Calories – 2478
Ascent – 1346m
HR Profile.
On Saturday morning, Stano picked me up in Squamish and we headed up to the Elfin Lakes Trail for a possible attempt at crossing the Garibaldi Neve in a fast time. We made good time up the logging road with Stano in the lead. I was at a steady average 145 bpm heart rate for this section. When we passed Red Heather, I took the lead along Paul’s Ridge and we picked up the pace. I averaged 155bpm along the variable terrain of the Ridge. Even the easier starting pace felt like we were pushing but was well below my optimal race speed (160-170ish) but might be more approriate for a longer (6-7hr) push like the Neve.
We followed a broken trail past the Elfin Lakes shelter until we caught a group dropping into Ring Creek. With 30cm of heavy new snow we decided that it was not the day for a speed traverse.
We climbed the slope below Columnar Peak for a lap and then did some pickups on our way back along the Ridge. The run back down the logging road was fast even in the slushy snow and we passed more than 50 snowshoers and skiers headed up for the day.
I carried my Garmin Etrex GPS unit and imported our track into Google Earth. I have been eyeing the Garmin Edge 500 computer to use as both a HR monitor and GPS.
Google Earth track overlay. Elevation and distance profile.