Having volunteered my services as a pacer for Jess for the last quarter of V100, it had occurred to me that we'd be doing this section in the dark.
What hadn't occurred to me was that while I have run from Cleveland to Deep Cove in various sections I had only run them during the daytime. Given that Miwok 100k was my last bit of night trail running (May 3rd) and that V100 was coming up the next weekend, my training window was becoming exceedingly smaller.
I made a few calls/emails to some interested parties but only one showed up - Cynnimon. The rest had other runs or commitments and couldn't make it.
So it was on a warm Friday night that we found ourselves at the Grouse Mtn Skyride (parked the car at Deep Cove). Technically we should've got off at the stop closest to Cleveland Dam, but we decided to ride all the way up Nancy Greene way. I have my 2L Nathan pk with a handheld full of Nuun, Cynn had 2 handhelds plus a camelback. I brought peanut butter sandwiches (probably not the smartest choice given that there were bears around!) and Cynn had gels and bars.
Started at 8:58pm and the sun was just starting to set, we decided to take advantage of the remaining light and hit the trailhead. A lot of it was walking, but considering we walk this section in the daytime not much changed. I guesstimated our time to be around 6-8 hours, figuring the fatigue factor and the technical nature of the trail would slow our pace down.
We made decent time through the uphill slog only really needing to turn our lights on just before we hit the first metal bridge. Along the way we discussed favorite TV shows and obscure existential theories of life, the universe and everything in between. I soon discovered Cynn's strength was on the downhills as she had no problems navigating in the dark. I, on the other hand, was VERY cautious and needed constant reassurance that both of my feet were on somewhat stable ground. Before long we got to Mosquito Creek and tackled the uphill section. From this point on the trail was surprisingly easy to find, no doubt helped by the white arrows spray painted on the BP route. (We found out later that this was how the Iron Knee course was marked). Anytime that I felt too warm from the exertion was offset by the coolness of the night, we went past the St Georges bench and started heading down until I remembered we should be heading up the trail. We had a few mishaps because night running just has its own unique challenges. Another challenge was the proximity of bears, but I'll get into that later.
We made good time on this section (although I can't really say why as I wasn't wearing a watch) and I didnt even realize we were close to Mountain Hwy until I saw Cynn refilling her pack and bottles at the tap. From Mountain Hwy we descended the BP trail and hit the little mountain bike section, crossed over the planks and got to Cynn's nighttime nemesis: Stairs!
I guess the problem had to do with the shadows the headlamps projected and having reduced depth perception when going down the steps. I just held on to the handrail when I went down. Down to Lynn Headwaters we go, hit the road leading up to Varley trail and take a brief food and rest break, all that water has to go somewhere, right?
Ahem, so, onto the first bit of real running that night and we're zipping along the boardwalk, down the steps, over the wide path and I got this stupid grin on my face as we were running as I cannot believe how everything looks so new and fresh even under 4 LEDs.
Soon Cynn and I are laughing on this trail going up to Rice Lake, barely dodging a pile of horse poop and start a little walk up the next hill. Turn left and crossed the bridge and up the hill we go. Refilled a single bottle at the Gazebo and dropped a lemon lime nuun tablet for electrolytes, had a bite of PB and it was off to the suspension bridge.
Now even though I've ran this particular route over a dozen times before, I couldn't help but think we were getting lost cause we couldn't see the orange triangles on the trees. We actually backtracked our steps as we were only 10 feet from the stairs! Well, glad we got that out of the way. Down the stairs (careful!) and over the boardwalk and up to Premier Trail. This section is where I usually begin to feel the quads and hamstrings during KK, but it was fine tonight. Cut left and then the BP trail went from singletrack to wheelchair accessible?!? What happened to the trail? Oh, well.
Crossed Old Lillooet Road, up the tiny switchback and over the hill, down to the pipe. It was the same but different trail and having Cynn along made the night go so much easier. I'm sure I would've been fine solo (I have enough voices in my head as it is), but I was grateful for the company as we exchanged pop culture references and tales from previous trail runs the whole night. Over the pipe, minor ankle roll and sharp right downhill. Whee!
Down the really tight, really sharp turn and I manage to brake to a halt before the steps down to the bridge. Strangely, I wonder why I'm in the lead and have been for the last 4 or 5km. Then it occurred to me. I was the bear bait, the one with the scent of peanut butter and honey sandwiches. Nice. Fine, two can play at this game. I don't have to outrun the bear, I just have to outrun...you! Just kidding, mostly. Crossed the bridge, up the steep gravel section and I went to the garbage can to drop a used baggie while Cynn shortcutted the trail. Through the gate and up the hill, turned right and back on to the BP.
Down the small trail and over the bridge, up to the mucky, muddy, rooty, slippery section to Hyannis. We really needed to watch our footing on this section, until we spotted a big garbage can to the right and by mutual unspoken aggreement, picked up the pace a wee bit. I had to be reassured by Cynn quite a few times to confirm we were actually on the right path. Finally we hit the stairs and crossed Hyannis back onto the BP. Trail was initially rolling but soon became a bit of a climb so we continued our conversation. I think we began to lose our focus a little bit, because we soon hit a much softer section and started to run...hard. We soon came to this overgrown foilage section and I wasn't sure if we were still on the right trail , but Cynn assured me, it's been a while and the trail was just overgrown. We kept going over a makeshift log bridge and through the single track and suddenly I could see street lights. I don't recall any streetlights on KK. Let's go back!
We retraced our steps and sure enough to the left (if we were going the right way, it would've been the right...you know what I mean) was the familiar blue and white BP trailpost. Sheepishly I went back on the trail and Cynn showed renewed faith in my navigation skills. Back on the BP, up the small rock face, turned left toward the Seymour Grind, traversed the log section and started on the little bridge that I helped put up two years ago. Well the Grind is just as much fun in the night as it is in the day. A bit of a slog, but as long as we were heading up we were going in the right direction. Cynn was waiting for and found her big log. Yay, just a little more grunt work and we'll hit the top of Old Buck! Had some PB, finished the rest of my nuun and clipped the handheld to my pack.
Got to OB after negotiating the narrow beam over the pool of water. Now the fun begins, ready, set, go! I led the way again downhill, although at times it was a smooth shuffle trying to find the best line on the trail and I picked the mountain bike one as you could sorta see the groove left by the tires. I could hear Cynn on my tail so I picked it up a little, but not too much because the trail got a little rockier. Got to the bridge and used the momentum from the downhill to push me up to the BP trail. Waited briefly for Cynn, and I took this opportunity to shoot a GU, mmmmm Expresso Love...
We took off down the easy trail on a decent pace, but trying to save a little somethinng extra, because we still had the 2.5km section after Indian River Road. Crossed Mt Seymour Parkway, down the trail again and had a really decent run here. Pretty good mood, temperature was perfect, my pack and my lights were in sync, couldn't ask for a better running buddy as we made our way down. Got to the nice house on the left and popped out onto Indian River. Whew, it was about 2am! Waited for a car to zoom past us, then we ran down the left side, but gravitated to the middle then to the right when more cars started coming towards us. Hmmm, party's over.
Got to the 2.5km post and Cynn took the lead on this part as she's more comfortable with the technical downhill than I will ever be. Made it through the woods and around that rock wall thingy. Minor slip on some of the logs but nothing major. That's why I gave Cynn the lead, it'll save me beer money! Went over the big rock and down the wooded stairs to the power station. Here I found Cynn walking and talking, just trying to make conversation in an effort to keep away the bears (which we never saw). Found a big ditch just before we had to drop down and I needed a pee break, as Cynn was swallowed up by the foilage she accused me of trying to fill up the ditch!
Got down the hill and we took it fairly easy around here, we marvelled at a new bridge by the Treatment water sign, walked most of the uphill switchbacks and carefully walked the downhills steps. I wasn't really counting down the number of bridges and it was hardly a surprise when I realized we were near the end as we hit the last in a series of steps. Wow, that section went by fast! Dropped down to the road and we were done at 2:48am! We had finished our night run relatively intact and me with still a 1l of water left in my pack, no less! Cynn had to shush me as I was talking a little too loud for the residents of Deep Cove, we made our way down to the finish line and gamely tried the washrooms, but they were locked. Fortunately there just happened to be a bush nearby....
Changed our gear to something more dry, we decided to go to Tim Hortons to celebrate and to get some caffeine as I had to go volunteer for the fore mentioned Iron Knee event only 5 hours away! Apparently I was more tired than I thought I was as I barely left the Panorama Parking lot when I drove up onto the curb. Unfortunately the nearest Tims was closed, so we went back to the one by my condo in Burnaby. Had a coffee and donut, back to my place and we rested for a bit and rehydrated with coffee and beer as we watched the sunrise about an hour later. We talked and rested as best we could, then it was back to the North Shore, to the Lower Seymour Conservation Reserve at 7:30am so I could check-in for volunteering, which I meant I had to run from the Gazebo to the Mystery Creek trailhead to serve as a race marshal.
So, mission accomplished, it was great to get my first night run under my belt. Looking forward to more night runs in the future. The future, of course, being about 70 hours from now!
