Training Log Archive: BigWillyStyle

Event: GVOC WJR - Fall Series #2 - Watershed Park
 

I stayed at my sister's house in Bellingham on Saturday night, and in the AM hopped across the border to the GVOC event at Watershed Park. I have a fondness for that park because for one thing it's quite close to America, but also because a couple years back I had one of those rare times where you have a random, inexplicably great run for no real reason other than you happen to feel really strong and orienteer really well on the day.

Anyway, I was sore in a lot of strange places (shoulders, back, quads) from the hike, so I didn't feel like I had my very best gear available, but I orienteered more or less cleanly and was able to snake the victory by a minute-plus over Nate, who was running much faster but made a number of mistakes. The format was a mass-start four-leg one-man farsta, which was a lot of fun though there ended up being less packing than I expected. Also: Sammamish LIVES! You thought we were dead, but we've merely sought political asylum and set up a government-in-exile in Canada. The only things that will survive the apocalypse are the cockroaches, the rats, and Sammamish Orienteering and Rogaining Club.

Most importantly my vaguely injured hamstring didn't hinder me; I only felt a faint twinge or discomfort a couple times. This past week I refrained from all exercise other than rolling and stretching in an attempt to get the hammy right, which seems to have been successful to some degree.

Afterward I went out to lunch with the GVOC crew - Adam, Emily, Erica, Graeme, Ian C+Lucille, Kate, Leif, and Nate. Always a lovely time, though I was sad to find out that my boy Leif is soon leaving Van. It seems that our epic Gone With the Wind-esque bromance which defies the laws of time and space will have to go into another long period of stasis. Bromance is patient, bromance is kind.

C • Leif 3

My uncle is a pretty serious climber, and he's got an area up by Darrington where he's designed and built a few routes, so Saturday I went up with him to retrieve all the gear he cached over the summer before the weather gets too wintery. Only problem with the area is that it's a bit of a bear to get to.

First we MTB'd 2-3 miles up the old logging trail, portaging over several rocky creekbeds, then stashed the bikes and dove down into the bottom of the valley, put on sandals and forded icy-cold Squire Creek, re-shod and headed straight up the other side. My uncle has hacked a rudimentary trail along the way, but it sees little use beyond him and his friends, and as you get higher the trees grow scrubbier and thicker and there is much maneuvering over/under/through things.

At around 2800' we started seeing snow, and kept on until we broke out of the forest onto the base of the slab massif where he's got his primary camp. Since the snow was relatively scarce, only 2-3 inches at most, we decided it would be possible to make it to the higher secondary camp and get the main cache of gear which was our primary objective. That ascent involved jumaring up a couple ropes, a short rappel down into a ravine, several semi-precarious scrambles over slippery snow-covered rock fields, and some more forest hiking, after all of which we reached the high camp at about 4200' and about four hours after leaving the car. We layered up, had lunch, loaded our packs with all manner of ropes and carabiners and such, and started the descent.

Pleasant view of the snowy crags and fiery maple on the other side of the valley from the route up to the high camp here.

...oops sorry, I meant here.

C • Adventure! 1

Unbelievable. Possibly the worst day in the entire history of American soccer.

Conditions chilly.

Conditions autumnal.