Vancouver Weekend

Team Dodgy meets again! Craig was in town so Neil, Dave, Craig and I met at the base of the Old Buck Trail in North Vancouver. The guys had big goals for the day that I wasn't sure I was ready for so we went our separate ways on the trail. We all had a great day out there, I did 2.5 hours of hills. Plenty of up and down with some great running sections. 

Neil, Dave and Craig went higher up the mountain and played in the snow for a bit. 

Today Fergus (dog) and I did 11km on the Vancouver seawall. Neil joined me later in the afternoon for a bike ride of the same route but in the opposite direction. Nice to go around twice with different ways to propel yourself. Looks like my running partner might need a day of rest tomorrow. I'll be out there! 

Exploring the Trails Near Whistler

Saturday Neil and I drove 24 km south of Whistler to the Garibaldi Lake trail head in  Garabaldi Provincial Park. No dogs are allowed in the park so Fergus had a quiet day indoors. The first 6km of the trail is a gradual uphill climb through dense forest of Douglas Fir trees. We ran into snow at approximately 2km up the trail. Thankfully we had our Kathoolas in the pack and once we had them on our feet it made a big difference to provide us with some grip on the slippery snow. I had 1 pole for additional grip. 

The weather was getting colder the higher we climbed. Once we reached Taylor Meadows we stopped for lunch and decided to turn around. 

We had guests for lunch - the Whisky Jacks! 

The birds take the food right out of your hand. We were wise to turn around and head back as it started to rain (freezing rain) which made the conditions a bit slick coming down. The Kathoolas sure make a big difference. 12 km return. 

Sunday we woke to glorious sunshine and warm temperatures. We ventured out on the Cheakamus Lake trail which is just 4km south of Whistler. There were trees down on the access road so we added  a few additional km's to the journey.  The lake was beautiful. I think this will be a regular summer route for us. 13 km total for the day. 

The route had many trees down. I wouldn't have wanted to be near this tree when it hit the ground! 

We found a route over the tree. While on the trail to Cheakamus Lake we came upon the trail junction to Garabaldi Lake (16km one way) which we will tackle once the snow is gone. 

The weather here in the Vancouver area is unseasonally hot! 31 degrees C today! It's only mid April. That's really crazy. It hasn't been this hot in April since 1962. There are some early forest fires that have started in both BC and Alberta. Yikes! 

Time to Run!

This weekend we made the decision to say good bye to the snow and start running longer on the trails. It was such an awesome snow year (and still is). It is a fun time of year when you can ski/snowshoe up top on Mt. Seymour and run on the trails lower down. 

We did a loop that took us up the Seymour Grind and down Old Buck to the parking lot. Great first longer trail run for awhile. My quads are a bit tender (oh but it's a good tender). We are looking forward to getting back out there. Happy Trails! 

Spring Skiing at Whistler/Blackcomb

 Oh what spectacular skiing at Blackcomb and Whistler this weekend! This is on the top of Blackcomb Mountain looking over to Whistler range. 

On my way to 7th Heaven Express Chair on Blackcomb. 

Spectacular views of Whistler from Blackcomb. You could hang out there all day @ 7,500 feet. 

So much snow! 

Helmets are part of the gear nowadays -  it's good to have a colored one so we can spot each other on the mountain. We skied Whistler on Friday and both Blackcomb and Whistler on Saturday. The Peak to Peak gondola makes both mountains in one day possible. The journey at 1,427 feet above the valley floor takes me out of my comfort zone but it does allow for incredible access to the beautiful terrain. Today we enjoyed a 90 minute run on the Valley trail followed by a 1hour bike ride. Nice outdoor active weekend in the mountains! Yeah!