Training Log Archive: IronDan

Easy run up Cedar. Not sure about distance.

Hill intervals up and down Thomas street valley. Pace was slow enough that I would be slightly out of breath at the top of the hill, and fully recovered by the bottom. Not sure about the distance.

Biked around to do a few errands. Another beautiful fall day.

A great swim. Started with 4x400m, followed by one set of 800m. I had planned to make the final set a full km, but I ran into the family swim time. I really enjoy swimming in the Whitby pool. Perhaps because it's a change of scenery?

Nice ride up to Highway 9 from Highway 7/Goreway with Mick and Jason. Some VERY difficult hills with some easy flat and rolling sections.

A nice, very relaxed long/slow with Mick.

Abs in my hotel room. Glamour!

Warm up and cool down runs around the U Regina campus. It looks a lot like the UWaterloo campus.

A long day of f/w. No time for X today.

C • 1

A run around part of Wascana Lake in Regina. The Wascana centre is probably the only redeeming aspect of the Reg. A guess at distance and time.

Swimming in the Days Inn pool. The water was quite cold, and the pool was quite small, so I gave up easily. The water slide was fun, though.

Travel to Regina. No time today for X.

10min warm up and 5 min cool down. I ran along the lake on the way back...beautiful! With the rain and over cast skies, I felt like I was in Vancouver.
REALLY looking forward to Banff in 3 weeks.

100m sprints, followed by 100m recovery. Murphy was my "pace dog".

Pier Route. Nice. I'm happy with this time--the first satisfying run in almost a year. I still need to work on my stride efficiency, and I'm still having some stitch problems, although these seem to be subdued, for the most part.

Outside loops at Woodbine. Stopped when it got dark.

Bis and Tris. Toasted.

I had the pool all to myself for most of this session. Most of it was very relaxed, with an emphasis on refining the "kick" aspect of my stroke.

When I got bored of swimming slowly, I did some "all out" laps. Lots of splashing.

Chest and shoulders. I've lost a considerable amount of capacity in my chest over the summer, likely because I don't use that group for hiking/running/paddling/backpacking/anything useful or interesting.

Phew. My abs are quite sore from Tuesday.

A great run with Mick. Ran through the David Balfour Ravine and Moore's Ravine after dusk. Mick tripped over a tree in the dark, and scrapped and bruised his right palm. Strangely he needed to take a 10 minute break because he felt really dizzy afterwards. His palm has swollen significantly, and he definitely won't be swimming until the wound scabs up.

C • 1

Abs, back, legs. Nothing too strenuous, I wanted to ease back into lifting, so I only used machines (no free weights). With the approach of winter, I'll be focusing more on muscle development.

4x360m. Felt pretty good.

Return to car. Smoothwater actually lived up to its name for once and was quite placid and beautiful with the early morning fog. I hoped that the fog would be thick enough to require the use of dead reckoning. No such luck though.

I also stopped at the large cross on Lady Dufferin, but this is an anonymous memorial. I guess I'll never know who this cross was errected for.

Research page regarding Ishpatina's elevation / height: http://deseronto.googlepages.com/high_point_ontari...

Trip report for canoe / hike to Ishpatina (essentially the same information as here) http://deseronto.googlepages.com/high_point_ontari...

C • 2

Summit bid for Ishpatina.

Summit day. I woke around 7 and put my gear together while making breakfast. To lighten the rest of my approach, I left most of the camp standing and took only a day pack.

I knocked the ice out of my canoe and paddled through Mihell and found the entrance to Scarecrow Creek after some thought. The creek was quite twisty and took quite a while to navigate. Finally, I emerged onto Scarecrow Lake, and quickly found the summit trail. It traveled through a brunt-over area before begining to climb. The trail was quite wet in places due to the recent rain and beaver activity. At one spot it was up to mid-thigh. The trail is fairly well traveled and easy to follow.

Although some would consider placing protection and having a belay, I decided to free climb this section. I found that an ice axe and crampons were not required. Hah! Just kidding.

I got to the top and spotted the summit cairn (firetower) and summit register (nalgene bottle). Seems a group of 30 teenage girls had been here just a few months ago as part of a month long trip from (or to--it wasn't clear) Biscotasing, which I know is on the Spanish River.

In his book, Not Won in a Day, Jack Bennett notes that he isn't entirely sure if the mound on which the fire tower sits is in fact the highest point in Ontario. He notes that there is another point about two km away (but still part of Ishpatina Ridge) looks to be of a very similar height.

I should note that every other source available to me indicates that the fire tower knob is the highest point (Hap Wilson, etc.)

I made some measurements using a home made clinometer, as well as my compass's clinometer, but found the results to be inconclusive, due to distance, and tree cover. My binoculars proved to be only of limited use.

A better approach to the adjoining knob would be up a drainage from Smoothwater or a bushwack from McCullock. The south face (the one closest to the firetower knob) is quite steep and cluttered with scree. Climbing it would easily involve YDS class 4 to 5.5 skill.

Given time constraints, I decided to not climb the adjoining knob. A bushwack adventure to the top of the adjoining knob would be an excellent experience sometime in the future.

I returned to my canoe and decided to take a rough portage to avoid the sinewy Scarecrow Creek. I returned to my basecamp, broke camp, and pushed back to a bushcamp at the 1200m Apex Lake portage, arriving after dusk.

About 2250m of portaging, including double carries.

I drove up to the northwest of Temagami on friday after work. I left Mississauga around 4:40, and got to the put-in around midnight, although traffic was unusually bad (even for a long weekend), and I stopped a couple of times.

I was a little worried about the condition of the logging access road, known as Beauty Lake Road. I shouldn't have worried. The logging road (despite several MNR signs claiming the roads and bridges were not maintained) was in fantastic condition...the posted speed limit was 70km/h. The road was probably better than Hwy 560. I slept in my car Friday night, which wasn't too bad.

When I woke up Saturday morning, it was snowing. But not too bad. I got my stuff together and was on the river by 9:30, a rather late start. Fortunately, the wind was at my back and I blew down the river, into Lady Dufferin Lake, and across Smoothwater, which was quite choppy at that point, particularly at the south end, where the waves begin to "funnel" together. On Lady Dufferin Lake, I saw a beautiful cabin and a mysterious cross, which I promised myself I would photograph on the way back.

I crossed the watershed divide (from the St. Lawrence to Lake Huron) via a 840m and then a 1215m portage, followed by a series of small puddles and portages (65-30-165). I camped at the site along the Mihell-McCullock portage, just as it was getting dark.

It was quite cold that evening, and I snuggled deep into my down bag, which was quite comfy.

I figure about 6945m of portaging, including double carries.

Humber Valley.

C • 2

3 sets of 540m.

Inside Loops at Woodbine.

5 sets of 360 metres.

Run on the waterfront trail to Thickson.