Monday, September 30, 2013

Hiking the Buffalo River Trail

Spent a few days down in Arkansas hiking the Buffalo River Trail. The first part of the trail was very overgrown - we were trudging through tick-laden grass up to our waist. Not a lot of fun. After a few miles things opened up and hiking was more enjoyable.

Decent trail, but I think next time I'll go back to paddling it.

Buffalo River Trail trailhead marker Aaron Fanetti hiking the Buffalo River Trail

Monday, September 2, 2013

Whistler, BC

Went to watch Vanessa McKenzie compete at Ironman Whistler last week. Spent remainder of the week playing in the mountains.

On Saturday I did an out-and-back trail run from Nita Lake Lodge through the Whistler village and up to Russet Lake. After Vanessa had (very little) rest from the race, we loaded up the backpacks and headed up to Garibaldi Lake. A very rainy night. We intended to climb Black Tusk the following morning, but it was so overcast there wouldn't have been much to see. Instead, we headed back down the mountain. Beautiful views all the way back.

The next two days we spent mountain biking the cross-country park. It was rainy, but the trails handled it well. Great trails and a lot of fun. After finishing the XC trails, we hopped on the Sea-to-Sky trail and attempted to make it down to Brandywine Falls. Unfortunately, we left too late in the day and lost daylight by the time we arrived. Lacking headlamps, we decided to turn around early and forgo seeing the falls. Next time.

The last day, we grabbed a day pack and made the hike from Nita Lake up to Wedgemount Lake. Long day with a fair amount a vertical - scrambling up a steep boulder field to reach the top. Exhausting week, but totally worth it. Looking forward to going back.

Aaron Fanetti on the trail to Russet Lake Vanessa McKenzie hiking from Garibaldi Lake