I earlier posted my trip report with my own photos on our fantastic hike up North.
Then trip organizer Dave Hayley sent me a DVD with all photos from all 7 hikers.
……… what to do ………
View over 86 MORE photos from this trip on flickr. (Click SLIDESHOW.)
Bill, Warren and Elaine have done some team Adventure Races over the past few years.
I’ve managed to avoid joining them.
Dundurn Navigation Marathon 2007 set – flickr – Warren Long
But it seems I’ve made a commitment to start-up with a bunch of newbies (mostly gymnastics coaches) from Idaho. We’re already pencilling-in a “sprint” for 2008.
A sprint is often 4 disciplines: mountain biking, trekking, kayaking and climbing over a total of 12-30 miles over inhospitable terrain. Races may include mystery challenges, such as archery, orienteering, Cauldron Crawl, Tyrolean Traverse, swimming, knot tying, rock wall climbing and puzzles.
It’s a bit intimidating looking at the recommended training regime:
Many of your races will start out with a run that turns into a hike or scramble, so you’d better be ready on all counts. Hiking and running muscles are very different, so you need to train both — and practicing scrambling (on as many different types of terrain as you can find, including wet, slippery stuff) is the key to gaining that competitive advantage on the roadies.
Training:
• For a race of 12 hours or less, you should follow a half marathon training plan, but do most of your runs on trails, if possible.
• For a race of more than 12 hours, you should follow a full marathon training plan and use the same guidelines.
• Start doing hill repeats (i.e. four to six sets of 80 percent effort on a hill that takes three to four minutes to run) and interval training (two-three-four-five minutes “on” with an equal amount of rest in the “off” phase) twice per week in the final month of training leading up to the race.Tips:
• Race and train in trail running shoes versus regular road running shoes. (Better grip, more stability, fewer stone bruises and fewer blisters.)
• Practice running/hiking with a 10-15 pound pack several times before your race, both for the strength benefits and the knowledge of your equipment (i.e. how are you going to get to your water? Food? Where is the most efficient place to store required gear for easy access? Does the pack grate you like cheese on your neck, back, arms?) …
GOD! It goes on and on: Paddling, Navigation, Mountain Biking, Climbing: Active.com – Adventure racing 101: A quick-start guide
Bottom line:
8 Essential Elements of Human Synergy
T Total commitment
E Empathy and awareness of teammates
A Adversity management
M Mutual respect
W “We” versus “I” thinking
O Ownership of the project
R Relinquishment of ego
K Kinetic leadership
Looks like FUN, at least.
source – flickr
Just posted my photos of the historic ascent by wheelchair to the summit of 14,246ft (4342m) White Mountain in California by Bob Coomber.
I was on the support team.
Will be away from the world wide web for a while.
UPDATE: Starting 7 days on the John Muir Trail. Expect to escape the Range of Light around Sept. 2nd.
Reposted from my hiking blog:
There is talk of closing Angel’s Landing in Zion and Half Dome in Yosemite.
The controversy with the first two (American hikes) is rekindled — not surprisingly — each time a tourist falls to their death. Access is simply too easy for the inexperienced and under-prepared.
But if you (like us) feel you are capable of these moderate difficulty scrambles, do not fear if access in the USA is eventually restricted.
You can always head to Xian, China and Huashan.
… between the West and North Peak, is a path called ‘Changkongzhandao‘ (The cliff side plank path).
This path is pretty much the whole reason for me coming to Mt. Huashan. Originally seeing photos of this awesome sight in an email when i was working, i decided i had to come and take a look for myself.
The path leads to a small lookout where it is about 70 metres in length. Once you reach the end, you just come back and continue on your way. It is a cliff face. 90 degrees. To get across, they have whacked large nails into the side of the cliff and placed planks of wood over the top for you to cross. The path is about 40cm wide!
There is also a chain nailed to the rock for you to hold onto as you make your way across. For $5AUS you can choose to hire a safety harness (you would be absolutely stupid, i mean insane not to have one). Half of the path are planks of wood and the other half are foot holes carved into the rock. As the people i was with were too scared to go, i went alone taking the photos myself trying not to drop the camera with my hands shaking as if i had just drunk 20 cups of coffee.
I took my time and on the way back another brave bloke was coming towards me to do the same walk. I asked him to take a photo of me and he explained to me that the ultimate photo to take on this path is a pose where you lean back facing the cliff wall (because of your harness), your body 45 degrees, relying 100% on your harness with both arms waving in the air! The ground by the way is 1km down.
The best i could do was lean 45 degrees over the edge but my hands were stuck firmly to the strap connecting my body to the wall. I couldn’t let go, my brain was telling me “Go on, do it”, but my hands wouldn’t budge. Now i see myself as an adventurous person willing to try anything, but this was the first time in my short years where my brain and body disagreed with one another and it felt really strange.
I hit my limit where i had no idea what my limit was up until now. And I’m actually quite glad knowing it’s hanging off a cliff relying on a piece of metal and strap, 1km up on a plank of wood, now that can’t happen too often, can it? There is a saying ‘Feel the fear and do it anyway’. That was actually shuffling across those wooden planks.
The adrenalin rush i got from that and hiking Mt. Huashan lasted all the way back down to the cable car where it was 7:00pm and the perfect time to leave for a 3 hour bus ride back to Xi’an.
Andre’s World Trip: Mt. Huashan
Angel’s Landing – besthike.com
See photos of our hike / scramble on my hiking blog.
atop the fire tower
Today I travel by ferry from Ucluelet to quaint Bamfield on the west coast of Vancouver Island.
Likely will do some kayak hiking for a couple of days. I’ll watch out for the BIG waves.
Bamfield from above – source – tnano on flickr
Did you hear about the 5 hikers nearly killed on the West Coast Trail last week?
The trailhead is in Bamfield.
My Dad and I are out on a Father’s Day charter — fishing for Halibut and Ling Cod. (3AM departure)
Even if we catch squat, I’ll be sure to Photoshop some world-record-breaker on this blog.
Fishing and lying go together like rod and reel.
Island in the Sky, Canyonlands National Park, is great.
But the view is even better from Dead Horse Point State Park.
I stayed in the fantastic campground there. Blue-haired mobile home veterans told me it was the best car campground they had found in canyon country.
The park is so named because of its use as a natural corral by horse thieves in the 19th Century. The plateau drops off with sheer cliffs several hundred meters tall on 3 sides, with only a narrow neck of land (30 yards or so) connecting the plateau to the main plateau. Thus it was easy for rustlers to simply fence off this narrow neck, and keep their horses from running away.
Unfortunately the dry desert conditions, lack of food and water, and limited space often killed the horses.
Colorado River
Just finished two fantabulous (no existing words can describe the grandeur) days in Arches National Park.
Decided to rent a convertible and head for Dead Horse Point State Park. You know it from the final scene in Thelma and Louise.
Rick McCharles 