The Event

Every once and awhile a geographical event comes along that changes the landscape. We had one last night. Even though I was totally oblivious as I slept to the torrential rains that came, nonetheless the extraordinary change to the environment was amazing.

The first clue I had that something big had happened was as I ascended Spray Lake road. There were at least 6 mud and rock slides across the road. One of the rock slides was mid thigh deep and would certainly close the road. In at least a couple places the posts holding up the guard rails were standing in mid air, the road below them having been totally washed away.

I peaked the road at the "gap" in record time (:47 from my home staying close to zone 1), then descended "Riders of Rohan" trail. It was really washed out good. I then planned to cross the mountainside via the venerable "Highline trail". Every stream crossing had turned into a river. One of them, the stream coming out of the Couloir, was impassable. Amazing considering it’s usually just a couple hops on stones over barely flowing water.

The large avalanche that came down Ha Ling this year had it’s surface swept clean by the water, then covered with a thin layer of silt. There were mini crevasses formed from the rushing water that made crossing it interesting and a bit hairy.

One of the cool alluring aspects of training is that you get to see and discover new things. As my feet hit the trail early this morning (5:30) my eyes were the first to witness this powerful display of creation. It was both astonishing, yet beautiful in it’s power.