled. It's always great to share my special places, with good peoples!!! Keith and I had 3 days-of-fun with our very entertaining friends Deb Daehler Davies and Stephen Price of Colorado. Also in the house, the lovely and divine, Ms. Erin Fields-Delude of North Idaho.

The theme of the weekend seemed to be Poo and Farts. Stephen being the token male on the trails was bewildered with all of this Poo Talk coming out of the mouths of babes. So, here's to having good bowel movements and to having good friends!

But more to the point: the running world is a small world of like minded folks. We've shared some good times on the trails with a LOT of good people over the years, especially at the Trans Rockies Run. So, I salute you - people who like to run far and wide, people with a spirit of adventure, people who know how to have fun and people who just like to go out there and enjoy some quality time in pretty places.

Oh yeah, and I salute you Trans Rockies Runners and Cyclists alike!

Currently, Keith is pedaling his little heart out at the Trans Rockies Bike as we speak. There's a whole bunch of sweaty cyclists out there - some of them with ear-to-ear grins and some of them in tears - but at the end of the day, it's all the same. You finish and I finish. We're all members. Of the same family.

I'm giving you a photo tour of my 3 Days o' Fun- because I'm too shattered to do anything else. Here's what the 3 Day Running Bender looked like:

Day 1 - Healy Pass, the Monarch Ramparts, Simpson Pass and Sunshine Meadows - around 33km

Day 2 - Yoho in a Day: Yoho Valley, the Whaleback, Twin Falls, Stanley Mitchell, the Iceline Trail, Yoho Lake - around 42km

Day 3 - the Rockwall: 55km

Now THAT'S a good weekend.

Did I mention I have a race this upcoming weekend?

It's a 50 Miler with 20,000+ feet of elevation. While I certainly won't be running on "fresh" legs, I'm stoked to be participating in this event! It's local, it's beautiful, it's ridiculously challenging - and I'll know everyone out there. It's been a long time since I've been in a local race and I'm stoked to see everyone! I'll know the race directors, the volunteers and lots of the runners. Me, I'm planning on enjoying each and every moment of what is going to be a very long and wonderful day.

Now, enjoy the photos and send some of those Trans Rockies cyclists out there you good vibes and good thoughts!

DAY 3: The Rockwall Trail with Stephen and Liza Pye

DAY 2: Yoho in a Day with Erin, Deb and Stephen

DAY 1: Healy/Sunshine in a Day with Ed, Jen, Doone, Erin, Deb and Stephen

Fun in Banff - cruising Banff and Vermillion Lakes on the bikes...

Long Weekend Adventures: Jonas Pass, Nigel Pass and the Skyline Trail

2011-08-08T21:54:00.001-06:00

***I hope you are all out there enjoying summer time wherever you may be. It's my favorite time of year to be out enjoying some good times on the trails in the Canadian Rockies. I hope you are all out there having your own adventures big or small, even if that is enjoying a beer on an outdoor patio or having a BBQ in your backyard.***

I escaped Banff this past long weekend and headed out for an overnighter in the backcountry. Mike had a few extra days off and decided that he wanted to run an amazing and remote section of the Continental Divide Trail. A stretch of 200km trail that travels through some rugged, wild and beautiful backcountry from Saskatchewan River Crossing all the way to Jasper! For him, it was a cool mix of remote high mountain passes and also a section of more well used trail through Nigel Pass and Jonas Pass. His journey would continue through Maligne Pass to Maligne Lake and finally - along the famous Skyline trail into Jasper.

I recruited Angela to fastpack the 33+ kilometres and meet up with Mike in the middle of his journey around Jonas Cut-off. There, we would camp for the night and he would continue on his "big run". After that, we would hike back out to civilisation and shuttle his car to the finish line. For the last day, we would join up to run the Skyline trail together - 44 kilometres of high alpine trail bliss. It would be my 4th time running this trail - it's one of those trails that you don't mind doing over and over again.

Over the 3 days, we had what could only be described as weird weather. We had heavy frost and cold temperatures when we were camping, followed by a day of brilliant sunshine, followed by a day of crazy weather on the Skyline Trail. We weathered a full-on cold,windy,torrential frightening storm on the middle of the Skyline Trail, high up in the mountains. It started as a nice day, but then it changed alarmingly quick. It rained sideways, with a deafening wind that threatened to freeze us solid. It was wet, cold and miserable. At one point, I had on every single piece of equipment that I carry: a waterproof coat, a puffy down coat, a wool long sleeved top and long underwear, toque, gloves and a Buff. Yes, this is what I carry in my hydration pack on all of my long runs in summer in the Canadian Rockies. A map, first-aid kit, food, water, headlamp and bear spray fill up the rest of the remaining space. It was a reassuring reminder that it's important to carry all of this stuff when you are out in the backcountry. Sorry, there are no photos of me with blue lips, running in my down coat with my toque on in summer. You'll have to enjoy the photos of the other day - where I was blissfully running across sweeping passes under a perfect bluebird sky.

Mike in his Happy Place.

Sometimes, you need to just sit down.

Footprints in the snow

Morning Sunshine

Wild Places

Smiling Faces

Run. Fun.

Perspective

Jonas Pass

Sunwapta Peak

Angela Rocks!

Upper Brazeau Valley

Nigel Pass

It's Steep.

Fun on the Skyline

Calm after the Storm

Dave 4 and Mike is still cruising.

Angela and Mike, all dressed up and no place to go!!

It was a fun weekend spent in wild and amazing places in the company of good friends. Thanks Angela and Mike! That sure was a lot of fun.

Oh, Mount Assiniboine.

2011-07-27T22:32:00.001-06:00

Mount Assiniboine. The Matterhorn of the Canadian Rockies. People come from around the world just to gaze at this prodigious peak and climb it's flanks. Well, except this year. No one has yet to climb it because it's still snow bound. But that's another story.

Esthetically, it's beautiful with it's pyramidal shape and plumes of white cloud which cling to it's rocky summit. It's an ecosystem unto itself, with clouds and mini-storm systems swirling high above. It's mystical, magical and magnificent.

It's Mount Assiniboine

After my weekend plans fell through, I jumped on a last-minute trip with some of the running friends to enjoy a weekend in the Mount Assiniboine area. The plan was simple: one day to run in, one day to play and one day to run out.

Seven years ago, on a similar trip - this place had ignited the idea in my mind that it was possible to run, on mountain trails and travel far and wide. The 27km run in to Mount Assiniboine was my first time visiting this special region, my very first mountain trail run and truly, a life changing weekend. I've never been the same since. I haven't stopped exploring, trail running and enjoying the mountains since my first foray in to Assiniboine.

This weekend delivered some nasty weather up, yet again. Cool temperatures, low cloud coverage, rain, sleet and snow were enjoyed by all on this "summer" weekend. Fortunately, by the end of Day 2 - the rain stopped, the clouds cleared off and we got some glimpses of grandeur. When the clouds finally lifted, we managed to get up high, bag a peak and we finally, finally got a glimpse of the mighty Mount Assiniboine. I smiled so hard my face hurt, enjoyed the company of some great people and ran my little heart out in this incredible playground.

Charlie and Allan

Kids in their Playground

Charlie warming up after her swim in Lake Magog. It was maybe 5c.

Fresh snow. Mini Blizzard. Cold. Wet. Fun.

Lake Magog, Sunburst Lake, Cerulean Lake, Elizabeth Lake L-R

Fresh snow on Nub Peak

Mount Assiniboine makes an appearance

Heavenly

Big

Bigger

Biggest!

...and finally, blue sky and Mount Assiniboine.

Trail Trash

On our last day, the sun came finally came out and we enjoyed a perfect summer's day. The run out was awesome, a magical tour of Og Lake, Valley of the Rocks, Citadel Pass and Sunshine Meadows. I enjoyed getting sweaty, feeling the sun on my skin and twice enjoyed that feeling of exhilaration that you only get by jumping in a high alpine lake.

Singletrack and Mount Assiniboine

Everyone Was Happy

There was Great Rejoicing!

...and we all ran happily ever after.

The End.

Wil, Kate and Other Stories

2011-07-21T23:07:00.000-06:00

The hazard of being a blogger with an adventurous lifestyle is that sometime, adventure gets in the way of writing. Really, though - that's a pretty weak excuse when my friend Jill is pumping out the posting, writing and photography at least 3 times a week. But hey, the girl has like 1000 Followers!!! And she's in the business of writing.

Me, I'm in the business of fun. And fun always wins out.

So, I'm giving y'all the whirlwind photo tour of a few different adventures of the past little while. I'm heading deep into the mountains this weekend,to enjoy some quality time in the Mount Assiniboine area. It's an incredibly beautiful area, I'm looking forward to my time spent there.

A Little Story

What's the Wil and Kate thing all about? Well, the Royal Couple With the Most-est decided to escape to the Canadian Rockies. Where did they go? Well, a helicopter whisked them away and dropped them at my most favorite place on earth: Skoki Lodge. They were there enjoying a picture perfect 25C day and evidently, took a hike to Merlin Lake. It so happened that I was there the next day when it looked like this:

But, it's all fun when you're having an adventure. And despite the weather weirdness of this particular weekend, fun was had. We braved a 24 hour snowstorm, a night in the tent and awoke to a white world outside. While the Royals were well nested under their down duvets and custom-made Backcountry Shitter, I woke up feeling like this:

Baker Lake Campground Early AM - Camping is Fun!

However, I did get to sign the Guest Book at Skoki and sneak-a-peak to see if our Royal friends had done the same. In the summer months I always sign the register with the same comment: "A Nice Day for a Run." Sure enough, I signed just below William and Cate. I had to giggle when I saw Prince William called himself Willy. Willy! Baaa-ha-ha! Oh Willy, you're so silly. It looks like your lady has a more formal side - no Cate here, just Catherine.

Special Guests: Leslie, Mike and Steve! And Willy and Catherine....

Fortunately, the weather redeemed itself and we enjoyed a summery weekend this past weekend. It was the first time this year, that it truly felt like summer.

Hope you are all enjoying a great summer. Enjoy the pictures!

Leslie Out.

Healy Meadows from high above

The Monarch

Running the Monarch Ramparts

Monarch Ramparts

Views from the Ramparts

Cornice on the Ramparts - July 16,2011

We ran there! Along the ridge line. So beautiful!

...trip to Pigeon Mountain

Weather rolling in - Wind Ridge in the distance

Pigeon Mountain

...trip to Ribbon Falls, Ribbon Lake, Guinn's Pass and Galatea trails...

Ribbon Lake Run - above the chains

Happy Leslie

Ribbon Lake

Looking towards Buller Pass

Little People

Buller Pass

Monica and Stan - Guinn's Pass

It's the Beginning of a Great Misadventure

2011-07-10T20:38:00.000-06:00

Oh, Summer in the Rockies.

'Nuf said.

It's the Beginning of a Great Adventure

2011-07-04T11:10:00.001-06:00

The past few weeks have been busy ones. All sorts of good things happening, good times and great adventures. I got to make a whirlwind trip to California for Western States, Summer Solstice has come and gone and so has the month of June.

My experience at Western States was fun, energizing and yes, a Great Adventure. To see all of these runners from the front of the pack to the back of the pack makes your eyes wide open in awe. There's inspiration wherever you look - and I didn't have to look far while pacing Angela to yet another stellar 100 Mile finish. The girl was tough, strong, steady and mentally solid.

She's Tough. And Amazing.

My Banff friends Brenda and Ellie had great races as well, with Brenda cruising easily, confidently and happily to the finish line. After a rough start, Ellie pulled out all of the stops and finished up her race in epic style blazing the last 20 Miles for the win. The scenery also inspired - from the American River Valley to the high peaks of Truckee, Donner Pass and Lake Tahoe - this is beautiful country.

Team Banff Rocks!

Upon returning from Western States, I also had some inspirational visitors. My home was abuzz with the good energy of Cricket Butler and Stephen Huddle - a couple of cyclists who were getting ready for a Great Adventure. Cricket and Stephen are cycling the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route as participants in the Tour Divide - a self supported mountain bike race from Banff to New Mexico. Cricket is going for the ladies course record - which is currently held by my friend Jill Homer. How cool is that? Needless to say, their energy and excitement was reverberating off the walls of Chateau Brodsky. Keith and I have put the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route on our Great Adventure List. We love the idea of getting on our bicycles in Banff and touring down to Mexico. Cricket and Stephen rolled out early in the morning of June 30th and we'll be cheering them on online with their efforts.

Bikepacking = Fastpacking

Cricket is traveling light and fast!

Off to Mexico
Pack your Light Saber.

Summer Solstice also came and went, the eternal change of season. When you live in a place where seasons dictate the ebbs and flows of our day-to-day existence, it's not just symbolic of change - it's significant. On that note, the end of June and the change of season brought with it some personal change in the world of Keith and Leslie. Way back in the New Year - we were pondering life and actually decided to make a big change. Keith called up his employer and told them he would be done working on June 30th - the end of his contract. My hubby has always loved his job as a Sales Rep for Rocky Mountain Bicycles, but he decided that he was done. He wants to take a few years off, spend less time on the road, work locally and seasonally and in between - take his wife traveling. Sounds Good to Me. He leaves Rocky Mountain as the top salesman in all of North America. We decided, why not leave on top? When your employer is happy and life is good. We leave September 15th for 3 months in Australia. Hello World.

This past weekend, we had the pleasure of attending our friends Geoff and Tracy's wedding in Jasper. It was a beautiful way to spend Canada Day and I couldn't possibly think of anything more symbolic to celebrate the Beginning of a Great Adventure.

It's the beginning of a Great Adventure

On that note, no trip to Jasper would be complete without actually enjoying a Great Adventure. We worked off our post-wedding indulgences with a 42km trip to Berg Lake - one of the most beautiful places on Earth.

First Adventure of the Season - Fryatt Valley, Jasper National Park

2011-06-19T21:30:00.001-06:00

It's been a weird spring in Banff.

With the snow lingering in the high country and lots of cool and rainy days, it's been a late start to our trail running season. I've been listless. I've been waiting. Heck, I've even been resurrected my mountain bike all in the name of variety. Don't get me wrong, there's always lots to do and see in my backyard - but mostly I've been contained to running at the valley level and dreaming of summer adventure runs.

And dreaming I have. My lists are long and large of places, trails and mountains I want to see in my summer play time in the mountains. And finally, the season is here! It crept up on me between rain storms and snow storms and visitors and work. And with the help of a sun that stays up late into a cool, moist June evening - the summer running season has begun.

YOOOOPEEE!!

I wasn't the only one feeling listless, my running buddies have been feeling that same tug to get out there. So, this past weekend we decided to say "Fuck You!" to the weather and go have ourselves an adventure despite a weather forecast of rainy and cold all across Alberta. We hopped in the mini-van and headed out of town for a long drive on the Icefields Parkway to unofficially kick-start our season.

Kick Ass Run #1 - Fryatt Valley, Jasper National Park - 47km

This run has been on my list for a long time, but the approach to this gorgeous hanging valley is long, forested and notorious for bears. It's 17km in the woods before you finally bust out of the forest and you can see your destination - the Fryatt Valley, sitting high and far above a massive headwall. I had heard that the Fryatt Valley was a jewel that rewards all of your efforts.

Fortunately, the forest wasn't near the drudgery that we expected and delivered a few surprises. First, the forest trail was soft and plush and with signs of spring abounding, it was rather pretty. Second, instead of seeing signs and souvenirs of bears along our trail, we found a trail that was being well traveled by wolves. I've never seen so much wolf scat in my life, and this scat was full of the largest bone shards I've ever seen.

When we finally emerged from the forest, the trail was a rocky beautiful gradually uphill romp across streams and avalanche chutes. The clouds parted and gave us glimpses of grandeur. The scenery got us fired up when we got our first glimpse of the valley which looked to be a long, long ways away. Had I been looking at my map, I would have know there was a lake - but the glacier fed Fryatt Lake was another nice surprise.

We were pretty excited to see some rare Harlequin Ducks on the lake, bobbing and weaving and on a feeding frenzy. These birds are a special creature, quite animated, lively and so pretty.

The Headwall was more of a fortress guarding the valley - a steep 200metre elevation push finally took us up and in to the valley. It was a snowbound, incredible place where spring is still fighting to come out.

Steve makes his own path

We scrambled and post-holed our way further into the valley and made our way to an un-named lake to enjoy some lunch, some laughs and the crazy beautiful scenery.

Mike and I

The Fryatt Valley definitely delivered the high alpine goodies, it's a wild and beautiful place and had it all to ourselves. The Alpine Club of Canada has a hut up there - the Sydney Vallance Hut, which is popular with summer visitors. We saw only 2 backpackers on the trail all day, which gave this adventure a more "adventurous" feel to the day. But now, I'm going to have to go back to visit this valley in all of it's summer glory. It's an incredible place.

Naturally, the descent out was quick - and I felt strong and was having fun. We hooted and hollered and danced our way across roots and rocks, making enough noise to scare all of the bears away.

The sun came out for the last 11km and we flew back to the car. We got the best surprise of all when we caught a glimpse of a lone wolf - probably the same guy who had left all of the souvenirs on the trail. That was exciting, as none of us have ever seen a wolf on the trail before. It sure was a nice way to wind up our first big adventure run of the season. Also nice, was a shower and meal in Jasper to wind up a great day of play in the mountains.

Let the season begin!

More on the Maah-Daah-Hey Trail

2011-06-08T21:43:00.000-06:00

Our second day on the trail started cloudy and cold. The joy of being able to bring along all of our car camping gear, coolers and Coleman stove was that we got to eat like pre-pubescent teenage boys. But healthier. The gourmet Sundried tomato, Spinach, Feta and Bacon breakfast burrito hit the spot. The coffee topped it off. And we were off.....

Ryan, getting his thermostat started

It didn't take long for the cyclists to get a generous lead on us across the prairie flats. The moment we hit the first technical descent and the first section of Badlands - a mini-canyon - we caught a fleeting glimpse of our friends on the rim of the canyon. Surprisingly, we weren't that far behind. The chase was on.

Our first day had provided us with glimpses of only a few Prairie Wild Flowers. Mostly, there were a few Prairie Crocuses and Moss Phlox. The flowers, like us, were solar-powered. By the end of Day 2, different colors were starting to appear on the desolate landscape.

Solar-Powered.

I looked at the common Buffalo Bean which a whole new set of eyes. After seeing the herd of Buffalo the day before, I was envisioning a historic prairie landscape covered in giant herds of Buffalo, grazing on this omni-present Prairie wild flower.

But, the highlight of my day came towards the end of the day when I came across a snow patch close enough to the trail. After only 2 days, I was filthy - and now I was filthy and salty. Angela averted her gaze when I jumped into the snow bank and started joyously scrubbing myself in unmentionable places. Oh, for small pleasures!

And then the landscape changed, yet again - and the prairie sky revealed itself in amazing and wondrous ways.

To top it all off, our campsite was cozy and sheltered, the surrounding scenery was beautiful and the temperatures were warm enough to enjoy a great night in camp. We cooked, we ate and we laughed - and then we enjoyed yet another Prairie sunset.

Normally, there's a river manageable river crossing on the Maah-Daah-Hey trail, but the unusual weather had the river flowing and flooding in spots all over North Dakota. So, on Day 3 the good folks at Medora Cyclery shuttled us around the Little Missouri. The shuttle turned out to be a 96-mile van ride all the way back into Medora, across the Interstate bridge and back to other side of the river a mere 10 trail miles from where we took out. It took us hours. Essentially, it left us with a very short day on the trail so Jill, Michelle, Ryan and Keith decided to take a break from the bike and run the trail instead.

Me, Keith, Jill, Michelle and Angela

Mostly, I ended up walking most of the way with Keith. It was nice to take a day "off". It was a gorgeous day, but I had some sharp, angry pain somewhere in my calf muscle where my Soleus muscle meets the Achilles tendon in my calf. Ouch. Time to rest up. Note to self: maybe 46km only 5 days earlier before a big multi-day running trip is a little silly. D-oh.

Winter White, meets Prairie Sun

By the end of Day 3, the wind was howling across the prairies - and we took shelter in the most well treed corner of the campground. We built our own little oasis in the trees and fired up the biggest bonfire you've ever seen. It's the best part of camping, yes? For our last evening, we amalgamated all of our junk-food and binged until we passed out in a sugar-induced coma. Ugh. It felt like a hangover the next morning. I love food. Good and bad.

Day 4 was a long and lovely 26 miles. Because everyone was anticipating a long day on the trail, the group was packed up, fed and up and at it pretty darn quick. By Day 4 of camping, we also had it dialed as far as the daily cooking, packing and organizing of gear.

We started our day with a muddy creek crossing and as soon as we climbed out of the first coulee, we got hit by the prairie wind. Wind was the theme of the day and we got battered by the relentless crosswind and headwind. The cyclists even got blown over a few times. Angela, who spent most of her day quietly cursing - was on fire and for most of the day I followed her backside as she sped along. The trail was very runnable and ridable - and I was thinking we were going to be a long way behind the cyclists.

I was having a great day - after 3 days of running on tired legs, I was finally feeling good! The prairie landscape was continuing to come to life every day. Every day, I would discover a different wild flower popping out of the desolate landscape and the earth was becoming greener underneath our feet. Clusters of pink Three-Flowered Avens started to appear, Yellow Long Fruited Prairie Parsley, Prairie Buttercup, Purple Vetch, Chickweed and Pink and White Wind Flowers all magically appeared. On the first day, I had identified only 2 flowers in bloom. By the end of our short trip, the prairies were coming to life. As well as the flowers, we had seen the buffalo roam and the deer and the antelope play...

Did I mention the Ticks, the Rattlesnake and the Cactus? All of the flowers and Mega-Fauna aside, there were some nasty little beasties and sharp things out there. My legs got shredded by the sagebrush and the ticks were particularly numerable. We all shared the mutual paranoia of the prehistoric blood sucking critters. Ticks are just creepy.

The incessant wind continued to howl all day, an invisible stress pounding in my ears. Despite the wind, I was loving this day, this place, this adventure.

We were only seven miles from the finish when we came to a trail junction, the Maah Daah Hey Trail or the newer Cottonwood Trail. Dakota Cyclery had recommended the Cottonwood as the "better route" with the recent bad weather turning the Maah-Daah-Hey into a giant clay mess. So, off we went.

As our trail plunged down into Cottonwood Canyon, we had fun slipping and sliding our way down the singletrack. When we hit canyon bottom, the recent rains had erased the trail in a quagmire of landslides and clay. It was there that we caught sight of the cyclists, pushing, pulling and struggling with their bikes trying to cross the creek. Before we knew it, we were on them - and passed them traveling at a much quicker pace. It was awesome to see them and it certainly lit a fire under our butts. All of a sudden we were moving, fast and smooth and putting in distance between us and the cyclists.

Slogfest: Michelle pushes her bike in the mud

While it certainly wasn't easy traveling, it was easier than pushing a bike through the mud. The Cottonwood trail was a mess: huge sections had been washed away and tumbled off the hillsides. Entire sections of trail had been swallowed by the earth. On other sections, we were bogged down in shoe-sucking mud.

It took us almost 2 hours to travel the last 7 miles. The adventure continued as we descended the last kilometer - a beautiful trail descending downwards through more badlands. As we crashed off the trail to avoid another section of washed out trail, Angela scared a rattlesnake lying in the grass. It added a little jolt of adrenalin to our descent, as we cruised to the bottom. One more muddy creek crossing greeted us and we joked that "It ain't over 'til it's over!"

The friends rolled in soon after, exhausted, tired but elated. It took them almost 3 hours of hard work to push their bikes through the Cottonwood Trail. Our last day had been a battle with mother nature with the wind and the mud. It was a fitting end to a great week - and what felt like a great adventure in a new and amazing place. North Dakota, who knew?

I Love You Berg Lake

2011-06-04T16:04:00.002-06:00

Ever heard of Mount Robson? Most good Canadians have. Especially those people who are lovers of mountains and wild places. It's the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies, located about an hour outside of the town of Jasper, in British Columbia. It's everything you think of when you think of the Canadian Rockies: a giant grey behemoth of rock, heavily glaciated, with a stunning turquoise lake at it's base. It has a couple of glaciers that run right down it's face and drop huge chunks of ice into the lake below, Berg Lake. It's other worldly and it's incredible.

Here's what the Mount Robson Provincial Park website says about the area:

Mount Robson Provincial Park, the second oldest park in British Columbia's park system, is truly one of the world's crown jewels. The mountain for which the park is named guards the park's western entrance.

I Love You Berg Lake

The monarch of the Canadian Rockies, Mount Robson, at 3,954 metres above sea level, is one of the spectacular scenic attractions preserved in this beautiful park. Picturesque waterfalls, massive blue glaciers, pristine lakes and lush valleys endow this special place. Berg Lake Trail is a world-renowned hiking and backcountry experience. Berg Lake Trail takes hikers to some of the best scenery in the province. This incredible trail climbs to the shoreline of Berg Lake, located at the base of Mount Robson. Beyond Kinney Lake, the trail enters the Valley of a Thousand Falls. Fed by the massive Mist, Berg and Robson glaciers, visitors often see huge sections of ice break off or “calve” into the blue/green, silt-laden waters of Berg Lake.

As far as beautiful mountain places I've been, Berg Lake has a special place in my heart. Once you've seen it, it implants itself in your mind forever and ever. This trail run has become a tradition of sorts for me, I've run it once a summer for the past 2 years and both times it left me reeling in awe at the beauty of this natural world of ours. The first year, I did it as a memorable solo run and the second year, I wanted to share this place with friends. On an interesting note, it's also almost an exact marathon distance of 42km as an out and back to visit Berg Lake.

Year 1 Blog Post here.

Year 2 Blog Post here.

So, you can imagine my surprise and excitement when I found out yesterday, that there is going to be a race on this special trail, to this extra special place. The Mount Robson Marathon will be a one-time only event held in conjunction with the 100th Anniversary of BC Parks. Only 100 participants allowed for the event, with bragging rights and naturally, a permanent course record for all of eternity. A series of frenzied e-mails to trail running friends ensued and about 7 of us signed up immediately. Unbelievable! There's going to be a race. To Berg Lake and back. And it's going to be Amazing.

Coming Soon: Trail Running in the Canadian Rockies

2011-05-25T17:21:00.002-06:00

I'm waiting impatiently, for the arrival of our summer season. It's my favorite time of year to explore, so I can't help but anticipate good things to come. Our summer trail season is going to be late in coming this year. The reality is, that all of the trails in the high alpine are buried in snow and they're going to remain that way for another month.

So, when you luck out and find a place up high that is some how, miraculously clear of snow - you have to jump up and down and smile so much your face hurts. I can't WAIT to get out there for some summer adventures!

Wilcox Pass, Banff National Park - May 21st, Victoria Day Long Weekend

Where the Buffalo Roam

2011-05-22T21:52:00.002-06:00

North Dakota.

I'd never been to North Dakota, but I'm always looking to travel to new places. Sometimes you just need a reason to get in your car and make a road trip to some random new place.

My friends in Banff love to mountain bike and also love to explore random strange places. My buddy Dave had been not once, but twice to ride the Maah-Daah-Hey Trail and it sounded awesome. Just knowing that Dave had enjoyed this trail enough to come back for a 3rd time, said a lot. He described it as "100 Miles of prime single track in Prairie Badlands". When Dave said he was planning another trip, I just had to say, "Yes Please!" We committed to this trip way back in January.

Our friends took care of everything, and all we had to do was show up. As well as Dave and Brenda, Keith was keen to ride this trail and we recruited Jill, Angela and Michelle to come along for the fun. Rounding up the group, was photographer Ryan Creary and busband and wife Sharon and Percy Woods who were taking their first vacation together in 7 years without the kids. Needless to say, they were full of joy and good energy.

The Maah-Daah-Hey trail is a point-to-point with 3 campgrounds perfectly positioned along the 100 Miles of trail. The good folks at Medora Cyclery offer a shuttle service, where they magically transfer all of your car camping gear, food and water from location to location. All you have to do is ride - or run, in my case.

Upon arriving in North Dakota, we couldn't help but notice the standing water in all of the fields. All of the creeks and rivers we saw while driving, were raging and we had heard reports of flooding. We knew that there was a chance that our trip might be a bust - and we might not even be able start. In the Badlands, severe weather and rains can cause flash floods and turn the bentonite soil into un-rideable cement. Or sticky clay. The owner of the Dakota Cyclery had reported a major weather event that had just happened 2 days prior. She described it as "the biggest deluge I've ever seen". Only 2 weeks earlier, a spring blizzard had dropped 14 inches of snow in the area, with windgusts knocking down power poles like match sticks. The normally dry earth of the North Dakota Badlands was clearly saturated. This was going to be an adventure.

Fortunately, everyone decided that we were up for the adventure and were flexible with the logistics of where and what we were going to ride/run. In the end, we had to completely rearrange our trip plan, starting from town rather than the north end of the trail, and set up an extra shuttle to ferry everyone around the reportedly uncrossable (10 feet deep and rising) Little Missouri River.

The Little Missouri

On our first day, Angela and I were stoked to be running across Theodore Roosevelt National Park while the cyclists had to take another trail around the Park. Before heading off down the trail - we consulted with the National Parks Office for some advice. Unfortunately, it was abundantly clear that nobody had actually been out on the trail since the deluge or had any idea of what kind of shape the trail might be in. The only advice that was offered up was "Watch out for Buffalo!" Whaaat?!? Buffalo?!

With that, we started down the trail on a cool, overcast day - under an immense prairie sky. As we started along what remained of the shoreline trail of the Little Missouri, it became clear that there had indeed been a major weather event. The shoe-sucking-mud had rendered this portion of the trail slippery slide-y and largely un-runnable. As well, there had been casualties in this storm and maybe from the harsh winter, but we happened upon 5 different dead things, in various stages of decay. Yuck! When we eventually climbed out of the river valley, the trail started to firm up - sort of. One moment it would be runnable and the next, treacherously slippery.

Further along the trail, there were more signs of the Earth Moving. Giant sinkholes appeared in the earth, swallowing huge sections of trail. Along the cliff sides, it was erosion in action: there were landslides of wet cement-like clay and shoe sucking mud. This storm had done some major damage - the earth was moving in new and wondrous ways throughout the badlands of North Dakota.

Sinkhole

Shoe-Sucking-Mud

Landslide!

Only a few miles in to our adventure, Angela stops dead in her tracks and I almost run into her. "It's a furry rock" she says, in a quiet voice. And sure enough, there's a big rock next to the trail and behind it, is a silhouette of brown fur. And then, this giant Buffalo raised its head and looks at us. I'm not sure I would have even noticed myself, but the Buffalo was snoozing behind this rock - not 10 feet from where we were about to run by. Hearts pounding, we quietly retreated to the protection of some rocks and then scrambled across a newly eroded landslide to avoid him.

Just Call Me Mr. Buffalo

Below, you can see the ribbon of trail coming in from the right, passing right by Mr. Buffalo. I'm so glad Angela was paying attention. That encounter got us right fired up and flying down the trail!

We had only been running and hour and change when we hit this flooding creek and promptly lost the trail. Up until that point, the trail had been really well marked - but maybe the storm and the creek had washed away the marker. The creek was a slimy abyss of clay and brown sludge, that threatened to suck off my Hoka's. My gators were awesome to keep most of the sludge out of my shoes. The water was running thigh deep and the mud was thick, black and slippery.

In the end, we probably spent close to 2 hours wallowing through mud and creeks looking for the trail. Angela spotted our first snake - coiled in a pile of Buffalo shit. During all of this, we got cold, frustrated and grouchy. I fell on my ass a couple of times in the mud, while Angela somehow miraculously remained upright. It was pretty funny. My ass actually slapped when I hit the mud and I left a huge Ass-Print in the earth.

Cold and Muddy

On our trip up the Lone Pine trail, we also came across 2 huge and beautiful horses. Only later did I realize that they were wild - I belatedly read about there being wild horses in the national parks brochure after the fact.

When we finally found the trail, an un-marked ribbon winding it's way up the hillside - we were keen to get Going, Moving, In motion! Plus, I was c-c-cold. We motored up and out of the badlands, walking and running with purpose. In the process, we scared a few deers out of the bushes. They gazed down at us, alert, before disappearing into the skyline. The North Dakota Badlands are also home to a healthy population of coyotes, cougars and antelope.

When we reached the top, we were greeted by a big, wide, empty, flat Prairie. Last years prairie grasses swayed in the wind and the fields were beginning to come alive with green foliage exploding from the earth. The prairie flowers weren't out in all of their glory just yet - we saw only a few small clusters of Prairie Crocus and Buffalo Berry. Mostly, there were large clusters of white Moss Phlox and Dandelions in bloom.

From the flats of the prairies, the landscape cut sharply down the the Badlands. It was like a mini Grand Canyon. It was also immense, and beautiful and rugged and wild. I felt a sense of wonder at the size, scope and vastness of this place. I get a similar feeling when I'm in the mountains here in Banff. The feeling of being just a speck on the landscape of a big wild wonderful world.

As well as the amazing landscape, the Prairie sky was incredible. The Cirrus clouds were thin and wispy and being blown by high winds into long streamers. Although our day started out with a dark foreboding sky, eventually it evolved into a beautiful day. There's just something about a prairie sky.

After finally finding our stride on the flats of the Prairies, we chewed through some miles. While we were cruising along the flats, I spotted a whole herd of Buffalo grazing off in the distance of the badlands.

At least, I thought they were off in the distance when we spotted this guy - clearly a Rebel - right in the middle of the trail. He was easy to avoid, but as you can see - we were highly vulnerable with no place to hide on the flat Prairies. Eventually, he deemed us insignificant - and returned to his grazing.

Where Buffalo Roam

When we finally arrived at camp, everyone was already relaxing - albeit bundled up in their puffy down jackets with toques on. We were covered in mud, filthy beyond words and happy to be done our first day. We had enjoyed quite the day of Adventure. It was only Day 1 and we were covered in grime with no creek to bathe in. Plus, it was cold. I decided that the best way to "recover" was to dive in to the appetizers that were rapidly appearing on the picnic table. There would be no stretching of warm muscles, no soak in a clear cold creek and most definitely, no bathing. However, there would be lots and LOTS of good tasty food, great company and an amazing prairie sunset to conclude our first day on the trail.

I think this mountain girl is in love with the prairies.

Photo stolen from Jills blog.

Rollin' out

2011-05-11T21:49:00.000-06:00

We're rollin' out at the "crack" of 5:00AM for a road trip to North Dakota! What's in North Dakota, you say? Why it's the Maah-Daah-Hey, eh? The Big Ass in the middle is our trip coordinator and it's bound to to be Good Times. We're a group of 10, of which 8 are going to be mountain biking this prime singletrack and 2 of us will be running. Who's run? Why that would be me and Angela.

Not North Dakota....

Don't know much about the Maah-Daah-Hey trail and know even less about North Dakota, but I reckon it's a good chance to see spring in the prairies and see something completely different. See you in a week.

Waterfalls Run - Columbia River Gorge

2011-05-09T23:07:00.001-06:00

I was a little overwhelmed trying to decide "where" to go running in the Gorge - there were just too many options. In the end, I decided to park the car at Ainsworth State Park - and see how many waterfalls I could find.

Well.

I lost track after a couple dozen and be it that it was spring, there was a gazillion un-named cascades that had magically appeared for me to appreciate. How many waterfalls did I see? Who the hell knows, but it was Waterfall Craziness. I got a taste of the Oregon that I had envisioned: lush, green, wild and wonderful. I ran through rain, hail and sunshine. I ran through waterfalls, behind waterfalls and jumped right in to a few waterfalls. Heck, why not? I was already wet. :)

Horsetail Falls

Ponytail Falls

Leslie Falls

More Falls. Down.

Triple Falls

Trillium

Big-Assed Falls

Daring to be Different

It's Scary in The Woods

Multnomah Falls

In the end, I was out for 5 hour+ and had a Most Excellent Adventure. I hit Horsetail Falls, Ponytail Falls, Oneonta Falls, Triple Falls, Wisendanger Falls, Wahkeena Falls, Mist Falls, Multnomah Falls, Angels Rest, Coopey Falls and Bridal Veil Falls. And the Gazillion Nameless Falls in between. And then I turned around and I did it again. It was so wet and rainy that I had the trails to myself. Apart from the Multnomah Falls area trails, on this rainy day in the off-season, I hardly saw a soul. Sadly, no sightings of Elves,Pixies, Fairies, Leprechauns, Hobbits or Ogres. I felt their energy though: my body was tired, but my spirit was soaring! Oh wait - that was the Giant Americano I had at Multinomah Falls. Sigh. I love Oregon. Only in Oregon will you find a Organic-Free-Trade-Rainforest-Ring-Tailed-Lemur-Friendly-Hippie-Friendly cup of hot coffee whilst on a run. It's a Magical Kingdom.

I Love Oregon

2011-05-06T22:22:00.001-06:00

As well as being home to many kick-ass runners and kick-ass people, Oregon is full of kick-ass scenery. The trails of Sisters were a refreshing change for me, even if they were all torturesome and flat. ;) Kidding, the trails of Sisters were AWESOME largely because they were DRY. Yes, this little running vacation was mostly to give Keith and I a reprieve from winter and we ran, joyfully, soaking it all in. I made mental note of every leaf, blade of grass and flower fighting to come out.

James Varner and RD-Sean Meissner

Getting Past by a Weinereimer

The day after the race, we headed out to Smith Rock - only 25 minutes from Sisters. We hiked for about 2 hours and gawked at the incredible scenery and the swollen river. I know Smith Rock as the place where all of our local climbers go in the off-season. Sure enough, the climbers were out in full force. Keith and I did a little mini-scramble of our own, but were cautious - our legs were not our own. Still, the walk was the perfect thing to get our legs moving.

After that, we hopped in the car and headed for Hood River - my first visit to the Columbia River Gorge. I was stoked to be there and the first thing we did was head to Double Mountain for beer and pizza. Aaaaah. Next day, we started our day with 3 hours of walking and running at Eagle Creek in a green, magical forest with lots of water flowing. It was exactly the image I had in my mind of Oregon, all moss, ferns and water falls. We were in our happy place, but both were a wee bit tired. That afternoon, the weather cleared up, so we got on our bikes and went for a tour. I was expecting wet, drizzly grey - but instead we got a gem of an afternoon. The Gorge is Gorgeous.

The Super Model - a beautiful Great Dane

Looking to the heavens, on Eagle Creek

I bought myself a map of the region, because the next day I was planning on a big run - inspired largely by the Gorge Waterfalls 50k course. So many trails, so little time. I was stoked to be heading out for a longer exploration of this incredible place.

Ultra Running - It's Like That.

2011-05-04T12:43:00.000-06:00

The Ultra running world is an amazing place. I haven't competed in a race in quite some time and I had forgotten just how special the ultra community is. So, let me tell you the story of my race. It's a story which I'm hoping will illustrate just how small a world it is and what makes the Ultra running community so damn fantastic. Bear with me if this is to long, drawn out or "name-droppy".

Keith and I decided to take a road trip to Oregon and the Peterson Ridge Rumble was just the excuse we needed. We were stoked to see some new trails and visit with our friend Sean Meissner in Sisters. A couple of years back, we met Sean at the Trans Rockies Run and we've had an open invite to come visit him in Sister's ever since. He's also the Race Director for The Rumble and a great guy. I was looking forward to seeing him.

When we arrived in Sisters, we hit the important places like the Bakery, the Deli and eventually to Sean's place for a visit. I met Sean's buddy Chris Askew, who was helping him with race stuff. You need the help of friends if you're going to put on a kick-ass race like the Rumble! Ultra folks are like that. They help each other.

It didn't take long for the discussion to change to all things Geeky in Ultra world. Soon, we were discussing the American River race that was being run that day and we were all curious about race results. We consulted the computer to find that there had been an epic battle between legendary Bend, Oregon local Kami Semick and Ellie Greenwood, of Banff. I've met Kami briefly at Trans Rockies and Ellie is a friend. On this day, Ellie had come out on top and posted an amazing finishing time. So, we phoned her on her cell phone to congratulate her. She was still sitting at the finish line enjoying the post-race festivities when we called. Ultra world is like that. We encourage and support each other.

A few hours later, we arrive at Sean's house and I'm thrilled to see James Varner sitting on the sofa. I only met him once at the Orcas Island 50k in Washington, but I liked him immediately. James is a great guy. Next, my friend Gary Robbins walks in who I originally met through blogging. He's his usual animated, entertaining, self-deprecating wonderful self. I finally connected with him at Trans Rockies as well. He's also a big fan of the Ellie Greenwood Fan Club. He rants and raves about Ellie, but he's preaching to the converted: we're members of the fan-club, too. Then, I meet a beautiful girl in the kitchen who introduces herself as Amy. "Fast Amy!" I declare with a big smile, recognizing Amy Sproston from her blog. Ultra world is like that. It's a very, very small world.

The next day, is the race. I take the early start, knowing I am a Tourist in this place and that I'm going to be moving slow and enjoying myself. Or I'm hopeful that I'm going to be enjoying myself, but I'm sadly under-trained. I spend the first hour at the back of the pack chatting with a lady, who just like me - is under trained but thought she would come out and try to run 40 Miles. I forget her name, but she was awesome. I also realized, some what belatedly - that the race course is really flat and it was going to be really hard for this Mountain Girl. I continue to cruise, albeit slowly - and take in the scenery of the forest trails. I was happy to be running, happy to be on dry trails and happy to be at a race again. It's been too long and I'm rusty. For awhile, I find myself in last place with my new friend. But, it's all good. We're running around in the woods and chatting, without a care. Ultra Runners sure are Good People.

About 4 hours in to my race, I rock into an Aid Station and am surprised and thrilled to see Kami Semick, with her kids working at the station. I can't conceal my surprise and how impressed I am that she's there. "OMG! Kami Semick. My names' Leslie. We met. At Trans Rockies. I'm from Banff. You just raced. With my friend Ellie. And now your here. With your kids. You're amazing. You must be tired. Thanks. For being here. I can't believe you're here.You raced less than 24 hours ago!" I said all of this in the form of one giant-excited-breathy-exhaled-run-on-sentence. She laughed and said, "I'm so sore! I just got on the plane and came straight home. It was not the best way to recover. Ellie's great. The best part of the race was sharing some miles with her." Wow. Small world. Again. In what other sport do elite athletes enjoy racing and chatting and socializing in competition? Ultra-running. Then, follow up your kick-ass race with some volunteer duty. Ultra Runners - they're like that. We're regular folks, who do amazing things.

So, I've been suffering through my race, but still having fun. I've been caught and passed by all of the fast people that started earlier and the 20 Milers are now mixed in with the rest of us. I'm hoping that Olga, Ronda or Cheri are running fast, so that they will catch me and we'll get a chance to visit. These gals I've only met briefly at other races and loosely keep track of - but I'm hoping to say Hi. I'm also enjoying seeing all of the dogs and people running in this event. It's Mayhem on the trail. It's a dog-friendly event and I'm a dog-friendly person. The dogs are loving it. Clearly, these dogs run lots of miles with their owners - all of the dogs are incredibly well behaved, tongues hanging out and are sticking close to their owners. Fun stuff. It turns out Gary wins the Doggy division with his dog Roxy. She gets a bag of Pigs Ears for her efforts and passes out in a Coma-like-doggy sleep. Ultra doggies are like that.

Me, I'm 30 miles in to the race and still doggin' it at a much slower-than-Roxy pace. But, a small miracle happens. I hit the "10 Miles to go Aid Station" visit the nice boys at the aid station, chat, have some food and all of a sudden I'm feeling good. Actually, I'm feeling like I've got a little "race" in me. I head out and tell myself - Only 10 miles to Go. If you move your butt you can be at the finish line in 2 hours. So, I start running like I haven't all day - and it's fast for me. I'm feeling amazing, my body is moving great and next thing you know, I'm blazing down the trail and I'm passing people and picking up momentum. Most of all, I'm having the most fun I've had all day. I rock into the last Aid Station and get a high-five from Fast Amy and cheers from Chris and Darla Askew. Some fast-guy blazes through the aid station and I take off in pursuit. It was so awesome. I was racing. I latched onto the heels of this guy and pushed. It was so much fun to be charging through the woods like that! We hit the track in Sister's and run our lap around the track to the finish line. When I checked my watch, I was a little surprised to find that I had just run the last 10 Miles of my 40 Mile race an 1 hour and 20 minutes. That's fast for me! I have no idea where that came from, but it sure felt good to finish so strong. I love running these things. Ultra races are FUN!

Over dinner, I meet Josh and Ashley Nordell. Josh won the 20 Miler earlier that day and the beautiful, pregnant Ashley, I had met briefly in Wyoming at the Bighorn Ultra. Ashley has kicked-ass at the Bighorn 100 Miler the last two years, winning both times. There seems to be a ridiculous amount of talented runners in Oregon and a strong running culture. I've reached the conclusion that Ultra running is and always will be a great Equalizer. We all run the same route, go through the struggles and the mental and physical hurdles and hopefully, we reach the finish line. At the end of the day we are all just people, who take pleasure from running silly long distances on winding scenic trails.

Ultra Running - It's Like That.

Happy. Happy. Spring. Spring.

2011-04-25T21:24:00.012-06:00

Did you miss me?

I hope you did. I've been busy.

There was this little vacation.

It was great. I had good company.

There was a trail race in Sisters, Oregon and some time spent with friends.

There were new trails in Hood River and in the Yakima Canyon.

It was all so beautiful.

And impressive.

And new and exciting.

I love to visit new trails and new places.

It was Spring in Oregon.

When I arrived home, it was Spring in Banff.

The sun came out.

We went outside.

And we celebrated.

The un-official arrival, of Spring.

I love to go on holidays.

But I sure do love coming home.

The photos tell 2 different stories of my Easter Weekend. The first run, was in Invermere, B.C. where spring has definitely arrived. The second run, was on the snowmobile trail that travels to Skoki Lodge in Lake Louise, Alberta. Believe it or not, it's spring in the rockies!

Happy-happy, it's Spring-spring.
Wishing you some fun in the spring sun...

Leslie

Flying by the Seat of my Pant(ies)

2011-04-06T17:26:00.000-06:00

Who is this guy? This is my buddy Steve. We ran the inaugural TransRockies together back in 2007. He's 100% pure Skinny White Boy. What's he doing? Why he's flying by the seat of his pants! Actually, he's running around in his Speedo on Deception Pass, in the Skoki backcountry. It's got nothing to do with this post, because it's a pretty frickin' random Post, but I sure do love this photo! It's been too long since I've been for a run with Steve, but the photo lives on and continues to crack me up.

Who is this gal? This is my friend Julie. She's 62(ish?) and loves to run around in the woods like me. She is NOT and exhibitionist and kept all of her clothes on for our run. We had fun running around Tunnel Mountain this past Friday.

What the hell are those? Those are my stylin' new Hokas. I laughed my ass off when I pulled them out of the box because, they are seriously FUGLY. I christened them in California and they loved up the muddy technical trails. Back at home, when I added my Katoolas (spikes) and my Gaiters, they looked HUGE and truly ridiculous. They served me quite well running in the fresh powder, almost like running in mini snowshoes with the extra large platform underfoot. They make me laugh.

What have I been up to? I've been flying by the seat of my pant(ies!)

I work a 4 days on, 3 days off work schedule and I fill up that time with good things, mostly lots of time spent outside. It's a very good thing when you're too busy to blog. In the past 2 weeks I have returned from a California holiday, sorted through vacation pictures, gone for runs with my hubby, rejoiced in spring, shovelled snow, enjoyed evening runs up Tunnel Mountain, ran to Skoki, been to the gym, been to Physio, been stretching, been for some long runs on snow, got re-aquainted with a long lost friend, enjoyed some visitors, some good food, celebrated a friends birthday, been skiing, made another trip to Skoki, visited Katie and the dogs, been through a few storm cycles followed by some great melts. In short, it's spring. I like spring. Spring means good things are coming. Spring means busy. Spring means change.

How was your vacation? Awesome, thanks. I sure do love California. There's so much variety and I'm constantly amazed and surprised at what I find there. Did you know there are more people in the state of California than all of Canada? That's right - more people in one state than our entire country. I still haven't had time to report on our road trip. Mostly, we spent time running in Auburn and Bishop, California. My immediate thoughts on this corner of the world, is simply amazing. It's crazy- ridiculous to me that you can have the best of both worlds: dry trails in the valley below and winter wonderland above. Sounds like paradise to me. Live in the desert or foothills and play in the mountains? Cool. The ski touring possibilities just from your car alone are mind boggling. And in summer? Whoa. Don't even get me started. So many possibilities living at the foot of the Sierras. Even Reno was amazing to me, knowing that you could live affordably in the city and have access so many trails, mountain or desert, all at your doorstep. I imagine the downside is that the weather in the summer months is just too unbearable. Or does that just depend on your perspective? Sun and heat are sounding good about now. :)

What's next? Something exciting, something fun, something I've been looking forward to. ROADTRIP!! When my work week wraps up on Thursday, Keith and I are getting in the car to take a roadtrip to Oregon. Hello 10 day vacation exploring new places and trails. I've haven't been through Idaho and Washington since I was a kid and I've never been to Oregon. It'll be nice to get a little taste. We've got a little race planned in Sisters and hoping to make runs or rides in the Gorge and maybe Yakima Canyon area. Realizing it's early in the season and we will be at the mercy of the weather - we're prepared to keep it flexible. Any holiday is a good holiday and any place that isn't snowbound is desirable, even if the temperatures are cool and rainy. We're good. We're hardy, we're flexible and we're from Banff. Yeah!

Had a great day yesterday ski touring in to Skoki Lodge. The blue sky day and mild temperatures were a bonus, but is still mid-winter here. Stew and Anna were going in to the lodge to stay for a few days, so we joined them for the ski-in. Last week, we walked in to Skoki on the packed snowmobile trail and had a great day enjoying a more leisurely pace. I'm fortunate to have some great friends to play with. On this day, nobody took off their clothes - though it was discussed.

Anna, Stew and Keith

Nicki and Keith on Ptarmigan Lake

Humpasaurus Lucy

Changing Weather

Have a great week and know I'll be out there somewhere, flying by the seat of my pant(ies)...

Misadventures in California - Part II

2011-04-04T04:55:00.000-06:00

The day after we'd been frolicking by the river in our T-shirts and cracking a sweat in the Sunshine, it snowed. Yup.

A Change in Weather

All over California, storm warnings were issued, flood warnings, heavy snowfall warnings in the Sierras and a bleak forecast of rain, rain and rain from Northern California to South.

All Smiles!

This guy kept smiling. Really, by our perspective it was feeling pretty tropical with the high humidity and mild temperatures. I say that now, but by the end of this run - we had to flag down a car and hitchhike back to the car. It's a fine line between being cold and being hypothermic. It can strike pretty fast when your wet and tired and there's sub-freezing temperatures, wind and exposure. I was surprised by how quickly I got cold.


Puddle-Hopping-Fun!

I couldn't help but think of my friends at Coyote Two Moon running this same weekend in Ojai, California. They've had weeks of typical Southern California weather, but the weather forecast for this weekend was threatening to go from good to ugly. And it did.

He Really Likes Snow

In Truckee and Tahoe, where we had enjoyed a blue sky day the previous day, it was forecast to dump a few feet of snow. Damn. Should have brought the skis!
We had plans to meet up with our friend Gretchen from Truckee, but the plans went array when Mother Nature dropped about 6 feet of snow in the High Sierras over the weekend. The roads were closed and our friends spent the weekend digging themselves out.

Fortunately in Auburn, the snow didn't stay. The rainstorm continued throughout the night, with driving rain and howling wind pounding the windows of our hotel. By morning it had disappeared like a drunken memory.

Solitary in the Oaks

Naturally, the next day I made plans to go for a run - a long one. The next day I got up early and joined up with a group who were doing a training run for the American River 50 Miler. My feet were wet just walking through the parking lot to get to my car. :) I was stoked to get my run on.

What I See When I Run

2011-04-01T09:27:00.001-06:00

A few weeks ago, I took a long run where I was never further than 3 kilometers from the town of Banff. The Chinook winds rolled through town during the night, shaking the house, but delivering a calm and warm day. I cruised by the Bow Falls and there wasn't another soul in sight. The Bow Falls Viewpoint is one of the landmarks of Banff and one of the most popular. But on this day, I had it all to myself.

This winter has been a real winter, with lots of snow and cold temperatures. I kept cruising, running, smiling enjoying the warmer temperatures. I ran by the Warner Stables and yelled "Hello Horsies!" at the horses at the stables. A cowboy waved at me as I ran by. I blushed and smiled. Sometimes I'm demure.

Just one kilometre down the trail, I came to the Marsh Boardwalk. In this place, the thermal waters of the Hot Springs percolate through the earth and the snow, and you'll find plants growing year round. It's amazing. This area is alive with bird life and I heard the song of the first Robin of Spring. He was singing out loud and proud, but I couldn't find him in the thickets of shrub and pine forest.

Hot Springs

Another kilometre down the trail, I heard the squawks and croaks of a Murder of Crows, Ravens and Magpies. All that noise drew my attention to something in the woods: something large and dead. Running in my backyard can be so amazing. My spider senses were tingling when I spotted a large rib cage, with fresh blood glowing red in the sunlight. My presence scared the birds away for an instant, but the lure of the Dead Thing brought them back soon after. This isn't a usual wildlife sighting - but it certainly was exciting. While a dead animal in the woods could be many things, in my mind it meant one thing: Cougar kill. Because my Spidey senses were tingling, I kept running - and maybe even increased my speed a bit.

The famous Mount Rundle greeted me off in the distance, with red Dogwood shrubs sprouting fresh buds. Yet another sign of spring. With the warm temperatures, the air was fragrant. The smells of pine and spruce emanated from the forest. The earthy aroma of rot, moisture and life was coming out of the ground.

When I run, I use all of my senses. I'm constantly listening, looking, watching, scanning my surroundings. I'm stopping, surveying, observing and of course, taking photos. I was thinking about this, how I enjoy and experience nature on my runs and how unique it is. On this day I observed not only a cougar kill, the song of a robin, fresh buds on red woods, but the tracks of Elk, Coyote, Deer and a lone Wolf. I spotted Ravens, Crows, Magpies, Chickadees, Nuthatches, a Pine Grosbeak, a Spruce Grouse and Sparrows. I heard the chorus of a large flock of Cedar Waxwings and when I stopped to find them, they dropped from the sky and settled in to the rose bushes surrounding me. Magic. Next time, I'm going to find my Robin.

Tunnel Mountain beckoned off in the distance. So, I decided to run there. Less than 40 minutes later, I found myself standing on the top.

The trail was in perfect shape - and again, I was surprised to be the only person up there. The fresh snow made everything so white and pretty. How lucky am I. "I'm Queen of the World!" I shouted over the town of Banff. My home.

After a blazing fast descent, I ran on the shore line of the Bow River for a little bit and decided to call it a day. A good day. I see so much when I run.

Misadventures in California

2011-03-30T18:49:00.000-06:00

The diversity of California continues to blow my mind. We got a last-minute Cheapo ticket to Reno, Nevada for a spontaneous spring adventure and snuck away last week. The plan was to head to California for a little trail running road trip. We were well aware that it was still winter in the High Sierras and there would be lots of snow, but our idea was to drive up and over Donner Pass to visit some greener parts of California. In particular the trails of Auburn, California area with its easy access to the American River trails and the Western States Trail system.

We arrived to a blue sky day and took a super-quick road trip to Lake Tahoe and up to Truckee. Later in the week, I had plans to gather with running friends who live in both of these places, but we thought we would take advantage of the day and enjoy the views under a clear sky. With storms in the forecast, it was a great idea.

Dancin' in Truckee

Drama Queen in Tahoe

We rolled in to Auburn, changed in to our running clothes and set off to find ourselves a trail. Aaaah! Sweet Springtime. It's was glorious to run in our T-shirts, splash through puddles (and deep streams) and smell the growth. There were signs of springtime everywhere and the outdoor world in the American River Valley was coming alive.

No Cliff Poopin'!!

American River

Spring time on Quarry Road

We decided to head up Brown's Bar Trail - on part of the Western States Course and were surprised to find the creeks overflowing and water running down the middle of the trail. Yiiipeee! We splashed our way up the trail, getting wet and dirty and happy and joyous. The creek crossings just kept getting deeper and deeper. We debated turning around, but we were having too much fun.

And then we almost stepped on a newt. Shortly after, we discovered another and another and another. Orange Bellied Newts! Surely a sign of spring. Or a sign that magical things do exist in this world.

The shady trail, cold water and dark ravine made us pretty cold, pretty quick so it was time to abandon our newt friends and return to the "dryer" trail. Keith was practically skipping his way down the trail.

....and so was I.

Hooray for Spring!

Reality Shift

2011-03-29T20:30:00.000-06:00

I have a confession.

I needed to get away from winter for awhile.

But it's all good.

I still love you winter.

Last Weekend

This Weekend

Leysin, Switzerland - My Life Circa 1990

2011-03-25T22:19:00.003-06:00

This past September, I took a trip to Europe to participate in the incredible Tor des Geants race in Courmayeur, Italy. I haven't spent much time in recent years in Europe, so the race was a great excuse to enjoy a short European vacation. I was pretty excited to be back in the Alps and back in my old stomping grounds of France and Switzerland.

Mont-Blanc in the distance

I had spent a fair amount of time in this region, as a 21 year old Ski Bum working at ski resorts in France and Switzerland. The village of Chamonix in particular, was a real blast from the past. When I woke up in the morning and saw the Mont Blanc Massif from the window of my hotel, I nearly started weeping. I had forgotten just how incredible and immense the Alps are. I had also forgotten just how good the coffee and croissants taste when they are fresh from a French bakery. I love the Alps.

After my race, I was extra motivated to return to the place that I had spent the most time: Leysin, Switzerland. After dropping out of the race, I got my broken-down-post-race self on a bus, a train and then a Cog Train to reach this place. In this beautiful Swiss village, located high on a green mountain side, I relaxed, recuperated and reminisced.

Leysin, Switzerland

December 1990: Leysin, Switzerland

It was a Happy, High Alpine Land of Sunshine and Swiss Chalets. It was a pretty little village, perched high on a mountain slope, with a expansive view of the Mont Blanc and the Dents du Midi. It was everything you think of, when you think of Switzerland.

From the valley below, the Aigle-Leysin Cog Train climbs 1,047 metres to reach the village of Leysin. In winter, it's a vibrant ski town full of international students, visitors and ski bums. A mountain place of rolling hills, jagged peaks, historic Swiss Chalets, churches, chocolate and cows. Frequently, there would be a sea of clouds in the valley below and we would find ourselves skiing under a clear blue sky, surrounded by snow capped mountains. We were the Happy People of Leysin. When we descended from our mountain perch, to the town in the lower valley, people would know where we were from. While their complexions were pale and grey and their demeanor grim - we were happy, smiley, tanned and white toothed.

100% Pure Sunshine - It was exactly how I remembered it.

It was paradise for this 21 year old ski bum. I worked as a ski instructor, skied hard, survived on the red wine, chocolate and pasta diet. I worked hard, partied harder and slept periodically. I had so much fun, that I returned for another ski season and even for a summer visit. The Swiss treated me well, my french language skills improved ten-fold, and I even managed to save some money.

July 1991

In summer, I returned to my Happy Place while traveling across the continent on a bicycle. I had been bicycling for a few months by myself and I was craving some familiar company. I climbed the impossibly narrow road and a dozen hair pin bends, in the heat of the day with a big smile on my face. My bicycle was weighed down with camping gear and panniers, but cycling had turned me lean and strong. I blazed up the mountainside, full of joy, elated to be back in Leysin.

I followed up this epic ride with one of the biggest drunks of my young life. On the same day as my arrival, I went for beers with a friend. On the patio of the Club Vagabond, elated to be back in Leysin, I sat in the sunshine from 2:00 in the afternoon to 2:00 in the morning. I had a moment of clarity at 2:00 in the morning, when I got back on my already laden bicycle and doubled my friend down the mountain. He perched himself side-saddle on my back bike rack and we rolled off down the mountain road. I somehow managed to navigate the 3 hair pin bends from the top of the village to the bottom of the village, without hurting myself. I can still remember it, how my balance and vision came together for a perfect moment and we flew down the road, pure joy, giggling hysterically, perfectly balanced and aligned for a moment in time.

Tour D'Aie

I had come back to Leysin to enjoy a break from my cycling vacation, but specifically to enjoy 3 blissful summer days of camping and Rock and Roll at the Leysin Rock Fest. The Rock Fest was a big deal - it was 3 days and 2 nights long, it drew some big name acts and it was a non-stop Party. I pitched my tent quite accidentally, next to 2 Canadian boys who were also traveling on bicycle. They were cute. I immediately challenged my new neighbors to a little friendly competition: Betcha' can't stay awake all festival!

The festival was a comical exercise in drunkenness, sleep deprivation, dancing, music and the joys of youth and freedom. I didn't kiss anyone, but I certainly would have liked to. After a day and a half at the Festival, one of the boys succumbed to the disease of too much fun, too much sunshine and too much booze. After the 2nd sleepless night, we were down to 2 people standing. In the early hours of a brand new day, a new challenge was issued: Betcha' can't climb that mountain!

We got on our bikes, strapped a loaf of bread on the back rack and a bottle of red wine in the water bottle holder and proceeded to cycle, hike and push our bicycles to the top of a pass. For the final assault up the green slope of the Tour D'Aie we pushed ourselves skyward, sobering and smiling, until we reached our destination on top of the world. There, we collapsed to the ground and uncorked our bottle of red wine - for breakfast. High above the clouds, perched upon the mountainside and overlooking the jagged peaks of the Alps, we took it all in. The Lac Leman sparkled blue in the valley below, as we sipped our wine, ate our bread and enjoyed a clear-headed moment in our own mountain paradise.

Bliss.

It was my winter months in Leysin that were the most memorable. The ski bum lifestyle was good and 100% Pure Fun. Without a doubt, I had the time of my life in Leysin and surprisingly, it taught me a lot about how I wanted to live my life. There's no doubt I left a few brain cells in Switzerland, but I think I learned a lot from my time spent there.

I matured, but I didn't realize until later. I learned to speak French, I learned to ski well, I learned how to be independent and self sufficient. I learned how to drink, I learned how to be flexible and I learned how to think on my feet. Most of all, I learned how to enjoy just living in the moment. It's a simple idea that I have carried with me into adulthood.

I remember screaming out loud when I para-glided for the first time. I ran off the mountain kamikaze style, because I was terrified. I was still "running" through the air, when my friend told me I didn't need to run any more. We weren't on the ground and I was flying!

I drank lots of cheap red wine, I ate chocolate for breakfast, bread and cheese for lunch and pasta with for dinner, with more cheap red wine. I invented the chocolate sandwich: a chocolate croissant, with Nutella stuffed with squares of Swiss chocolate. I got fat.

Occasionally, when we were staggering home in the early hours of the morning, we would stop by the garbage bin out back of the bakery to look for Day-Olds. We'd find bags of Pain de Chocolate and croissants and take them home for future meals. Eventually, the baker stopped putting them in the garbage and just start leaving them out for us. You're making too much noise! He would shout at us en Francaise. Come in and have a coffee to go with your stale Croissant! And please, be quiet.

Sometimes, a place really can change your life. I fell in love with the Mountains in Leysin. I discovered the pleasures of a life spent living outside. I realized that there are good people in mountain towns, making a life and a place for themselves in the outdoor world. I discovered that this was something that I wanted for myself and that all of these things are what makes living in the mountains, a unique, wonderful lifestyle.

Thanks, Leysin! Through the haze of youth and some amazingly good times, I took home some incredible life lessons. I also learned that life is better when it's lived joyfully, spontaneously and with glee. Sometimes, we all need a reminder of this - and my trip back to Leysin was exactly that.

Skiing Through Life

2011-03-13T10:21:00.001-06:00

I learned how to downhill ski in Elementary school in Calgary. In those days, our school had a "learn to ski" program for those in Grade 5 and Grade 6. If you were interested in skiing, you could take the program. I took the program and immediately was smitten. I was so smitten, that I went and got myself my first job - a newspaper route - so I could purchase some skis and a ski pass at the local ski hill.. This was also inspired by my parents, because when I told them that I loved skiing and wanted to buy some skis they said, "Well, you'd better get a Job". They split the cost with my 50/50 or at least, that's how I remember it. The next year after I learned how to ski, I did just that. I purchased my first pair of skis - a pair of yellow K2 Stingers and a Season Pass to the Paskapoo ski hill. My parents would drop me off at the ski hill and leave me for the day where I would ski from when the lift opened to when the lift closed.

In Junior High, our school was part of some experimental programming called "Life Time Activities". This was a "one-of-a-kind" activity program that offered up a huge selection of different activity choices for students to try. There were also some indoor activity choices, like bowling, but I gravitated towards all of the outdoor activities. Essentially, every Friday afternoon, there were no classes and we got to go outside and do something really cool. Naturally, I picked "downhill skiing" as my winter activity selection. I also remember taking Canoeing, Hiking and Biking as some of my warmer season options. Of interest - there was also a Computer Course available. It was the early '80's and this was considered a "leisure activity" - and was not part of any curriculum. To me, going skiing on Friday afternoons, was a BIG deal. The big yellow school bus would pull up in front of the school and take us all away - to the paradise of our little ski hill. I was in heaven. I was skiing instead of going to school! Yeah!

My parents eventually got in to skiing, because both my brother and I had taken to it. Fortress Mountain was my first "real mountain ski experience" and I was captivated by this wonderful sport and the scope, size and beauty of the mountains. I have no memories of being cold - but lots of memories of eating "french fries" in the day lodge. Fries were a treat, not something I ever ate at home and a "integral" part of my ski experience. Soon, we were taking ski holidays and making trips to Montana to ski at The Big Mountain. I had never seen so much snow in my life - Montana was a Wonderland of Powder and snow banks that were much, much larger than me.

After High School, when we were away from the Cliques of Teenager-dom - my brother and I decided we were cool enough to hang out together. As soon as he got a car, he was taking trips to the ski hill and eventually, thought it took a few years, I was included in the plans. It was an exciting time to be skiing, ski culture was taking off - and I met a lot of great people on the slopes. In 1988, after being excluded from a ride to the ski hill - I hitch hiked to the slopes for the first time. I had to be extra sneaky to do it, but NOTHING was going to stop me from getting to the ski hill for one of the last days of Spring Skiing. I HAD to ski, it had become the Most Important Thing of All-est. So, I took a public bus and then I hiked out to the city limits and I put out my sign: Sunshine. I looked like I was 13. I've been skiing at Sunshine Village every since.

Skiing has taught me many things and changed my life - too many things to mention in this simple post. Eventually, I met my husband on the slopes, moved to a ski town and thus began a Great Adventure. The fun and joy of skiing, skiing with friends and making fresh turns in powder, is still is a big part of my life. As the adventure continues, I'm so glad that skiing is still a part of my world. True, it's a smaller part of my world than it's ever been - but this doesn't mean I love it any less. I'm thankful for this silly sport and all of the good things it's brought me and hopefully, I'll be skiing through life for a long time.

Yesterday's turns at Sunshine Meadows

Life Running Beautifully

2011-03-08T11:21:00.000-07:00

I took this past weekend off skiing to enjoy some long runs with the ladies - Angela and Iris. It's always good to spend some quality time with people who like the same things as you do. In our case: spending time outside and running long silly distances in the mountains. It makes you feel less weird for what others sometimes perceive as a "strange" recreational hobby. Quality time with the ladies involves lots of time running around in the woods, eating and relaxing and of equal importance: lots of time to talk about things like upcoming running races, dreams and future running adventures. I need and enjoy talking about this stuff and really - who else wants to hear about your running habit? Fortunately, these ladies do. Isn't that what friendship is all about? A honest sharing of feelings without the fear of being judged, trust in one another, mutual understanding and positive reciprocity. Friends are Good. And Running Friends are real good! It's always good to have a little support in this world.

On the running front, we hit the trails of Banff on Saturday and managed to connect up 4 hours of running on packed snow trails. We hit the Bow River trails to Bow Falls, the Fenland Trail, the March Loop and the Tunnel Mountain Trail amongst others. Despite the cold temperatures, it was a beautiful day. We were slow but we had a good time and we got some quality time on our feet. It's running season again - the girls and myself all have races on the horizon, so it's time to train. Giddy Up!

On Sunday, we headed for Sulphur Mountain for a little vertical challenge. We decided to connect up a big loop with a power hike up the Banff Gondola Trail and a big fun snowshoe descent down the backside of Sulphur starting and finishing at my house in Banff. Again, the temperatures were freezing but the sunshine cooperated and it turned into an outstanding day - and tons o' fun.

This is what the trail conditions looked like on the backside of Sulphur:

Sometimes, the backside of Sulphur is a miserable place to be. It's a old grade road that is seriously exposed to the elements and the wind, in particular. Fortunately for us it was a calm and clear day and we were in Snowshoe Heaven!! Seriously, this perfect snow was as good as it gets for snowshoeing.

Giddy Up, indeed. Life Running Beautifully.

Keeping Warm: Images From a Cold Weather Run

2011-03-05T09:18:00.001-07:00

Can you tell? It's Winter in Banff. Clearly, it can be a bit of a struggle to be a runner here in the winter months. This winter in particular has seen a LOT of snowfall in and around town. And thus, you need to have a few other sports to add to your bag of tricks! Fortunately, I love to ski. Generally, I'd rather "suck it up" and head outside for a run in the fresh air: it's a good way to avoid Cabin Fever and it's always better than the treadmill.

So, the cold weather continues and so do I. When the scenery is this good, it makes it easier to stay motivated and get out for a run. Still, the mind turns to other places at this time of year. Historically, I've managed to take "running" holidays in March and April. As much as I love winter and embrace it, a little break from winter may be in order.

Enjoy a few images from yesterday's run....

Our History

Banff Trail Trash

Tunnel Mountain

Making my own Trail

Quoth the Raven: Let's Stay Warm

Sometimes, you can't run. You trudge.

How to have Fun When It's -30 below

2011-03-02T20:55:00.000-07:00

People get Cabin Fever when the weather turns cold. When the Ice Man Cometh, people tend to hibernate and hide indoors. We, however, are not regular folks. With the blustery forecast, we decided to modify our plans and do something quite civilized.

We went skiing.

Regular downhill resort skiing is downright cold. With the lifts, the speed and the wind chill, downhill skiing at this temperature is not fun. But ski touring?!? Awesome. We started with a sheltered ski up the old ski out, and headed to the Sunshine Mountain Lodge for lunch. It was so cold, we hammered up and set a blistering speed - arriving at the lodge in a speedy 1h and 15 minutes! By the time we got there, we were generating some serious heat! I was a sweaty, hot steaming girl, despite the cold. Not good when it's -30c. Fortunately, we headed for the our favorite fire place at the Chimney Corner Lounge for a long lunch, which was enough to dry our base layers. It was also long enough to have a drink, have a laugh with Monica, Nicki and Keith and ponder dessert and a nap, amongst other things.

By the time we were done lounging, the temperatures had warmed to a almost tropical -25c!! The consensus in the group was, "Hell yeah, Let's go for a ski tour!" so off we went.

I'm so glad we did. Everyone was buzzing with good energy, big smiles and awe. It was just so gorgeous we were giddy. Sometimes, you just never know when you're going to get such a perfect, beautiful mountain day.

My Shadow

My Keith

My Backyard

Sunshine Meadows

Mount Assiniboine

Wind Drift

More Magic Snow

It's All About F-U-N!!

D-oh. A deer.

What -26c Looks Like...

2011-02-25T09:07:00.004-07:00

This past Saturday, we had plans to go for a long backcountry ski tour. When we woke up, it was a frosty -26c morning. We thought that skiing UP a mountain, would be warmer than skiing DOWN a mountain. So we stuck to the plan - a ski tour to Hidden Lake in the Lake Louise backcountry. The forecast also said that there was a chance on an inversion - meaning the temperature might be warmer up high than down below.

When we rolled into the Fish Lakes Parking Lot at Lake Louise - it was still -26c. We geared up, rolled out and all started skiing like our pants were on fire. There's one way to generate heat and that's to move your body! Fast!

We made our way to the backside of the Lake Louise ski hill, past Temple Lodge and headed out of the shade for the sun. On a day that cold, it felt so fantastic to come out of the shadow of the forest and in to the open sun. Aaaaah. Blissful sun. And heat. And warmth.

Lucky for us, the forecast actually came true. The day warmed up, the fresh snow was light, boot deep and perfect. The skiing was Awesome! We made some pretty turns amidst the backdrop of Mount Richardson, Ptarmigan Mountain and Redoubt Mountain - and had a brilliant day at Hidden Lake.

Sometimes, -26c can be awfully pretty.

It's Planning Time

2011-02-23T21:27:00.001-07:00

Technically, it's been race planning time for months. I've been holding off on planning anything, because there have been a few "unknowns" in the Leslie schedule. But it's coming together - a plan for a great year, some new trails and some new places!! I've been marking up the calendar with a flurry of pen marks and question marks and exclamation points (!!!).

I applied for Hardrock for the 2nd year in a row, but didn't get in. No worries on that one, this summer really wasn't the time for a long trip to Colorado. A trip to the San Juans is definitely on my fantasy wish list - it doesn't have to be Hardrock, just a little travel time to visit and run in the area. Some day! Fortunately, my own backyard is probably the most stunning mountain environment that you'll ever feast your eyes on. I've got my heart set on doing another multi-day running adventure this summer, right here in my own backyard. Or close to it. That adventure is still in the works, but I've got some solidified running adventures on the horizon that are coming up fast and furious! That's good, because I always enjoy having something on the calendar to work towards.

In mid-April, I'm taking a 10 day road trip with Keith to Sisters, Oregon - home of the Peterson Ridge Rumble and friend Sean Meissner. From what I understand, Sisters, The Rumble and Sean are all closely connected. I'm looking forward to ALL of it - and stoked to be re-connecting with the "running tribe"! Naturally, I'm also looking forward to exploring some new places - I haven't done much traveling through Washington or Oregon. 10 days should give us a "teaser", yes?!? The Rumble has a 20 Miler and a 40 Miler. The boy is going to do the 20 and I'm going to do the 40. That should get the ol' legs going for the season.

That will be the warm-up for the Main Event - the Maah Daah Heh trail in Mid-May. Heck, yeah - we're taking another road trip! This time to North Dakota for some running through the badlands near Teddy Roosevelt National Park. I've been obsessed with the Dakota's for quite some time, so I'm super-stoked for this trip. The Maah-Daah Heh is just shy of 100 Miles of sweet trail goodness. We're taking 4 days to do it - with most of my friends being on their bicycles. I thought about riding it, but this girl just has to run this one. I can't resist.

And finally, I'm making the trip to Western States in June. Wooohoo! That one is booked already and I'm thrilled to playing support crew for the divine Ms. Angela - she's the hotty in blue. Technically, I invited myself by saying "You know I'm coming, right?!" I think that conversation took place last spring. Either way, Ang has been a big part of many of my adventures since I met her at Western States Camp in 2009. So, it's only fitting that I invite myself along on one of her big adventures. :)

So, that's it for running stuff. Some solid plans for April, May and June!! Yahooo! I haven't got anything planned passed than - but we'll see what comes up. I've got a few ideas up my sleeve, so stay tuned for more adventures in the works.

It's a Great Big, Crazy Beautiful World

2011-02-21T20:33:00.000-07:00

Finally, we have some extra day light. After surviving the dark months of November and December, things are looking brighter! The sun is up earlier and going to bed later. Yay! That means there's enought light to go do some fun things like run and ski. The other night after work, I managed a quick run - and got back to the house at 6:45 with dark descending quickly. I saw a couple of healthy coyotes and got scared by a small here of elk - I guess that's always the hazard of running at dusk or dawn. It's wildlife rush hour. Deer O'Clock. At least the bears are still sleeping.

On this perfect clear and cold evening, we started skiing around 5:30 and skied right into some amazing Alpenglow and fading light. The surrounding peaks were glowing in the last light of the day and it was cool to see Mount Assiniboine awash in pink Alpenglow. What a gorgeous evening.

Mount Assiniboine

Alpenglow

Keith and Angela - Mount Bourgeau in the background

Looking towards the Simpson Valley and Kootenay National Park

After a decadent dinner at the Sunshine Mountain Lodge, we skinned back up the mountain for a quick moonlight tour. Once the moon came up, the entire slope was lit up to make it an exceptionally beautiful, fun evening. As a bonus, the skiing was frickin' fantastic. We made 3 runs by moonlight, with perfect boot deep powder under a full bright moon. It's a great big crazy beautiful world when you ski tour under a full moon. I don't know if you were out howling, but I sure was.

What -20C below looks like....

2011-02-19T18:02:00.000-07:00

It was -20c all day yesterday. It was -20 when I left for my run and it was -20 when I got back 2.5 hours later. Hello, clear and cold. My run took me along the shoreline of the Vermillion Lakes and up Tunnel Mountain. I was moving slow. It was cold. On days like today, really, does the temperature matter? It was amazing out there. A dusting of fresh snow, cold enough to make your cheeks sting and your lungs burn, makes Leslie a Happy Girl. I was solar powered!

We followed it up with an incredible sunset ski at Sunshine. We toured up above the meadows just high enough to see a glowing pink Mount Assiniboine. WOW. I've had a crush on Mount Assiniboine for a long time. Google It. It's a stunner. The sunset ski was just a teaser for the main event - a full moon ski tour. We had dinner at the resort while waiting for the moon to make it's appearance and when it did, it was magic! The moon on the snow was so bright there was moon shadow on snow - really - shadows by the light of the moon are of the coolest things ever. Yes, EVER! And it certainly was cold. It was also -20 below by moonlight as well...enjoy! You'll have to wait and anticipate the moonlight ski tour photos. I think we got a few pictures that actually worked.