A visit to Machu Picchu tops the list for most travellers to Peru, and for us it was no different. Machu Picchu is a 15th-century Inca site located roughly 7,900 feet above sea level (asl) in the mountains of Peru. The site lies in what is known as the Sacred Valley (roughly 80km northwest of the city of Cusco), through which the Urubamba River flows.

There are many ways to reach Machu Picchu, which sits hidden in the mountains above the town of Aguas Calientes located on the valley floor on the banks of the Urubamba. Looking for something more adventurous than the popular one day train and bus ride to Machu Picchu, and something less travelled and populated than the well-known Inca Trail hike, we decided to join a 5 day/4 night trek over the Salkantay Pass. The pass tops out at over 15,000 feet asl and the trek covers approximately 60km of varied terrain. We chose to trek with Salkantay Trekking, a locally owned operation with responsible trekking practices.

Cusco rooftops

We arrived in Cusco (basecamp for treks to Machu Picchu) a week before our trek departure. Going from sea level in Cartegena, Colombia to over 12,000 feet asl in Cusco was likely to be a challenge, and we wanted to ensure that we avoided our previous experiences with altitude sickness when travelling from Vancouver to the mountains of Colorado. With lots of rest, coca tea and light meals, we managed to ease into the higher elevation with minimal concern – even going running twice during our stay in Cusco!

Streets of Cusco with resident llama!

We stayed at Piuray Hostal for the week before the trek. Run by two friends, it was a great base for our preparation and rest after the trek. It’s situated just outside of the centre of town and provided us with ample room and facilities like a well equipped kitchen, and a lovely patio area overlooking Cusco. It was extremely cold in Cusco and we found ourselves bundled up and in bed early most nights to stay warm!

View over Cusco from patio of our hostel

Our much needed cozy pants in freezing Cusco (a selfie taken on the patio at our hostel)!

Warming up with coca tea in our hostel kitchen

We knew that we might be in for a cold and damp adventure since we were verging on the rainy season in these parts – in fact, our trek would be the last of the season for our operator since the trails close for the month of February due to the inclement weather and the need for trail preservation.

In the Cusco town square after a run

The night before our departure we met at the office of Salkantay Trekking for a briefing with our group. Here we would meet the folks who would share our adventure for the next 5 days. We hoped they would be fun and interesting and, if they were fresh from Canada or America, armed with Clif Bars (and not be opposed to selling a few to us).

We lucked out on the first two requirements, but alas, no Clif Bars! We were introduced to half our group at the briefing – 2 Aussie boys, Jarred and Dan, and 2 American girls, Andrea and Laura. The remainder of the group, 4 deaf travellers from Sweden and Switzerland (Tanja, Maja, Joanna and David) was briefed separately. We’d meet them on the bus the next morning.

The briefing covered the basics of the route, sleeping, eating, transport and safety.  We opted for a fully supported trek, where luggage is carried, meals are prepared and accommodation is arranged by the tour company. To this end, we were given a tote bag for clothes and personal items, which would be carried by the pack animals. Accommodation would be in tents for 3 nights, with a hostel stay for 1 night. Eating would include 3 meals and snacks most days. Transport would include foot, train and shuttle bus. Sufficiently briefed and confident that we’d selected a well organized trek operator, we were ready to begin our next adventure through the beautiful Peruvian landscape!

Day 1 – 10km

We were collected by shuttle bus at 6:30am the next morning with the rest of our group and crew already on board. Our first morning entailed a 3-hour bus ride west of Cusco to the starting point of our trek at Marcocasa, where we met our support team of kitchen staff and horseman. Once everything was loaded onto the horses and our first team photo was taken, we began our 10km hike toward Soraypampa (12,800 feet asl), the location of our first night’s campsite.

Our trekking group and crew ready for an adventurous 5 days!

Getting ready for our first day’s hike

The first 10km of the trek took us along a very walkable gravel road with gorgeous views of mountains, meadows, waterfalls and glaciers. It was a perfect sunny day and we enjoyed getting to know our group mates as we put the first day of the hike under our belts. We definitely felt the increasing elevation and the thinning of the air as we gradually climbed to the campground.

On the road into the mountains

Richard wishing he was running instead of walking this beautiful trail!

We were quickly initiated into the Aussie lingo of Jarred and Dan who are both avid kayakers and were fresh off a month long kayaking trip in Chile. At the sight of anything resembling water, we understood that an assessment of how “runnable” it is must be made before it was possible to continue. The phrase “white water” was soon a favourite across the group! The Aussies also introduced us to their game of “MINE” where any person who says the word “MINE” has to do 10 push-ups. Needless to say, many laughs ensued as we all paid our dues.

A river crossing shortly before our campground – this white water was voted “not runnable” by the Aussies, Jarred and Dan!

After roughly 4 hours we arrived to find our tents set up and our kitchen crew well into lunch preparation – amazing! Lunch was impressive – 3 courses and lots of coca tea! The campsite is a permanent installation run by a local community. They offer sheltered sleeping areas with concrete floors, flush toilets and eating enclosures for each group. There is also a little snack hut that sells water, soft drinks, beer and snacks (with a very generous mark-up!). Here we had a chance to interact with our new friends from Sweden and Switzerland – making use of a small whiteboard to write messages to each other.

The beautiful meadow where the campground was situated

Resting at camp and getting to know our new friends while waiting for lunch

Although we were really tempted to go for a nap after lunch, we couldn’t miss the short but steep 3km hike from the campsite up to Lake Umantay at 13,800 feet asl. For our 3 hours of hard work, our oxygen deprived band of trekkers were treated to a glorious sunny late afternoon and the most stunning views of the lake and glacial backdrop. An afternoon snack spread was waiting for us upon our return – freshly popped popcorn, cookies and hot chocolate! All vegan and absolutely delicious after an energetic day!

Richard and one of our guides, Henry, on the way up to Lake Umantay

Gorgeous vista over Lake Umantay – worth the effort and shortness of breath!

Snack time in the mess tent

Freshly popped, hot popcorn – amazing!

Dinner, with more great food, followed shortly after and our tour leaders briefed us on what to expect the following day, the longest and hardest of the trek. After admiring the bright starry sky, we headed for bed and what we hoped would be a restful and warm night.

Day 2 – 24km

After a cold, windy and noisy night with donkeys braying and cows mooing, we crawled out of our tent and packed up before breakfast. We were very unhappy to discover that a weather front had arrived overnight, cloaking the mountains in thick cloud. Our unhappiness shifted to near misery as the rain began to fall as we set out on our hike for the day!

Early morning mist with no sign of the sunny skies from the day before

Rain and ponchos are quite common in the mountains of Peru!

Where’s Richard?

This was the longest day of our trek, covering roughly 24km and reaching the summit of the Salkantay Pass at 15,250 feet asl within the first 6km. This was a tough 5 hours of single track and switchbacks, taking us into what looked like Middle Earth! The scenery was worth the effort though, and despite the rain and wind, we felt very accomplished when we arrived at the summit of the pass. Here we took a few minutes to rest and have a snack, imagining what majestic mountains were surrounding us, since everything was still cloaked in heavy cloud.

Switchbacks like no other we’ve encountered in our mountain adventures!

At the top of the hardest climb and ready to tuck into our last Clif Bar!

At the Salkantay Pass – the highest point of our journey

Creating an imposing presence along with many other peaks in the range, Salkantay Mountain reaches into the sky to an impressive 20,500 feet asl and is the second highest mountain in the Cusco region. We performed a ceremony to honour “Pachamama” (Mother Earth) and the mountain, according to local custom. This involved laying stones collected from Lake Umuntay alongside the stones placed by local people who make the daily trek up the mountain to honour Pachamama.

Stone cairns laid to honour “Pachamama” or Mother Earth

After a freezing half hour atop the pass, we began our descent. It was still raining when we arrived at our lunch stop an hour later. It was a welcome sight to see the meadow with shelter and the promise of hot drinks and food after our cold and wet morning. Again, it was amazing to see what our crew put together for lunch with very basic facilities, and of course, no electricity. We had soup, quinoa salad, steamed veggies, and pasta – our lunch was all vegan and very yummy!

The remaining part of the day’s rainy hike took us through meadows, hillside villages and muddy marshes, and alongside cliffs and streams. We arrived at our campsite around 5pm and quickly settled into our tent to warm up and change into dry clothes. Amazingly, our gear bags were dry and unscathed after the wet and muddy journey. The campsite was part of a cluster of permanent trekking shelters run by another local family. Facilities included flushing toilets, showers, kitchen and dining area, along with a raised wooden platform for tents. It was still very windy and had gotten quite cold by nightfall and we were very happy to huddle together with the rest of our group for another great dinner and conversation. Jarred and Dan introduced us to a few drinking games (obviously!) which spurred on laughter and general silliness after our long day.

Our digs for night 2

Our tent with very wishful clothing drying in the background

The happy trekkers after a tough day

Day 3 – 14km

We had a better night’s sleep and woke well rested to find the rain had stopped and the sun was making an appearance. Our 14km hike this day would take us along the edge of the Amazon basin, with dramatically different landscape and climate. Bev started the day with a spectacular slip and slide in the mud, landing in a marshy mess next to the horse stables on our way out of the campsite!

Preparing for the day’s journey and saying goodbye to our horsemen and pack animals as our gear was transported by car from this point

Our pack animals ready to make their journey back home

Bev back on her feet after a slip-n-slide in the mud

White water!

Tropical jungle of the Amazon basin

Richard ready for the day’s hike through the muddy remnants of the recent rainfall

We walked on a dirt road alongside a river in the Santa Teresa Valley for most of the day’s distance. We stopped to enjoy passion fruit and bananas from a local plantation, and enjoyed seeing wild coffee and avocado trees. At one point we had to cross the river – luckily a local family had erected a cable way system with car to cross the water and we gleefully took advantage of it!

Beautiful, lush river valley

Blue skies and no rain = happy trekkers

Richard and Laura enjoying a refreshing treat of local passionfruit

The local cableway

“The Beard” on the cable car

Our route allowed us to get a glimpse of rural life as we passed through villages and agricultural plantations. Here the foliage was much denser and overgrown than the mountains we had scaled over the previous two days. It was also warm and dry – a nice change from cold, windy and wet. We were very happy to be hiking in our running gear instead of layers of fleece and waterproof jackets!

We arrived at our lunch spot around 1pm where we enjoyed cold beer and another wonderful meal and much joviality! We spent a couple of hours relaxing and then piled into a minibus for transport to our campground in the village of Santa Teresa. After a quick change into our bathing suits, we piled back into the minibus and headed for the Santa Teresa hot springs.

Our lunch stop and minibus shuttle pick up location

Another wonderful meal and many laughs (with a well earned cerveza of course!)

It felt so good to jump into the warm springs and relax after our days of trekking. The pools are set against a rockface with natural rock “recliners” – perfect for lounging and soaking our weary bodies. It was also quite a treat to have a shower in the natural hot spring showers – after 3 days of no bathing we were ready for a rinse!

What a setting and what a great feeling to relax in the warm water!

A post-soak libation or two – well, why not?

Back at the campground we warmed up with hot chocolate and treats and settled into our tents. Aside from the tents, this campground was also a permanent installation with ablutions (very sketchy at best), dining area and bonfire pit. This night is typically when the wrap up party for the trek takes place, and we could tell that it was going to be an interesting night when the reggaeton started pumping through the sound system! Many litres of Pilsen beer later and the party was firmly underway. Although our group was self-contained, we trekked alongside a group of Australians through Salkantay Trekking. Once the party started, it was mostly a mess of Aussies and Peruvians shaking it into the wee hours!

Our campground for night 3

Richard chilling in the mess area

Day 4 – 10km

Our final day of the trek involved an early minibus ride to the starting point of our 10km walk at the Hydroelectric dam project. From here we followed train tracks and the Urubamba River into the town of Aguas Calientes. It was an easy walk with beautiful scenery which included rugged cliff sides and dense, green foliage. We were also excited to see glimpses of the outer fortifications of Machu Picchu perched high on the mountains along our route.

Our first glimpse of Machu Picchu!

Following the train tracks to Aguas Calientes – our final stop before Machu Picchu

A river crossing with rail bridge

Walking on the right track!

Wildlife along the way

About a half hour before we arrived in Aguas Calientes, the rain started again. We quickly whipped out our trusty ponchos and fended off the wet. Even with the ponchos, we were absolutely and thoroughly drenched when we arrived at our hostel – our only night of indoor lodging instead of under stars and canvas. It was great to be able to take a hot shower and change into dry clothes, instead of trying to warm up in a campsite!

Finally we made it to Aguas Calientes in the pouring rain

On the banks of the Urubamba River, Aguas Calientes is the hub for visitors to Machu Picchu. It hosts the terminus and departure point for bus and train transportation from Cusco. It’s one of the most touristy places we’ve visited and also one of the most disappointing. Some parts of the town are in a state of disrepair and the town seems to have developed too quickly. That being said, unfinished and mismatched buildings are a common part of the landscape in Peru, but it seemed far more pronounced in Aguas. This is especially disappointing since it sits at the foot of one of the most special and mystical places on earth.

The raging Urubamba River – now that’s white water!

Taking advantage of the break in rain to explore the town

The hodge-podge of Aguas Calientes

We spent our last evening with our crew at a farewell dinner, obtained our Machu Piccu entrance tickets, and then made our way back to the hostel in the dark as the town had a power outage caused by the storm. We were again happy to be back in our warm and dry hostel, and ready for a good night’s sleep before our early morning departure for the ruins.

Day 5

Finally Machu Picchu day had arrived! All of our hard work over the past 4 days across roughly 60km was about to be rewarded with our final prize. We assembled at the bus station to catch the shuttle bus up the hill to the base of Machu Picchu. These shuttle buses run constantly throughout the day, ferrying visitors to and from the ruins. There is also a hike up to the ruins, which we opted to do on the way down.

The morning was very cloudy and misty, but fortunately no rain was falling. During our first hour on the ruins site, the structures remained hidden from us in the mist. As we toured the site with our guide, the skies started to clear and we were given our first breathtaking views of the city. We both found ourselves at a loss for words as we watched the magnificent scene unfold. Machu Picchu has to be seen to be fully appreciated. It has an intangible quality that permeates the air while enveloping you in a very visual and almost tactile experience.

Our first misty view of the ruin site

The mist starting to clear to reveal the treasure beneath

Hoping for the mist to clear completely!

Starting to see blue skies and the ruins below

And finally we saw the full site as the mist lifted – amazing, beautiful and breathtaking!

The ruin site is very large, with distinct areas for the various requirements of the civilization that lived here. We spent 2 hours walking through the key ceremonial, residential and burial areas. The site also has tiered agricultural platforms that were used for planting various crops to sustain the population. Most of the core building structures have been preserved and/or restored, but the roofs of the homes are no longer in place.

Agricultural terraces

One of the main entrances to the city with masonry reinforcements hewn by hand over generations

Masonry security device at main entrance to the city

Residential structures and terraces

Ceremonial terrace

Burial chamber

Tower with windows aligned to passage of the sun

Trapezoidal windows feature prominently

An optional experience is a hike up Wayanu Picchu – one of the towering mountains overlooking the ruin site. There is an additional cost to access this part of the site, and only 400 visitors are allowed to ascend the mountain each day, in two timed waves of 200 people. We pre-booked our tickets with our tour operator, but early arrivals at the main ticket booth can also purchase a ticket on site until the quota is reached.

Wayanu Picchu towering over the city in the background

Close up of the peak of Wayanu Picchu

While steep and slippery at times, this hike was a highlight in a day that was already exceptional! The hike took us roughly 20 minutes up stone stairs featuring a few chain link handrails. Once at the top, the views over the valley and the ruins is spectacular. This vantage point gives one a different perspective and allows you to see the ruins in their entirety. There are also ruin structures on this peak, suggesting that this location was used by the spiritual leaders and the king for ceremonial and reflective purposes. We enjoyed our lunch while perched on a big boulder overlooking Machu Picchu – a most unique lunch spot indeed!

View over Machu Picchu from Wayanu Picchu

Oh no – somebody said “MINE”!

A steep but rewarding hike!

Another set of push-ups – but surely you can’t beat this view?

There are also short walks along the Inca trail leading away from the main city in various directions. One path leads to the Inca Bridge, a cleverly designed temporary  bridge built into the cliff face that could be raised if a threat was presented. We also walked out to the Sun Gate, a control point for access to the city when it was inhabited. It also holds significance due to its alignment with the path and passage of the sun throughout the year.

The Inca Bridge protecting one of the entrances to Machu Picchu

The Inca Trail leading to the Sun Gate

The Sun Gate

There’s so much more to be said and shared about Machu Picchu. Even with all the tourists, it’s still possible to enjoy the sacred quality of the site and imagine how life must have been there. There are many marvels of engineering to be experienced and appreciated – from the agricultural innovations and security systems to the aqueducts and interlocking rocks that were hand hewn over generations.

We were sad to leave but the rain decided to return so we pulled on our ponchos and started our trek down the hill back to Aguas Calientes. An hour, and buckets of water later, we huddled into a cozy restaurant for a bite to eat before heading to the train station to board the train back towards Cusco with Perurail. Our very comfortable 2-hour journey terminated at Ollantaytambo, from where we caught a shuttle bus back to our hostel in Cusco late in the evening.

And so ended a truly rewarding, entertaining, challenging and awe-inspiring 5 days, culminating with the sights of Machu Picchu that won’t easily be forgotten or equalled. We were really pleased with the quality and organization of the trek and the friendly crew members. We also had a lot of fun with our group and its cast of funny and interesting characters! We hope to cross paths again somewhere along this marvellous adventure we’re on!

Bev thumbs up: Seeing Machu Picchu after an awesome trek and the new friends we made
Bev thumbs down: Not seeing the view from Salkantay Pass due to poor weather
Richard thumbs up: Clear view over Machu Picchu from Wayanu Picchu
Richard thumbs down: Aguas Calientes

We recently took a 9-hour roadtrip from Vancouver into the north eastern part of British Columbia to celebrate the wedding of our good friends, John and Judy. This gave us an opportunity to explore the beauty, wonder and tranquility of Mt. Robson provincial park – home to our province’s highest peak.

Our first view of the mountain was absolutely breathtaking! The closer we got the more awestruck we became. We pulled into the visitor centre and walked out onto the viewing deck to take in the view. It was a beautiful sunny day with a few whisps of cloud over the mountain top. We were treated to a rare sighting of a black bear in the meadow in front of the visitor centre.

We snapped the obligatory “tourist” shots (of us, not the bear!) and then made our way to the info desk to finalize our arrangements for our 55km trail run on the famous Berg Lake Trail the next day. We felt giddy with the excitement of knowing that we were going to explore well beyond the visitor centre and imagined we were in for a special day, if our initial contact with the mountain was so mesmerizing!

Next we set off to find our campsite at the Robson Meadows campground and set up for our two night stay. We found ourselves in such a beautiful setting – we were already wishing we could stay longer! Mixing our run fuel was an interesting challenge, but we made it work and even had time to chill with a cold beer while watching the changing colours of the trees and mountains as the sun set.

We were up early the next morning to get a head start on the foot traffic, heat and bugs. The 23km trail starts off with an easy 7km groomed trail alongside the milky white Robson River and then the emerald green Kinney Lake. From there the trail begins to climb but you’re rewarded with waterfalls, mountains, glaciers and bright flowers as far as the eye can see.

Backcountry campgrounds populate the trail, and we encountered quite a few hikers and campers along the way. Most people were surprised to see us running the trail with not much but our hydration packs and fuel. We were chastized at one point by a hiker who thought we were being quite irresponsible running the trail in and out in one day. He obviously isn’t familiar with Team Attfield’s tenacity and adventurous spirit!

We decided to add on a loop from the last campground at Robson Pass which would take us up Mumm Basin and along the Toboggan Falls route. Although this added 11km to our day, we were so glad that we tacked this on! At the peak we were treated to what I consider to be the most beautiful view I’ve ever seen. Being in that place, alone with Richard, was truly breathtaking and so calming. I felt at peace for the first time since we lost Archer.

It’s really humbling to be in the presence of ancient landforms and such simple, striking beauty. I’m so thankful that I discovered running as it takes me to so many different places where I can experience such amazing sights and allows me to find a way through the heaviness in my heart by immersing myself in my surroundings.

As we continued back to base camp, we felt strong and accomplished! This was our last long training run before our goal race for the year – the Squamish 50 miler – and we both came through the training running feeling ready. We hungrily tucked into our bean and yam corn tacos along with another cold (and well earned!) beer at our campsite. It was a good day’s work with so many rewards.

It’s hard to truly describe everything we saw on our short visit here, and to fully do it justice. Needless to say, we’ll be back to explore more of this beautiful, invigorating part of our province on the North American leg of our epic adventure!

For more pictures of Mt. Robson and the Berg Lake Trail, visit our gallery page or click on the photo above.

For more information about Mt. Robson provincial park, click here.

August 10th – the day of our first 50 miler arrives, can’t quite say “dawns”, since the alarm goes off at 3:35AM, and the dawn is still on its way. It arrives after a sleepless night, sleep being prevented by a constant, and very loud bass filling the otherwise peaceful Squamish valley – our race weekend coincides with the annual Squamish Valley Music festival. But even though the night was sleepless, I jump up with excitement when I hear the alarm – today we run 50 miles.
Bev and I start moving, get ourselves organized, make our ritual pre-race breakfast (rice cereal, with soy milk), liberally apply Body-Glide, get dressed, pin our race bibs to our running shorts, grab our headlamps and drop bags and head out the door.
A few minutes later we arrive at the start location, park the truck, and head towards to the gathering crowd that we can barely make out in the dark of the early morning. Race director, Gary Robbins’ voice can be heard issuing instructions about the day and the course. Bev completes her final pre-race pit-stop, and we join the anxious and excited group of runners lining up below an enormous inflatable Arc’Teryx arch.

About to get going

As has become rather usual for us, we barely have time to turn on our watches – a quick pre-race warmup is not even an option – as the 10 second countdown to start the race is upon us. This lack of warmup is going to make the first 45 minutes of my race a tad miserable.

Gary yells: “Gooooooo!”, and 149 adventurous spirits get underway on what would be days of varying lengths – 7 hours 37 minutes long for the men’s winner, local Vancouverite Adam Campbell, 9 hours 42 minutes for the women’s winner, Colorado based Krissy Moehl, and 17 hours 22 minutes for the last finisher.

Bev at the start

The first few minutes of any race is always an exciting affair, after many months of training and anticipation the thing is finally on. But this race isn’t just any other race – it is ‘the’ race for 2013 for Bev and me. We worked hard for this one, logging around 1,300km of training on roads and trails from April to early August, at various times wondering if we bit off more than we should have, and the start of this race was beyond exciting.

The first 10km was a flat, gravel road winding its way from downtown Squamish to the beginning of the trail system behind the Canadian Tire. Our biggest problem of this section was supposed to be ensuring that we run slowly enough, but instead a dull ache started settling around my left knee at about the 12-minute mark. I was in disbelief – I was utterly surprised, I ran 1,300km in training without any tweaks or problems, I tapered well, and I had no issues at all going into the race. “How on earth could I be feeling pain in my knee after 12 minutes of really easy running?” I started taking stock of the situation, not letting on to Bev that something was going wrong, and realized that I had no “bounce” in my legs. I was flummoxed. How could this be? We often don’t warm up on trail runs, because we usually start trail runs slowly enough that the beginning of the run itself serves as the warm-up, so I didn’t really think that the lack of warm-up could be responsible. At the 30-minute mark, where things started to feel really bad (with a limp beginning to show up), it hit me that we hadn’t run more than about 10km during the entire week before the race. Perhaps the lack of running leading up to the race, combined with the lack of warming up was the problem? I decided to stop and stretch – this is usually the sign of accepting defeat during a race. When a runner pulls up and stretches during a race his day is pretty much over, something is wrong and stretching is not going to help – especially when more than 75km of mountain trail still lay ahead. So, the decision to stop and stretch, while it seems so simple and logical to non-runners, is one that carries a huge amount of emotional consequence. It signals to your system that you’re done; it usually also signals to your running partner that you’re done. I did not want to do that – not to myself, and certainly not to Bev.

But with a limp starting to show up, I was out of options. I stopped and stretched my left quad, dug into my left hamstring and upper calf, and looked at Bev and feebly said: “It’s nothing, keep going, I’ll catch up.” I held the quad stretch for 30 seconds, closed my eyes, grit my teeth and set off again. Zero pain. I ran a 100m, zero pain. I caught up to Bev about 300m on, she looked at me with pure concern – I looked back and loudly reported that all was good. Zero pain – this thing was on, baby! (I ran for another 14 hours with zero pain. I finished the race and had no pain in my left knee again, or anywhere else for that matter!)

We pulled into the first aid station, at roughly 10 km, waved at the volunteers, and we kept moving. We were about to hit the trails. Our first substantial climb of the day was right around the corner and we made it up Debeck’s Hill (1,500 feet of vertical) and down the other side on our way to aid station 2 at Alice Lake. The climb went well, and the descent went well, taking the first little bite out of my quads. Again we basically just bombed through the aid station since we were pretty self sufficient with our fuel and water in our awesome Ultimate Direction AK (Anton Kupricka) race vests (I highly recommend these running “packs” – they are super lightweight, extremely comfortable and just get the job done). We had a drop bag with a new set of fuel waiting for us at aid station 3.

The next section of the course takes you along the Four Lakes Trail onto the Bob McIntosh trail, one of my favourite sections (very runnable, beautiful foresty trail), and we ran this very well – the only problem encountered here was that my iPod decided that it didn’t like operating while wet – that was the end of any musical distraction – after only listening to the first three songs of my playlist!

We hit the steep uphill Made in the Shade switchback section, and I became very aware of that bite the earlier descent down the other side of Debeck’s Hill took out of my quads! Even though this is a tough, relentless piece of climbing it is another favourite section for both of us – plus the reward of an awesome, easy downhill into aid station 3 waiting at the top of the switchbacks make this a fun climb.
Our drop bags were waiting for us at aid station 3, just past Rob’s Corners, and we refuelled our race vests and handhelds. We then departed for a 10km loop, the only section of the 80km course that we had not run in training – we didn’t really know what was coming, but it turned out to be a really great part of the course, with just a small climb thrown in. Upon returning to aid station 3 we made sure we were cool – I dunked my hat and bandana in the dunking water, stuffed my hat with ice and off we went to tackle the major climb of the day – a relentless, albeit not too technical climb called Galactic Scheisse. This climb continues steadily for about 5km gaining 2,500 feet in elevation, but does offer some great views along the way. With over 40km in the legs by the end of the climb fatigue is now beginning to settle in, just as one of the major descents awaits. Over the next 9km the course loses 2,800 feet over some of the most technical terrain imaginable. Fortunately we knew exactly what was coming since we had run this descent 3 times in training.

As we began the descent I felt really great, opening up a big gap on Bev. It took a few minutes for me to realize that Bev was nowhere near me, and slightly concerned, I decided to stop and wait. A few minutes later Bev appeared looking rather green around the gills. This was probably the low point in the race for Bev as she developed a bout of serious nausea and had to slow down considerably to try to get it to pass. After about 20 minutes of walking she started to turn it around and we picked up the pace again and bombed down into aid station 4, roughly half way down the descent. Here we quickly re-fuelled again and continued our rapid descent without incident into aid station 5 at Quest university.

The second major climb of the day awaited as we departed Quest, at the 53km mark. The next 7km were the hottest of the day as we climbed 1,640 feet on a series of exposed switchbacks up towards Angry Midget. The exposed nature of this section did however provide us with the best views of the day, and here we also had some long chats with a number of interesting fellow runners. We ran Angry Midget once in training and we knew it was a technical, quad crushing descent. On this day, however, we cruised down it without even blinking – amazing what a little bit of specific experience does. From the bottom of Angry Midget it was just a short jog to aid station 6, the second last aid station with only 18km remaining. We checked the time; we had more than 4 hours left to complete the race before the 16 hour cut-off. It was here that Bev and I knew for sure that we were going to get the thing done.

We decided to slow down for the remainder of the race in order to minimize the risk of turning an ankle, or worse, in our now rather fatigued states, both physically and mentally. Running into aid station 7 was pure joy, having beaten the “headlamp mandatory if reaching aid station 7 after 14 hours” rule by more than an hour. We smiled, high-fived each other – joked with the aid station crew and began the final 10km into the finish. It was as we left this aid station that we saw the only wild life of the day…a 3 foot long harmless garter snake “essed” its way off of the trail as we approached – only giving us a mild scare.

The final 10km offered the funniest moment of the day. On an easy gentle uphill stretch next to a beautiful meadowy area, as we were approaching a course marshal, with whom I was already joshing, Bev decided to step slightly off the trail and just simply fell over. As I turned around to see what was going on she was lying on her back, battling gravity in the steep ditch on the side of the trail, looking a little like a turtle battling the unfairness of its shape should it find itself on its back.
The final 10km also offered some real testing moments, with a couple of the steepest climbs of the day laying in wait to pounce on tired, unsuspecting trail runners. The upside (besides the fact that the end was now just around the corner) was that the most amazing view was also laying in wait. As we summited the final climb of the day up the “Boulders” we were treated to an unbelievable view of Squamish valley and the Howe Sound inlet leading to the Pacific Ocean.

From the top of the Boulders we zipped down Smoke Bluffs Park, out of the trails onto the final, flat 3km and into the finish. Bev was leading the charge into the last stretch, her smile reaching all the way around her beautiful face. She looked back at me with happy, accomplished eyes, and said: “We’re in the chute!” (which is a runner’s way of saying that we’re there, we’ve done it).
We had achieved the lofty goal we had set many months prior. All the effort paid off, we were ecstatic. At the finish line, race director Gary Robbins, the H.U.R.T 100 course record holder and winner of many other major trail races, welcomed us home with a huge big group hug as Bev and I ran hand-in-hand over the line.

Finish! (with race director, Gary Robbins)

We finished in 14 hours and 55 minutes and without any injuries, and other than feeling outrageously tired, had no complaints.

Bev: mission accomplished!