tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44991820100975617292024-01-27T01:39:36.760-08:00NICOLA GILDERSLEEVE BLOGNicola Gildersleevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08609038320644576098noreply@blogger.comBlogger334125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4499182010097561729.post-52972804527599602652021-12-13T16:13:00.000-08:002021-12-13T16:13:07.268-08:00Day 19 & 20: Trout Lake Day 19: 5 miles This morning's hike to the shuttle was short and sweet. There were 3 other people waiting for it and we quickly became chatty with a couple named Epic and Buckwheat. Turns out they had also section hiked the PCT in 2014. Dennis, the shuttle volunteer, arrived promptly at 8:30am and dropped off a truck full of hikers ready to continue on their journey. Nicola Gildersleevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08609038320644576098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4499182010097561729.post-71580866703921510962021-11-13T16:34:00.001-08:002021-11-13T16:34:42.587-08:00Day 18: Shin Splints! Day 18: 31 miles It was evident that Peter’s sore shin was morphing into full blown shin splints. This was made evident by the wincing and limping after a long morning descent. He laid down on a picnic table and I attempted to do some release to his calf and shin. Other hikers walked by and asked how they could get in on the action. We both have suffered from shin splints Nicola Gildersleevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08609038320644576098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4499182010097561729.post-2121432626580167742021-11-11T18:51:00.003-08:002021-11-11T18:51:42.065-08:00Day 16 & 17: Washington! Day 16: 19 miles I woke up early all comfy cozy in our hotel room but managed to stay in bed until 7am. The day prior I noticed a little coffee shop on the Main Street so I put on my clothes and went outside to check it out. It was very cute and I got an Americano and went back to the hotel to get ready for the day. I still had to do my food shop for the next 4.5 days. We Nicola Gildersleevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08609038320644576098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4499182010097561729.post-77246710187646980042021-11-10T19:31:00.003-08:002021-11-10T19:31:43.523-08:00Day 15: Cascade Locks and Tunnel Falls!!! Day 15: 28 miles This morning was wet!!! Not only was it the wettest day so far it was also the most adventurous as we climbed up and over a hundred plus downed trees. Luckily, my Arc’teryx rain gear that I used on the GDT kept me warm and dry and the Forclaz gortex overmitts Peter got me for Christmas worked like a hot damn. These overmitts Nicola Gildersleevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08609038320644576098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4499182010097561729.post-71854247493091006282021-11-10T18:08:00.006-08:002021-11-10T21:23:39.207-08:00Day 14: Timberline Lodge! Day 14: 32 miles This morning we woke up around 430am with a goal and one goal only: GET THAT BRUNCH! We had more than a half marathon to hike to get there and most of it was uphill. While I was still in the tent Peter saw 3 headlamps go past us and said it was the Thrupple. They must have woken up around 3am because the closest tentsite was 5 miles away. Mt. Nicola Gildersleevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08609038320644576098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4499182010097561729.post-24490597394502323602021-11-10T16:49:00.004-08:002021-11-10T16:58:37.014-08:00Day 13: Peter got stung by wasps! Day 13: 35 miles Today involved a lot of forest walking. It wasn't overly eventful to be honest. The highlight for me was this pretty silly moment when I got really hangry. Peter was hiking ahead of me and I decided that I wanted to eat a payday. If you don't know what a payday is it’s like a delicious nougat/caramel bar covered in salted peanuts. It’s a dream that sadly Nicola Gildersleevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08609038320644576098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4499182010097561729.post-6784053052214493342021-11-10T15:24:00.004-08:002021-11-10T15:24:53.503-08:00Day 12: Getting around the Closure! The distance to Pamelia Lake trail head was a bit of a mystery to us because it’s not on the PCT. Our app didn’t really show exactly how far it was off the PCT but we took our best guess. Because of this unknown variable we woke up pretty early to ensure we were there for our 1pm pick up. We ended up doing 15.7 miles by 11am which left us plenty of time to eat and wash up in Nicola Gildersleevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08609038320644576098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4499182010097561729.post-29520356006707933562021-10-09T10:55:00.009-07:002021-10-09T13:11:45.809-07:00Day 11: Sisters Oregon! Day 11: 16.5 miles There was an excitement in the air this morning because for the first time since starting the trip we were going into a town! We could've easily hitched to Bend from Elk Lake a few days back but decided against it since we'd both been there many times before. Instead, we opted to go check out the small town of Sisters! I had never been there before but Nicola Gildersleevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08609038320644576098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4499182010097561729.post-83682331753178257592021-10-06T12:19:00.005-07:002021-10-06T13:27:41.975-07:00Day 10: Trail Magic! Day 10: 27 miles Something that I really valued was getting to wake up with the light of day which typically was around 5am (ish). No alarm required! As the days went on, the light would slowly arrive a bit later and later. What once was a 6am start time moved to 630am, which was the case today. Typically the process from waking to walking took roughly 45 minutes andNicola Gildersleevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08609038320644576098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4499182010097561729.post-21286576240700043592021-09-29T17:30:00.002-07:002021-09-29T17:34:46.492-07:00PCT day 8 & 9: Elk Lake Resort and Sisters Wilderness Day 8: 30 miles Up until this point we had been extremely lucky with the mosquitos! The unrelenting heat waves that have affected our planet this year have also caused a bit of a drought which in turn have affected the breeding ground for mosquitos. I typically wrote notes at the end of each day which is how I remember what we did everyday. This day, I didn’t write very Nicola Gildersleevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08609038320644576098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4499182010097561729.post-2803848927863573342021-09-26T21:01:00.004-07:002021-09-26T21:24:45.622-07:00PCT DAY 7: Shelter Cove ResortDay 7: 21.5 miles This morning we were really excited to get to Shelter Cove Resort. Whenever we knew we would get somewhere for breakfast we walked with a little extra pep in our step. We just ate various bars for breakfast everyday so the thought of a real food was very motivating :) We arrived just before 9am and were rewarded with beautiful viewsNicola Gildersleevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08609038320644576098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4499182010097561729.post-57267279567795888042021-09-24T20:11:00.000-07:002021-09-24T20:11:16.932-07:00PCT Day 6: White Fish Horse Camp Day 6: 26 miles Last night we went to sleep without being able to see the view from our tentsite but this morning the clouds had parted and we could see all the beautiful surrounding mountain peaks! What a way to wake up :) I wish I took a picture... We had 10 miles to walk to get to the next water source. Luckily, the early morning miles were in Nicola Gildersleevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08609038320644576098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4499182010097561729.post-77347824458501210482021-09-23T18:45:00.007-07:002021-09-23T18:45:53.281-07:00Day 5: Highest point in OR/WA! Day 5: 26.5 miles It rained on and off all night but luckily took a pause while we packed up our packs for the morning. The skies were moody over Crater Lake and it was an amazing sight to behold. I think the lack of water sources has become a bit of a theme in Oregon. The picture below shows one of the 2 water caches we came across this Nicola Gildersleevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08609038320644576098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4499182010097561729.post-3718908007314327392021-09-21T21:21:00.001-07:002021-09-21T21:21:38.121-07:00Day 4: Crater Lake! Day 4: 22.5 miles We woke up to the sound of rain around 3:30am! This came as quite a surprise to us since it was super clear the night before. So clear in fact, we slept without the fly on our tent! Peter had hung our food/packs high up a tree and there was no quick way to solve our issue so we decided to pack up and start our 12 mile walk to Crater Nicola Gildersleevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08609038320644576098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4499182010097561729.post-11252019647613452042021-09-20T18:42:00.002-07:002021-09-20T19:08:16.138-07:00Day 3: The Lilly pond Day 3: 24 miles We woke up to another beautiful day on the PCT. It was going to be another scorcher without many water sources so getting up early was really advantageous. The terrain was really varied today. We weaved through lava fields and burnt out forests. It was a bit smoky today. Not the kind of smoke that you can taste but the type of smoke that prevents you from Nicola Gildersleevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08609038320644576098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4499182010097561729.post-71824194111261193342021-09-19T16:39:00.000-07:002021-09-19T16:39:08.730-07:00PCT Day 2 + coccyx injury I forgot to mention an interesting fun fact that happened before we left for the trip. About 10 days out from our hike we decided to go scrambling in Rogers Pass. Our objective for the day was a rocky peak called Uto. We only made it 1/4 of the way up the actual scramble before I decided I wasn't feeling it and we turned back. Climbing up Uto Nicola Gildersleevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08609038320644576098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4499182010097561729.post-38087050540321957552021-09-17T18:24:00.002-07:002021-09-18T08:04:40.782-07:00Pacific Crest Trail: Lead up and day 1I'm just going to get to it... Peter and I carved out a couple months this summer to go on a hiking adventure. We had a few options in mind and we took our time letting those ideas evolve before landing on a particular one. There were many factors that went into this decision and the ever evolving state of the world was definitely one of them. Here were the said options:1) Nicola Gildersleevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08609038320644576098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4499182010097561729.post-39119291215972968692020-12-19T18:20:00.001-08:002020-12-19T18:20:54.027-08:00GDT trip report: Field to Saskatchewan Crossing Day 11: 47km/2787m We woke up bright and early in the comforts of Jessica and Jay's house. They were so kind to let us feast on delicious cereals and berries. We followed Jay's instructions that led us directly to the trailhead and started up the many switchbacks on the Iceline trail. This trail is located in Yoho National Park. Such a beautiful name for a park! I quite Nicola Gildersleevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08609038320644576098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4499182010097561729.post-58563825057968530842020-12-13T17:25:00.003-08:002020-12-13T17:25:25.725-08:00Great Divide Trail Trip Report: Kananaskis Lake to Field Day 7: 51.6km/1527m We got off to a bit of a later start. It was hard to peel myself from the comfort of the 4runner and it was nice to linger over breakfast and coffee. I was quite delighted that my foot was feeling better and it didn't appear to be holding any fluid. Joanna also took a look and assured me she didn't see any sign of blisters. I was curious as to why only Nicola Gildersleevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08609038320644576098noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4499182010097561729.post-11292265449162926582020-11-29T11:43:00.006-08:002020-11-29T13:03:10.040-08:00The Great Divide Trail Trip Report Day 1-6 : Waterton to Kananaskis Lake Back in the spring (pre- Covid), my friend Alicia Woodside asked me if I was interested in thru-hiking the Great Divide Trail (GDT). I should mention she wanted to hike the 1100km trail in a record breaking 18 days. Without hesitation, I said Yes. I fell in love with thru hiking in 2014 when Peter and I hiked 1200 miles along the PCT and I've been eager to do another one. It's Nicola Gildersleevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08609038320644576098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4499182010097561729.post-34073468919640871222020-05-03T16:06:00.001-07:002020-05-03T16:06:19.500-07:00Dennis Begley: How this couch potato became a Fat Dog, Crohn's disease, and a running joke. Dennis Begley is an avid backcountry skier and ultra runner from North Vancouver, BC. As a kid, Dennis loved to play sports and after years of post-secondary education and travelling the world he ran his first 10k. After finishing business school Dennis found himself in a job he hated and decided he needed a change. He applied for a job at Mountain Equipment co-op and his life changed Nicola Gildersleevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08609038320644576098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4499182010097561729.post-81591502443893100332020-04-01T10:05:00.001-07:002020-04-01T10:05:45.254-07:00Arden Young: Big goals, big heart, clean teeth! Arden Young is an ultra runners and Dentist who lives and works in Calgary, BC. Born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta, Arden grew up a self proclaimed math-lete. With 3 sisters to keep her in check, she also ran cross country. In University she joined the triathlon club and did her first marathon in 2007. It wasn't long before she was introduced to trail running and with some training broke 3 Nicola Gildersleevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08609038320644576098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4499182010097561729.post-51460964998644777562020-03-21T15:48:00.001-07:002020-03-21T15:48:56.343-07:00Mike Smith: How to survive running 150 Hundred Milers!!!Mike Smith is a 62 year old ultra runner who has completed 150 Hundred Milers, countless more ultra's and somewhere around 230 marathons! He's completed a marathon in all 50 states and one on every continent. And he shows no signs of slowing down either (well maybe a few less races this year due to COVID-19)! This year he finished the HURT 100 with only 5 seconds to spare! Listen to find Nicola Gildersleevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08609038320644576098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4499182010097561729.post-56004419652515902342019-12-15T08:42:00.001-08:002019-12-15T08:42:24.169-08:00James Varner: RD of Rainshadow Running, Hardrock Vet, and a life of adventures!James Varner grew up near the Appalachian mountains on the East Coast. His love of mountains eventually brought him out to the West Coast where he started Rainshadow Running - A series of over 12 ultra running races in Washington and Oregon. His races are hard, scenic, fun, and sell out very fast! James has been running ultras for over 18 years and is a 5 time (maybe more) Hardrock finisher. In Nicola Gildersleevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08609038320644576098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4499182010097561729.post-55471507169955173562019-11-26T10:41:00.001-08:002019-11-26T10:41:51.493-08:00Kerry Ward: Living life at full tilt Kerry Ward is an ultra adventurer who lives his life at "Full Tilt". He's been running ultras since 2008 and has completed distances upwards of 240 miles. Kerry has a famous YouTube channel called FullTiltWard where he films and documents many of his travel adventures and running races. Go on a journey with him through the Tahoe 200, Moab 240, Everest base camp, Burning Man ultra, Climbing Nicola Gildersleevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08609038320644576098noreply@blogger.com0