runforit: So Much Snow!

Sunday, August 14, 2011

So Much Snow!

It's mid August and the snow is very abundant on the mountains here in Vancouver. It looks like the snow is not going away this season. Today we met in the Cypress Bowl parking lot to climb Hollyburn Mountain and Mount Strachan. It was cold to start and we put on a few layers. It didn't take long for us to warm up - hills will do that to you!

I like the climb up Hollyburn - challenging but nothing too crazy for technicality. Once on the top of Hollyburn you can take a steep trail down that leads over to Strachan. It took a bit of route finding in the snow but we did well. This trail is very technical and steep and especially tricky when it is covered in snow and water. Slippery! I pulled up the rear and occasionally heard Neil shout from ahead "are you gals OK?" I think I even got "do you still love me?" There was a silent pause before I replied "I think so!" We had plenty of good laughs out there today. The funniest moment was when Wendy startled me when I was crouched behind a bush. We laughed so hard we were both shedding tears. I can still hear Wendy laughing and I'm sure it is an image she won't forget! ;-)

Going up Strachan we popped out onto the ski run near the top. The flies were bad in this area but seemed to only be bad here today. I have had a bad reaction to these flies before so coat myself in bug spray to hopefully deter them to a bagger companion.

Once on top we had a visit from a Whisky Jack. Dave very kindly share his food from his hand and the top of his head! That bird will have some food stored for winter - it took us a few tries before we captured the perfect photos!

We came down the ski runs which transitioned from snow to rocky slippery ground. I've come down this slope 3 times now and must admit it is not my favourite surface to run on. Once down we headed to the Black Bear for a bite to eat. That's 2 more bags completed!