This route is awesome!!! Amazing views, technical terrain, difficult, steep climbs, beautiful. Chantal and I got a last minute reservation at George Lake campground so we headed up north on Friday night. The plan was for me to get dropped off at The Crack parking lot at first light. She was then going to drive down Bell Lake Road and park there. She would then have to paddle out to meet me at the Bell Lake boat launch when I was done. We don't have a canoe so a SUP and pack raft would have to suffice. We find this is the ideal way to do the ascent only route. One could hike back to The Crack parking lot, but that would be much more time consuming and you would have to carry more fuel.
I got started at 6:20 AM after a mile warmup on the road. I enjoyed the easy mile section before the climb to The Crack started. I hiked the steep stuff to save my legs. My goal for this was to be as close to 3 hours as possible. So I had to go hard, but also be smart. I had the route on my Coros watch which I was checking constantly. The navigation isn't the easiest. I made it to the top of The Crack which is always fun! I then went up and down many other big rocky sections. I tried to take advantage of the smoother sections, which were few and far between until you get to the double track which brings you to the base of Silver Peak. I ran this pretty hard then started the final ascent up to the very top of the La Cloche mountain range. This is a sustained, tough climb and my legs really started to feel it here. I did what I could though. I looked at my watch and thought maybe I had a chance to break 3 hours. I got a little turned around almost at the top which was super frustrating! I eventually found the trail and got to the very top where the 4 pillars are. I stopped my watch and was delighted the time was well under 3 hours. I couldn't have been happier!
I enjoyed the beautiful view for 5 minutes or so before I hiked my way down. I then proceeded to the Bell Lake boat launch for my ride. Thanks to Chantal for helping me out with this project. It would have been so much more difficult and not ideal without your help. I carried my small running vest with 2 x 500 ml flasks. One had LMNT the other had Red Bull. I also carried a small flask of maple syrup. I consumed all my nutrition before I made it to the top of Silver Peak. This was a magical day for me and I am truly blessed to be able to do these types of adventures!