Training Log Archive: Bash

Paddled past the SE corner of P.E.I., wove through the islands in the mouth of Beaverstone Bay, then explored the Chickens, an island group just west of the French River delta. After lunch, we were blown along the length of Beaverstone Bay, then we had a tough paddle west down Collins Inlet with the wind in our faces.

There were steep cliffs everywhere, and we were beginning to believe the people who had told us there were no campsites to be found. Eventually we got lucky and found a large rock with several tent sites, but not until we had paddled more than 30 km. It was another awesome night for star gazing, with a little flare of northern lights on the side.

During this trip, I've tried to use my Trayling-trained paddling technique, and it does seem to help. One of our group commented that I never look like I'm working hard, which I guess must mean that my "limp spaghetti arms" are fooling her. That's great! :-) Our group consisted of two strong guys in single kayaks, two women in a fast tandem kayak, and me in my single kayak - so it wouldn't have been surprising if I'd been at the back of the group all the time. However, my lesser strength only came into play when we hit stiff headwinds. Hey Bill - wow, this stuff really works!!

Wildlife watch: Another Bald Eagle and a Caspian Tern. Lots of birds migrating south in long lines at various altitudes.

This was the portion of today's paddling where we had to go a bit harder because of headwinds.

We began our counterclockwise circumnavigation of Philip Edward Island east of Killarney. (Yes, I will be telling everyone that I circumnavigated P.E.I. this weekend.) Our P.E.I. was only about 20 km long by 6 km wide at its widest point. We had an upwind slog for 3 km to get out of Collins Inlet, then the wind worked in our favour for most of the day.

Today was perfect paddling on the outside shore of the island in one of the most beautiful places anywhere - the rugged red rock islands of Georgian Bay. There are thousands of islands ranging from a few centimeters in length to a few kilometers. The most fun way to travel is to pick a rough compass direction and weave your kayak through the labyrinth of passages between the water-sculpted rocks, some of them bare and some of them boasting a few wild trees straight out of a Group of Seven painting. As water levels change and vegetation fills in shallow areas, new islands appear and others disappear, so it's virtually impossible to follow the map too closely. In Deer Island Bay, we found a beautiful campsite with a sunset view and perfect star watching.

Wildlife: Many birds, including two bald eagles and an osprey.

Due to a small craft wind warning with gusts up to 30 knots, our 4-day kayak trip had to be delayed and rerouted. In the meantime, I hiked Chikanishing Creek Trail in Killarney Park with Bent, Gorgeous, Knobless and Yukon Girl. It was an excellent test of the sticky soles on my new Keen water sandals, with lots of scrambling up and down large boulders. The trail has some of the best views of Georgian Bay that I’ve seen without getting in a boat.

Paddled down Chikanishing Creek to Georgian Bay, then headed east along Collins Inlet to stay at a Killarney Park campsite. The idea was to stay in reasonably protected waters until the high winds died down, but we still had an entertaining ride down the inlet with the wind at our backs, surfing on large following waves. It was one of those days when we definitely needed to keep our paddles in the water at all times in order to keep the kayaks upright. Naturally, although the wind had played havoc with our plans all day, it died down sufficiently in the evening to allow the mosquitoes to feast on us after dinner.

I'd planned to do some lower body weights because I'll be spending the next 4 days sitting in a kayak on Georgian Bay. But somehow it always takes longer to pack than I expect. I'll see how creative I can be in figuring out ways to exercise my legs on a kayak trip. Only 3 weeks until our 72-hr race. Have a great holiday weekend, everyone!

Ran around Palgrave West with ThunderDog, who has suddenly become an Exercise Animal. After a few weeks of uncertainty, it's looking like her back surgery has restored most of her former abilities, and she is clearly thrilled about it!

Today I worked on running up and over the tops of hills, which is starting to feel very natural. We had a couple of slow sections where ThunderDog paused to bathe and roll in muddy Katrina-puddles (on the same day the white kitchen floor was washed - oh well). In spite of that, my time on the loop was pretty good, so maybe, just maybe, I'm finally getting a bit faster on my feet.

No wildlife, but we have plenty of awesome fungi growing around here because of all the wet weather lately. On our lawn, there are several puffball mushrooms the size of a skull. Bent has seen some that are closer to soccer ball size.

No, I haven't disappeared off the face of the earth, even though my training program has. Last week, my recovery from the 32 km trail run blended right into the tapering for my parents' 50th anniversary celebration, but I'm back on the trails now.

I biked to and around Albion Hills, much of it with Bent, Gazelle and Gazette. We focused on double track with steep hills, which made it a great test for my brand new birthday present HRM, the Polar 625x. I've just taken it out of the box, so haven't figured out any of the new features yet. It looks cool, but is made for people with arms the size of Douglas firs. I hate to take scissors to the strap of a $400 watch, but unless Polar sells a separate ladies' watch strap, that may be necessary.

We practised bike towing in an empty parking lot in near-darkness. Gazelle and Gazette are off to Tajikistan this weekend, and the RTN Champs will start 3 days after they return!