Blogs

Neil, Carolyn, Heather and I squeezed in one last Bag today for good measure (Depencier Bluffs), the very last day of the 2010 Bagger Challenge. We worked it, toured it, scrambled it, bloodied it, loved it, and conquered it. I'm sure we hold the record now for the longest and strangest route to the top of perhaps the easiest peak. And in the nick of time too as we witnessed the first light flakes of snow for the winter season at the peak!

Congratulations to all my fellow Baggers (way to go Ean! and Carolyn!). I'll be dreaming up new ways of making it interesting for 2011.

The Bagger Challenge Champion of 2010 and recipient of the Munro Quaich is Ean Jackson.

With 11am sunny weather overhead and an enthusiastic 4-year-old son at my side, the encouragement from my wife to disappear until dinner was all we needed to head straight to North Van for some impromptu baggery.

We left the house with all the right provisions but without a specific distination - I'd figure that out on the drive there.

Nothing more glorious than returning from a triumphant bagging adventure down a steep slope that is a bit technical, but not too technical, on a surface that consists primarily not of rocks and roots, but of wonderful duffy decayed cedar.  Gravity and duff combine to emulate a slalom descent.

 Tuesday October 19th we have the pleasure of having ultra runner, adventure athlete and coach extraordinaire Jen Segger coming to the North Vancouver Kintec.

The talk will commence at 7pm and will feature a slideshow presentation from expeditions like the Vancouver Island i2P and Badwater.

Please RSVP at rynemelcher@gmail.com  We will have light snacks and refreshments available and some draw prizes for those in attendance.

For those not aware Kintec is located at 975 Marine Drive in North Vancouver (just behind the Hurricane Grill).

The S.I.U.E. trail (Southern Illinois University Edwardsville is (predictably) on the college campus of Southern Illinois Univerity in Edwardsville, IL. This puts the trail slightly north and well east of St. Louis, MO.