elfin lakes freeway
cut from the snake.
for ten days as late July bled into August a local alpine route became the centre of my attention. it wasn’t infatuation… maybe it was.. i told myself it was “the right terrain for training purposes”. big beautiful runnable rollers. magical views of glacier peaks, and a close up of the large mountains; Garibaldi, and Atwell, that overlook the town of Squamish. with a rotating cast i ran the Elfin Lakes trail four times over that span. each time with a different effort and purpose, building a stronger and stronger bond to the route itself.
July 26th. some morning errands pushed this run to just before noon, with sparse cloud cover i could feel the sun standing in the parking lot. it was bright. lucky for me the first 5 km i would be under the shade of shrinking pines. i stood there trying to decide what to bring, i hadn’t yet made a decision on the effort. i had this idea of getting after it, i was in the middle of a big block of training, pushing super compensation, it was about letting the legs do their thing and feel out the first couple kilometres before committing. as i put on socks, tied my shoes, and put on a band t-shirt, i drank a sports drink, got some calories in, and drank a bunch of water too. try and be a camel. i decided i was going to bring my filter bottle; empty, and one gel neatly stored in my shorts pockets. i walked over to the yellow gate and hit start on my watch.
i was running, quite relaxed, smooth, just trying to hop along freely. the trail; double track with a gentle grade told me this was going to be fun. the pines trees all clones of each other, the same age, the same shape, they ticked along invisibly in my peripheral vision, i looked up at the crown of their peaks; dark green against small pillow white clouds in the blue sky. it was right in front of me. pretty early i started to realize that i was feeling good, and my legs wanted to run. the told me to: take some action, and start breaking free.
it’s always a goal of mine to have a relationship with the terrain; the connection with the location is important to me. sometimes this comes from an achievement on the trail, other times from commitment to seeing the terrain on a regular basis, gaining a knowledge from time on feet. this all leads to knowing how to control an effort over the meanders of the route. the Elfin Lakes trail starts with this perfect runnable grade, that stays constant for about 4 km before a short single track section into 6 km of big alpine rollers. the terrain unfolds like a book with a good flop. the plot evolving with each step i took.
each kilometre began to tick off with ease, i was surprised by my pace relative to the effort i was putting forward. the Red Heather shelter came into view around the twenty-five minute mark, with zero hesitation i turned my wrist back and i looked up trail. the mind body connection is one of strange coincidences in running. good days can’t always be predicted, sometimes they just happen. the short technical section breaks up my rhythm slightly as i quicken my step adjusting to the roots and incline. the forest cover all but disappears as Atwell and Garibaldi’s purple, grey peaks cut into the sky. the diamond volcanos mass always watching over Squamish in peaceful slumber. the alluvial streaks of purple and orange upon the grey rock testify how long the peak has sat in silence.
i used the rollers to my advantage storming up and letting go on the following decline as the trail slowly descends to the lakes. the sun is fully out and on top of me, its warm brightness making my skin itchy as sweat beaded on my skin before evaporating. air so clean and fresh pumping into and out of my lungs. oxygen into carbon dioxide. repeat. the run was unfolding beautifully, looking off into the distance stood the McBride Range in their glacier enchantment and i almost missed it, but the first sight of the Lakes.
ascetically i didn’t want this run to be an out and back, every time i run Elfin Lakes i loop the lakes, it makes sense, looks so pleasing as a little lollipop of the lakes. i had ran from Red Heather to the first lake in around twenty-four minutes. i stayed left going wide around the first lake, theres a fork ahead directing me to the tent pads, and around the lake. heading to the fork i encountered some hikers and missed the turn. i had gone 100 m before realizing and turning around. back on track, i surged around the lakes.
i was comfortable, i was in this pocket. a twenty kilometre run and i was already heading back in fifty minutes. i saw the time and decided i wasn’t going to be out long enough to need water, so i kept moving and popped out onto the main trail just on the backside of the first lake, the slight uphill out of that pocket of serenity.
running into a slight breeze that cooled everything down and settled the pace, i was feeling quite good, having fun, and wanted a little more. i quickly did a little time math and was thinking i will probably dip under one hour and forty minutes. how much under? always a fun thought as i got the better of the rollers slowly rising before my footsteps.
there was little reprieve rolling back to the highpoint of the trail, the slowburn of the midday sun, the toll of the effort up to this point, but the path ahead felt new, as if i was out there for the first time. something adjacent to deja vu. every kilometre had felt better then the previous, as Atwell and Garibaldi watched me slip back behind the the forest cover and out of their frame. bounding down the steeper technical section to Red Heather, each foot strike landing exactly where i desired, and with a pop onto the other foot; i was even further down the trail.
everything opens up again at Red Heather, double track tucked under the forest cover for the next 4km as my watch just ticked past one hour and seventeen minutes. i was thinking to myself, just lean forward and let gravity pull me to the bottom. that feeling of invincibility began to creep into my descent. huge leaping steps as a flew down the trail. trying to keep the effort on par with the rest of the day meant pushing with a little purpose, running as fast as i was on this steep of a grade was hard, just trying to focus on the next couple foot strikes increased in difficulty; the trail was beginning to blur and faze in and out of focus.
turning the last corner with 400 m until the yellow gate i leaned into the day one last time, staying tall, arms driving. hitting stop on my watch as i crossed the yellow gates divide between parking lot and trail. one hour, thirty-two minutes and fifteen seconds.
some have been calling me the elfin lake snake.