Spring Fever

Tunnel Mountain - Thursday, April 9th

Was this picture only taken last Thursday? Let's fast forward 8 short days. Here's a video clip from Saturday's run:

Tunnel Mountain - Saturday, April 17th AM

It's been glorious, sunny and downright hot for the past 4 days - and I've been reveling in every moment. On Wednesday evening, I bust out the short sleeves and went for a run on a muddy trail. On Thursday, I dusted off the road bike and put on the cycling shorts, a jersey and arm warmers for the first inaugural bike ride. On Friday, I found myself lunching outside in a tank top having a picnic. On Saturday, I put on the running skirt and sleeveless jersey and drained my 2L Camelback bladder in world record time.


Saturday's long run was all about playing in the woods with some friends just for pure F-U-N. Hugh, Monica, Katherine and Martin came to town to join me for 5 hours of good times, on Banff trails. It was the Ultimate Banff Tour with the bonus of getting lost and a river crossing! Really, what could be better than that? Hugh's photos here.

A Very Happy Man

My goal was to be out on my feet for 7 hours - so I bid farewell to the friends, refilled my water and kept going. I wanted to get some elevation and practice my "power-walking" so I marched myself uphill and tagged the top of Sulphur for another 1.5 hours. Phew. Sulphur is still snow bound, top to bottom. It was hard going - with the hot weather, the snow on Sulphur had turned into heavy, deep slush. My reward for all of the hard work, was a ridiculously fun, slippery, slidy, slightly out of control, reckless, kick-ass descent. 7.5 hours later, I rolled into home giddy, muddly, tired and hungry. As a bonus to an already great day, our friend Deb was in for a visit. Keith and Deb were equally giddy from a great day spent on the slopes.

Tunnel Mountain - Saturday, April 17th PM

It was such a beautiful evening, that we decided to go for an evening walk up Tunnel Mountain. I think the "bonus walk" was actually good for my legs - a nice way to wind down the day and stretch out my tired ass. We went to bed early and slept real good.

On Sunday, Deb and I headed to Cascade Ponds and ran a loop to Johnson Lake. It was my first time out here this season. Only a week ago these trails were ice bound and the lake was still frozen. This week, the trails were dry and the ice had disappeared! It was a wicked fun, twisty turny dance through the woods. I love this trail - it was dry and there were crocuses out on the South facing slopes. I haven't been here in months and I'd forgotten just how pretty Johnson Lake is in spring:

Deb and Cascade Falls

What is Spring, without The Swing?

Needless to say, after a weekend like this I got the fever. Spring Fever. I'm thinking the 20c in April makes up for the -20C we had in October. I'm going to enjoy it while it's here.

Check out this post from the same date, April 18, 2008.

So, keep your sunny side up, up!

Keep your sunny side up, up!
Hide the side that gets blue.
If you have nine sons in a row,
Baseball teams make money, you know!
Keep your funny side up, up!
Let your laughter come thru, do!
Stand upon your legs, be like two fried eggs,
Keep your sunny side up!

A Grrrrreat Week!

Last weekend, Iris and I did the "backyard tour" of Sulphur Mountain: a loop from my house up and over the mountain. Along route, we encountered a Scottish man who vocalized his appreciation of my backyard trails. In his lovely lilt and rolling his R-r-r's to the extreme, he exclaimed: "It's a Grrrrrrreat day!" It sort of became my theme for the week. It's my new favorite expression, complete with rolling R-r-r's.

There were runs up Sulphur Mountain...


A few glorious runs up and around Tunnel Mountain with full spring-like-sweaty-base-layer-warm-temperatures:


....and the earliest ever running of the "key exchange" run from Lake Minnwanka to the Ghost, a 35km point to point run.

The "Exchange"

This trail is always the first to dry out in Spring, but this year it's happened a full month earlier than usual. I lost track of how many times I said in disbelief: "I can't believe this is dry". We also had fun naming mountains - afterall, everyone deserves to have a peak named after them!

Iris's Nipple

"I Can't Believe This Is Dry."

We dusted off the Bear Spray and enjoyed a "Grrrrrrreat Day" on the trail. Keith was out of town and had some serious FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) as there were 4 lovely ladies who joined in for the run. Miles was happy to fill in as the token boy.

Miles and Suzy

Devil's Gap

Banff Trail Trash

To round-up the grrrrrreat week, Keith and I enjoyed a day running into Skoki yesterday. Mother Nature was kind to us on this day, as we started our day with a few very cool wildlife sightings. We saw a bald eagle who was migrating through enjoying a pit stop. He was sitting in a tree checking out the view with the back-drop of Castle Mountain off in the distance. I didn't get a photo of him.

Castle Mountain

Then we drove to the Skoki trail head via the 1A highway, hoping to catch a glimpse of this big boy:


This photo was featured in this weeks local newspaper - this large male Grizzly Bear had been spotted on the railroad tracks along the 1A. We were hoping to catch a glimpse of him and we did! Our view from the car wasn't as clear as this image, but one thing we could tell: he was a big boy. It was also the earliest time of year, that I have ever seen a G-Bear.

Needless to say, we were already excited before we even reached the trail. It was a good way to start our day! The snowmobile trail in to Skoki was in great shape and as we made our way up Boulder Pass, we saw something really cool and really rare. We followed the tracks of a Wolverine for almost half a kilometre, all the way up the pass. I've only seen Wolverine tracks once and it a few years ago, almost in exactly the same place. Evidently, there's a big ol' wolverine who lives in the rocks of Boulder Pass!


We cruised in to Skoki in about an 2.5 hours - I left Keith at the lodge to socialize with our Skoki friends and did a "bonus lap" up Deception Pass. I'd be lying if I said it was easy, but it sure was fun. The wind was blowing and there was a full on white-out at the top of the pass.

Deception Pass - on a better day!

Sweet Temple Mountain

Knowing that there will be plenty more snow and storms coming in the next few months, I'm enjoying the spring-like running while I can. It's setting up to be a good year on the trails, if this week was any indication. It was a Grrrrrrrreat week!