Craig Moore's blog

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.

For October, and for being up at Cypress Bowl, the weather was undeniably fantastic - warm, clear, sunny with some clouds, and the number of hikers was plentiful. I've been up there in early September some years as the weather turns to winter in the blink of an eye, but, this Bagging season mother nature has kept the door wide open quite late.

On Saturday, July 31, 2010, five adventurous souls extended their Bagger Challenge successes by conquering, in a single day mind you, the most notorious trifecta the Challenge has to offer. It had not been done before and it may never be done again.

Okay, so you're saying to yourself, "Artaban is notorious?", "Killam isn't kind?". Ah yes, but remember, the lid may never be capped on Liddell. Throw that puppy into any set of three peaks and you have the makings of a brass piggy tarnishing before your eyes.

As many of the best BC trail runners were out of town and very occupied at the inaugural Fat Dog on the weekend and the rest of Vancouver remained oblivious to the infamous Bagger Challenge, now half over after an explosive start with the Howe Sound peaks on April 1, six repeat offenders started out for Lynn Peak and the South Needle with Middle Needle in their sights.

Another day, another adventure. Needing to take advantage of a potentially perfect day in Howe Sound, Neil Ambrose and I headed up to Lions Bay to ascend the trail to Brunswick Mountain. We would see what else could be done in addition to Brunswick while we were there. Neil had been to Fat Ass Peak the previous Bagging season but I had never been to these heights before and we were both in for some excitement and spectacular scenery.

According to what I see on the current standings list, nobody has yet done Paton Peak. Given that this is the first year it is an official Bagger Peak I shall lay claim, along with my trail companion, Liza, to being the first official Baggers on record as of July 18, 2010. Of course, the one to get really get some recognition here is Monty Watts for pointing out the fact that Paton exists and is a notable viewpoint at least.

I'm very glad I ran in the New Years Day Fat Ass 50 and Freeze Your Fat Ass Off Swim (minus the swim as usual). I'm also glad that I didn't get really sick from doing it. It's been a long standing question of mine whether you should run when you're sick or stay at home and hide under the covers. Having had my heart set for a long time on a great start to the new year I decided to brave the elements.

Keeping it simple and with the understanding that I am not in the contest for 2010 because of a post Dec 31 entry, I thought I'd put some ideas down for my running goals. And I'm looking for suggestions/invitations from others to help me out:

 ... the list of Vancouver 100 Registrants is now at:

http://www.clubfatass.com/calendar/Vancouver100/2008