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Backgrounder
In 1992 a handful of outdoor enthusiasts realized that there was a vanishing amount of accessible old growth left on the Upper Sunshine Coast and formed the Powell River Parks and Wilderness Society (PRPAWS). We envisioned a ribbon of old growth in time that will encompass the Sunshine Coast Trail, and provide access to breathtaking examples of temperate rainforest, the northern jungles.
PRPAWS has worked together with the BOMB Squad, a group of retired gents who also build trails and marvels of wooden bridges. This has helped make maintenance and enhancement of the trail much easier.
Photo: Shangri-La, a new picnic shelter with outhouse, campsite, swimming dock and bridge at Little Sliammon Lake. As of Spring 2013 we have built nine huts all along the length of the Sunshine Coast Trail, with one more shelter in the early planning stages. The Shangri-La picnic shelter was built together with the BOMB Squad and support from Tla'amin Timber Products in 2008; It will be a refreshment station during the Marathon Shuffle.
We realized early on that to gain acceptance for this trail in the community we had to show what marvelous features existed in our back country. To this end we have hosted hikes, work parties, grand openings of trails, and potlucks - and yes, the annual Marathon Shuffle. The new trails quickly became popular with the public since they allowed people entry into areas which were until then accessed only by bushwhackers or loggers.
Attendance at the annual rite of spring varied in the early years from 30 to 50 participants. In recent years with the exposure brought by the website, Club Fat Ass and other groups and individuals more runners have participated. In 2012, 124 hikers and runners hit the trail, the majority of them doing the longer 29 km course, while others chose to do the shorter 12 km long distance. While in the past trophies had been awarded, beginning in 2013, the fastest male and female runners, past and future, will be immortalized on a master trophy that will be displayed throughout the year at the Powell River Recreation Complex.
During the Full Shuffle you will also see the hut at Rieveley Pond, which is one of nine that PRPAWS has built in the last few years. They have sleeping lofts that can accommodate 8 to 12, with a trap door that can be closed at night for comfort and safety.
