Cold Wet Nose

Shake Paddle and Roll 2009

May 31st, 2009

You know Spring is here when it’s the Annual GRR Shake Paddle and Roll Fest comes around. Rather then explain what it is, I think I’ll just let the photos do the talking this time.

: It’s best to get a little food while you and the dog are still dry…

: Hey Buddy!

: That’s not a Golden!

: My lovely girls

: Golden Retrievers!

: More dogs…

: Throw it!!!

: What ‘cho lookin’ at?

: Would you put something like that in your mouth?

: Flying black dog

: Throw the ball so I can go get it!

: If I give it to you, you have to throw it again.

: Mine!

: Mud, Dogs, and Girl

: Who wants a ball?

: Got it!

: I got what I came for

: He actually cought this one…

: Mmmmm, muddy dogs.

: When the ball doesn’t make it all the way back…

: Dog play

: Dog play

: Weeeeeee

: What ‘cha doin?

: I’m tired…

: … time for a nap …

: … I think I’ll just rest for a minute …

: … so tired …

Vancouver 3,4,5 – West End Runs

May 22nd, 2009

Since I had to actually do some work for a couple days, my runs have been limited to the West End of Vancouver. All of the runs were very pretty, and exactly what I needed to wake up in the morning. The first run (orange) is the sort of traditional “go around Stanley Park” run for 6.9 miles. The second (green) was a venture out to see False Creek and the little island of stores for 9.6 miles. The third was a “ok, let’s do something a bit shorter this time” for just 3.6 miles.

All totaled, I got 48 miles of running and hiking into just 6 days. Add in 3 full days of academic conference and I’d say it was a pretty darn good trip!

The last three runs of my trip

Vancouver – 2 (Norvan Falls)

May 19th, 2009

A view of our hike to Norvan Falls

Today Tim joined me for a hike up to Norvan Falls. I had originally thought about running this trail, but after yesterday’s experience I’m less interested in running on what are clearly hiking trails…

As always, the hike started out on a nice wide trail. A rushing river nearby filled the air with sound and mist which in turn filled the forest with moss. I think the moss was the most defining characteristic of the day’s scenery. I knew moss came in different varieties, but this was like walking through someone’s moss collection… Bright green, dark green, blue, navy green, olive green, even forest green…

Snow!

In retrospect, it’s hardly surprising, but we stumbed on quite a bit of snow along the trail. Some of it was deep, but the hikers before us had packed down a proper trail for us. Deep shoe-shapped holes showed where other people had strayed from the beaten path… but it wasn’t a problem at all.

By far the most exciting part of the hike came near the end of the hike when we both heard a loud crack from the forest. Tim and I both (incorrectly) assumed that the other had stepped on a stick and thought nothing of it… for about 3 seconds. Then, with a bunch of snapping, splintering, and crashing, a very tall tree fell across the trail about 10 feet behind Tim. With as much speed as we could muster on a rocky downhill grade, we ran as fast as we could to get out of the way, but there’s really no chance that we could have outrun the tree… had it fallen in our direction. Lucky for us, it landed off to the right somewhere and not on top of us. Tim should have some photos of the tree, so I’ll post those when I get them.

That’s all I’ve got for now… gotta run.

: Funny lettuce looking plant

: Lynn Creek, more of a river if you ask me.

: Lynn Creek

: Hi Tim!

: Odd contraption on a nearby creek (a dam or lock?)

: Nice wide trail to start

: One of many bridges on the trail

: Lots of sceneary to photograph

: Some direct sunlight… not much though.

: Tim

: Some bridges were in better condition then others

: “Potential” historic site?

: Snow!

: More bear warnings.

: Trail’s getting a little steaper…

: Norvan Creek… must be close to Norvan Falls, eh?

: Stupid sign. Bridge looks totally fine!

: I don’t think Gwen would like this…

: Moss everywhere

: Really?

: Hey, there’s the falls.

: Another bridge

: A bit muddy on the way back

: Note that dogs are allowed off leash everywhere but the parking lot.

: This little dog was being trained…

: A view of our hike to Norvan Falls

: A view of our hike to Norvan Falls

Vancouver – 1b (Sendero Diez Vistas)

May 18th, 2009

(Read Vancouver -1 and Vancouver – 1a first)

View of the Sendero Diez Vistas trail

This run started off looking like it might be a little too easy; I had to push past several groups of tourists with giant cameras slung around their necks just to get to the trail. But it didn’t take long to figure out that I was heading for a different trail then they were… I was going up. Not half a mile in, and I’m heading up slopes steeper than anything I’ve ever tried to run. No problem, whatever goes up must come down, right? Well, we’ll get to that later, but for now I’m just trying to bound up the trail as fast as I can without letting my heart explode.

One of the few switchbacks I could take a picture of

Halfway up this climb at what was clearly the steepest section, I caught up with a group of hikers wheezing up the switchbacks. A big part of me was actually relieved and quite happy to be “forced” to slow down by hikers… but then that relief was crushed. One of the group noticed me and said, “watch out, here comes a trailrunner.” Now I’ve run a couple trails, and I’m certainly trying to run this one, but I’m far from an actual trailrunner… but I’m not about to explain that to these hikers, instead opting to show ‘em all what I could do. I sprinted (struggled) past them as best I could and then slowed down to a crawl as soon as I got out of sight, reminding myself exactly how silly this whole “uphill running” thing really is.

I’d like to say that the vista at the top of this climb made up for all the pain on the way up, but I would be lying. There was a very nice view, but the 10 person group eating lunch kinda spoiled the solitude of the moment. Likewise, the crowd at the second vista made it similarly anti-climactic. But the third vista… the third vista was really nice.

Me, deep cove, and Vancouver... in that order.

A power bar, a couple slugs of Gatorade, and ten minutes to take in the view worked miracles on my disposition, and I was ready to take on the rest of this trail. In other words, I knew the rest of it was downhill. Was I didn’t know was that the downhill was going to be mostly sections of picking my way through steep technical stuff followed by uphill sections to regain half of the elevation I just lost. In retrospect, this wasn’t nearly as painful as I thought it was at the time, but after an hour or more of gingerly stepping down from one tree root to the next, I was sick of this trail.

After spending 50 minutes gaining 1400 feet of elevation, and 80 minutes losing it, I was done with the hilly section, and just in time. My quads were screaming at me and my feet were desperate for flat ground. As you’ll see below, I wasn’t even in the mood to smile for the camera. And then it dawned on me: yes, I was done with the hilly section, but I still had 4+ miles to go to get back to the car… ugh.

In the end, as miserable as I was, there’s really two important points:

It was my own darn fault for underestimating the vertical climb and
It really was a pretty darn pretty place.

: The beginning of the trail

: Buntzen Lake Bridge

: A view back down the first (and easiest) section of the trail.

: Who hauls the planks up here?

: Inspirational views from the trail

: There’s actually a trail from the lake I was just at…

: Moss covered rock face along the trail

: One of the few switchbacks I could take a picture of

: The first reward for all the climbing.

: Pretty nice trail along the top of the ridge

: The second nice view. That’s Vancouver in the background and a tuckered dog in the foreground.

: Me, deep cove, and Vancouver… in that order.

: Finally, a view with no other people around.

: The top of the downhill section

: More pretty trail photos

: My gear

: Me after too much downhill (in running shoes)

: Yes, finally, something flat. 4+ miles to go.

: Pine trees growing from the stump of another tree.

: Bears and Cougars… Hurm…

: Sweet.

: Last photo before I put my head down and gound out the last couple miles.

: View of the Sendero Diez Vistas trail

Vancouver – 1a (Sasamat Lake)

May 18th, 2009

(Read Vancouver -1 first)

Overhead view of Sasamat Lake / Woodhaven Swamp run

Like my other runs and hikes, this route was taken from VancouverTrails.com. Basically this is two loops connected by an out-n-back segment. I arrived at the park at about 8am on a holiday (Victoria Day) and half expected to find a bunch of families setting up for a day at the beach. Maybe it was the still-a-bit-chilly weather, or maybe it was the this-is-to-early-for-families, but the part was near-on deserted.

The trail around Sasamat Lake itself is in excellent condition and easily run-able for anyone. The trail leading from the lake up to Woodhaven Swamp is steep but well maintained. Other then the short segment that parallels and then crosses the road, the trail is surrounded by picturesque forest the entire way. The Woodhaven Swamp is particularly scenic and the air full of birds calls.

There’s really not much more to say about this run… it’s just a really good, pretty, short trail that I would recommend to anyone.