Elsay Lake hike

This past Sunday, Jenna and I did the hike to Elsay Lake, and although it was a longer study break than intended it was not unwelcome. Turns out that Elsay lake is the beautiful back side of Mt. Seymour that you'll want to see! That being said, this was a challenging route, so plan appropriately.

The stats:
Distance: 19.9km round trip
Climbing: 1160m ascent/1160m descent
Time: 6hours (that's how long it took us with some running, a lot of walking and no stops)

Starting from the Seymour parking lot, we headed toward the trail and the sign post for Dog Mountain. Instead of taking the sharp left to Dog, we headed up Mt. Seymour trail, still to the left, but you can tell it's going to go straight up the mountain. This part is a good incline and a bit rocky but everything is well packed in, so definitely runnable in portions. After about 2km uphill, just before the first pump of Seymour, we reached a bit of a plateau and a sign post indicating the direction to Elsay Lake and Elsay Mountain. The distance markers were rubbed off, but it was clear where to go. We were sure because of the warning signs saying "not the way to the parking lot" and the overhead cable signs indicating the extreme risk of avalanche. After questioning what we were doing and the meaning of life, we proceeded past the signs to the first descent. This section wound between the forested section on the right and the boulder field on the left, dropping about 250m.

First descent after the turn-off from Mt. Seymour trail.

From here the trail stayed left to cross the boulder field. This section was still downhill, but somewhat less steep, dropping another 50 meters or so.

Crossing the boulder field below the peaks of Mt. Seymour. Trail is visible on the far side of the valley.

Despite the hot summer we had, there was still some snow on the trail. I'm guessing this route is not accessible for a good portion of the year, and given the potential for avalanches in winter, perhaps not the smartest route to choose anyway.

Jenna carefully crossing the snowy patch.

On the far side of the valley as we got back into the trees and started going up again, there were a few markers indicating a small trail going up to the left (Approx: 49.398026, -122.929947). This trail went to Mt. Elsay and apparently can be connected for a loop to the peak of Mt. Elsay from Mt. Seymour. We took the trail to the right to continue to the lake.

After the short up, there was a short but steep downhill to a series of small ponds. This section required some skill to keep our feet dry as we hopped across the mossy/marshy area. The pond was tranquil with the still water reflecting the mossy rocks and surrounding trees. Although this isn't the campsite, it looks like there is an area you could pitch a tent if needed.

The mossy pond. Careful keeping your feet dry!

Continuing on, we followed the outflow of the ponds down a small valley, eventually reaching another steep descent, followed by an open boulder field. The valley provided a nice soft section to run on and the first part of the descent was switchbacks through the trees along the narrow trail, so not too bad. The boulders however were quite large and the trail markers were not super clear, making this section challenging. As we only had small running packs on we were able to scramble over and down the rocks, but I could see this being tough with a big backpack.

At the far end of the boulders, there were trail signs indicating the direction to the lake and back to the parking lot. Only 2.5km to the lake now, but we had to hurry as we were getting close to our turn around time.

This section up to the lake was a slight incline over beautiful spongy trail. Made for some fantastic running! Before getting to the lake we crossed several small streams and one larger one.

One of the bigger stream crossings shortly before Elsay Lake.

Arriving at the lake we were treated to views of the surrounding mountain peaks and the warm sun shimmering off the water. It really felt like summer still!

Left/south toward Mt. Elsay.

On the far side of the lake we could see a small A-frame. Didn't expect that! Maybe should have done more reading before the hike... Anyhow, just a few minutes around the lake to get to the cabin.

Looking across to the cabin.

The emergency shelter (as the sign indicated) looked nice from the outside and looked big enough to fit quite a number of people, but the inside could really use a little cleanup. The outhouse appeared to be clean, just need to remember to bring TP if we go back to stay overnight.

The emergency shelter up close. No fires :(

A little messy inside, but the loft was clean and roomy.

I was not able to identify this one, so let me know what it might be if you have an idea.

More neat and very large fungi along the trail.

Surprise! Bonnevier trail is beautiful

Along the forestry road section!

In doing the FatDog trail race for the last two years, I have never had the chance to see Bonnevier Trail in the daylight. All I’ve ever seen is a bright patch of trail with a pair of feet plodding away up the hill. This weekend I finally got my chance to see just what I’d been up against.

The turn onto Bonnevier Trail

On Saturday, Jenna’s mom dropped us off at the bottom of Bonnevier Trail just east of Manning Park, and planned to meet us up on Heather Trail at the top with her grandma.

Beautiful single track near the top of the false peak (Kandahar Peak)

After the initial forestry road section, we turned onto Bonnevier Trail proper, and, surprise! It’s beautiful! The trail is a nice single-track, that gently winds upward, with a few downhill and flat sections. Having climbed through super dry areas, lush forests and swathes of deadfall, it seems like you’ve reached the top of the mountain. Of course, this is part of FatDog and that would be too easy! So next comes a significant downhill section that drops about 200m over a couple kilometers. The good part is that it’s totally runnable! Too bad I’ve always been too tired to run it.

Gorgeous views of the surrounding valleys and mountains!

After the drop, the trail continues switch-backing upwards, eventually reaching open alpine meadows with beautiful vistas of the Three Brothers peaks and the surrounding area.

View of Big Buck Mountain and the First Brother in the distance

One thing that didn’t differ from the race was how long the alpine meadow section felt! It’s only a few kilometers, but it feels like it goes on forever!

Running through the meadows

Reaching Heather Trail we caught up with Jenna’s family and hiked out to Blackwall Peak, concluding our adventure for the day.

Hiking out to Blackwall Peak with Jenna's family

From One FatDog to Another: Preparing for FatDog 2014

Tim and Chris, both previous finishers, discuss this year's FatDog 120 mile trail race, and provide insight into their training and preparations for the race, as well as a detailed description of the course and the things you need to know.

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Hey Chris looks like the FatDog Race is filling up fast. I see most of your family are coming out this year! What's that all about? Are you going to post a race report from last year?

Hey Tim, this will definitely be a big year for FatDog. Last year there were only 31 racers signed up in the 120 division, but now there’s 175! I think this increase is really a product of the success that Heather Macdonald has had with the Mountain Madness race series and how great of a race FatDog really is! Adding to that is the fact that it’s now a qualifier for Hardrock 100.
Last year my family crewed and paced with me, but this year it seems they’ve caught the bug as they’re all racing some distance of it! My dad and girlfriend are planning for the 70 miler while my mom and sister are going to do their first ultras in the 30 miler. It will be quite the weekend for my family!
Speaking of lot’s of people doing the race, what do you think about the increase in racers this year? Do you think the aid stations will be able to handle that many participants?

Tim is a previous finisher of the FatDog 120mile race

The race will be different for sure. The last couple years I’d arrive at an aid station and there was always a chair I could grab for a few minutes while I ate. Not so sure this year. Those of of us returning should be prepared for this. There’s plenty of parking for all the support groups (except maybe Bonnevier) but I don’t have a support crew so I’ll probably sit on the ground. The relay teams usually hang out at the aid stations for a while so Heather and Peter may have to manage that.
Heather has a lot of experience dealing with that many runners at her other races and she’s split the volunteer coordinator job in three. Side note: they need lots of volunteers. I’ve been emailing friends and family encouraging them to race and/or volunteer.

That’s a good point Tim, the race will need a huge number of volunteers this time, especially if they want to have a repeat of the amazing aid station service we received last year. The aid station volunteers were definitely one of the highlights of the FatDog race. That’s reason enough to come back, never mind that the course is stunning, almost all on trails and passes through four different parks!

I love the race. It has more single track (as a %) then any 100 mile I know. And an awesome finish area. I was looking around for other 100 milers with as many mountains and single track but didn’t find much. Let me know if you find one. A lot of them say ‘trails’ when they mean a combination of single track and jeep road. I think death race and sinister seven are mostly jeep track. From a safety viewpoint it makes sense to use jeep tracks, but the running isn’t as enjoyable.
I have less time to train this year and I’m worried about that. Last year I was putting in 100km weeks with lots of elevation. This year I’ll focus more on quality elevation runs and hope to find enough time.

I definitely agree with the idea of quality over quantity when it comes to training. This year I’m hoping that I’ll be able to increase my training to be better prepared for the hours-long uphills that FatDog is famous for.
What are your plans for race day?

Not much yet. A couple years ago Randy gave me a tip to put my drop bags in waterproof bags. That way I am guaranteed that the gear will be dry when I get there. As much as I trust the volunteers to take care of it, you never know.
I’ve also been thinking about small things, like when to carry sun glasses and sun screen. Since I wear a hat, I’ll only want sun glasses between Ashnola and the river crossing. A big to do item is to figure out shoes. I’m currently running in Salomons and Hokas from NSA (NSA is a big sponsor of the race). I need to buy more pairs of both.
Food planning will come later but I know there will be plenty of salami, fried beets and V8 juice. I get pretty sick of sweet stuff about halfway through the race. If I know anyone at the aid stations then I’ll ask them to bring hard-boiled eggs and sausage. I also like kale chips. Last year I tried doughnuts and chocolate coated bacon; they were both too sweet. I plan my own food and do the spreadsheet thing to count the calories. I ended up with lots of leftover food as I didn’t account for all the good aid station food. I’m now going to assume I eat at least 100-200 calories at most aid stations. How about you?
 
In terms of food, I’m very much the same way as you Tim. I prefer to go for some of the more salty and savory foods early on in the race, saving the sweet stuff for when I need that kick. Although I don’t think I’ll be eating salami during the race, I really do enjoy cheese quesadillas, so fingers crossed they’ll have those again (thanks Andrew Knowles for making those at Heather aid!). I’ve also been experimenting with making my own energy bars which have had positive results so far.
Planning drop bags for FatDog is definitely not an easy task. With the limited number of spots for drop bags along the course I found myself carrying gear for quite a ways before or after I finished using it (e.g. sunglasses after dark or headlamp before dark). There’s really not much a runner can do about that though, other than plan and pace accordingly.
Figuring out shoes was my number one priority after last year’s FatDog race. Having sustained massive blistering on my toes by about the 90 mile mark, I was reduced to a slow march for the remaining 30 miles (all the glorious details in my FatDog race report part 3). So this year I’ll be using Altra shoes with Injinji toesocks. I think this combination will give me what I was lacking last year - space in the toe box with adequate tightness around the heel and midfoot. Plus the toe socks should stop the toes from rubbing against one another.
The blister issue gave rise to something else unexpected. The pain and the resulting pace meant I was out on the course for hours longer than anticipated, and that meant I was getting more and more sleep deprived. 36 hours into the race I was completely exhausted and had to take a 15 minute nap on the trail (not recommended due to bears/cougars). I had to repeat this at Camp Mowich and Skyline Junction aid stations. This year I’m hoping that with better shoe/sock choices and more training I will be able to avoid the whole sleeping thing altogether. What’s your take on sleeping during a long race like FatDog?
 
Is that why Ultra signup is predicting you'll come in 10 hours faster than last year! Interestingly, it also predicts that I'll come in 3 minutes slower than last year.
I’ve realized that I won’t sleep in a race, so I’m not going to try. As long as I get a good sleep the night before.
It’s good that you’re planning to avoid the naps, though we all loved the silver-superman look you were sporting at the end last year. (to the reader - you should check out the video from last year)
What’s your favorite part of the race? I love the four mountains we go over and the views are wonderful. Looks like it will be a week after the full moon so we won’t have much moonlight.

My favourite section(s) of the race is the alpine meadows for sure! As you go over the mountain peaks the variation in trail, flowers and views is spectacular. Also, the Pasaytan River crossing was refreshing and surprisingly fun since I hadn’t done that before!

Yea, the crossing is pretty easy and last year Don had his BBQ going on the other side with hot dogs. Hey, we should probably talk about the route as there’s a lot of people coming from out of town. Some of the blogs do an ok job but you and I may have a different take on it.

Section 1, Start to Ashnola: The climb is straightforward enough. There’s a couple boggy sections so don’t get your feet wet. Then you pass the first aid station (only water available in Section 1) and you quickly reach alpine and you’re running on boulders over the shoulder of Red Mtn. The descent is pretty smooth with a nice grade; overall quite runnable - just don’t push it. This whole first section is single track of varying width, with some short portions of jeep road at the very beginning.

Section 2, Ashnola to Pasaytan River Crossing to Bonnevier: Leaving Ashnola it looks grim (logging road) but the climb improves and you end up in a very cool, burnt-out forest complete with babbling brook and lots of wild flowers! It’s 7km up to the Trapper aid station, then 23+ km to the Calcite station. After Trapper aid the trail is well defined until you get close to the lake, then you need to be very careful looking for markers as you make your way around the left side of the lake. Here the trail becomes less defined as it passes through a boggy section - careful or you’ll soak your feet. Once you get to the far side (~30 min around the lake) then the flagging is obvious again and you soon reach the second high point, Flat Top Mountain. The descent from there is long and has some sustained steep bits where you can use up your knee muscles if you’re not careful. There is a creek 4-6 km before Calcite, so fill up a bit if you want to. Tim is usually hot at this point and rolls around in the stream. After the creek, the descent is very mellow all the way to Calcite aid station. Last year Terry Bremner, owner of the outstanding juice company Bremner’s Juice (and a runner himself), was there to greet you and you know he had juice and fresh blueberries for us!
After Calcite it’s really fast down to the river and across then only a couple km to Bonnevier. This is the first of the 2 road sections.

Section 3-4, Bonnevier to Cascade: I group these two sections as it is the longest stretch between drop-bags. Stock up on gels and food at Bonnevier! You start climbing very slowly on a logging road then suddenly you turn left onto a trail and cross a creek (Tim filled up) and you start climbing. No more water (creeks or otherwise) until you get to Heather aid station at the top. Things are pretty minimal there; you can have a good bite to eat but don’t expect to take too many gels away. Then it’s night-time running through alpine meadows (narrow single track) with a gentle downhill for a while. The crew do a good job marking it and you’ll soon get to a cliff with lots of flagging. This is a steep, rocky descent down to Nicomen Lake (and the most remote aid station). Matt Barry will be there to greet you, feed you some chips, possibly heckle you (if he knows you), and kick you out. From Nicomen Lake it’s a long run to Cayuse Flats (you cross a few creeks along the way) and the trail is wide and nicely graded. Cayuse Flats is a good rest stop, but you should try not to stay too long as there’s a roller coaster section up next that takes you to Cascade and another drop bag. This section is surprisingly difficult following the long downhill from Nicomen, so be prepared. Cascade has lots of parking and will have lots of people to cheer you on.

Section 5, Cascade to Skyline: This Section has two aid stations along it (Sumalo Grove and Shawatum). Leaving Cascade you cross the highway and run along the pavement a few km to Sumalo. From here the trail gets pretty flat with a few ups-and-downs (one is quite steep, but short) as you follow the meandering Skagit River all the way to Shawatum. At one point you leave the side of the river and the running gets really flat. There is one water drop a few kms before Shawatum (Update: this is being removed for the 2014 race). This is where a lot of runners have their low point in the race (note the double entendre). Don’t get stuck here, just a quick stop and plan to take your rest at Skyline. The trail has a bit more variety between Shawatum and Skyline (even though the road connecting the two is dead flat) and there is one creek crossing a little ways before Skyline. The trails through this section alternate between the usual single track and some wider paths, all quite runnable if you’ve got the energy. Carl and John will be at Skyline with stacks of food. They are two very experienced 100 milers and they’ve been talking about having a stove with eggs, sausages, burritos...
You’re almost home!

Section 6, To the end: This starts with a long gradual climb. It’s technically runnable but the climb starts at mile 101 in the race so chances are you may not be up to running. The trail is in great shape. As you get up to alpine hopefully you can see the surrounding peaks so long as it isn’t dark yet. After the first peak you descend into Camp Mowich aid station (another remote aid station with chips and water). You climb up from Camp Mowich, then do an annoying drop and climb (following the ridge) up to Peter at the Skyline 1,2 junction aid station (chips, water, bananas). When you get to Peter you’re (almost) smiling cause you know it’s shorter to go to the finish line than to go back or hike out. Now it’s a few more ups and downs along the ridge until you crest the final sub-peak and it’s all downhill to the lake. This downhill starts steep and rocky, but soon turns smooth and very gradual (annoyingly gradual!). No matter what time of day, you’ll know when you get to the lake, and then it’s a short run around the lake to the finish. If you made it this far, you know you’re a FatDog!

Good luck to all aspiring FatDogs!

*****A big thanks to Tim for his amazing contribution!*****

2013 Phantom Trail Race Report

This past weekend (Nov 16) J.B.Running and I had the pleasure of racing in the Mountain Madness Phantom Trail Race, a 24km event around the LSRC and Lynn Valley area of Vancouver's North Shore. This was my second time completing the 24km option, and Jenna's first attempt at it. The weather was surprisingly nice, at least for the first half (more to come), as it wasn't raining and almost seemed sunny at times.

We got to the start area with plenty of time to check in and get everything ready. At 8:30, we were off. The loop to Rice Lake was fine and took about 6 minutes, then we headed off down the Baden Powell trail into Lynn Canyon, a section complete with a mix of stairs, boardwalks, mud and roots. This is usually a great section to run and I felt fine for the first 15 to 20 minutes of the race, but then the cold I had been battling for the week prior started to rear its ugly head. My first thought was that I was just needing some sugar as I only had a small breakfast, so out came the gel. That didn't help, but eventually (by about 45 minutes probably) I managed to shake the feeling and was doing fairly well.

At the top of Bottletop Trail

Despite the tired feeling and the fact that my nose was running faster than I was, I was able to run all of the first half of the race. This meant I was able to come through the main starting area at 1h06m30s, only a little behind schedule. I was shooting to come through at about 1h04m based on a training run of the 12km loop two weeks prior. After passing through the main start/finish area the 24 and 19km races headed up Varley trail toward Lynn Headwaters and then on to do the Lynn Loop.

The upper portion of the loop was where things started to get 'fun'. The temperature dropped to somewhere near freezing as we continued climbing up the valley and we soon started seeing snow around the sides of the trail. This was completely unexpected as past years were completely devoid of the stuff! With the lower temperatures came a thick layer of slippery frost on the many foot bridges. This made for slow going as the shoes I was wearing (Altra LonePeak) weren't quite sticky enough to handle running on it. As we got back into the forest there was no sign of frost or snow and it definitely felt warmer, despite still climbing in altitude. This section of the loop heading back to the finish is undoubtedly the most technical section of the whole race, but also extremely fun! The 3 mile long section is a constant barrage of roots, rocks, bridges and streams crossing the path (or flowing down the middle of it). At one point I tweaked the inside of my left knee, but, in typical runner fashion, I continued on and it went away. Then with about half a mile to go I saw Peter from North Shore Athletics (also RD for a number of Mountain Madness races) who proceeded to cheer on the guy behind me, then give me heck for not running faster to drop him. Some help!! Nevertheless, I managed to pull away from my pursuer and finish with a 2h10m, good for 8th place.

J.B.Running finished in a great time, and had a huge smile on her face, so a big congrats to her! Also, congratulations to our friend Meagan on her first-time finish of the 12km distance.

One of the best parts though, as always, is the draw prizes! Jenna and I both managed to snag gift certificates for Hillsound crampons and Meagan got a Phantom Trail Race shirt! All-in-all another successful and fun year with the Phantom!

In the past I have been less than satisfied with the level of detail available regarding race courses, whether it has roots, rocks, mud or, heaven forbid, a road section! So, one thing I would like to make a habit of when posting these race reports is the inclusion of a detailed description of the course terrain and conditions. Here it goes:

Phantom Trail Race Course Terrain and Conditions:

Section	Description	Approximate Length
Out-and-back to Rice Lake	Mostly packed gravel with some softer trail, 2 to 3 meters wide.	5 minutes
Baden Powell Trail along Lynn Canyon	Begins with long downhill of soft, wide trail into canyon. This is followed by a couple of steep stair cases down leading to a section of large rocks, roots and mud. There are a number of small wooden walkways along this section. The longer continuous walkway just before the uphill out of the canyon can be quite slippery as it is slanted sideways at times. The uphill out of the canyon has a new set of stairs that help significantly.	15 minutes
Baden Powell Trail to Pipeline Bridge	After crossing the road, there is a short section of gravel trail (3+ meters wide) followed by a longer descent on soft trails, complete with switch-backs (single or double track). Definitely runnable with proper shoes. The staircase down to the bridge is extremely steep, almost ladder-like! Slow down for this one.	10 minutes
Fisherman’s Trail to Bridle Path Turn	The trail seems to be packed gravel with larger stones. This section is not technical despite being rocky, with the river-side usually being smoother. This section is a fairly gentle, but constant uphill and the trail is quite wide.	Less than 5 minutes
Bridle Path to Ned’s Atomic Dustbin	This section begins with a gentle incline that increases steadily for about 5 minutes before providing a brief reprieve before another uphill section. The trail is wide and fairly soft until after the reprieve where it is strewn with loose rocks.	10 minutes running
Ned’s Atomic Dustbin	This section is the bottom portion of a mountain biking trail and provides a short, but technical section. The trail has many loose rocks and a few board walks that are falling apart. Runner beware!	Less than 5 minutes
Bottletop Trail	One of the most fun sections in the race, this trail has a number of ups and downs over nice, soft single track, followed by a long descent back to Seymour River. The descent ranges from single to double track and has a few slippery sections due to slanted layed rocks or wooden ramps used for biking. These rocks and ramps are often wet with runoff making them even more fun!	5 minutes
Fisherman’s Trail and Homestead Trail	The upper section of Fisherman’s trail continues along Seymour River on a wide, gravel path for about 8 minutes. Turning left onto Homestead trail takes you upwards to the start area of the race. Homestead trail is a combination of gravel and softer trails about 3 meters wide. It gets steep, levels out at about the one-third mark, then gets steeper for the rest. This hill can be tough if you’re not prepared for it, but isn’t anything special otherwise. It takes about 8 minutes at a slow run.	16 minutes total
Varley Trail to Lynn Headwaters	After passing through the start area, you cross Lynn River and follow the road for 100 meters then head onto Varley trail toward Lynn Headwaters. Varley trail is a mix of gravel trail and wood walkways. It is 1 to 2 meters wide throughout.	8 minutes
First Half of Lynn Loop	This section of Lynn Loop starts on a rather wide gravel path before changing to single and double track with small foot bridges. The entire section is a constant uphill though quite gentle. The latter portion of this section has some few rocks and roots on the trail and the potential for mud. The foot bridges can be slippery, especially if it is cold and they frost up!	20 minutes
Second Half of Lynn Loop and Return to Start Area	This is the most technical part of the whole race as it has numerous large roots and rocks interspersed with copious mud on single or double track! There are a number of stepping stumps that can provide a less wet path but they can also be quite slippery. The small streams running across the path don’t help either. The majority of this section is a constant uphill though it is not noticeable given the roots etc. The last part is a fairly steep and quick downhill on a somewhat wider gravel trail. There is one short uphill right before the finish that can be difficult if you are not expecting it.	35 minutes

-UltraChris