Spring is here so it was time to head north for more
Wilderness Traverse course testing.
Well, actually, the right time would have been mid-March when it was 25C but that's not the way we roll. Bob and I hope that if we test the course when it's cold, rainy or buggy, we'll gain some karma that will result in perfect conditions for our racers in August! Today it was a windy 4-8C with occasional steel grey clouds that threatened rain but never delivered. Just as well - we were chilly enough in the breeze without being wet too. Of course, this was Canadian Shield country and we eventually *did* get wet - but that comes later in the story.
We started with a classic wilderness trek that we've really been looking forward to. We hiked and ran over 30 kilometers between roads and visited a couple of planned CP locations along the way. As usual, we made a few detours to check things out. "How visible is that old trail?" "Is there a campsite on that point?" "Do you suppose we could just wade across that?" (See previous paragraph re "getting wet".)
Bob is heading out next week for the Costa Rica Adventure Race so I tried to keep up a good pace in the forest. I can't push as hard as he can, of course, but at least I try to move fast enough to keep him from getting cold!
We did a lot of bushwhacking, mostly through open forest with great visibility since the leaves aren't out yet. We scrambled over countless rocks and followed some rough trails. When the going was good, we ran; otherwise we hiked quickly.
The most incredible thing about the Bala area is the huge amount of open rock - amazing for the long views it offers. It's a good place for a team to move quickly. Naturally, it was on this relatively easy terrain that I turned my stupid ankle. :(
We encountered wetlands everywhere. Some were dry enough to walk across. We skirted others or tried walking gingerly across the floating moss, hoping we wouldn't plunge in neck-deep when we had to leap across stretches of open water. Warning: Bob can leap a huge distance with those long legs of his, so it's not always a good idea to follow him.
Beaver dams are our friends and we are always on the look-out for them since they make crossings easier.
Some wetlands are covered with tangled alders - slooow progress here.
If I paused too long with my camera, Bob could easily disappear from view in there!
We hit a few skinny lakes separated by high ridges of rock. When we were heading in the direction of the ridges, life was beautiful. When our direction of travel was perpendicular to the lakes and ridges, we got a terrific hill workout. Win-win.
Here's Bob deflating our pack raft. We often take a pack raft along but we don't use it the same way racers would. We would never paddle the length of a lake since we want to check out the forest along the shore, even if pack rafting would be the faster route. Conversely, there are water crossings that would be easy to swim in summer but this early in the season, we're feeling a little too soft to immerse ourselves in the frigid water.
We managed to do our first-ever pack raft paddle where we didn't get a single drop of water in the raft. I was feeling pretty good about that since we were biking after the trek, and I didn't want to be too wet for that. Unfortunately, our luck ran out. There was a narrow channel that we thought we might be able to cross by balancing on a long, slimy floating log most of the way, followed by a 2-3 meter wade at the end. As it turns out, we should have pulled out the pack raft but by the time Bob had made it across doing a wild, out-of-balance dance with great leaps and waving arms, it was too late. I had to get over there too but if I was going to try Bob's method, I might as well start swimming from the start. I sat on the sinking log and inched my way along it to the end, then made a big leap toward shore while grabbing Bob's arm. I managed to keep everything dry - except for the part of my body below my armpits. Brrrr!!
The official Wilderness Traverse animal has traditionally been the garter snake - the largest animal we typically see on the course. Today we stepped around a number of impressive piles of scat early in the trek and observed what appeared to be bear scratches on trees. When we heard brush rustling loudly 50 m away, we froze in our tracks and waited to see which animal would come over the hill. It was a fast-running deer who had undoubtedly heard us but didn't stick around to see us.
We sometimes pass by cabins or hunting camps in the bush, usually looking very inhospitable with plywood on the windows and padlocks on the doors. Today at lunch time, we had the luxury of finding a well-kept little cabin with a sign that invited visitors to come in and take good care of the facilities. This strategy obviously works; the place was in great shape. It was so funny to spend hours in the bush, then take a lunch break where we could sit on chairs and lay out the map on a kitchen table!
We've both been checkpoint volunteers ourselves so in addition to placing CPs where they will create route choice, we look for pleasant locations to spend a number of hours and possibly go swimming if it's hot.
It's a privilege to stumble upon beautiful wilderness locations that few people have seen.
Here's our best find of the day - a great blue heron nesting area. The birds were everywhere, and nearly every tree in the water had a huge nest on it. It was magical.
One of today's highlights was meeting a gentleman who owned a cabin in the area. We seldom encounter people, and when we do, they are usually fishermen or ATV drivers who are nice enough but think we're a little warped. This fellow thought that Wilderness Traverse sounded "cool". He provided all kinds of useful information and pointed things out on the map. He had even mountain biked part of the route we're planning. Hope he'll be around on race weekend to cheer on the participants!
At last we emerged from the woods and found our bikes stashed in the trees where we'd left them early this morning. The trek was fun, scenic, interesting and challenging - everything we'd hoped for after staring at the maps over the winter. We're so lucky to have wilderness areas like this close to home. Can't wait to watch the SPOT trackers as teams take different routes!