Trip Reports

by: Chantal Warriner 18 Women from Ontario, Canada with One Goal 901.5 km / 563 Miles (with detours at time of relay) The Bruce Trail was built in the year 1960 and is known as Canada’s oldest trail. It also happens to be Canada’s longest marked footpath and provides access to the magnificent Niagara Escarpment. It is entirely built and maintained by volunteers who share…

When I did a Longs Peak Triathlon last summer, I remember thinking it was only logical to apply the same tactics in the calendar winter season. Maybe unsurprisingly, there simply didn't seem to be many attempts at such a thing, let alone actual completions of the task. To be sure, even in the age of the Internet, we don't always know what exciting things people…

Last month I was out at dinner with some friends when my friend Roch started talking about his hope to one day ski the length of the John Muir Trail. The JMT—the classic 200+ mile route through the High Sierra from Mt Whitney to Yosemite Valley—is an extremely popular summer hike, but Roch figured it had only been skied a couple of times. This conversation was…

“What a great trip! We didn’t get injured or lost!” While Peter Bakwin enthusiastically agreed with this assessment, I noticed I was defining success not by how fast or far we went, the two usual objectives for runners, but by the fact we didn’t get hurt doing it. So either I’m getting old, slow, and conservative - which I actually am - or the 5th…

You may have seen this guy around... maybe at his 10 Hardrock finishes including a win in 2010, finishing all 5 laps at Barkley, finishing Nolans 14, setting canyoneering speed records in Zion ... or maybe you haven't seen him because Jared doesn't use Facebook, doesn't talk about himself, doesn't seek any limelight ... and doesn't run on roads. The Wasatch Ultimate Ridge Linkup (WURL) is…

10 o'clock at night, standing alone on the bank of the Colorado River in full flood stage.  Can I swim across?  Theoretically, yes.  Emotionally, no.  I conducted an inventory of my emotional reserves and made a rational decision:  I’m not going.  I measured, and my cajones weren't big enough. This trip I had brought a Space Blanket, so wrapped myself up in that and slept…

I pushed through the Tamarisk thicket on my hands and knees, being careful to avoid puncturing my air mattress, then waded out up to my waist in the cold, brown, swirling water, my shoes sticking in the mucky bottom, and while wearing a backpack, tried to get on my yellow inflatable mattress. It was an awkward moment. Peter and I had discussed practicing the technique…

On a crisp early fall day Stephanie said, "Let's go someplace warm this winter and do a long hike." This seemed like a good idea, but didn't take root until a while later when I got the flu for 2 weeks, giving me nothing to do but dig into the details of a trip plan. I could think of only one thing that interested me:…

R2R2R is a world-class route, staring on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, running 5,000' down to the Colorado River, across a bridge, then 6,000'' up to the North Rim. Then back again - "Rim to Rim to Rim". I first ran it sometime in the 80's, and it was quite the thing back then, but in the last few years this route has…

UD Ambassador Ethan Veneklasen Shares: Ummm, duh! Everybody knows that. It’s one of the most oft-repeated maxims in running. But did you ever stop to think about why we all know this useful little nugget? One can only assume that it’s because most of us continue to do stupid things and thus, its repetition is warranted. As athletes, we like to think that our experience will…