Australia – Part II - Playing Tourist: Adventures in Mount Buffalo National Park, Royal National Park and Blue Mountains National Park

After Norma's race, we had a couple of days to enjoy the area before we flew back to Sydney. My plan in Sydney was to go to Royal National Park, to run the Coastal Trail and then head up to Blue Mountains National Park, to enjoy 3 days on the trail.

The day after the race, Norma was moving amazingly well. We got to enjoy a morning of leisure with all of our new friends and had a wrap up breakfast and awards presentation and say our thank-yous and good-byes. The first thing we did, was to go for a 2nd breakfast (a full on Aussie fry-up with eggs, bacon rashers, fried tomatoes and mushrooms). It was one of the best things we did all day! Fuelled by coffee, we were ready to go play tourist and take a closer look at the beautiful surrounding area. We took a short road trip to Mount Buffalo National Park where we spent the day sightseeing. It was another gorgeous place, with scenery that changed every 5 minutes.

The road took us up through Eucalyptus forests, across high alpine plains and lakes, past sheer rock cliffs and above tree line into the high country. The rock formations above tree line were crazy, with strange clusters of round smooth rock sculpted by Mother Nature. The trail system looked to by expansive, with single track running all through the park from the valley floor and into the high country. Mount Buffalo would most definitely be a great place to run! We took it easy on this day but still enjoyed a short steep hike of 1.5k to the high point of the park, the Horn. I could not believe that Norma managed the rocky walk up and down with relative ease. At the top, our view was completely hazed over with the smoke from surrounding bush fires. It was pretty funny to be at an overlook with a commanding view of all of the mountains of Alpine National Park and seeing…..nothing! We rounded up the day with a picnic by Lake Catani and some quality relaxing.

Hazy and smoky views at Mount Buffalo

Let's Go Snow Tubing at the Dingo Dell!!

Top of "The Horn" Mount Buffalo National Park

Norma and Jason

The next day, we spent the day in the car and took a road trip out of the mountains, into the flat land and back to Albury. It is really dry in this corner of the world and we were told that there had been ongoing droughts and subsequent fires, for 3 years and counting. During the race, we had run through large forests of old burns. The silver forests of dead Eucalyptus were eery, but quite beautiful! Just outside of Albury, we came across something completely different. Lake Hume looked to be a man-made lake, with ghost trees poking out through the water.

Good times.

We flew in to Sydney early and my plan was to get to Royal National Park and run the Coastal Trail, all in one day. The Coastal Trail was a 29km run which is so close to Sydney, but a world away. The Royal National Park is the 3rd oldest National Park in the world, behind Yellowstone (#1) and Banff (#2)!! It sits just South of this huge city, remotely located, an island of wilderness which you can access easily by ferry. The trail was recommended to me numerous times, by many different people. My plan was to stay in the park at a remote wilderness hostel and enjoy a couple of days of running. The plan changed when I was offered a lift into the park and the chance to run a 20km section of the trail instead. At the end of my run, I would take a ferry back to the city and sleep at the youth hostel in Cronulla where my gear was waiting for me.

My run started from Garie Beach, where I filled my shoes up with sand in the first 10 minutes of running, despite my gaiters. The surf was up and the swells on the ocean were huge! There was a lot of debris on the trail because of a massive amount of rain that had fallen in the previous 24 hours. For this Banff girl, the heat and humidity felt smothering and downright hot, even though it was overcast and only 18-20c. I was a sweaty mess.

Garie Beach - starting out.


Rough and Scenic Single track

The day was moody, humid and overcast which just added do the dramatic effect. As I climbed up and out of the beach, I got glimpses of views into the park: a sprawling mass of dark, green, steamy, impenetrable forest. It was truly an oasis, a world away from the city.

Despite the terrible forecast and the high humidity, I never actually got rained on. The ocean swells were hammering the shore line and the beaches that I crossed were covered in debris from the recent storms. I think the weather had people scared as I only saw 2 other people on the trail all day.

I ran into the village of Bundeena and headed straight down to the ferry dock to catch the 6:00 ferry. I was tired, hungry and sweaty and ready to sit down and have myself a post-run feast. At the ferry dock, 6:00 came and went and I began to have a sinking feeling. Where was the ferry? There were no signs, no schedule, no evidence of a ferry even existing. I flagged down the first two people I saw and they told me that the ferry wasn't running because the ocean was to rough. I was stuck. No bus service. No local taxi service. I was soaking wet, it was getting dark and I was hungry and stranded. Fortunately for me, the nice people took me home, where I put in the emergency phone call to my uncle in Sydney to come rescue me. They were SO awesome, that they drove me to meet my uncle half way between his place and their home in Bundeena! Ah, the joys of travelling and meeting good people. My uncle was fantastic and gave me a hard time for not phoning him when I arrived. We picked up my gear in Cronulla and I got to enjoy a great nights sleep and some quality time with Uncle Ronny. The next day, he drove me out to Katoomba in the Blue Mountains, where I was planning on getting 3 long runs, in 3 days.

I really didn't know a thing about the Blue Mountains National Park or the town of Katoomba, but I knew it was a mountain town in a very pretty place. Sound like something familiar? Like Banff, perhaps? I knew that Katoomba would be the kind of place that I enjoy. Great scenery, lots of trails and the type of good people that you find only in mountain towns. Naturally, I felt very at home in this place. I loved it.

My uncle delivered me to Katoomba early enough that I could go enjoy a few hours on the trails. It poured rain on the entire drive into the mountains and the clouds were sitting thick and low. But it was warm and the moist air was lovely. It was a few degrees colder in the mountains that on the Coastal Trail, to make the temperature just perfect. Moist, but warm! On my first run, I had my first glimpse into the park on the Prince Henry Cliff Walk. It was pouring rain and I was out running in a sleeveless jersey and shorts. It was so much fun tearing around on the trails in the rain. I was soaked to the skin, filthy and having a ridiculous amount of fun. Every now and then the clouds would lift and I would catch a glimpse of some massive cliffs off in the distance. The trails, the scenery were incredible and much more than I had expected! I ended up with a solid 3 hour run and who knows how long for distance.

Leslie Of the Rain Forest

Peek-A-Boo.

I was so excited for my run the next day because I had the entire day to enjoy. I was keen to get out into the park and see as much of it as I could, on the trail. I had grandiose ideas of attempting something really long, like the Six Foot Track, a 46km long historic walk but I realized that there was waaaaay too much good scenery to see in Katoomba. I decided to piece together one long day of running all the short and scenic day treks of the area. That morning, when I returned to the Prince Henry Cliff Walk and the clouds started lifting to reveal the incredible scenery, I was pretty happy with my decision.

Yeah!

I ran at cliff level for about and hour and a half before descending the Golden Stairs down into the valley. This trail was an adventure of roots, rocks and mud and was cut straight through the cliff to descend into the rain forest below. I said good-bye to the sunshine, because running in the rain forest was pretty dark.

Everything was alive and green and the forest was loud with the sounds of Bell birds and insects. I never actually SAW a Bell bird, but I sure heard them. My first destination was a place called Ruined Castle, a rocky outcrop in the forest. It was a short upward scramble up to the Castle which had me grabbing roots and rocks to help me up the slope. Apart from the scramble, the Ruined Castle trail was a pleasure cruise through the rain forest. It joined up with the Federal Pass Walking Track which took me back to civilisation and past the Scenic Railway Terminal. After running in the woods by myself for 4 hours without seeing people, it was a little shocking when the trail dropped me abruptly back into the tourist zone of the Railway Boardwalks. It was just like being at home and going for a run on Mystic Pass and arriving back at Johnson Canyon, the most popular walk in Banff National Park. Or, the same claustrophobic feeling that I sometimes get when I arrive at the top of the Banff Gondola on my afternoon run. Come to think about it, it's the same feeling that I get when I drive from Banff into the city. Anyhow, within 10 minutes the people had all but disappeared and I had the trail back to myself. Phew.

The trail provided me with a great view of the Three Sisters, this little gem of a rock formation on the Escarpment. It had turned into a hot and lovely day and I was just cruising away the day in the rain forest. I connected up the Dardanelles Pass Walking Track and Federal Pass as a bonus loop before continuing onward and upward, returning to the top of the escarpment via some crazy amazing trail with lots of waterfalls and overlooks. I continued cliff-side all the way to Gordon Falls before calling it a day and making the return journey back to my hostel. When I got back sweaty, happy and content I had been running for 8 hours. A great run in the park! My roommate shrieked when she saw me, because as well as being filthy and stinky, a couple of leeches had gotten a hold of me in the rain forest and I had blood stains all over my white jersey. I was having so much fun that I hadn't even noticed. Ewwwwww.

For my last day, there was still some new trails to connect up and this time I used the Furber Steps to descend down from the escarpment. This trail was in way better shape than the Golden Stairs and I managed to stay on my feet for this descent. A quick tour of some of the shorter trails in the railroad area and an excursion onto a fire road not on my map, took me about 4 hours of running time. I was one happy girl. 3 days and 3 great runs in a beautiful place!

Uncle Ronny collected me and took me back to civilisation, where I got to relax and enjoy and evening with my Aussie family, before heading to the airport in the AM. Sigh. Whirlwind Aussie Holiday Over. How lucky am I?!? Total, about 33 hours of Aussie trails under my feet. Kilometres? Who the heck knows. Fun? Yep!

Trail Running in the Marin Headlands: A Fastpacking Adventure from San Francisco to Point Reyes - Part 2

The wild turkeys made me smile. I had flashbacks of staying in a hovel in Hawaii and being awoken by roosters. It boded well for my day. On a whim, I phoned the hostel in Point Reyes and they told me they had only one bed for one night. Oops. A large group had booked the place well in advance of yours truly, Ms-Flying-By-The-Seat-Of-Her-Pants. Oh well, I thought. So I unpacked most of my food and left it behind. One night it is.

The turkeys and I awoke to a beautiful day in the Headlands. After only 5 minutes, I had ditched my arm warmers by the time I reached Rodeo lagoon. However, between my re-packing and daylight savings time I had a slightly late departure time. Oh well, I thought. I'll get the extra light in the evening.

Flowers at Rodeo Lagoon

The first 5 miles of the Coastal Trail from Rodeo Lagoon to Muir Beach offer up some stunning scenery and some huge ascents and descents. The trail climbs and descends twice, but the scenery just pulls you along. I shared the trail with two mountain bikers, climbing out of Tennessee Valley. We were going the same speed and managed to chat a little as we climbed upwards. At the top of this climb we were rewarded with a long clear view of the coast and I let out a giant, "Wooooooohooo!" The boys laughed out loud and told me, "You're just happy to be out running in your running skirt."

They had me figured out already. I am a simple creature.


Outside of Muir Beach, I made my way up the Heather Cutoff and climbed upwards for almost 4 miles to the Pantoll Ranger Station. I enjoyed a hillside of pink flowers, I saw a coyote pouncing on some invisible prey, I was buzzed by hummingbirds and lazy turkey vultures and I scared a couple of deer who crashed wildly through the woods. Near the Dipsea Trail, I was joined briefly by a guy on a mountain bike who looked like Santa Claus, except the fitter California version. As we were filling our water bottles at Pantoll, Santa looked at my legs and exclaimed, "Hey girl, you're all pumped up!!" It's good to know my quads are still show stoppers. I was still laughing when I hit the Matt Davis Trail and continued on to the Coastal Trail.

The miles flew by as I cruised the 6.5 miles between Pantoll and the Bolinas Ridge Trail. This part of the trail is just so sweet. The singletrack. The colour of the earth. The views. The flowers. It's all so pretty.

Up until this point, I had no problem navigating the well marked trails. Between my maps and my memories of the Miwok 100km, I was doing well. Only one problem came up, and this was because my memory failed me and there was a gap in my maps between the Headlands and Point Reyes. I had a little detour, but figured it out and found my way on to the Bolinas RidgeTrail. I enjoyed the change of scenery as the singletrack changed to double-track and my world became dark, muddy, lush and green. I felt small running through these quiet, massive trees. I ran 5 miles on the trail, before I took a sharp detour down the Randall Trail.

When I reached Highway 1, I had been running for 8 hours and it was already 5:30. I quickly realized that I wasn't going to make it before dark. Thanks my late start, day light savings time, my propensity to take photos and the stunning scenery that kept stopping me dead in my tracks, I was going to need a Plan B. I had my headlamp, but I was nervous about the unfamiliar trails. Fortunately for me, there was a couple of hikers at the trailhead who gave me a lift to the Olema Point Reyes Information Centre. From there I enjoyed my first taste of the trails of Point Reyes and cruised the last miles into the hostel before it got dark. I was tired, happy and hungry. My energy and my legs had been great all day. I couldn't believe how good I felt after my 32ish miles!!

When I arrived at the Point Reyes Hostel, I immediately met up with the group leaders who were responsible for the 20 high school students who were the "group reservation" at the hostel. When I told them I had travelled by foot, on trail, from the city, they thought that was pretty cool. I had to repeat it a few times: Yes, I ran here. On trails. By myself. You ran 40 miles? Yes. On trails.

After that, it was my turn to be surprised. In turn, they told me it was no problem for me to stay additional nights and that they would be happy to share their food with me. Woooop! Here's to good people and good fortune. I was going to get to explore the trails of Point Reyes afterall!!

A Change of Season

The last few weeks, there has been something noticeable in the air: a change of season. It's my favorite time of year to get out and enjoy the cool temperatures, the mostly dry trails and the colours of autumn. Mostly a whole lot of yellow and green, with a few shades in between! Check out Lake Minnewanka from one of my favorite viewpoints, which we ran to yesterday.

I am trying to get in as many longer runs as possible, before the snow flys and it could certainly fly any day now. Hopefully, we can still sneak in a few more!! On Saturday, I went up to Moraine Lake to enjoy some spectacular scenery that I hadn't visited in quite some time. The last time I did this one, I was 22 years old and did it on less than two hours sleep and a hangover! Now that is stamina! Iris, Mike and I headed up to Larch Valley, up and over Sentinel Pass, down through Paradise Valley, up to Saddleback, a scramble up Mount Fairview (which is above Lake Louise) and lastly, a wicked downhill to the shore of Lake Louise.


The trails were all starting to look like this, with all of the needles starting to drop off the larch trees. At the bottom of Sentinel Pass, the pass is like a wall in front of you. It doesn't take long to make the push to the top, but I had forgotten what a forbidding pass it is! Here, Mike is pointing at the trail that zig-zags up to the pass.

See the trail?? Just a little grunt up and over.

Even on a grey day, it was still awesome! We paused for a few pics and Iris made a snow angel on the old snow on the way down. Fun!

We enjoyed lots more cushy larch needle covered trails before making a little detour to the Giant Steps. There we ended up on a trail that was very much on our map, but it looked like it had been not in use and not maintained. Lots of "Is this the trail?" moments, map consultations and wet feet. We weren't lost, we knew exactly where we were, but it was still most befuddling. We finally came out at a junction, where the trail was clearly marked as closed from the other side! We all had a giggle at that.

The climb up the Saddleback, was really lovely and a had tons of elevation gain - one big climb of about 3.5 km.

At the top we figured we had enough time to scramble up Mount Fairview, which was super steep and about 1.5km of steep, uphill hiking. At the top, the views were....ummm.... grey and cloudy!! Usually, you get an unbelievable view of Lake Louise and Victoria Glacier. Not on this day, but still fun.

Leslie and Mike on top of the world (?!!)

The trail down was wicked fun, check out Mike and Iris doing tandem switchbacks!! The trail deposited right on the shore of Lake Louise, which was as always, busy with visitors on this fall weekend. After a day of running in solitude, it is always surreal to immerge from the forest to such a busy place after a day of solitude on the trails!


On Sunday, I was due for a sleep in with my husband and some lounging over coffee and breakfast. I love Sundays like that!! But really, no Sunday is complete without a run in a pretty place. Keith and I enjoyed the company of Ollie and Holly (hee-hee!) and pieced together a pretty run on some of my favorite local trails.

Ollie and Holly! (and Leslie, too....)

Old Church Stairs (ghost town of Lower Bankhead)

The viewpoint at Upper Bankhead



Keith with the entire Bow Valley stretching out behind him

I love this photo! It gives you a good perspective of the size of things. It is also the under appreciated side of Mount Rundle which I love so much! We finished with some great views of Cascade Mountain and a fun little trail down to Cascade Ponds. We all had big smiles and were pretty darn happy to be out there enjoying yet another great run, on a beautiful fall day.

A Perfect Weekend - 100km in three great days

I am feeling rather happy with myself right now: a little post run glow, content and mellow, tired and happy, but still freshly exuberant from 3 great days of running. The title of this entry says it all. A Perfect Weekend-100km in three great days! A magical 3 days, with 3 great runs, totalling 100 kilometres. Each day was very different than the other, with drastically different scenery and changing dramatic weather. It was truly an amazing fall weekend in Banff National Park! You be the judge, here are my 3 runs in 3 days:


Day 1: The Lake Louise Teahouse Circuit - 20km with Greg the Dog - Larches, Lakes and Glaciers

I awoke to a sort of cold and gloomy day in Banff, but the forecast was still calling for clear skys. After last weekend in Skoki, I really wanted to return to Lake Louise and see the larch trees in all of their yellow glory. The area surrounding Lake Louise has lots of them and a the Lake Louise Teahouse Circuit is probably the most popular walk in all of Banff National Park for good reason. Incredible turquoise lakes, rugged peaks and some massive glaciers all in one circuit. With the changing of the larch, I wanted a return visit! I picked up Greg the dog and when we arrived shoreline at Lake Louise it was cold and really cloudy. We started the climb up to Lake Agnes and I found myself surrounded by the moist cloud bank for most of the ascent. It was just sitting over Lake Louise and obstructing the views of the lake and Victoria Glacier. I took a detour to the top of Little Beehive at 2253 metres, when all of a sudden, POW!! I popped out of the cloud bank and this is what I saw:






The sun was shining and it was indeed a blue sky day!! It was amazing. We dropped back down to Lake Agnes and it was incredibly calm. The larches had changed colour and it even Greg thought it was cool!




We circumnavigated the lake and climbed up to the Big Beehive, before dipping back into the cloud and climbing up to Plains of Six Glaciers. On the way down, Victoria Glacier was grunting and groaning and burping and farting. It finally let out a huuuuuuge belch and a massive section of ice dropped off and let off a big avalanche slide of snow and ice!! A little drama. Greg didn't like it. He also started slowing down a bit on the return to Lake Louise, but after a pit stop in the woods he was good to go.


On the shoreline of Lake Louise we ran into my friend Allan Lam which was a great surprise, but a bummer because I was just finishing up my run! By the time we returned to the car, the sun was shining on Lake Louise and the cloud had cleared. Greg promptly jumped into the car and fell asleep in minutes. I think he had a good day.



Day 2: Mount Assiniboine Epic - 62km
Mount Shark Trail head to Wonder Pass to Mount Assiniboine Lodge to Citadel Pass to Sunshine Meadows to Bourgeau Parking Lot.

The most amazing thing about doing this epic point to point was just how frequently the scenery changed and just how jaw dropping it all was!! The changing weather just added to the dramatic feel of the day and I enjoyed every minute of it. I was fortunate to have the great company of Mike, who was as excited as me when I phoned, last minute and said "Hey, do you want to go for a 62km run??" And thank goodness for Steve and Brenda who gave us a lift at 6AM in the dark to the trail head. I sure appreciate my Banff friends.

Our run started before the sun came up and we were hooting and hollering to avoid any wildlife encounters, oh - all day. The first 12k flew by and before we knew it we were on the shore of Marvel Lake enjoying the first rays of sunshine. It's a big lake and we enjoyed a couple of km's of beautiful shoreline before climbing 550m up to Wonder Pass at 2395m.

We quickly emerged from the treeline and enjoyed the silver wet single track snaking it's way up the pass. It turned into snow shortly below the pass and when we reached the top, the view on the other side was a horizon full of larch trees and snow capped mountains!

It was very cool to descend down from the pass and through the beautiful larch forest. We were keen to reach the shore of Lake Magog and Mount Assiniboine Lodge for a little break and water refill at the 27 km mark.

From Lake Magog to Og Lake, the scenery changed drastically. We passed through a flat sub alpine meadow, that was loaded with grizzly bear diggings. It was really different and beautiful with the changing colours on the low lying vegetation. I was lovin' it!

Shortly after Og Lake, you enter Valley of the Rocks where the trail is a roller coaster of fun, as you slalom through a boulder field from an ancient rock slide. Then the valley opens up for some more fantastic views and ever changing scenery, before you take a sharp turn and begin climbing up to Citadel Pass.

It's a big, nasty, steep climb before the views open up above treeline. The last time I came through here, it looked like a back hoe had come through and excavated, but we never saw the creature who had done the damage. I made sure that we were making lots of noise!! Citadel Pass came at about the 46km mark and I was starting to sloooooow down. When we crested the pass, we were blasted with an icy cold Northerly wind and ice pellets were coming from the sky.

The views however, were fantastic and we could make out Mount Assiniboine off in the distance and see just how far we had come from. The run down from the pass, across the meadows and into Howard Douglas Lake was a lot chillier than my day here last Friday!! On the shore of the lake, the larch needles were being blow against the shoreline, which was really cool. Last week I was swimming here, today I was trying my best to keep moving and stay warm.


When we climbed up from the lake, for our last ascent of the day there was some fresh snow to greet us at the false pass. We could also look back and see the lake and the Citadel off in the distance where we had just come from.

From there, it was a quick journey back across Sunshine Meadows through more incredible larch forest. The scenery, the sky, the larch trees were all amazing. We had travelled through 55km of vast, immense, wild, wilderness and only seen 2 people. We blast out the last 7km on the Sunshine Village Ski Out and found ourselves back at the car around 5:00. Yiiihaw! Nine and a half hours of running and 62km later, I was a very happy girl!! I love the epic long days and especially such a beautiful and scenic point to point. Thanks for a great day, Mike!!

Day 3: Lake Minnewanka Shoreline - 18km

I slept for 12 hours straight and awoke to clear blue sky!! What is a girl to do, but go for a lazy recovery run. And it was sweeeeeet. My legs felt surprisingly good, I relaxed, I drank, I ate, I enjoyed and I soaked up some sun. I even squeezed in a nap on the shoreline in the sunbeam. Drastically different from the day before, yes?!? What a great day. What a great weekend!