By Michelle Annandale
PART I
Section 1: This section was on the beautiful Trans Canada Trail through the Canadian shield. Glorious sunny day, the only other human encountered was the face paint guy. At this point I was loving every minute of the adventure and only vaguely concerned that I would be eaten by a predator (saw LOTS of wolf prints!).
Section 2: This was through the dark of night so I made the decision to stick to roads as I had never been on the trail before and it went quite far away from any access points to roads. It’s not really marked very well in the wilderness portions – just cairns - and I am not exactly trained in wilderness survival so decided against risking being a headline in the local papers. I did have my phone with an app for the trail but the app wasn’t super reliable and frankly, I was just nervous. So this part of the adventure got me out of the forest and into the open for quite a while. The wind was howling which really spiced things up. Although not very pleasant I did think “how cool is this that I’m out here?” I only saw 4 vehicles the entire time. It was snowing so I could pull my sled on the shoulder of road which was easy on the legs. I saw a few coyotes and a whole lot of stars once the snow stopped and the skies cleared. I was able to keep my headlamp off almost the whole time (except when the rare vehicles came by) which I loved.
Section 3: At this point, I got back on the trail, got lost, almost ran out of battery on my phone so lost some tracked KMs Not sure how many didn’t show on Strava but probably between 5 and 10. Basically made a bunch of dumb mistakes. I did find my way and when I met up with my husband he told me that a lot of snow was heading our way so we made the call to drive back to the city rather than end up potentially with him stuck (we really need to get snow tires) and me who knows where. Tough to leave the area because it was so beautiful, but the right decision for us. I should add that during the 24 hours prior, my husband Archie met me at 2 points and fed me noodles, cookies and coffee which was wonderful. So I was not unsupported – our van was a mobile aid station.
Part II
So we drove home to Winnipeg. I went straight into the house laid down in my outdoor clothes (minus boots and jacket) to nap for 45 minutes. Ate cheese sandwiches drank coffee and laid down for another 30. Then off I went. I couldn’t believe I actually went back out. As a spectator, I’ve seen people do that at Tuscobia and Arrowhead but I have never stopped mid ultra before and man it’s tough to go out again especially when you are actually home! I think that was the hardest part of the whole thing – especially because it wasn’t nearly as scenic. It started snowing quite hard about an hour after I ventured back out and did so for the almost 8 hours I was out on my mixed rural/urban hike. I had ditched the sled for a pack because when I started there was next to no snow. A different world by the time I was done! I will say it made everything look lovely and magical and Christmassy. It was during this segment that I decided that 100 Miles is where I would stop. I do hope to hit the 160 mark at Tuscobia in the future!
The next day: Having taken a couple of vacation days, I just lazing about out, chilling with dogs, watching Christmas movies. Also feeling a bit down that I hadn’t done 160 miles but generally pleased with the 100. Then…
I realized I was actually about 10 miles short of 100. How did I miscalculate THAT??
Arg.
Part III
After giving my feet a day to de-puff I grabbed Racer, one of our dogs, for a leisurely 10-mile river hike to make up for the missing miles. He was very pleased and I enjoyed the walk.
Wild Winter Way gave me the motivation to go out and have a solo adventure that I wouldn’t have done otherwise. I loved the first 24hrs and am so happy I had that time out there. The next 8 were just a slog but I was pleased that I was able to kick myself out of the house and do them. The last 10 were just a dog walk really, but a lovely one.
What a great way to finish the year!
