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Snow/Mud on the Trail
Marking is now complete on the first 15 miles of the
trail. Many thanks to Rod, Glenn and Melissa for doing the first 7.5 miles, and to
Francine, Terry, Darren and Sheila, who accompanied me on the next 7.5 miles. The last 15
miles of the trail will be flagged on Thursday night.
The warm/hot weather of the past couple of weeks has done its thing, and
almost all of the 2-3 feet of snow covering a couple of miles of the trail has
now disappeared. Even better news is that the mud left behind by the snow melt
is quickly drying up, and the hot weather is expected to continue throughout the
rest of the week!
By Saturday, we will be running for at most 2-3 minutes total on snow and
only in patches. The mud sections will still be there, probably for about twice
the amount of time we're on snow sections. There are 2 main problem/fun spots:
 | the area just before and after the Black Mountain
summit, where we have our first aid station at mile 5.0; and, |
| about 1 mile after you leave the second aid station at
the Cypress Bowl downhill ski area (mile 7.5) on your way to the Hollyburn
cross-country ski area - the patchy snow (and mud) starts just after you cross
the little wooden bridge for the last quarter-mile climb to the main ski run |
Once you hit the main ski run at Hollyburn and start
heading downhill, the snow and mud has disappeared and the trail is in about as
perfect shape as it can be!
Here are a few pictures we took tonight (click on the
thumbnail for a full-size picture):
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Heed this warning about 1 mile after the 7.5
mile aid station at Cypress, just before crossing the final creek before
Hollyburn. |
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The little wooden bridge just after the
"quagmire warning" sign! Doesn't look too bad, does it? |
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Just around the corner, our trail markers see
what the warning was all about. This whole area was under 2-3 feet of snow
just 10 days ago! |
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Then we see our first of about 5 small snow
patches that are remaining as of July 4. |
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This was the longest snow patch, and some of it
may survive till race day. |
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Once we hit the main ski run at Hollyburn
(where you make sure to turn right and go downhill, and not
uphill to the left), the snow and mud are all gone - fast and dry down this
section, which is pretty rare for early July. |
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More proof of the beautiful conditions as we
descend towards Hollyburn Lodge. |
See you all in just a few days!
Enzo Federico
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