Hello fans and participants of previous 7 Summits;
It’s that time of year again, when you go online and sign up for the 7 Summits Bike and Hike Challenge.
It’s the 9th Nearly Annual 7 Summits, which is pretty special to us. We’re still deeply in love with our mountains and our history, and the trails are only getting better with time. This year 7 Summits takes place on Saturday, September 17th. 7 am start in Barkerville.
We’re out trail clearing and re-marking right now. The front half of the route continues up from Barkerville to the rolling meadows of Agnes and Bald Mountain, and back to Wells via the Goldfields Ditchline.
Then, after what may be the only mid-event hot lunch in existence you ride up the gentle trail to Downey Pass and the base of Slide Mtn. The new route up Slide Mountain is now called the 3-D route, (partly because of its length, width and height, but), mainly because it was created by Dianne and Darrel Dagneau and it remains relentless, but at a much more manageable angle through a beautiful moss-covered forest. Then…there is only the leisurely stroll over to Mount Murray and the gentle downhill to the bottom of the Yellowhawk before you glide home on your bike to Wells.(I see some of you rolling your eyes, now!) If that’s not how you remember your 7 Summits experience….well,… bring a camera and capture this one.
Some people always ask if you can do this as a relay or if you can do only part of the route….The quick answer is…it’s not very easy to get people in position to do a relay, except if you want to split the front half from the back half of the event. However, it’s a great team event, and, as you may remember, you may end up creating a ‘team’, just through the camaraderie of finding someone who hikes or rides at your pace. Everyone is welcome to only do 1/2 of the event, if your goal is to participate in the mountains with a bunch of like-minded individuals! For two years now we’ve had trail runners do the entire event on foot…and I’m pretty proud of them! They finish in the middle of the pack!
Like before, we’ve limited the entry to only 100 people again, just so we can keep the flavour of the event, and feed you that amazing post-event dinner at the Bear’s Paw! The Event Fee is $50, which includes swag, entry fee, lunch and sport drinks/bars, and all profits go to Friends of Barkerville and the Cariboo Goldfields. Really Great Post-Event Dinner at the Paw is only Dinner/Drink/Dessert $27. We’ve got pre-sign-in on Friday night and Saturday morning. Plus the optional breakfast Saturday morning.
Although the cut-off for registration is midnight, September 14th, if you leave it too long, you may get bumped by just by the cut-off limit.
You can sign up and even pay online at: www.7summitsbikeandhike.org
Wanna Volunteer?: Let us know what you can do. As you know, this event is made extra special by the care and commitment of the volunteer crew that helps and tracks your progress around the mountains and valleys. If you’d like to spend a 1/2 day in the mountains, let us know.
See you here for the 9th Seven Summits!!
Dave and Cheryl
Dave Jorgenson
