Fog Rolling In

Biking in Mountainous Terrain

One of the last things on our "must do before this summer is over" list was to go back to the Elfin Lakes shelter, to see what it was like without 15 feet of snowcover.   The last time we visited, the hut seemed to be missing the bottom story. This was it in winter:

Obviously we approached on skis, dragging a sled.  But now, since it was summer, this time we would roll.

Much better option.  And the sun came out just as we hit the ridgeline.

Things have changed a little since April.

So that's checked off.  I'm ready for the snow.

Snow levels: 1800 m in the Whistler Backcountry

This was one of those trips that you plan out a few months in advance.  Figure out the route, where you'll be staying, what you'll do, everything right down to the fine details.

And then months pass when you don't find time to do the trip.  Finally, the opportunity presents itself (i.e. this is the last day of the season for the Gondola up).  So you check the weather forecast and head out.

You get to the mountains, get up to the start of the hike, and at this point you realize: the weather report said "snow and rain".  But since you planned this trip months ago, you have been imagining sun and clear skies this whole time.  You saw "snow and rain", but read "should be fine".

Not the trip we were expecting, but pretty amazing anyways.  The snow was definitely there, but the rain held off and the clouds only seemed to make everything look better:

(As always, clicking on the picture will take you to Flickr for more)

It's amazing how much bigger ski resorts seem when you are on foot.  Our route is below.  This basically amounts to two or three smallish runs at whistler, but took us about 5 hours on foot.

Week -55

Missed an update, didn't I?  It's been a busy week.  Stats for week -55 (ending Sunday the 9th):

(T-55 weeks and counting until New Zealand)

	Matt	Caroline
Swim
Sessions	0	0
Distance (m)	0	0
Bike
Distance (km)	130	105
Elevation (m)	785	785
Run
Sessions	1	2
Distance (km)	4	7
Backcountry
Distance (km)	10	9
Elevation (m)	830	750

We were able to add in another sport this week.  Slow progress, but in the right direction.  Now all we have to do is get back into the water.

We went to our first run clinic on Wednesday night, which was a cool experience.  I think we will both make some significant gains with that.

And lot of "cross training" on the weekend...more on that later.

Scrambling on the Coast: A Success Story

Coming back from our latest attempt on the Black Tusk, Caroline and I started thinking about our other hikes and scrambles that have or have not been entirely successful in terms of summitting, and what our success rate was.  Here is the list:

April 2009       The Chief                 Success!
May 2009       The Black Tusk        Fail - too much snow, not enough time  
June 2009       Mount Webb            Fail - too much snow, hail and misery
July 2009        Ashlu Mountain        Fail - not enough time
July 2009        Tricouni Mountain     Success!
August 2009    Tricouni Mountain     Success!
Sept. 2009      Sky Pilot Group        Fail - too much rain, fog and misery
Nov. 2009       Singing Pass             Success!
April 2010       Garibaldi Neve          Fail - too much rain, injury and misery
June 2010       Lady Peak               Fail - too much snow, rain and misery
July 2010        Ashlu Mountain        Fail - too much snow
July 2010        Tricouni Mountain     Fail - too much snow
August 2010    Tantalus Range        Fail - too much rain, fog and misery
Sept. 2010      E.C. Manning           Fail - snowstorm
Jan 2011         Rainbow Mountain    Fail - not enough time
Feb 2011        Needle Peak            Fail - blizzard
March 2011     Zoa Peak                 Success!
April 2011       Garibaldi Neve          Success! (injury notwithstanding)
July 2011        Castle Towers          Fail - too much rain, snow, hail, and fog
August 2011   Sky Pilot Group        Fail - too much snow
Sept. 2011     The Lions                  Fail - too much rain, fog and misery
Oct. 2011       The Black Tusk         Fail - too much snow, not enough time

....27%.

Maybe we should try getting up earlier?

Black Tusk via Microwave Towers

The Black Tusk is one of the more prominent peaks in the Sea to Sky Corridor.  We attempted this scramble two years ago via the traditional route, which is a very well maintained track up from Rubble Creek.  The path is 7.5 or so kilometers to Taylor Meadows, and then an additional 7 from the there to the Tusk.  This makes for a 29 kilometer day (about 20 of which are in the trees).

We didn't get the earliest start, the hike is a little boring/grueling, and when we got to the lake it looked like this:

That was about as close as we got.  You can see the tusk in the background.  It's the thing that looks like a big, black...tusk.

But our appetites were whetted.  And then last year we acquired some mountain bikes. And learned that there is in fact a microwave tower station located close to the tusk.  And that this station is in fact accessed by a service road.  So a plan was laid.

This route is also described in our favourite scrambling guidebook (although he assumes you will be driving up the access road instead of riding).  The description also mentions a locked gate at 14.8km up the road from the highway. 

Well, it turns out that they installed a new gate.  At about 1.0 km in from the highway (and ~1300m below the old gate).  So the route still works, but only as a cycling approach route.  And only if you are a little depraved. 

Anyways, the plan worked out fairly well.  It turns out they also built an Olympic Village where the old access road used to start, but a few minutes driving had us at the right entrance.  After that, we rode up.  And up some more.  Then there was a little bit of flat:

And then up some more.

Finally, we got to the Microwave towers.  At which point it started snowing.  We were also hitting our turnaround time on the day, so decided on a short ridgewalk towards the tusk for some pictures.  Not so climbable today.  Maybe next season.

Week -56 Summary

...and, we're back.  Move successful and internet-ing abilities reestablished.


It is now official. 56 weeks to go until the race.  This past week we finished (almost) unpacking, and started getting back into the training thing.  One of the good parts about moving farther out of the city is that it gets us both on our bikes for close to 20km each day, almost every day.  Stats for the week:

 

	Swim		Bike		Run
Week	Sessions	Distance(m)	Distance(km)	Elevation (m)	Distance(km)
-56	0	0	120	1600	0