Berg Lake, Viking Ridge, and Damn Staples!

Tom, Myself, Shayne at Berg Lake

The following is a faithful retelling of events that occurred on September 15-17, 2017.

Friday, September 15
11:00am-  The plan was for Shayne to pick us up at 11:00am Friday morning, pack up the bikes, and promptly head out of town.  We were headed to Jasper, Alberta, to run 'Skyline', which I am told is around 50ish km and 6000ft of gain.  We were all stoked.  11am came and went.  No Shayne

Midday- Facebook Message from Shayne.  He is stuck at Staples, trying to get business cards printed.  He thinks he's got it figured, so he picks me up, then Tom.  We drive back to Staples to get the cards.


1:00pm- Back to Staples.  Shayne goes in to collect the business cards, Tom and I run over to Tim Hortons to pick up coffees.  We get the coffees.  Shayne is still at Staples.

2:00pm- Did you know they sell backpacks and Vitamin Water at Staples?  Who knew?  Shayne has finally finished up with Staples, only to get the world's worst, and smallest business cards.  They are tiny.  We are finally on the road, 3 hours late, Damn Staples.

3:00pm- I need more coffee, so we stop in Dawson Creek to get another Tims.

4:00pm- Grande Prairie. Tims coffee.

6:00pm- After the slowest drive ever on the busiest single lane road in Alberta, we arrive in Grande Cache.  There is snow on the mountains, like a LOT of snow. I need more coffee.

8:00pm- Hinton.  I need more coffee, and we need a 6 pack to drink at the Skyline trailhead before we camp in subzero temperatures.

9:00pm-It's cold, its dark.  We are in Jasper (yay?).  We can't see the mountains, to tell if they have snow, but an hour away there was snow on the ground.  We agree if it wasn't for damn Staples we would know for sure, but we need to make some hard choices. This is where we decided running for 6-8 hours in the snow, on the top of a mountain is not wise.  We need a new plan.  Tom suggests Berg lake.  Shayne and Tom have been talking about running Berg lake as long as I've know them (6 monthes), so I know they are serious.  Luckily for us, there was a cancellation at a cabin in the area, so we can avoid sleeping in the ice bucket challenge, and enjoy a cozy double bed.

10:00pm- We arrive at the cabin.  Stars are out, beers are out.  Cabin is warm.  We briefly fight over who has to sleep in the bed.  Shayne loses, Tom and I sleep on the glorious carpeted floor.  We are strange.  Damn Staples.

Berg Lake Stats

Saturday, September 16th
4:30am- We wake up.  We want to catch the sunrise on the trail.  After eating a Clif Bar based diet, we drive to the trail head. We are not fully awake. 

5:45am- It's cold.  Like testicles shrinking to the size of raisins cold.  I'm wearing my winter gear, Shayne is wearing a light jacket and a fanny pack (I've been told they are making a comeback, and can hold everything..but your dignity), Tom is wearing a tank top and shorts.  Our headlamps illuminate the trail.  The first 8km is flatish, with a few rolling hills.  We make great time.  Shayne and Tom have run this before, in the Berg Lake 50K.  They warn me of the impending hills.  The Sunrise is excellent, worth getting up at 4:30 for.  We are the only people on the trail.

7:00am- We've begun the climb, and it's getting lighter out.  Headlamps are off.  I've had a pretty good trail running season this year, and it feels great to be climbing.  The grade isn't too bad, and the views are improving as we work our way through the treeline.  There is a set of waterfalls along the way, we briefly stop at.  It's still bloody cold.  We approach a waterfall, and the temperature reflects the cold water near us.  I'm shivering, Shayne looks comfortable, Tom is contemplating losing his one layer.

8:00am- We hit the top of the gain.  It was about 4000ft.  The trail levels right off, and we can run the last 5km to the Glacier.  It's beautiful trail running.  The kind of trail that reminds you why you were made.  This is what I'm meant to do.  Our pace quickens as we move along the rocky first part.  People are waking up now at the back country campsites, and seem genuinely surprised to see us.  We are a scene to behold.  Myself, looking like I'm about to scale K2 in -30.  Shayne, with actual running gear, looking like the pro.  Tom, running in only shorts by this point, like he is Timothy Olsen in a desert run (the man feels no cold).

9:00am-   20km in, and we hit Berg lake, the cabin that sits on it's shore, and the glacier.  It is pretty epic.  The last few km to the lake were in dry creek beds, and forest trails.  The groups of hikers we pass are cheering us on.  It is a transcendent moment.  We stop for a group photo, and to use the outhouses.  I'm pretty geared up.  I even brought hand sanitizer.  The only thing I forgot was TP.  Good thing I wore $12 running socks.  I emerge from the outhouse in a more minimalist fashion.  I'm sporting my jacket, hat, shorts, and shoes with no socks.  They died for the cause.  It's still bloody cold.  Damn Staples.

10:00am- The three of us take off on the return trail.  Mount Robson and the glacier tower over us.  This is pristine running.  The trail is mostly flat with a few undulating sections.  We are flying down the trail.  Shayne is grooving along taking pictures every km or two (which I am grateful for as I write this!).  He tells us to go ahead, he will be fine (he's got the fanny pack full of gear to keep him safe!).  So Tom and I open up our strides.  Tom is running the Golden Ultra the following week, whereas I have two weeks still before the IronHorse 100miler, so we aren't dropping the hammer, just cruising.  The downhill isn't too technical, mostly roots and rocks, with long buffed out sections.  I finally lose my jacket.  Tom is considering running in just a loin cloth (he's just showing off now!).

More Trail Pics

11:00am- We hit the lake at the bottom of the decline.  There is only 8K left.  We see lots of people heading out on group runs up to the lake, it feels weird to be almost done.  We pass the campsites, and hit the final 5km.  It's wide, and flat.  It feels great to be done.  I could really use a coffee.  We get back to the truck, I drop my gear, grab another Clif bar and my hand bottle, and head out to meet up with Shayne.

12:00pm- I am finally running like Tom, just shorts, a t-shirt, and my hand bottle.  I am bombing down the trail, it feels good to be running fast and getting warm.  I meet up with Shayne before the 2km mark.  He is motoring.  Shayne is a downhill specialist, so he looks pretty fresh for a guy running for 5 hours, and is busy saying 'hi' or 'good morning' to everyone on the trial when I catch up to him.  We run it in together, and find Tom has finally come to his senses, and put on a hat (apparently he was finally getting cold not moving).  Now, off to the restaurant at the trail head, to eat all the food, and get a coffee.

1:00pm-4:00pm- We head back to the cabin we are staying at, shower, and enjoy the sun, before heading in to Jasper for dinner.

5:00pm- We arrive in Jasper to see the mountains are completely free of snow (which if it wasn't for Damn Staples, we would have made it to Jasper with plenty of sunlight to see!).  The next few hours include beer, food, and wandering around Jasper.

7:30pm- zzzzzzz (yup, the guys crashed at 7:30, we are old!)

Viking Ridge Stats

Sunday, September 17th

4:30am- Alarm goes, I get the lights on, and wake the guys up military style.  No rest for the wicked, plus, seriously....we went to bed at 7:30.  We've decided to head back to Fort St. John the Prince George way, to hit Viking Ridge, in the `Grizzly Den and Sugar Bowl` Park.  Shayne is not stoked.  He ranks his stoke level as a 2.  My stoke level is 11.

5:00am- Valemount and A&W.  We witness some great workplace drama between the two ladies working the morning shift.  Full on yelling and mocking each other.  This is great morning entertainment.

8:00am- We arrive at the Viking Ridge trail head.  We've been quiet about giving Shayne details on this hike.  Tom tells him its a nice 6.1km hike to a ridge (It`s actually a 6.1km out and back with almost 3600 feet of gain).  Shayne`s trail stoke is still about a 2, but we convince him that sitting in the truck will be lame and boring, so he puts on his fanny pack of power, grabs his sweater, and joins us.  My trail stoke is a 12.

The 'Meadow'

8:15-9:45am- We begin climbing, and don`t stop for 3km.  The gain is relentless, and only breaks when we hit what the trail guide calls a `meadow` (code for swamp).  The swamp is a little over a km before we begin the climb again.  We are soaked from the knees down.  It`s cold still, Tom is actually wearing a jacket!  The second climb ends at an alpine lake in the bowl of the ridge.  From here, it is basically a straight shot climb to the ridge.  Shayne says his trail stoke is now a 4.  Mine is a 14 (I love this stuff).  We hit the summit of the ridge, scrambling over rocks and roots.  There are rewarding views at the top, and all of us begin riding the summit fever high.  This hike was worth it.  Now what we all hate about out and back hikes, getting back.

The Summit of Viking Ridge

9:45-11:00am- We grind down back to the meadow.  On the way up, we were careful to avoid the puddles.  Now, we don`t care.  We go right through them.  Shayne tanks through for us, being the canary in the coal mine.  He walks in water and mud over his knees, so we don`t have to.  Tom follows in the back to take pictures.  After the swamp, we hit the final 3km descent.  Shayne has been salivating at the thought of running this all day.  It is a soft, root covered downhill trail, with a steep grade.  Shayne takes off.  I struggle to keep up.  Tom is the only one with any common sense, and follows behind us taking pictures, and enjoying himself.  I`m struggling to keep pace with Shayne, and he only gets faster.  I don`t know how he doesn't break an ankle on the roots, and downed trees.  Shayne is about 10 meters ahead of me, running on the side of the trail, it looks like he`s running sideways, when disaster strikes.  He steps on a root.  He`s going over.  I wince at what will certainly be a disaster, but lo and behold, Shayne is going so fast, that his speed propels him, and he doesn't fall over, instead, it looks like a scene from the Matrix movies.  His fingers almost graze the trail, but his speed allows him to break the laws of physics.  I lose my mind.  It`s easily the most epic thing I'

ve seen in a long while.  We continue down to the truck, Viking Ridge in the bag!

12:00-6:00pm- Coffee.  Road.  Coffee.  Road.  Bathroom.  Coffee.  Road.  Home.  Home at last.

Conclusion: Damn Staples.  Berg Lake=awesome, Viking Ridge= worth the time, Last trip with the lads before I move to Fernie= epic.

Cabin at Berg Lake

Mount Robson