Burrows Trail, Camel's Hump, VT

I've climbed Camel's Hump at least once during every visit to Vermont. It's on my 'must do' list that includes a visit to Johnson Woolen Mill, the Outdoor Gear Exchange, and attempting to sample as many micro brews as possible.

Today's plan was to run up to the summit of Camel's Hump and back via the Burrows Trail. The skies were breaking over the farm and I was hopeful that there would be some good views from the top. There were several cars in the parking lot when I arrived. People were fiddling with their equipment and digging in their packs. I was eager to have some solitude so I grabbed my bag and booked it up the trail ahead of the crowds.  

It didn't take long  for me to realize my plan was totally unrealistic. I haven't run seriously since my last race in September. I also haven't run up a mountain since the Death Race in August. Yes, Camel's Hump is a small mountain but it's twice the elevation of my home town and New Englanders don't bother with switchbacks. Finally, I haven't run up a snowy mountain ever. I slowed to a speedy hike and enjoyed the beautiful winter scenery.

I started to feel the elevation around the time the hardwoods changed to softwoods. Steeper sections of the trail had me gasping for air. I was surprised at how much I was having to work, and more than a little disappointed, too. Where did all the hard work from this past summer go?

I was out of the trees in a little over an hour.

Unfortunately, I was never out of the clouds. The howling wind has encased the krumholtz in ice.

Summit pose. I'm trying to keep my contact lenses from being blown off my eyeballs. Yes, it was as cold as it looks.

The trip down was quick and uneventful, taking only 30 minutes. Total round-trip time was 1:42. Until next time Camel's Hump...

to the woods

My wife grew up on a dairy farm not too far from Burlington, Vermont. Every few years we visit her family and stay with her mother who still lives in the family farmhouse. I always enjoy my time in Vermont. It's one of the prettiest states I've ever been to. There's also plenty to do within an easy drive of wherever you are.

The weather has been unsettled since we arrived - snow then rain followed by more snow. It keeps things interesting. This morning we woke to 20cm of fresh in the yard. It was beautiful. I had to get off my pie-scarfing, beer-swilling butt and go for a run.

I grabbed the dog and headed for the trails in the woods adjacent to the farm. Getting there involved running a very short piece of road.

Still, it was far enough to remind me of what I didn't like about running in Vermont. Narrow roads, blind corners, and no shoulders. Drivers, if you're pulling over to be nice please pull all the way into the far lane. Straddling lanes just sprays me with snud.

In contrast to the road-stress, the woods were silent. Other than a blue jay and a barred owl, the only signs of life were a few deer and coyote tracks. It was bliss.

I only had a vague sense of where I was at any given time. I came across my own tracks on a couple of occasions, which took me by surprise. There are a lot of trails in those woods and I haven't spent nearly enough time figuring out what goes where, particularly in the winter. Still, you'd have to be way out of your element to get truly lost in there so we just kept running.

We eventually reached my intended destination, a lookout my brother-in-law refers to as Indian point.You can see the Winooski River in the foreground and the shoulder of Camel's Hump blending with the skyline. We hung out in the stillness for as long as the dog could bear it, which wasn't very long, before heading back into the woods and back to the farm. I missed you Vermont.

I'm dreaming of a really white christmas

This was in my email, subject 'woot woot' . Here's hoping...

source: biglines.com

They paved paradise and put up... a golf course?

This fall's weather continues to remain above average, which had me itching to get my road bike out. This past weekend I headed east of town to my usual South Cooking Lake - Miquelon loop where the shoulders are smooth and the traffic is always light.

The farmers have been in high gear for weeks and today was no exception. Combines plying the fields in clouds of dust. I can taste the dust in the air and feel it's grit collect in the sweat on the back of my neck. Its part of fall in the prairies and probably contributes to the fabulous sunrises/sunsets at this time of year. I've noticed several operations have grain piled in the yards rather than in the bins. Crops must be good this year.

I was feeling strong and decided to extend my loop to the east side of Tofield. (Turns out this extra energy was from a brisk tail wind, which I paid for on my return trip.)  At first I thought this sign was a joke but then it occurred to me that this was perfect solution to Alberta's environmental image woes - Oil Sands Creek Golf Course, Tailings Pond View Golf & Country Club... Not only does this create jobs, generate revenue and provide recreation opportunities, laying turf greatly simplifies reclamation. As a bonus the CO2 emission will soon allow golfing year round.

This roadside monument commemorates the church of Bardo, which was struck by lightening not once but twice before the residents relocated the building to Tofield. Wise decision.

The nice weather is fading fast - every day this week is forecast to be colder than the last ending with wet snow by the weekend. I'm glad I got in one final road ride this season. Time to get back to running.

k-country: ribbon falls and porcupine creek

Had wonderful weather for hiking last weekend in Kananaskis country. I've no time for trail descriptions so pictures will have to suffice.

Ribbon Falls:










Porcupine Creek:

autumn's here

"...autumn's here
And it makes you sad
About the crumby
Summer we had"
-Hawksley Workman

This summer's weather sucked. Sort of a maritime-arctic mix. Very atypical for the normally scorched prairies.  But what a fall we're having. So far it's been the summer we barely had.

I took a couple of weeks off after Lost Souls to recover. I was both physically and mentally tired from running. My apathy was not helped by the crumby weather.

However, it's been too nice lately not to be running so I headed into the river valley where I knew I'd get a good dose of fall awesomeness.

The run itself wasn't so pleasant but I expected that. It seems my muscles and joints begin to lock up the moment I stop moving. Coming back after a weekend off is uncomfortable so I knew a two-week hiatus was going to hurt. This crash has definitely become worse with age and mileage. So long as I keep running I've never felt better.

Fall never lasts long around here. All it takes is one cold, windy day to strip the trees of their colour. At that point we transition into the much less inspiring and much longer gray phase of fall - basically winter without skiable snow. Hopefully the nice weather sticks around awhile longer. There's still quite a bit of crumby summer weather to make up for.

30th Annual Terry Fox Run

This morning I braved the cold with the Mrs. and a few friends to participate in our local Terry Fox run. It was an honour to recognize a truly inspirational Canadian. This year marks the 30th anniversary of Terry's Marathon of Hope. Go for a run and show your support.

Lost Soul Ultra

coulee (kū'lē): A deep gulch or ravine with sloping sides, often dry in summer.

You might have to be from the prairies to know what a coulee is. However, you don't have to be a prairie person to appreciate the beauty of this course. Three laps, 6 legs per lap, up and down the banks of the Old Man River valley through the city of Lethbridge.

This was the trail-iest trail race I'd ever run - 99% of the course was unpaved and, of that, more than 90% was single-track. Narrow, steep, and often overgrown single-track running up and down the coulees.

Race HQ and the start/finish line was in the back parking lot of the Lethbridge Lodge.

The first leg heads south, descending to the valley bottom.

The climbing begins almost immediately

and is repeated over

and over

for the first 3.5 legs.

Several of the competitors, which had also finished the Death Race, said the Lost Soul was harder. I disagree. True, Lost Soul 100 mile has about 18,000 feet of elevation change, which is comparable to the Death Race. However, most of the Death Race elevation change comes in big, ass-kicking chunks with each of the three peaks. In comparison, Lost Soul is the death of 1000 cuts. Each hill is small but there are sooooo many of them.

The remaining 2.5 legs were largely flat (only 3 climbs) and followed the river bottom back to the start/finish.

A single storm cloud passed through and in minutes the trail became gumbo. Fortunately it dried out nearly as fast so the running only sucked for a short while.

With all the rain the normally scorched coulees were lush. Yes, there is a trail through there but I couldn't see it either until the third lap.

Fifty-three runners started the 100 mile race. Twenty finished. The winning time was 23:06:26 (WOW!). I finished 4th overall in 27:53:06. I was 2.5 hours behind 3rd and 30 minutes ahead of 5th so it was a solid fourth. I'm so pleased with my performance. And surprised. This was the furthest and longest I'd ever run. My goal was to finish. Placing third in my age category (18-49) was icing on the cake. Here I am, busting for the finish line.

I'd heard horror stories about Lost Soul at each race I went to this summer and I was dreading what I expected to be an unending painfest. I had little motivation when I toed the line. Three things kept me in this race. 1) I wanted to finish for my wife/support crew. I may have done all the training but she made many sacrifices for me to get to this point. 2) I didn't want to admit a DNF. Facebooking my intent of running this race to friends and family was a powerful motivator to finish. 3) Finishing the Alberta Triple.

Now that I've done it I'd run it again. The volunteers were awesome, the organization was top-notch, and the course was both gorgeous and challenging. I thought I'd hate running 3 loops of the same course - I thought the lack of new scenery on top of growing exhaustion would kill what little motivation I had. That turned out not to be the case. The second loop was in the dark so it looked totally different from the first loop. The familiarity with the course on the third loop, and knowing each accomplishment was a final task, was a strong motivator to get each leg done.

transferable skills

I've received several opinions on the utility of cycling as a training tool for running. The qualifications of these sources is undoubtedly suspect but I've been reluctant to spend much time on my road bike this summer and risk being under-prepared for my races. That sucks because I really like riding my bike.

A recent article in Trail Runner (Aug 2010) gave me reason to reconsider ditching my bike. I headed out to a favorite route that loops from South Cooking Lake to Miquelon Lake Provincial Park (100 km with a couple of side trips thrown in). 

I've cycled this route many times, particularly when I was training for my tour to New Mexico. The main roads have wide and generally smooth shoulders and the secondary roads have little traffic, including bike traffic. Cars are still few, thankfully, but cyclists were everywhere. (In reality I probably only saw a dozen cyclists but it seemed like a lot compared to the typical zero.)

Roads are fun and relaxing to ride when they look like these.

These horses were more tightly coiled in a single mass when I first passed them. It was some sort of group grooming/petting/fly-swatting maneuver.

Miquelon is not quite halfway but the beach is a good place to stop for lunch. I watched a kite surfer bob up and down in the water as his kite repeatedly caught then lost the wind. I've always wanted to try kite surfing but the learning curve looks super steep.

I stopped at this memorial to the local Frontiersmen that served in WWI. It sits on a slight rise on the side of highway 14. Despite having ridden this loop several times, I don't recall seeing it before. It was erected in 1935 so I can't use that as an excuse. I wonder what the monument saw 75 years ago? It probably looked pretty much the same as today except the cars were fewer and slower.

I can confirm that running is transferable to cycling. I finished the 100 km without difficulty despite a 60 km run the previous day. The only pain was my sit muscles, which leads me to conclude that desk work is not transferable to cycling. Bummer.