The East Coast Trail stretches for 340 miles along the Atlantic coast of Newfoundland, while the West Coast Trail runs for 47 miles along Vancouver’s southwestern shoreline. …
Recently, endurance athlete Gary Robbins set the daunting goal for himself to attain speed records on both of these trails, starting in Vancouver and the WCT on August 4th.
Running North to South, Gary completed the entire 47 miles in just 10 hours and 8 minutes, which does indeed establish a new record for that route. Of course, that was just a warm-up for the much longer, and more challenging ECT, which he began on August 20th and completed on the 22nd, finishing the entire route in a blistering 35 hours and 17 minutes. …
The Adventure Blog – Endurance Athlete Sets Speed Records on Canada’s East and West Coast Trails
Wonderland Trail in 63hrs
Dr. Jeni McNeal and Dave Adlard, founding members of Team Adventure Sports Week, along with an unofficial support crew of Rick McCharles of BestHike.com completed the 94 mile/47,000 feet elevation Wonderland Trail in 63:03, June 25 – 28.
The two carried their own gear, and took only a few hours sleep time in completing what some have said is one of the fastest unsupported, July circumnavigations yet. Almost 10% of the trail was still snowed in, requiring route finding and snow travel. Most hikers completing the trail require 8 – 12 days to finish.
They climbed and descended more than 20 peaks on the famously difficult trail, with elevation changes equivalent to climbing and descending Mt. Rainier from Paradise Visitor Center almost three times. They also encountered bears along the trail.
The two burned almost 33,000 calories each, and drank more than 50 liters of fluid total in temperatures ranging from 33 – 89 degrees.
Their journey began at Reflection Lake on July 25 at 10:40 am, and finished at 1:43 am on July 28.
“This was one of the most psychologically and physically demanding tests I have done since starting Adventure Racing,” said Adlard. “This is a really tough trail that demands a lot from all participants.”
The trail is notoriously uneven, with steep, overgrown and narrow sections that make forward progress difficult in many places.
Team Adventure Sports Week is training for the five day Desert Winds Expedition race in Lake Mead, Nevada, Sept 18 – 25.
Read Dave’s detailed trip report & gear list (PDF)
speed hiking the Wonderland Trail
UPDATE:
Dave and Jeni completed near 100mi of Wonderlandness at 1:47AM, Wednesday, July 28th. Mission accomplished!
I’ll post Dave’s detailed trip report and photos as soon as available.
=== original post:
by site editor Rick McCharles
I’m support team for Dave and Jeni in their attempt to complete the 95mi circuit of Mt Rainier in 3 days.
It started well. They ran the first 6.1mi in record time. Here they are staging for the remote west side of the mountain, the last time I saw them in the past 24hrs.
I rendezvous with them tonight. … It could be ugly.
I’ll be posting photos from this adventure on flickr.
high in Colorado
Contributor Dr. Jeni McNeal hiking the Rockies.
She’s prepping for our 145km Wonderland Trail run of Mt Rainier.
trip report – East Coast Trail, NFLD
trip report by site editor Rick McCharles
On July 12th I hiked the most scenic section of the East Coast Trail in Newfoundland.
Weather was perfect. I started at 8:20 AM at North Head, Bay Bulls.
From the top of this lighthouse I could almost see Europe …
… Perhaps it was only Iceland.
This section of the ECT is mostly impassible headlands. I never once touched the Atlantic ocean.
In 8hrs I saw 6 multi-day hikers, 2 day-hikers … and one rabbit.
The sea stacks, crowded with noisy birds, were the most impressive geological feature.
I stopped for brunch at The Spout, a fresh water geyser.
Stark beauty.
My original plan was to run / hike 46+ km, all the way to the eastern most point of North America, Cape Spear.
However, the trail was much tougher and more overgrown than I expected. I ended up running only about 20% of the time.
At the liquor store in Petty Harbour …
… I phoned for a pick-up.
My East Coast Trail (33km) was finished. For now.
See the rest of my photos from the East Coast Trail.
official website – East Coast Trail
Hiking guidebooks and maps are available.
best of the East Coast Trail, NFLD
UPDATE: … skipping the last section, I finished instead at the liquor store in Petty Harbour. That was 33km in 8hrs, much tougher than I expected. And even more gorgeous.
________
original post:
by site editor Rick McCharles
I’m planning Monday on doing the most scenic section of the East Coast Trail in Newfoundland.
Weather permitting I’ll start about 8AM at North Head, Bay Bulls.
Visit The Spout …
… and finally finish at Cape Spear, the eastern-most point in Canada. That will be about 46km if my calculations are correct.
official website – East Coast Trail
Desert Winds Expedition Race
Dave Adlard and my masochistic friends from Team Adventure Sports Week are seriously talking about doing this
… 120 hours of glorious suffering in the Mojave desert outside of Vegas, Sept 18 – 25ish…
How can I stop them?
running Wonderland, July 26-29th
That’s the plan.
Trail run the Wonderland Trail around Mt. Ranier in Washington State.
90mi (145km)
Wish us luck.
Dr. Jeni … Dr. Rick … and Dr. Dave.
What do you think? … Three days, two short nights?
Adventure Sports Week June 4-13, 2010
by site editor Rick McCharles
Each June in Northern Idaho, Adventure Sports Week offers 10 days of racing, training, clinics, gear demos and more. ASW features triathlons, mountain biking, trail running, adventure racing, open water kayaking and swimming.
2009 was our inaugural year and we’re gearing up for 2010. One of the best new adventure sport races in the U.S.A.
details and registration is available at www.adventuresportsweek.com
What do rollercoasters, a great rappel, fantastic scenery, a first class event and “10-24-1” have in common?
Hosted at beautiful Farragut State Park in Bayview, Idaho (just north of Coeur d Alene), ASW 2010 is promising to be one of the top festivals in the USA this year.
• official event home page
• Team Adventure Sports Week blog
Grizzly Man Adventure Race
Shout out to my Adventure Racing team, prepping for the Griz next weekend.
Good Luck Team Adventure Sports Week.
The GrizzlyMan Adventure Race is a USARA sanctioned sprint level adventure race that takes place every April in Western Montana.
In order to do well (or even finish), racers will need to be proficient in a variety of outdoor disciplines (i.e. mountain biking, trail running, paddling, map reading and navigation).
Racers will be given a map/passport for the course and will be required to travel to certain checkpoints plotted on the map. By using what will be supplied at each checkpoint, racers will mark a designated spot on their map/passport to prove that they visited each location. This map/passport will then be turned in to race officials upon completion of the course. Finish time as well as proper checkpoint completion will determine ranking and success. …
official website – Grizzly Man Race
What’s my excuse for not being there, this time?
besthike.com 