a Dam, Wild Horses, and my very first run
By: Sarah Look
Tags: Gear, Trail Running Shoes, Capilano, North Vancouver, Trailrunning

My run begins with a panorama view of the most striking blue Capilano Dam, framed by the well-known lower mainland members of the Coast Mountains (that is, Seymour to the west and Grouse to the lower east). I join some of the other onlookers to take a quick picture and head back out to the trail.

And I don’t get very far. A theme of the day is fits and starts and turnarounds. I slip on my brand new Nike Wild Horses, my very first trail runners for my very first official (to me) trail run. I am ready. And yet, not. Aware of their small size, size 6’s when my regular can be up to a size 7, I feel hesitant. I purchased them in an excited moment the day before but now am rueing their small size. I run around the parking lot and feel the small size 6 compressing against my toes. Oh, purchasing decisions! How I need to grow up in them. The voice of the running store sales advisor comes to mind, as she said both that the fit should be snug, while at the same time my toes should not constantly be banging at the front. So I pull out my too-used smartphone and do some research on the consequences of overly tight runners. My hesitancy is confirmed as I read the cautions against too-tight shoes and the cited outcomes of blackened toes and even potentially long-term foot damage. I unlace my beautiful bright Nike Wild Horses and with a mental sigh sling on my tried-and-true road runners, the actually fabulous Asics Kayanos. Ah, toe room. You can feel the difference. Thank you Kayanos for taking another sole-beating on the rock-peppered path as I sort out my trail shoe purchasing practices. And yet I venture out with my usual road runners on my first ever trail run feeling a sense of relief — I knew even yesterday when I brought the Wild Horses home that they weren’t quite the ones for me. So correcting my mishappened purchase would be a simple matter of returning to Vancouver Running Co., which fortunately is situated in my favourite Kitsilano area of Cypress and 1st, with ever-bright Be Fresh grocery and numerous coffee spots spilling around the street corners — not a bad outlook, in my opinion. And the journey of my trail shoe purchase continues.

And into the trail I go, now that I am comfortably settled back into my regular road running shoes. I feel every nip and bump of the rocks beneath my soles, and my mind briefly dwells on the accelerated wear and tear to my beloved (and pricey) designed-for-the-pavement Kayanos, but I put those aside for the task at hand: to run the trails of the Capilano River Regional Park. My tool at hand is my All Trails app, the Pro version that I subscribed for just a couple of weeks prior so that I can take advantage of the download maps feature. This time I hone in on trying out the Record route feature. I press the big red button and off I go.

I begin first down the stairs from the picnic area and the parking lot and start along the wide gravel path that feels more like a dull forest service road than a trail. It does make the step of my foot less treacherous than more root-lined and technical trails, but I hope that this is not the boring reality for the rest of the trail. The trees are tall and a vibrant, soft moss-covered green all around me as I make my way past the green-marked wooden trail posts and into the Coho trail. I pass the Fish Hatchery and the Dam viewpoint, somewhat tempted to sightsee but also recognizing my main goal for the day, which is to run the Cap River Loop. I progress, guided by feel and a lick of the wind, just happy to see that they are becoming more soil-covered and even pleasantly encountering slightly more technical root-populated sections. I stop at a junction to check the map, and realize that going by Braille isn’t necessarily getting me where I had wanted to go. I had missed a turnoff and was heading down the east side rather than the west side of the river, which was the supposed route for the loop. I pull out my compass app (which unfortunately stopped the All Trails recording), lift my eyes from my screen and set out again, now going north to cross the river and to the west side and into the Shinglebolt trails that lead into the Capilano Pacific route. There are a number of other trail folk on the route, but not many and they are all generally friendly as I pass by with my heavy-breathing running self.

Now that I am equipped technologically with my compass and mentally with the right directions, I make my way fairly steadily along the Shinglebolt trails and eventually find my way to the Capilano Pacific. There are short changes of elevation as I make my way along the path, but as a first go-around trail run the inclines and declines stay pretty friendly. I stop at a couple of points to take in the mystical green-blue pools and the monumental river passing through the steep cliffs, present day witnesses to God’s handiwork over the years as the river cut through north shore stone.

Capilano River Regional Park

At a point I check one of the many lovely park trail maps, which indicates my current location as being almost at the southwest end of the park, or near the well-known Capilano Suspension Bridge. The trail had been so pleasant that I hadn’t noticed I had gone quite so far — I had only intended perhaps a 5–6km jaunt, which was turning out to be nearly double that. Perhaps a nod to the pleasantness and ease of the trail. Well done, Capilano Dam.

I turn around at the T-junction leading onto the southern extension of the Capilano Pacific trail and make my way back the way I came, bumping into some hispanic picnic-goers along the way and happily directing them and confirming the tender Spanish proficiency I retain. I end the hike with a stretch and my inaugural post in All Trails, which the app smartly prompts you to do when you save your recording. I take an embarrassing selfie amongst the onlooking picnic-goers to liven up my All Trails profile. I also realize that the “Pro” attached to peoples’ names refer not to their trail community status but rather to their subscription status on All Trails, which I suppose likely speaks also to their commitment to being in the trails, or to their willingness to pay for features on an app.

A day of passing under the bright green and over the striking blue, under the light-streamed trees and over the rushing river. Missed my inaugural Wild Horse sporting, but not bad for my first, official, trail run.