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Getting to the start is half the fun. This first leg involves a commute to Squamish, a meet-up at the local Tim Horton's and a car pool up an icy dirt road. Reagan dropped $30 on a cab ride to my place in North Vancouver and he, Jason and I left for adventure on a rainy Saturday morning at 7:00 am. Straight up, I figured we'd be running in the rain and slush as it was relatively warm outside for mid-February. What a surprise Mother Nature had in store for us!
As Jason and I came to the clearing before the Red Heather warming hut caught up to Wader was now breaking trail in snow up to his knees. We paused briefly to check in at the cabin and came across 3 dudes on skis who had spent the night sheltered from the howler of a storm. From this point on, we'd be breaking trail.
Event Report: The 5th annual Squamish Scrambler again offered perfect conditions. The treacherous access road was bare almost to the trail head, a first to be sure. The forecast had called for rain and clouds with clearing in the afternoon. Luckily, the rain didn't materialize and the cloud cover wasn't hanging too low. The sun peaked out a few times and revealed fleeting glimpses of Diamond Head and surrounding peaks. 
Ean and David V., a participant from Switzerland, took to the trail running and managed to catch up with the rest of the gang. Sibylle and Erik went out a bit slower to make it to the Red Heather Cabin for lunch. They were very surprised to see Ryan stumble into the cabin all by himself. Apparently, he missed everybody at the Brennan Rec Centre. Kim and Randy climbed all the way to the look-out on the ridge. David V. made it a bit further, but since this was his first snowshoe run and he started to get cold and tired, decided to turn around before getting to the cabin. Carrie, Craig, Matt, Betty, Ean and the David J. all made it to the Elfin Lakes. Craig commented: "We sure had a nice day. The group I was with kept me going and made me go all the way to the Elfin Lake Cabin. I'm glad I went but we were all pooped before we got back, except Matt Sessions of course!" Way to go!
It's always a lot easier to host an event when the weather cooperates, and there was no shortage of sunshine on this day.
I've been up to Elfin Lakes almost ten times now and this past Saturday was the 1st time that I've seen a completely blue bird day. The six inches of fresh snow and endless views as far as Vancouver Island ensured that no matter what I did wrong, people were walking... running away happy after the event.
We had 21 people show up for the fabulous morning...and a few that decided to sleep in, to which all I have to say is, enjoy the photos!
In stark contrast to last year's event, there were no near death experiences before we started the run. The road to the parking lot was clear the whole way up and I am constantly amazed at how 9 times out of 10 (last year being that unlucky number 10), the snowline starts right at the parking area.
Everyone hopped out, strapped on their snowshoes and headed straight onto a two foot snow base that escalated with each step towards the Red Heather and Elfin Lakes shelters.
I hardly recognized the Elfin Lakes shelter at the 11km turn around point, as it was under about 15 feet of snow and the only entrance was through the second story balcony door!
The sun was shining bright and almost everyone decided to take an extended break and enjoy the mountain vistas and wonderful heat. I have no idea what the temp actually was but when I arrived I was wet and chilled and after 20 minutes my clothes had completely dried out.
Jackson, as usual, took some great photos and video, wrote profanities in the snow (thankfully without urine this year) and talked to himself or anyone within ear shot for the entire run.
Dom Repta, John Dove and I headed out at a pretty intense pace before settling into a groove once past the 5km Red Heather hut, where the continuous climb starts to mellow out a little.
Everyone fell into their own pace groups and right down to the first time snowshoe runner, they all made it up to the meadows for the best vantage point of the mountain ranges on all sides, a 14km return trek.
There was a fire burning at the Red Heather hut and on the return trip I popped my head in for a second to see a few of the participants enjoying the warmth and conversation. I yearned to join them but realized that I'd probably end up getting very comfortable and spending hours there if I sat down...and since I was driving one of the car pool vehicles, I thought it not in my best interest to keep people waiting!
The post race get together was held at my place and everyone brought along some snacks, some drinks and something to throw on the BBQ.
All that showed up to the post run soiree left with a draw prize, including:
-Ryan Conroy and Eric Bayfield with a trail runner subscription.
-Christy Tisdale and Craig Moore with free Yeti Snowshoe race entries.
-Wade Repta with a free lift ticket to Sun Peaks Resort.
-Megan Rose and Ean Jackson with North Shore Athletics toques.
-Dom Repta and Daniel Probst with North Shore Athletics water bottles.
Special thanks to the event sponsors:
North Shore Athletics, best store in the world period!
Trail Runner, best magazine in the world period!
Yeti Snowshoe Series, best snowshoe series in the world period!
Brennan Park Rec Centre (shower passes), best Rec Centre in the world period!
Thank you to each and every person for attending this event. It was my absolute pleasure, once again, to show off the natural beauty of the trail network in Squamish.
I look forward to seeing everyone at another CFA event again in the near future.
GR
The next thing I knew we were sliding backwards. Young Erik (my 7 year old) almost soiled his snowsuit. Passengers bailed as the Forrester accelerated backwards down the hill. In the rear view mirror, I could see the guy in the van behind me hit the breaks and similarly start spinning out of control on the steep, icy road. After a few white-knuckle moments, the situation was back under control. I backed about a kilometer down the road to where more prudent and experienced back road drivers were installing chains.
It was about 10:30 when we arrived at the warming hut. Whiskey Jacks (a species of blue jays) swarmed us looking for handouts from our trail mix bags. The sun poked out from behind thick clouds as Elke Bauer, from the lead pack, looped back into camp. Word was that the 5K section of trail to Elfin Lakes hut had been broken, so I took off on my own to try and catch the leaders. (Who, by the way, had an hour head start on us because their vehicle made it to the upper parking lot!)
My solo trek to the Elfin Lakes cabin in was Zen-like. The deep powder muffled all sounds. Stunning views of the surrounding mountain peaks came and went with the passing clouds. The rolling ridgeline trail was a nice change of pace from the constant uphill grade to Red Heather. I barely recognized the cabin when I arrived as it was almost completely covered in snow.
I forgot to start my stopwatch, so I have no idea how long it had taken me or my position relative to the leaders. Part of me said, "Catch them and kick their butts!", the other said, "Chill, enjoy, take photos and win the snowman-making contest." I opted for the latter and thoroughly enjoyed taking action shots of many of our group who were coming up the trail as I made my way back down.
Looking back on the day, I think the descent to the parking lot was most fun of all. While I thought trekking up to the hut with toboggan in tow was a lame idea, it turned out to be a stroke of genius. (Thanks, Sibylle!) The entire 5K trail from Red Heather to the trailhead was deep, narrow and downhill: It was as if all of the best technology in the world couldn't have invented a better luge course. The kids (then the adults!) piled onto the toboggan and flew to the bottom sending snow flying everywhere and occasionally crashing into the deep pow on the hairpin turns.
blue skies by mid day. Unfortunately the clouds waited a few hours longer than expected and everyone was treated to beautiful sunny skies as they were driving home along highway 99 that evening.
As soon as Dom hit the trail he was off, with the rest of the boys following suite. Cheryl Picot and Sue Nicholson formed a second running group, while the hiking pack consisted of Sibylle Tinsel, Eric and Johanna Jackson and Ami Jo Schamer.
From there it was approximately thirty five minutes longer to the Elfin Lakes shelter (11km), where we all gathered inside, still holding out hope that a magical patch of blue ski would materialize. There was some discussion of deviating from the original route in favour of running to Mamquam Lake and back, (a total return distance of
44km from the parking lot, and yet another option for next years version) to avoid going higher into the cloud cover. Jackson, Palmer and myself (fortunately, at least for one person) decided to continue along our original route, while Dom and Jim headed back down to meet up with with their partners Cheryl and Sue.
the opposite side of the saddle following the only trail heading away from it. With visibility as low as 20-30 feet, we had trouble locating the proper trail and decided to continue along the visible trail up The Gargoyles. Once up top it was immediately clear as to where the name had originated as both sides of this narrow ridge were flanked by the tall, jagged, freestanding remains of the original ridgeline.
On the run back out we came across Craig Moore
and Ethelyn David, two no shows from the morning. Craig swears that he thought it started at 10am, and the fact that they showed up (just in time for the clearing weather) keeps them off the wall of shame. In fact, they will be immortalized in Squamish Lore for years to come, as they are officially the first people to have ever utilized our new Squamish Visitor Center (originally scheduled to open June 1st, 2005!). You will even be able to find them in next weeks edition of Squamish's newspaper, 'The Chief'.